“Who’s the girl moving into Pam’s room?”
“That would be my security. Fritz and I decided that we would err on the side of caution with everything going on with my movie. It’s just for the summer.
“I haven’t met her yet. Want to join me and say hi?” David asked.
“I talked to her briefly. I’m not sure what Fritz is thinking,” Cassidy said.
David’s mom and Rosy, their cook, walked in the back door. He slipped up the stairs before he was put to work. He went up to the third floor and found the door open. David understood what Cassidy was talking about. His security looked to be five-one, and she’d be lucky if she weighed a hundred pounds.
While she was no raving beauty, she certainly wasn’t a dog-show contender either. David was worried that he might have to protect her if anything went down.
She saw him and stood stiffly, like she was at attention.
“Mister Dawson, I’m almost squared away. I understand we have a social gathering tonight.”
“Please call me David. Even my dad doesn’t answer to Mister Dawson.”
“Yes, sir. I will try to remember that. I am Miss Bettis.”
“Is there anything you need or want to tell me?” he asked.
“Additional security will arrive at seventeen hundred hours and will be tasked to guard the perimeter.”
“Well, okay then,” he said since he couldn’t think of anything else to say.
David went down to the second floor, where his bedroom was. He wanted to take a shower and get dressed. He knew that as soon as his mom saw him, he would never have the time to do so.
When he entered the room, he smiled. While he was in the UK, he’d called his friend Cindy to do a minor makeover of his room. He’d tried a daybed and rejected sleeping on that. The room now had a California King Murphy bed, three desks so the girls could still use the space for studying, and an oversized comfy chair for reading.
When David returned from his shower, he dried his hair with a towel but didn’t bother dressing yet. He came up short when he found his new security standing by his door.
“What the … what are you doing?” he asked.
“I was told that while on duty, I should keep you within my line of sight at all times, sir.”
“Well, okay, then,” David said as he realized that might be his new go-to phrase with this girl.
He had a party to get to, so he would put off talking to her about personal boundaries until tomorrow. Then he thought better of it because if a miracle happened and he got lucky tonight, he didn’t want an audience.
“In the future, if my bedroom door is closed, you are to remain outside unless you think I’m in danger.”
“I’ll make a note of that, sir.”
When she didn’t move and didn’t seem scandalized, David decided to ignore her and got dressed.
◊◊◊
David discovered that his mom had hired people to put on the party. He sometimes forgot that he had the money for stuff like that. That meant he was free to do whatever he wanted.
He went out back, grabbed a Mountain Dew from behind the bar, and found a seat to relax in. He spotted Coach Farrow and Rachel as they came in. When they saw him, they joined him at his table.
“Oh, my. If you want, I can call someone to help you fix your hair,” David said.
Rachel swung her beautiful eyes toward his. He saw the amusement in them and a smirk dusting her pouty lips.
“You get a free one tonight for helping my dad sign Todd Davis. But if you make fun of my hair again …” She left the rest unsaid.
David just gave her a hint of a grin to show he wasn’t afraid of her threat.
“I’m just saying that it was a classy move to encourage Todd to come to USC to take your spot on the depth chart. I overheard the coaches talking about bulking you up and letting you play defensive tackle,” Rachel said to up the banter.
That earned her a little bigger grin. David might have to figure out how to rid her of her pesky boyfriend.
“I thought you were bringing your boyfriend,” David said.
“He hated to miss your party, but he had to take the wife to get her mole removed,” she said and then got up and walked off.
“What was that all about? Rachel doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Coach Farrow said.
David gave his coach a noncommittal shrug, not showing he was secretly happy to hear she was single. Before they could talk anymore, David’s family showed up. Allen looked upset, so David scooped him up and received a fierce hug from his son.
Then it was as if the floodgates had opened as everyone arrived at once. David saw his mom say something to the caterer. A flock of waiters descended upon the crowd, passing around enormous trays of appetizers. David realized that he was hungry, and the food looked delicious. He and Allen managed to eat their fair share.
◊◊◊
With Allen in a better mood, David put him down to harass his siblings, who were being entertained by their cousins. With no adult supervision, David wondered how long it would be before something happened. For now, they all seemed in good spirits.
He started to make the rounds to meet his new teammates. He scanned the crowd and spotted his new best friend. David walked over to introduce himself to one of the largest human beings he’d ever seen.
“Jerry?” David asked with his hand out.
David had big hands, but when Jerry Barber shook his, it looked like his hand had been engulfed. Jerry’s fingers were the size of bratwursts. That went with a body that was reported to be six-eight and weighed 330 pounds. When he’d read those stats, David had envisioned a giant of a man on the heavy side. What he saw looked like a hard-muscled lumberjack.
David had just found his left tackle who would protect his back. He couldn’t wait to see Jerry smack down Percy in practice.
“My friends call me ‘Bear.’ I want to introduce you to my brother. We call him ‘Cub.’”
David could see the two brothers liked each other. Cub, aka Steve, was every bit as large as Jerry and a year younger. Steve made sure to tell David that he was the much better football player. David made a mental note to make sure Jerry’s brother was on their list of recruits for next year.
Mr. and Mrs. Barber were a delight. They were thrilled that David had welcomed their son to campus. He assured them that he and Jerry would become good friends before heading off to meet other players.
The next one was Nick ‘Big Cat’ Collins, a slot receiver, and his mother. They were standing off to the side, taking in everything. David could see that they felt out of place at a party with waitstaff, which he could relate to.
“Welcome, Nick, Mrs. Collins. What do you think of USC so far?”
“New town, new school, new team … new everything. This is a total change of scenery, a new life, a second chance for my son,” Mrs. Collins said.
“I like to think that Nick has found a new family. He’ll be spending time with a great group of guys who will have his back. We all take care of each other,” David said.
“I’d like to meet your mother while you boys get to know each other.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” David said.
He took them to where his mom was talking to one of the staff. When she saw David with Nick and his mom, she gave them a big smile. Introductions were made, and Nick and David left to talk.
“Are you moved in?” David asked.
“Almost. I’m rooming with Jesús Diaz,” Nick shared.
Jesús, better known as ‘Chuy,’ was another player David was eager to meet. They’d recruited him to be an H-back, a hybrid between a tight end and fullback. He was supposed to be a real bruiser who loved to hit people.
“There he is,” Nick said, getting a little excited.
David looked to where he pointed and spotted a buff Hispanic boy with long, dark hair that hung to his shoulders. He was also sporting a beard. David predicted that the girls were going to love him.
Nick led David to where Jesús and his family were.