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6
Dennis
“Man, what’s up with you and Chelsea?”
Tommy was getting dressed, the whole team was. Practice was good, but my mind was elsewhere, and it couldn’t have been better.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that she was really upset when I saw her earlier. Did you two break up?”
I smile, self-assured even though I wasn’t. I knew that it wouldn’t be long until Chelsea was pissed off because she’d found out. She might already know. Her friend would have probably called as soon as she got out of earshot.
“You would like that, Tommy, wouldn’t you?”
“Well, I mean, if you don’t want her, I am sure that there are several men here that would take her off your hands.”
He was talking about Chelsea like she was an old toaster or something, and I didn’t like the way he was acting. I'm not going to say that I was the epitome of treating her right. I really didn't care about her in the same way I knew she cared about me. It was complicated, and or at least I liked to say that it was complicated. It really wasn't, though, was it?
“No, Chelsea isn't going anywhere.”
“You still don’t want to share, huh?”
I was still trying to get used to the culture that they had at the college. The men would pass around the women like they were disposable, and I am happy to say that I had never partaken in that custom, even though it was done by everybody else at the fraternity. When I initially heard about it, I had to wonder how many of them were sharing some kind of strange disease or something. It didn't make me want to go down that route.
“No, I think I'll pass on that.”
“It's not right, man, you take the hottest chick, and you want to keep her to yourself.”
“I don't think that Chelsea would be down for it, anyway. She’s not like that.”
“Maybe not, but I'm sure that you could talk her into it. You have a way of getting what you want pretty well.”
Tommy was reminding me why I didn't care for him very much. He was basically a predator with a baby face. There had always been something strange and off about him, and now I think I knew what it was. He was out to take advantage of anyone that he could. It just reminded me that I needed to keep my shit together around him. I couldn't be caught slipping.
“So, what do you think of the change they did to the defense?”
I was desperately trying to talk about anything but Chelsea or women in general with Tommy. There wasn't much I would be able to listen to before I wanted to hit him or did hit him. Violence on the team was definitely frowned upon, and I needed a few more good games. The deal in Dallas was basically locked, but I knew that offers could be pulled back if unsportsmanlike conduct was discovered. I wasn't going to go down that route.
“Oh, man, he knows that Billy is going to totally choke. He's probably going to get you broke up before you get to the big leagues. He's not very good at making sure you don't get hit.”
“Yeah, I've noticed that too. I'm just going to have to stick closer to you, huh?”
“Well, I will follow you and where the ball goes, that’s where I’ll be. You don’t have to worry about anything, man.”
He had a smile on his face, and I guess I was supposed to feel better about his comment. He was telling me that he was going to make sure that I was okay. That was what I wanted to hear, but knowing who he was, I wasn't that much relieved. Instead, I think I was going to have to watch both of them.
Tommy skittered off and like it was just on time, Chelsea called me. I didn't know what kind of conversation this was going to be. I don’t know if she’d talked to her friend yet and she was now calling to cuss me out. Was she going to be really nice, try to coax it out of me? There were several scenarios that could happen and none of them were that she wouldn't know about it. I had to know going into this conversation that Chelsea definitely knew. Whatever she said, she had to know.
Maybe I should just start with it, so that it would be easier to explain, and I would be not as bad off because I had admitted it, instead of being caught. Even though I was already caught. I don’t know. I went for it, because it was all complicated.
“Hey, Chelsea. I was just about to call you.”
“Oh, really. Where are you?”
“I'm in the locker room getting dressed. Tommy was telling me about a party that they're having in the Valley. Are you interested?”
“I don't know.”
