“Come on. I’ll walk you inside,” David said to get her out of the car. He left the windows open so Duke wouldn’t get overheated, knowing Duke would protect the car.
He walked Sadie in and made sure she made it to her first class. He then went to the principal’s office.
The woman manning the front desk recognized him.
“Oh, my,” she said as she looked up. “How may I help you?”
“I’d like to talk to whoever’s in charge.”
A minute later, he was in Principal Carla Hahn’s office, where he talked to her about Sadie being bullied. What seemed to be always the case was she had no idea of any bullying in her school. David wanted to suggest that she might want to get out of her office sometime and do her job but had another solution.
◊◊◊
David had been summoned to Coach Merritt’s office between classes, and Rachel was sitting out front, acting as the gatekeeper.
“You can’t bring a dog in here.”
David smiled because she was the first person on campus to stand up (figuratively) and tell him that.
“He’s only here today. Can Duke hang out with you while I go beard the dragon?” David asked.
He didn’t wait for her answer as he walked into Coach Merritt’s office.
“Door open or closed?” David asked.
“Closed.”
David took a seat before Coach Merritt said anything.
“I wanted to talk to you about redshirting.”
“Do I get a say in this?” David asked.
“I thought Coach Clayton had this discussion with you before he left.”
“That was when he wanted me to play defense. When you came in, you said all positions were open, and the best player would start. I assumed that meant that I had a chance to play my freshman year. I’ll remind you that you said that you’re not opposed to playing us both. In fact, you had us both at QB1 on your depth chart. And you said you were concerned about Matt’s maturity. What changed?”
David asked.
“You were injured. I think it’s best for you and the team to preserve your eligibility.”
David wanted to say that Matt could easily be hurt as well but held his tongue.
“I see. So, Matt gets a full year of playing time while I ride the bench. And are you following Coach Clayton’s philosophy of the starters getting all the coaching and reps? Then, come spring, I suppose you’ll spout the same bullshit about open competition. When what you’re really saying is that Matt is your quarterback, and you want me for when he goes to the NFL. Am I reading this right?”
David asked as he started to lose his cool.
Coach Merritt looked taken aback at David’s response.
“I suppose that would be the case.”
This felt like one more f-you he’d received from all his head coaches over the years. The frustration all bubbled up.
“I’ll put all my cards on the table,” David said. “Coach Clayton was a horse’s ass with his BS about me playing defense. Add to that the slap-on-the-wrist penalties for Matt and John when they tried to end my football career and maybe my movie career as well.
“I tried to be a good teammate and go along to do what was best for the team. Then he messed with my promised scholarship. If I hadn’t talked to the athletic director, I don’t think he would’ve ever given me one.”
“He did that?” Coach Merritt asked.
“You can see why I’m tired of being lied to. I’d hoped for a fresh start with you as our coach. But when Ron and Gabe told me you’d decided I was redshirting without talking to me, I lost a lot of respect for you. So much so that if you’re our coach come spring, I’ll transfer,” David explained. “I imagine there are other places where I can play. And start.”
It took Coach Merritt a moment to recover from his shock. His boosters were revealing his plans to his players?
He would have to speak to Gabe and Ron. But for now, he needed to get on top of this.
“What about this fall?”
That told David that Coach Merritt didn’t give a flying monkey about him. Arguing further was pointless.
“You get to decide who plays. I’ll take any playing time I can get to show off my abilities to the next school I go to.”
“I can see that I handled this all wrong, but the fact remains that I want you to redshirt.”
“As you wish,” David said. “Anything else?”
David didn’t wait for an answer as he got up and left. He found that Duke had won over Rachel as she was rubbing his ears.
“Come on, buddy. We have class,” David said as he left the athletic building.
Once outside, he was kicking himself for losing his cool.
At least now, he felt more in control, and he could honestly
say he spoke only the truth to Coach Merritt. He was done being jerked around by USC head coaches. If only he’d done that when he was younger.
◊◊◊
David had asked Crystal if she would help him on his mission to stop the bullying at the grade school. After lunch, Duke followed the two of them to the school like he was going to the cancer ward. Principal Hahn met them at the entrance and took them to Sadie’s class.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Principal Hahn said to the class.
“But we have a special guest who asked to speak to you today.”
“Hello, everyone. I’m David A. Dawson, the actor,” David said as he walked to the front of the class. He noticed Duke had walked with him and sat like he was being presented to the children.
Duke handed David his tennis ball, which had the kids giggling.
“My special guest is Duke. You see, Duke is a service dog I take to hospitals to bring joy to the patients, and he very much likes the attention he gets.”
“Can we pet him?” a girl in the front asked.
“Maybe after I’m done talking,” David suggested. “I wanted to tell you that Sadie is my very special friend. You see, she and I have a lot in common: family members that have or had cancer. In my case, it was my mother, and for Sadie, it’s her lovely sister Lisa.
“What you might not know about cancer is that the cure can feel like it’s worse than the disease. For my mother, it started with her feeling run-down and tired all the time, and then she lost her appetite. What she hid from me was the pain, which can be unbearable.
“As she got worse, I was afraid my mom might not make it. I was willing to do anything to make her feel better. Well,
I’ve found a kindred spirit in Sadie. When Lisa’s treatments made her lose her hair, Sadie cut her own off so her sister would feel better because Lisa is currently fighting for her life. It makes me sad to think that anyone would look at this lovely girl and make fun of her for her sacrifice,” David said and let a silly grin touch his face.
“But luckily for most of you, you’ll never have to go through that. What Sadie wants to do is bring some joy to you today. She has asked Duke and me to give you all ice cream bars,” David announced as Crystal and Principal Hahn brought trays of the treats to the front of the room.
He’d made sure the food was kid- and allergy-friendly because he didn’t need any of them getting sick and their parents suing him.
“Okay, class. Come get your treats,” their teacher said.
Everyone surged forward, and David saw the huge smile on Sadie’s face as all the kids thanked her. Duke was a happy boy as he also became the center of attention. Even Hailey looked delighted.
Crystal slid up next to him and squeezed his hand.
“That might be the kindest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do.”
“I just felt bad for her.”