“I sometimes wonder about y’all,” I said, pointing at the paparazzi as I drawled the ‘y’all.’ “You’re a bunch of phonies, making up things just to make the news.”
“You say people here are phonies,” the guy who’d made the rude remark retorted. “I say they come here to reinvent themselves. And I think that’s why you’re here. To reinvent yourself.”
“For some, you may be right. Still, if this is the result of how some
At that point, Dad decided he’d had enough. It was probably as good an exit as I could make under the circumstances. I might have pulled it off if I’d been able to get myself into the SUV. I had to have both Dad and Fritz help me climb into that monster.
When everyone got in, Dad mumbled something about how we should have let my Mom loose on the paparazzi. It wouldn’t have been any worse than what I just did. Later, I would agree with him. Now, I got the giggles.
◊◊◊
We’d stopped and rented a non-hospital wheelchair for the day. It caused quite a stir when I was rolled into the John McKay Center’s Parker Hughes atrium. The two-story video board showed highlights from yesterday’s game. Brook, Tim, and Wolf were already there with the other recruits. I was happy to see everyone was eating breakfast; I was starved. They’d saved seats for my parents and me.
“How bad is it? Will you be able to play Friday?” Tim asked.
The worry was plain on their faces. I would feel the same way if either of them was injured. They were key reasons we won football games. Not many teams had four legitimate division-one prospects starting. And at that, I was selling Roc and Yuri short because they could eventually make it too. It would depend on whether they continued to develop, which I hoped they would.
“I’ll be out three to six weeks,” I announced.
“Dammit. We could be toast by then,” Wolf said.
“David will be on the field as soon as he can, and he knows what his being unable to play means,” Brook chastised Wolf.
“Sorry, I just know you’re our leader, and … you know,” Wolf said.
“It’s not like I won’t be around.”
Their facial expressions said they weren’t sure they believed me. I wasn’t sure I believed me either. Finding myself in a wheelchair was more than a little unnerving. When I’d hurt my neck, and had the back spasms, it hadn’t hurt quite like this. With those injuries, I’d take some pain pills, stretch it out, and feel much better. This time, I was actually afraid to move too much, and every time I took a deep breath, I was reminded that something was wrong.
◊◊◊
After breakfast, Fritz, Brook, my parents, and I went to Coach Clayton’s office to talk. He ushered us in and then sat behind his desk. I’d noticed that the coaches at each school handled this differently. At Oklahoma, they’d had us sit across from each other at a conference table. Clemson’s coaches didn’t put a table between us, and they’d come across as more personable. Coach Clayton sat in a big executive chair with his desk between us. Uncle John had told me that if you wanted to show you were in charge, you would either do this or sit at the head of a table. I wasn’t sure if Coach Clayton was insecure or if he wanted to let me know where I stood. In my opinion, it was the exact wrong way to recruit.
“What happened last night?” he asked, getting right to the point. “Were you driving?”
“What are you implying?” my mom asked in an icy tone.
I think Coach Clayton realized he was about to blow his chances.
“I’m sorry, that came out wrong. Seeing David in a wheelchair with his right arm in a sling caught me off guard. Let’s try this again,” he said, then took a deep breath. “Are you okay?”
My mom eyed him but gave me a little nod.
“I’ll be fine. On top of a few minor dings, I have a hip pointer and three cracked ribs. I hadn’t been drinking and had a driver take us to and from the party. At the party, I didn’t touch anything that would make you worry unless you have an aversion to Mountain Dew,” I said.
I could see the worry drain from Coach Clayton. The last thing he needed was for his next quarterback to be either a head case or disruptive. I was sure he knew that several of his players had gone to the same party I was at, including his other quarterback recruit.
After our rocky start, things smoothed over. Coach Clayton knew an awful lot about me and wanted clarifications about what he’d read. I explained that I would have to be in next year’s recruiting class because of my movie commitments. He told me in confidence that if I were available for the incoming class, he would possibly pass on Matt Long. I was shocked, and he saw it.
