“We all look up to you,” Wolf added, looking dead serious.
“You mean we’re all scared of her,” Tim mumbled.
That made us smile.
“I’ll think about it,” Cassidy conceded.
“No, you and I will talk about it, just like I expect you all to talk with me. This isn’t a one-way discussion, either. I want to know what you think I should do, and I expect you’ll support me. Think of us as a team of friends who are there for each other,” I said.
“Does that mean we get to go to Cuba with you?” Alan asked.
I considered that for a minute.
“Sorry, but no. It’s not because I wouldn’t want you there, it’s because there isn’t time to get you cleared to go into the country. I had to submit the list of people who would accompanyme to the State Department to get clearance to do the movie some time ago.”
“Okay, then what about New Zealand?” Alan asked.
He was nothing if not persistent.
“If you decide to take a semester off from college, we could discuss it,” I said.
“Let’s talk about you getting us laid,” Wolf suggested.
“Yeah, David. Let’s talk about that,” Cassidy said.
I raised both my eyebrows at Cassidy’s suggestion.
“I saw some of those Abercrombie models,” Tracy said to pile on.
“Dear God, did you see the Victoria’s Secret one he dragged home with him?” Alan asked.
I didn’t like the direction of this conversation. I glared at all the expectant faces that had dreams of me finding them actors and models to have fun with.
“Forget I offered. You bunch of dorks are on your own,” I pouted.
“You said we were a team,” Tracy complained. “I arranged for the Victoria’s Secret model to spend the weekend with you. You could do the same for your friends.”
I simply ignored them as they began to talk about their dream guy or girl. They’d had to listen to me go on and on about Hannah Minacci; it was now my turn to listen to their fantasies. I had a secret smile when I imagined what they would do if I arranged to have their fantasies show up for a date. Prom was coming up.
Before I left, I called my uncle and told him what we’d talked about. He agreed to help each of them create personal goals. I gave them his number, and they promised to set up individual meetings. In fact, I needed to set up one for myself because once I came back from vacation, I wanted to review my goals again. I could see how my outlook on life had changed and how my goals needed to be adjusted to fit my new worldview.
Hmmm … come to think of it, Caryn had talked about me having a plan. She was talking more about career and business planning, but it still made sense to at least consider this. Perhaps after the Cuba trip or after U-18 tryouts, we could have a serious talk about it. I wanted to get with Uncle John first, though. It seemed to me, checking in on my mission statement came first.
I sat back, bemused. As troubling as the
I snorted, still bemused, and then looked up at the sudden silence to see a bunch of expectant faces staring at me.
“What?” I protested.
◊◊◊
When I arrived home, everyone was there: Mom, Dad, Saul, Caryn, and Uncle John. Frank and Ms. Dixon were called. Ms. Dixon had Tom on the line with her. Dad kicked off the meeting.
“We made calls today to seek advice on what the full import of the decision David needs to make may be.”
“Sorry to interrupt, but I’ve made my decision. I’m turning the offer down,” I said.
“Are you fricking kidding me?” Saul asked, visibly trying to keep from exploding.
“Sorry, but no.”
“This is a mistake of epic proportions. You might just as well get arrested with a tranny while you’re snorting cocaine in front of a grade school. This will kill your career,” Saul ranted.
“Unless we play it right,” Frank said, ignoring Saul’s assessment.
“And how are we fricking supposed to do that?” Saul huffed.
“I don’t know yet, but I’ve spun worse scenarios,” Frank said, sounding confident.
“I’d tell them in person,” Uncle John said.
“No, I’ll simply call them and tell them he fell on his head and lost his mind,” Saul said.
“No. It needs to come from David, and it should be in person,” Uncle John said and then explained. “Think about it like you’re breaking up with a girl. What would she think if you sent your best friend to call her and tell her you’d dumped her?”
“I’d want to kill him,” Ms. Dixon said.
“Okay, okay,” Saul said. “Are you sure I can’t change your mind? This is about as good as it gets. Last chance, before you’re no longer on anybody’s list.”
“No. I need to pass on this,” I said.
“You do realize the money you’re walking away from?” Saul asked.
“Speaking of which, David needs more sunglasses money,” Caryn interjected.
That got my attention.
“And David, we need to talk about how you’re blowing through money,” Caryn said.
“Me? Between you and my grandma …” I began.
