“I wanted to hear it from you because I know you’ll tell me the truth. Did you drink Saturday night?” Coach asked.
“No, sir.”
“What has you so riled up this morning?”
I told him about Brook being the one to turn in Destiny and how his daughter had retaliated. He was about as impressed as I was with how both Brook and his daughter reacted.
“I understand you wanting to fire Cassidy. Would you give me a chance to talk to her before you make it official?”
“What about Brook?” I asked.
He laughed and shook his head.
“Let me tell you about my wife and me. She and I had a serious falling out shortly after Brad was born. It doesn’t really matter what it was about. Suffice it to say, she was ready to use a rusty spoon on the family jewels. We both said things in the heat of the moment that could never be unsaid.
“Unfortunately, I was in the process of being deployed to Germany. I flew out the next day,” he explained.
“I guess everything worked out since you had Cassidy,” I ventured.
“It did, but it was touch-and-go there for a while. For almost a month, my wife wouldn’t even take my calls. The bad part was I couldn’t tell my commander that I needed to take some personal time to save my marriage. That’s not how the Marines work, for the most part.”
“So, what happened?” I asked.
“Brad got sick, he developed pneumonia, and they hospitalized him. It made us realize how silly our argument was when compared to seeing our son in the ICU. I’d be disappointed if you broke up with Brook over a misunderstanding. You wouldn’t want Destiny to win.”
“No, I get that. What I have a problem with is that Brook didn’t even ask me if I did it.”
“Let it go. In the heat of the moment, I’ve seen people commit all sorts of stupidity. I’ve heard you say it’s not the mistake that matters, but how you handle it. Give her a chance to handle it,” he suggested.
By now, I’d started to calm down. Coach was as bad as my uncle, using my own words against me. I simply nodded, and he gave me a pass to go to class late.
Was this one of those times I was trying to make her wrong because she hadn’t handled the situation the way I wanted her to? Or was I justified in how I’d reacted? I could hear my uncle tell me that my feelings were valid. That was code for ‘suck it up and get over yourself.’
◊◊◊
I was at my locker when my phone rang. The caller ID said it was my mom.
“This is David. How may I be of assistance?” I asked cheerily.
“When did you think it would be appropriate to tell me you lent Brit your apartment so that cat from hell could have her kittens there?”
My first thought was it was my apartment and … well, then my brain kicked in. Technically, it was my parents’ apartment, and if I weren’t careful, I would learn that the hard way.
Explaining Bandit’s involvement and how Brit considered that made me responsible made me even later for first period. Mom made it clear that the conversation wasn’t over, but she let me go to class. I probably should have mentioned what had been planned. My explanation got me off the hook … for now.
◊◊◊
Between classes, Dare touched my arm to get my attention. Someday, he might actually be able to say something to get me to notice him. It was hit-or-miss with him right now, as far as him talking. I gave him the one raised eyebrow to get him to spit it out.
“We need another drone,” he mumbled.
I had to count to ten because drones weren’t cheap.
“You might want to explain why,” I suggested before I blew up.
He blushed because he realized I assumed he’d broken the other one.
“Your drone is fine. I want a smaller one for security.”
Dare quickly explained a couple of different ideas he had that showed me how smart he really was. He’d observed how my drivers would get out of the car and check around it before they would let me out. He suggested that they release a drone and have it check for them. That way, they were still in the car and could drive away if there was trouble.
Another idea was to link a drone to my phone’s Bluetooth and have it follow me. That would serve as a replacement for my bodycam. He said it could act as a live feed to my security team and be monitored remotely in case something serious happened.
Both ideas sounded like fun to me, but I knew that I would have to explain it to Caryn. That was when I had a brilliant idea.
“Sounds fine to me, but you’ll have to present it to my business manager. She’s in charge of the funds.”
I used that one for anyone who came to me and wanted money. Some random person would approach me with the next big idea or charity that needed backing. If it were left to me, I would be adopting kids in desperate need all over the world, or even better, sick puppies. I was a sucker for that type of appeal. Sending them to Caryn saved me a ton of money.
Dare was a man on a mission. Thinking of my business manager, I shook my head. Caryn had no idea how persistent a teen could be if they really wanted something.
◊◊◊
