I was cooling down from my own workout when Frank’s call came in. He was almost hyperventilating with worry, but calmed down when I took him through what had happened and why. I told him I’d been practically surrounded by my teammates, so I doubted that anyone would have gotten any decent video of the parking-lot activities. Despite his concern, I did manage to reassure him that no one but me had any film of my confrontation with Mike.
I also shared that I was sure both Luke and Mike would be every bit as interested in burying the story as I was. They both had scholarships and playing time to protect, just as I did. Publicity that they had drunk underage girls in their bedrooms would get Luke expelled and risk destroying Mike’s Michigan ride before it even started.
“Yeah,” Frank grumped. “It’ll keep them quiet only until they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by making it public. That might happen as early as two years from now.”
We talked it over and agreed to create a ‘defense’ file, with its own packet of films, pictures, and statements. That was what we’d done for both the feminazis and the underage actress Laurent Vance had set me up with the previous summer. Frank promised to call me if anything at all came up.
By the time we hung up, it was halfway through second period. Great.
◊◊◊
At lunch, Pam sat down next to me before everyone else joined us.
“Three things: You’re taking me to State tonight, and we’re taking Tracy out to dinner. The second is that you and I are going out on a date Friday. Finally, you’re babysitting all the little ones Saturday night so that Angie, Ashley, and Peggy can have a girls’ night with Joey.”
“That sounds fine. Why aren’t you and Scarlet joining them?” I asked.
“I’m too young, and Scarlet is going out with Paul,” Pam informed me.
“And I take it Greg and his little ones are coming over as well.”
“I think that’s the plan,” she confirmed.
I would have to make sure our new nanny was available because I didn’t see Greg and me surviving a night alone with all eight of the ankle-biters. Not with five of them just learning to walk.
On second thought, I might need more backup than just our nanny. Maybe I could convince some grandmas to show up and help. When we’d gone shopping for Halloween, they’d had a good time. Greg could order Monical’s, and we’d make a night of it.
“Good,” I said, which seemed to shock her. “Ask your mom if she wants to join us. I’m thinking of inviting the grandmas to come help.”
Pam wasn’t impressed.
“You just don’t want to have to deal with all of them at once,” Pam said, and then got an evil glint in her eye. “Are you sure you want the grandmas to get together and compare notes?”
I shrugged. It wasn’t like they were their daughters who knew me a little too well. What was the worst that could happen? Plus, the grandmas all loved their little ones. Surely, they would be focused on their grandkids and not me.
◊◊◊
How I ever thought Joey was attractive escaped me. The evil woman tried to kill me after school. She wanted to demonstrate to Cassidy how far I’d come in only a few weeks under her tutelage. Yes, baseball practice started next week. Yes, I wanted to be in top condition so I could focus on baseball and not on getting in shape. And yes, I agreed to let the two of them change up my training.
But I hadn’t signed up for them to torture me. I didn’t realize that the rowing machine had different levels of difficulty. Joey let me warm up at my normal level, which I already considered damned hard, then she cranked it up to eleven.
When I first tugged on the ‘oars,’ they didn’t budge.
“I think you broke it,” I said, unaware of their evil plan.
“Try harder,” Cassidy urged.
I settled in and figured I would jolt it free. I gave a mighty pull, and it was like rowing in quicksand.
“What the heck?” I complained.
“Quit being a baby and see how far you can go,” Joey ordered.
The rowing machine is a complete body workout. After I’d gone five minutes, I was about to hyperventilate and completely soaked in sweat. My legs and butt muscles seemed to be on fire, my stomach screamed for relief, and my shoulders were on the verge of cramping up.
“Fight through it!” Joey yelled.
That caused everyone in the gym to take notice of the pain and suffering I was being subjected to. This reminded me of the Elite 11 football camp when they ran us through different exercises with the knowledge that our bodies would fail us. It had been a way for them to gauge how we faced adversity. For many of the guys, they’d never crashed and burned before. Some didn’t handle it well. I’d dug down and refused to give up and somehow pushed through to the finish.
“Come on, David. You can do it,” Cassidy encouraged.
