I’d been on the run all week and hadn’t had a chance to talk to my dad about the NCAA letter. I knew that Caryn, Kendal, Ms. Dixon, and he had had several calls with Mr. Morris. After we were airborne and settled in, I asked him about it.
“What did the NCAA have a problem with?” I asked.
“A lot of the things Mr. Morris warned us about. The big ones were the booster flight to Kentucky, which you paid for, and the car Devin gave you. Mr. Morris had the information ready and sent it over. They’re going to review it, but it sounded like they would be okay.
“Their principal hang-ups seem to be your acting and some of the interviews you gave. They specifically pointed to your appearance on
“Mr. Morris said that the NCAA can’t really deny you your amateurism status for something like that. The distinction is you’re not currently in college. They could cause you problems if you received pay based on football or baseball. He said you dodged a bullet when you didn’t get the role as the baseball player in
“He said that because you pose a unique situation for them, they want to look at everything. We talked more about our strategy in dealing with the NCAA. First, we want to get you certified so you can play ball, then we’ll go after them about you doing advertising and movies in college. We don’t want you to not be able to promote the movies. Saul said it would be a problem if that happened. They might even have to remove your name from the credits while you’re playing ball in college,” Dad said.
“And we all know that if someone wants me to do a sunglasses commercial, I’ll need the walking-around money,” I said.
Sunglasses money had become a joke in our family. None of us could believe they’d paid me what they had for the commercial. Whenever I told Caryn or my grandma ‘no’ about spending money on something, they pointed out that we always had that money lying around to use. I knew they did it just to yank my chain, but I would be crazy not to take it if they wanted to give it to me. Saul had told me that if I could find time to go to Japan, he could line up several similar deals. It seems I was a star there.
“The problem is that the NCAA keeps a tight rein on their athletes. They contend that college athletes’ fame comes from their opportunity to play for a college team. There’s big money to be made for the universities, and in turn, the NCAA, to have that amateurism requirement in place. Mr. Morris said that he expects that we’ll end up in court over it,” Dad said.
I’d suspected that would be the case. In the back of my mind, I worried that if something big came up, I’d have to choose between playing ball and acting. I might have to decide on one or the other, but if I could get the NCAA to give me a waiver, it would make everything easier.
Then Dad changed the subject.
“Today, I received a call from Detective Kitchens. I think you’ll like this.”
“I hope it’s finally good news.”
“He told me I could tell only you, and you have to promise not to say anything,” Dad said.
“I promise.”
“They think they have Brandon’s DNA.”
“How?”
Dad got a big smile on his face.
“Detective Kitchens contacted the garbage company. Brandon rents a house close to where the new tiny homes for the homeless are going in. Kitchens dressed up as a garbage collector and picked up Brandon’s garbage this morning. They found takeout containers and utensils that they hope he used. They’re getting them tested.”
“Can you see Detective Kitchens dressed up in those overalls?” I asked with a grin.
Every time I’d seen him, he had been dressed in a suit. If what Dad said was true, Brandon was about to have karma balance out for everything I suspected he’d done.
I thanked Dad for telling me and told him we better try to get some sleep. The next few days would be bad enough without the time change playing havoc with us.
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Chapter 17 – That’s Not How the Force Works! Friday March 4
At the airport, we were met by a studio driver who’d been sent to take us to Hertfordshire. This was where they were filming
