The other side of expecting everyone to underestimate you was that you sometimes overplayed your hand. Stewart was in no position to compel me to do anything. He looked around the table to see who was in charge. His eyes settled on my dad, who just stared back at him.
Mr. Morris wasn’t used to silence, being a lawyer. I could tell he was about to blurt something out, so I grabbed his knee under the table. The first one to talk would lose this round. Finally, Stewart broke.
“I think you need to consider your position.”
I barked out a laugh in triumph. Mr. Morris wasn’t sure what to do.
“Suck it. I’m not doing anything for you,” I said.
That was when Stewart realized he was looking at the wrong Dawson. The ‘suck it’ had been said intentionally. I wanted to see him react for a change. I’d acted like a naïve, petulant teenager. Two could play this game.
Stewart started and stopped his next thought a couple of times before he smiled.
“I was certain you’d go for that,” he finally said and then got serious. “We’ve suspected that something like you brought us has been going on, but we haven’t looked at it very hard.”
“That was until it was Springbok and the upstart, Southwest Central State,” Dad said. “I would bet that you’ve gotten calls from the big schools complaining about what they consider underhanded recruiting practices.”
“All ongoing investigations are confidential.”
He sounded like the FBI agents.
“That means ‘yes,’” Mr. Morris translated for us.
“Look. We’re a long way from getting what we need to do anything with what you brought us. I’m hoping your help will get us enough that we can open up a bigger investigation,” Stewart said.
It all became clear. Stewart was eager to make a name for himself, and I would bet he was willing to sacrifice me and my athletic career to achieve that. He’d just wrapped up a win by taking down Notre Dame. Following that up with nailing the upstart would be a good career move.
“We agreed to take one meeting with them. Let’s figure out what you need us to ask to help you. Then you’re on your own. I don’t want my name associated with any of this. We could have just ignored everything and walked away,” I said to remind him we came to them.
Stewart had come prepared. He had a list of questions that he thought would get the information he wanted. We left Stewart and drove home. On the way, we talked.
“Do you think he’ll hold to the deal?” Dad asked.
“I’m sure he will. We have it in writing, and we have him on camera,” Mr. Morris assured us.
“I don’t think he’ll even come close to honoring the deal,” I said, surprising them. “Stewart is young and hungry. He sees this as a path to advancement.”
“What should we do?” Dad asked.
“Have the meeting tomorrow and play it by ear from there. David may be right. We need to be prepared,” Mr. Morris said.
“Did he really see my bodycam?” Dad asked.
“He made an educated guess,” Fritz said.
“I agree,” I said. “We’ll have to make a show of taking off bodycams for the next meeting.”
“It looks like he’s preparing for his role in the James Bond movie,” Dad said.
“If you work out where we meet him with enough warning, I can get everything set up so you won’t have to wear one. It might be a good idea for tomorrow night,” Fritz suggested.
“Bond, Ian Bond,” I said and made a gun out of my hand.
When did my life get so crazy that we had to do these kinds of things?
◊◊◊
When I got home, I sent a text to Brook, and she jumped onto video chat.
“Watermelon,” she said, and Mr. Happy was sure she’d said ‘pineapple,’ the signal for sexy fun.
There was a soft knock on my door, and Lexi was there waiting with two plates of watermelon. I looked over at my tablet, and Brook had a wedge in front of her.
Both girls thought it was funny when they saw I was aroused.
“Funny,” I said as I took my plate and then gave Lexi a look. “What, no salt?”
“Gross. You put salt on watermelon?” Brook complained.
Lexi looked confused.
“You poor thing. Brook, go get some salt, and I’ll be right back,” I said and ran to the kitchen.
Dad told me to slow down. I showed him there was watermelon, and he made me give him the salt before I stole it. When I came back, I put some on mine. Both Brook and Lexi put a small amount on a little piece of fruit. Salt brightened the flavor and made it sweeter. It gave the watermelon a salty-sweet taste. I smiled when I saw both girls put more on the rest of theirs.
I let Lexi catch Brook up on what had happened today. It looked like the two girls had started to get comfortable with each other. It was interesting to hear Lexi’s perspective on what had occurred. She didn’t trust the NCAA guy at all. She also called Mr. Morris a ‘typical lawyer.’ I wasn’t sure what that meant but might be able to guess.
Once we finished eating, Lexi acted shy. I didn’t buy it for a minute.
“If you need me to ...” she began and batted her eyes at Brook.
“Slow down. We talked about my concerns, and they haven’t changed in the last few hours,” I interjected.
“It was worth a try. I noticed there was some swelling ...”
