“I bet we’ll have the National Guard here next year,” I joked.
“I think they’re afraid to piss you off. Did you see the article about the game Sunday?”
“No. I just went to church and watched football with Dad.”
“When you get a chance, read it. Eastside’s coach said you were a one-man wrecking crew. I don’t think they want you mad next year,” she said, then laughed. “Moose even said he couldn’t get you off the field. Did you really tell him that you would only let up once you knew Cassidy was okay?”
“I don’t really remember. It wouldn’t surprise me, though.”
The bell rang, so I had to go to class.
WHEN I GOT TO LUNCH, there was a new guy sitting at our table. It was Neil Presley, a sophomore tackle that I knew from middle school. We hung out sometimes, and I liked him. He came over and sat down with me.
“Emma told me that before I could ask her out, I had to come and talk to you,” Neil said.
“Yep, I think you’d be perfect for her. Go give her the good news,” I said.
“They had me thinking you were going to be tough.”
“Only pushy freshmen get that treatment. I know you’ll treat Emma right, so don’t make me act like her big brother and we’ll be fine.”
He got up and sat next to Emma, who was smiling from ear to ear. As soon as Neil left, Maggie took his seat.
“I have a question,” she said.
“I have an answer,” I shot back.
“If I had just said ‘yes’ to our date, would you have taken me out?”
“That would be a yes. I think by now I can plan a first date without having to get approval.”
“What did you and Peggy do on your date?”
I wasn’t surprised that she knew about Peggy. I was surprised that she didn’t know about her calling a timeout. I figured that would be all over the school if Tami knew. Maybe she was keeping her word. Well, at least part of her word.
“We went to a dance club near State with my brother and his wife.”
“That sounds like a pretty good first date,” Maggie said.
I just shook my head and went to class as the bell rang.
WHILE I WAS AT FOOTBALL practice, Cassidy had almost everyone back to the afternoon workout for the first time in a few weeks. My guys had worked hard to make sure we had a big turnout. She’d promised something they didn’t want to miss. Lily went and videotaped it so I and the other guys could see it. After practice, Coach Hope brought the team into the auditorium so he could watch.
When we came in, Brad and Cassidy were sitting in the front row. I sat down next to Cassidy, to Jim’s dismay. I really hadn’t seen my little friend for a while, so Jim sat beside me to allow me some time with Cassidy. All I got to do is say “Hey” before Coach Hope made us quiet down so that we could see what happened.
“Today we had a recommitment made by members of the program. They had a special guest speaker in Brad Hope. I haven’t seen this, but Cassidy felt strongly enough that she asked that I show it to the team.”
He then turned on the video. On the screen, at the front of the room, was Brad, looking nervous. Lily had scanned the crowd to show that there was a nice turnout for today’s workout. Brad seemed to gather himself.
“Some of you might know that my dad had a little heart-to-heart with me this weekend. He finally got my attention when he told me, ‘You have to stop being a little bitch.’”
The kids got a laugh out of that, as did we, while Coach Hope looked uncomfortable.
“There are a couple of ways I could have taken that. My first instinct was to ... well, let’s just say I had already had the crap beat out of me this weekend, and I didn’t need a repeat performance, so I let my first instinct go. Then I thought about it and realized he was right. I have been acting like a ‘little bitch.’ Dad pointed out that I have a history of finding excuses or shortcuts when it comes to actually doing the work.”
You could see Brad gather his thoughts on the video. He began to pace.
“Dad pointed out that I was lucky that I was finding this out now, while I’m eighteen, and not when I’m, say, thirty-eight. Dad is big on ‘life lessons.’ Normally I try to ignore him because I don’t think he understands me. To be fair, no one can understand me ... just as no one can understand you. What we’re going through is ours to own. Dad then hit me with ‘doing what it takes,’ and ‘it comes down to courage.’ So, in the span of a minute and a half, my dad had called me a little bitch and a coward. Trust me, that’s two things you never want to hear from your dad.”
Brad paused to make sure he had everyone’s attention.
“As many of you have probably guessed, I used steroids as a shortcut to get ready for the football season. It’s not that I don’t have the physical ability to do the work, but I get in my own way,” he said, pointing to his head. “I make up excuses or find something better to do, instead of putting in the work. So how do I stop being a ‘little bitch’? How can I just ‘man up,’ and do the work?
“And for the rest of you, how can you stop making those same excuses? How can you avoid being ‘little bitches’?”
Cassidy was right. This was worth seeing. He had everyone in the auditorium listening. I glanced over at Brad, and he looked nervous. I could tell this meant a lot to him. He was putting it all out there. That can be scary.
“So just to rub salt in the wound, my father was nice enough to point out one last little tidbit: if we don’t fix this, we’ll be little bitches the rest of our lives! We’re lucky it’s showing up right now because we can still fix this. I don’t want to be the guy that no one can count on to do the work that’s needed. Not just in work, but in life. Years from now, I don’t want to show up at my job and be too scared to ask for a day off. I don’t want to live my life that way. I don’t think you do, either.
“You can’t say ‘yes;’ you can’t say ‘no;’ you don’t own yourself; and you have an excuse for EVERYTHING! You’ll be a little bitch for the rest of your life!
“Well, there’s a way to avoid that. I think most of you noticed it, and you’re going to deal with it ... starting now. That’s why you all showed up today, so you would become winners. It’s about owning yourself.”
Brad was really into it now. His passion was coming through, and his movements were much more assertive.
“So now that we all know that skipping workouts makes you all a bunch of ‘little bitches,’ what do you do? You’re going to have to practice. For some of you, apparently coming to Cassidy’s workout is too scary. I understand. I didn’t want to kill myself doing it, either. I should be the poster boy for taking shortcuts and reaping the consequences.”
He seemed to sag at that admission. These were hard for anyone to admit to themselves, let alone a room full of their peers. He looked at Cassidy, and she gave him a smile that seemed to help him continue.
“Dad suggested that I start with something that might be a little easier for me if I wanted to develop the character virtue of courage. So where can you become courageous? How? Try this. Go to lunch and stand up and sing a song. Go to a dance and actually dance. Do something that feels a little weird, but you can do it. Go to the mall and ask the pretty girl or the good-looking guy out. ‘Hey, I’m Brad and I think you’re pretty and would like to get your number so I could call you sometime.’ Scary, right? Think of what makes you uncomfortable and do something to overcome it. You need to start becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable.
“The moment that discomfort begins to take you over, you’re no longer in control. The circumstances are controlling you. Working out is one of those uncomfortable situations. I would use it to train you to have the courage to take on the tough stuff. Working out really isn’t that tough. Life is. If you can’t even work out, life will make you wish you were never born!