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The breakfast was a nice time to reconnect with his family, and his cousins and their wives who could get away were there to support him. Fortunately, the coach made the announcement that the players had some business to attend to that afternoon, so entertaining Joanne wasn’t on his roster.
Friday night, however, she expected an invitation to his apartment, and the biggest lie he’d ever told came in handy. “We’d better not try to see each other tonight.”
“Why not?” she cried, stamping her foot. “We haven’tbeen togetherfor months.”
Mortified, he drew her over to a corner away from everyone. “There’s evidence that having sex beforea competitioncan have an impact on performance in combat, speed and strength, and not in a good way.”
“Ollie, that’s bullshit,” she said, trembling. “You’re just trying to avoid being with me. I could tell the last time we were together that you weren’t into it.”
“I’d just had my brains rattled,” he whispered. “You were lucky I could get it up. You’ll have to believe me on this. I can’t take the chance of being distracted. It’s a pivotal game, Joanne.”
“I’m not sure I can handle this,” she said. “You took this gig without conferring with me—”
“Joanne, let’s find a seat together!” Roberta cried. “I want you right next to me for the entire weekend so I can hear all about your next off-Broadway play!”
“What’s she so chummy for?” Joanne muttered, shoving Oliver away.
“Son, I’m sorry your girlfriend is so miserable. I swear to you, I’d have discouraged her from coming if I’d known what the cost was going to be.”
“Pop, it’s not your fault. I’ve been avoiding her because I don’t have the guts to do what’s right.”
“You can’t break up with her before a game,” Clare said, appearing next to Charlie. “Let’s go in to eat. Roberta tells me I’m the babysitter for a new girlfriend tomorrow.”
“She’s not exactly a girlfriend. Not yet, anyway. I’ll break up with Joanne first; then I can ask Wendy on a real date. Believe it or not, I didn’t want to be that guy.”
“I know it, dear. How did you meet the new girl?”
“Remember, it was her dog we rescued.”
“Oh, right!”
“I know her though. She’s also the trauma nurse. Every time someone gets hurt, she shows up with the ambulance.”
“Oh God, do I need to hear this?”
“I mean the other guys, not me,” he said, flushing.
He followed his mother into the vast dining room, where the chaplain was preparing to say grace. Joanne had saved him a chair, and he couldn’t be so rude as to ignore her so he could sit between his parents. Feeling childish and out of sorts, he decided it was the aftereffect of the last concussion, which the family didn’t know about. Making decisions was getting to be a task.
The meal that followed was phenomenal, with an omelet station and a guy making pancakes and waffles, bagels and all the fixin’s, just about anything you might want to eat for breakfast. He ate up, loading on carbohydrates and even taking a small steak. He didn’t like to eat too much the night before a game, so breakfast was the meal.
***
Fourth quarter, no time-outs left, and they were down by six points. Five seconds on the clock for the two-minute warning, and they were waiting it out to strategize their next play. He’d only had a few passes thrown his way and was getting sick of it. In spite of a pounding headache, Oliver Saint had some damn good hands, and he was ready to prove it to his teammates and to his family watching in the stands.
Could he handle the pressure? Hell yeah. Just give him the ball.
The whistle blew and everyone huddled up. The quarterback looked at the plays on the plastic-covered guard on his wrist, trying to figure out what way to go.
“Give it to me,” Oliver said. “It’s now or never. Let’s go for the play we’ve been running through practice.”
“Are you kidding me?” Joe, an offensive lineman, said. “You want to do a trick play on the third down with less than two minutes to go? We’re just three yards from a first down. Forty yards from the end zone.”
“Joe’s right,” the quarterback said. “Let’s just get that first down.”
“Whatever,” Oliver said. “I can do it and you know I can. Make a decision and make it now. We need to line up.”
The quarterback looked hesitant and finally said, “Fine. Your way, but if you fail, it’s the last time you get any say.”
