“If we’re going to work together, I want to be straight with you. From what I understand, you’re a man of integrity. I hope you find that I am too. I know that you’ve probably heard the song and dance that you’ll be given a chance to compete while schools target other top prospects. That’s not the way I work. I’m not one to just get three or four guys together and then throw them into a dogfight. I want to know who my starter will be, and I’ll work to make sure he’s given every opportunity to prove me right or to prove me wrong. If you come to USC, the timing would be perfect for you to step in right away or sit a year if Ridge Townsend doesn’t go to the NFL early.
“Matt is my insurance policy in case you either decide to go elsewhere or become injured. I usually try to spread out talents like the two of you have by a couple of years. The ideal situation would be you have a full year to learn under Ridge.
“I’ve talked to Matt, and he knows that it’s his job as of now,” Coach Clayton said, leaving the part where if I came here unsaid.
This was the closest to guaranteed playing time I’d been offered. I suspected that he knew I was leaning towards Michigan and had just pulled out all the stops. I looked at Dad and saw he’d picked up on it as well. Coach Clayton had just made USC tied with Michigan, in my mind. It would be interesting to see what Tim and Wolf thought.
◊◊◊
Wolf and Tim both received offers. They planned to meet with the strength and conditioning people and then fly back. I skipped because I had my own workout routines, and we’d already seen this dog-and-pony-show several times. We would fly back tonight after all our meetings. First stop was my new house.
We pulled up and found Jack Mass talking to Dean Lloyd, who was in charge of the College of Engineering. When they saw my dad bringing around the wheelchair, they both came over in concern.
“What the hell happened to you?” Jack asked.
“Car accident. Long story; I’ll tell you all about it later,” I assured him.
Jack looked like he wanted to ask me more, but instead decided to give me the bad news.
“Your home is set on a hill. We’ve checked the back portion of the lot, and there are signs of erosion. It looks like it isn’t isolated to just your property,” Jack said.
“Why is that an issue? Can’t you just fill it in?” Dad asked.
“In California, there are often concerns about flash floods and mudslides. While the hills here aren’t as pronounced as they are in some areas, those still can do quite a bit of damage. When you combine wildfires and then significant rains afterward, the ground no longer has vegetation and their roots to hold the dirt in place. With the subdivision’s development and all the modifications to the landscape that go with it, there has been a significant reduction of natural protection,” Dean Lloyd explained.
“We planned to clear the back half of the lot and put in garages and parking areas out of view from the front of the house,” Jack said.
“Wouldn’t that help to stabilize everything?” Dad asked.
“Maybe for your property, but we have to worry about what’s up the hill. We need to figure out the best way to mitigate the possible danger,” Dean Lloyd said.
“But there haven’t been any mudslides here,” I reasoned.
“It only takes one,” Dean Lloyd said.
I still wasn’t a believer until Jack told me to Google ‘mudslides.’ That changed my mind. Everyone talked about how great it was to live in Southern California. Between earthquakes, wildfires, flash floods, and mudslides, it sure seemed like God had it in for them.
◊◊◊
I left them to figure out the engineering issues and shuffled inside where Brook and Mom had gone to talk to Cindy and her group. Doug Wild let me in. It amazed me that he looked so much like his older brother.
We did the whole ‘what happened to you’ routine.
“Thank you for letting us invade you this weekend.”
“It’s your house now. I’m just glad you plan to fix it up. My brother wanted to do it but never got the chance. I gave these students the plans he’d had someone make for the house,” Doug shared.
“Are you sure you want to live through the renovation?” I asked.
“The rent’s right. I bet you have no idea how expensive it is to live in LA.”
Kent had told me that he’d paid $5,000 per month for a two-bedroom apartment. Back home, that would go for $500. I was sure that Kent’s old place had more bells and whistles, but his LA rent was more than most people back home made a month.
I heard everyone upstairs. It soon became apparent that going up those stairs was something I wouldn’t want to do again anytime soon. I had to use my left arm and leg to get me upstairs.
I’d broken out in a cold sweat halfway up. By the time I made it to the dining room table, where everything was spread out, I was ready for another pain pill.
Sitting with my mom, Cindy, and Brook were Professor Donaldson (Architecture), Professor Katz (Interior Design), and two other students who were earning internships with this project.
