“Aren’t you going to offer Teresa any?” Adrienne asked sweetly.
I was so getting even with her.
“Would you like a slice?” I asked.
“Sure,” Teresa said and sat down at the table.
Apparently, Tyler saw through my next plan.
“Come sit with us,” the evil woman said.
Plans for eating elsewhere flew out the window. I had to be polite, so I sat down and focused on eating my food.
“I hear that we’re all invited to a party tonight,” Adrienne said innocently.
Tyler gave me and then Teresa a meaningful look. They could bite me if they thought I was about to ask her.
“You should come,” Tyler said to Teresa when she saw I wasn’t about to ask.
“I would need a ride,” Teresa said.
“David will send his driver over to pick you up,” Tyler said and then turned to me. “What time should she expect him?”
I almost said, “When Hell freezes over,” but stopped myself. Teresa was just a girl, and I had nothing to worry about. I had a girlfriend who loved me. The only problem was, I hadn’t seen her in two weeks.
“Eight should work.”
Teresa was smart enough to make a hasty retreat once she’d accomplished her goal with the help of the evil twosome. When she was out of earshot, I turned on them.
“You both are going with us and keeping me out of trouble.”
“We wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Adrienne assured me.
Frick!
◊◊◊
I caught up on the last two episodes of Jeff Delahey’s documentary series. The first one focused on the defense. Tim had a long segment where he talked about his injury and the rehab he’d gone through. Each starter had garnered some face time.
The second featured the offense. I was glad to see that I only had a small amount of screen time. The largest portion was an interview Jeff had with our offensive line. Ty and Wolf also had longer segments.
◊◊◊
Dad found me and said that we had another conference call with my lawyers. Mr. Morris had talked to the NCAA. Ms. Addison—Maddie—had stayed with us to save on hotel expenses, so she joined us in the dining room.
When we called in, Mr. Morris got right to the point.
“Well, it was drama-free, but they have a request. They want you to meet with the coach from Southwest Central State and see if he will admit to the pay-for-play scheme. When he talked to your mom, he only alluded to the fact that he knew you took the meeting with Springbok. The coach never confirmed that he knew that money was offered.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Ms. Addison said. “We would, at the very least, have to clear it with the FBI.”
“I didn’t tell the NCAA that the FBI was going to be informed,” Mr. Morris shared.
“I don’t think you should,” Bev Mass said, jumping into the conversation. “FBI investigations are kept confidential for a reason. This could lead back to the NCAA. As a matter of fact, it does, indirectly, for allowing this to involve one of its member institutions that it is supposed to be governing. If that’s the case, you don’t want to give them a heads-up.”
“So, we should tell the FBI what the NCAA wants us to do. And we’re not to let the NCAA know that we’re keeping the FBI in the loop,” Dad said to clarify.
“That sounds about right,” Ms. Dixon agreed.
“I would also suggest that
“Let’s talk to the FBI first and see what they say,” Ms. Addison said, which everyone agreed to.
As everyone began to drop off the call, Ms. Dixon asked Dad and me to stay on. She told Ms. Addison that she wasn’t needed, so Maddie stepped out of the room, leaving us to talk to Ms. Dixon alone.
“We hired Jason Voorhees, the lawyer Chubby Feldman recommended. Mr. Voorhees had his meeting with Zander’s lawyers yesterday. I attended via conference call and told him I would update you on what transpired. Mr. Voorhees submitted a settlement demand letter. It summarizes the incident that caused your injury, the damages you suffered, and the amount you’re seeking in compensation. For damages, we are asking for reimbursement of all your actual out-of-pocket expenses. That includes doctor bills, hospitalization, what you had to pay for the damaged rental vehicle, our fees, and the like,” Ms. Dixon explained.
Caryn had all the documentation for those items sent to Ms. Dixon.
“Unlike the cost of the MRI or hospital stay, there’s no clear way to put a price on David’s emotional distress. In a case like this, the pain and suffering award will be determined by reviewing David’s lingering pain and emotional distress symptoms, taking into account their severity and duration. Under normal circumstances, that part of it would be looked at like a claims adjuster would for an insurance company. That is, it would be assumed it was an accident,” Ms. Dixon said.
“But he tried to injure or even kill my son,” Dad said, getting a little hot under the collar.
