Freight Train

by Sapphire Knight

  Bitch says it loud enough that my dad no doubt heard her. I’ve been planning to tell him, just maybe not today, but it looks like that’s changing.

  He clears his throat, “So who’s this Tyler?”

  “He’s a guy I’m friends with,” I answer slowly, and Brianne yells again.

  “It’s her boyfriend!”

  Pulling the phone away, I mouth at her, “Shut up!” And the traitor grins.

  “You have a boyfriend? Since when?”

  “Well, we’ve been friends for a while, but it’s been official for about a week now.”

  “And you didn’t think you should tell me about it? You haven’t mentioned anyone in the past.”

  “He’s a good man, and I like him, a lot.”

  “Maybe I should plan a trip.”

  “But you never visit here, how about I come see you on break instead.”

  “You’re right, and I think it’s time that changed. I need to visit you more, and that’s going to start happening, now.”

  “I love it that I’ll get to see you more, but why now?”

  “Because you’re at the age where men become significant in your life, and you need another man there to scare them away.”

  “Dad,” I mutter, knowing he wants to come see how far he can push Tyler before he gives up.

  “Look Pumpkin, the last time you told me you really liked someone of the opposite gender, it was a ferret that Nan smuggled into your bedroom. This is a big deal, and I need to come check it out for myself.”

  “Okay fine,” I huff. “You win, like always.”

  “It’s what I do kiddo; you know this.”

  “Yeah, just...”

  “What?”

  “I like him. I want you to promise me you’ll give him a fair chance.”

  “If he’s good to you, then there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”

  “So when do you plan to visit then?”

  “I can be down this weekend.”

  “Wow, already?”

  “Is that a problem?”

  Yes. It’s way too soon. “No, of course not, just wasn’t expecting you to come until one of my school breaks.”

  “I’m not waiting until Thanksgiving. I need to meet this guy now.”

  “That’s only like a month away.”

  “Not happening, Kadence. I’ll see you this weekend.”

  “Great, we can go to his game on Saturday.”

  “Game? He plays football?”

  “Why do you automatically assume it’s football?”

  “Because they play on Saturdays.”

  “Oh yeah.”

  “So, he’s a football player? I thought that wasn’t your type?”

  “You know I have a type?”

  “The last guy was artsy or something, wasn’t he?”

  “Holy shit, you knew about him?”

  “Of course, I’m your dad.”

  He says it so surely like I should expect him to know about my past boyfriends.

  “Okay, so are you flying?”

  “Of course not. I’ll be on the bike.”

  “All right, see you in a few days.”

  “Sounds good. Love ya, Pumpkin.”

  “Love you too, Daddy.”

  We hang up, and I immediately think that I should start calling him Dad. I’m in college. Maybe if I call him Dad instead, he’ll realize I’m not some teenager who needs her father as a bodyguard warding off the opposite sex.

  “So your dad’s visiting?” Brianne asks and takes a bite of her apple.

  “Yes, thanks to you blabbing about Tyler.”

  She starts giggling because even though she knows I love her, she’s also evil.

  “I’m not amused.”

  “Oh come on, Kay! He needs to meet Ty. It’s been awhile, and you guys are getting all hot and heavy, practically attached at the hip.”

  “It really hasn’t been that long. Plus, what if my dad scares him off?”

  “He won’t. You’ve dated boys in the past. Ty’s a man and a big one at that. The others would’ve been scared shitless, but your beau is buff, plus he’s an athlete—a good one—and he’s smart. The two of them already have something huge in common.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of. My dad is well aware of how shallow a lot of football players are. He’s going to have a preconceived image of Tyler before he even meets him.”

  “Maybe you should have him watch the game first. Would he be excited about it and go easy on Ty?”

  “I don’t know. Tyler’s so thrilled about eventually meeting my dad. I hope he’s not let down because my dad decides to be a jerk to him.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Give them both a chance, you never know. You were hesitant with Ty in the first place with your own preconceived opinions, and they turned out to be completely wrong, right?”

  “Right. Okay. We’ll just roll with it and hope it doesn’t go too badly.”

  “Good plan.” She winks and tosses the apple core in our small trash bin. “What ended up happening to the guy Ty punched out the other day anyhow?”

  “From the brief version he gave me, I guess the guy needed a few stitches and his jaw may be dislocated. Tyler wasn’t too sure because they’ve been keeping them separated.”

  “Geez, he did all that with just a few hits? I can only imagine what he’d have done given more time.”

  “Yeah, no kidding. Thank God they were pulled apart. I’d hate it if Tyler got into serious trouble because of some asshole.”

  “Asshole, huh? So you know why he went after the guy then?”

  “His name’s Briggs.” I shrug, not wanting to tell her all the details of why Ty really lost it. He told me not to say anything about it right now because he didn’t want details floating around campus. “Tyler didn’t say much about it; I was more concerned about him being sore from practice. He did warn me that Briggs isn’t a good person and we need to be careful around him.”

  “Weird, but good to know.”

  I nod. There, at least she’s warned to watch out for him, but doesn’t know the entire story. I kept my promise to Ty and still protected my friend.

  “I’m going to lunch with Kash, wanna come with us?”

  “No, I don’t want to party crash on you two.”

  “Are you sure? You’re always welcome.”

  “Thanks, but I’m good. I need to reserve a room for my dad for this weekend or else I know he’ll forget to. Are you and Kash a thing, now?”

  “We’re working on it, I think.”

  “I’m happy for you.”

  “Thanks, chick. So I’ll see you later then?”

  “Yep, if I’m not here then I’ll be with Tyler. I already missed my class so may as well do the next assignment and find something new to read.”

  “You work too hard, Kay. Take some time to relax.”

  “I will. Have fun.”

  “See you later.” She smiles and heads for the door.

  “See ya.” I smile back and pull on my headphones. If my dad’s coming, I want to be ahead on all my schoolwork, so he doesn’t think Tyler’s had any effect on that as well.

  Be strong when you are weak,

  brave when you are scared,

  and humble when you are

  victorious.

  -Unknown

  “Bro, you’re meeting her dad? Already?” JJ’s eyes grow wide as I tell him about the call I just received from Kadence. The guys don’t know her dad’s a famous retired NFL player. I’ve kept that part to myself to respect her privacy.

  “Yep, this weekend. It doesn’t seem too soon to me. I mean, she did meet my brothers last weekend.”

  “That’s not the same, though. You’re not a chick. What if Stratton doesn’t even let you play?”

  “Not to be a dick, but do you think he’s going to bench me? You know he only did it last time because the school and media were having a shit fit over it all.”

  “You’re probably right, but still. Are
you nervous?”

  “Ummm, a little.” More like a lot. Her dad was a football star, plus I really-really like Kadence, to the point that I know I’m going to slip up and say the L-O-V-E word soon.

  If Kadence hadn’t been the one to tell me that she’d told her dad, I’d almost think it was Coach trying to whip me into better shape. He’d do it if he thought it’d make me play better in any way.

  “She stayed here last night, huh?”

  “Yep, I sleep awesome when she’s in bed with me.”

  “I bet.” He laughs.

  “Shut the fuck up, man. You know what I mean.”

  “You bang her until you’re dead to the world.”

  “You know it.” I grin and fist bump him. That shit’s so untrue. It’s because she’s a little heater and she smells good, and I don’t know, she just makes me feel comfortable. Last weekend when I found her wearing my socks, though, I thought I was going to rip her clothes off, she looked so fucking sexy. Nate still won’t shut up about it.

  “Really, you’re picking the Patriots again?” he whines as Madden sixteen loads on the TV.

  “Don’t be jealous because I got the best team in the league.”

  “Yeah, I call bullshit.” More like he’s going to shit if he gets to meet Kadence’s dad this weekend also.

  “What are we going to do about Briggs? We need to come up with something.”

  “Chandler’s friends with a few of the girls that Briggs has messed with. They’re going to try and get a copy of the videos he has of them.”

  “And do what?”

  “I think take it to campus police and tell the Dean about it all.”

  “No way, that easily?”

  “Well, they may be hung up on Chandler a little.”

  “Two chicks at one time? Since when does he see more than one person?”

  “When it comes to helping you out.” That’s real friendship. I’ve known Chandler for years. He wouldn’t do this for just anyone, and he would never possibly hurt a woman’s feelings, so this is big.

  “Shit. I can’t believe he’d do that for me. I know after his sister got screwed over he’s been really protective and determined to never be a jerk like that. He needs to know I’m grateful. I wish I could do something.”

  “Actually, you already did.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “By having the party at the ranch and Nate being there, we now have an outside witness and then with you laying him out the other day.”

  “How did that help anything?” It frightened Kadence, got me in a shitload of trouble and made my body hurt from the repercussions. Thankfully, it was a closed incident, so my brothers have no idea about it, or I’d be in a whole other shit storm from those two.

  “You’ve been busy running the stadium, so you haven’t heard Stratton down on the field. He’s been all over Briggs’ ass. He knows something’s up and he’s trying to break Briggs. We’ve all been watching, waiting for him to hit the right spot and have Briggs up and leave, but it hasn’t happened yet.”

  “Stratton deserves more credit than we give him; he definitely knows more shit than he lets on.”

  “I swear he has spies planted around campus. It’s the only way he can always know what’s going on.”

  “No telling, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Is Chandler coming back tonight?”

  “Not sure, he’s been splitting up the past few nights. He goes to one chick’s place and then to the other’s afterward.”

  “Holy shit. He’s pulling the same moves that I used to do.”

  “I know. It’s about time he started living the college life,” he proudly beams.

  If only he knew that being with one woman, the right one, all the time, is so much more than being with fifty random women. He’ll learn one day. Until then, though, I hope he enjoys himself and doesn’t hurt any women involved.

  That’s one thing I made sure of before I got serious with Kadence, any woman I spent time with knew exactly what the score was. I never messed with anyone that way. It’s fucked up, especially when so many women want to be a little wild in college. You don’t need to lie to them about your intentions.

  The rest of the week flies by, and before I know it, Kadence and I have been together officially for two weeks, even though it feels like longer. To me, it is. I’ve been thinking of her as my girlfriend long before she agreed with it.

  I have to get through this game today, which shouldn’t be too difficult. The team’s not that talented, and Coach is, of course, letting me play. But he didn’t share that with the team or me until he gave me a long-drawn-out speech about how just because I have the skill, it doesn’t mean I’m exempt from my actions.

  We all know it’s bullshit, though. I paid my dues in the beginning, and he wants to win too badly to exclude me from the games. He may run me like a pig at practice, but he wants me in on defense and offense when it’s going to count. Thank God for that, because Kadence and her father are expecting to watch me play.

  I don’t think I’ve been this nervous since my mom told me about the first scout coming to watch me play. I was only in ninth grade, and it was right before she passed, but I was a wreck inside. I didn’t let any of it show, and my mom said the scout was impressed and would be back each year to see me play one game.

  After the second year, I got to know him and became less nervous. In return, it was easy for me to shine in front of him. Arthur Macintyre was his name. He was there each year just like he promised, and he’s the one who signed me to Alabama. He tried to make it to every game I played here too. Unfortunately, he had a stroke and passed away last year. I’ll never forget him. Like my mother, he’s someone who believed in me.

  I could use that support today when I go out on the field. Not only do I want to play well for myself, but for Kadence as well. I want her to be proud of me. She hasn’t given me a reason to think she’s not, but it felt so good to point that football in her direction after I landed a touchdown. The beam that lit up across her face at that moment is something I’ll never forget. She was utterly breathtaking.

  “Ready, bro?” JJ asks me the same question before each game.

  “Yep, as I’ll ever be. Was your mom able to make it to this one?”

  He grew up with a single mom who had to work a lot of hours to support him and his progressing talent in football. She was the mom missing practices and games. Not because she wanted too, but because she was working extra shifts to pay for him to go to camps, have trainers, etc. She couldn’t always be there for him in person, but she no doubt loves him beyond measure, always sacrificing so he could do what he loves.

  Had my own mother been alive, I think they would’ve been friends too. JJ’s mom, Marie, is a woman who’s always welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like family. JJ didn’t need a father growing up, Marie made sure that when she could be around, it counted.

  “No. She asked for it off, but the lady who was supposed to work ended up quitting.”

  “Sorry, man.”

  “Yeah, I just hope I get drafted. I’ll make sure my mom’s able to be at all of my games, in every city I play in. That woman won’t have to work another day in her life if I can help it.”

  “It’ll happen, especially if we run the two pass play we’ve been practicing. The NFL scouts love those, seeing that we can be versatile in positions.”

  Chandler steps beside us, looking exhausted. “Hey, guys.”

  “Fuck, are you sick or something?” JJ asks.

  “Yeah, you look terrible.”

  “Ugh, you guys don’t want to know. I’m fine, just tired.”

  “How can you not get sleep the night before a game, Chandler? I’d never expect this from you of all people.” I’m a team captain, so I have every right to be pissed at him. This isn’t summer ball’ this is college and everyone not giving it one hundred percent affects the entire team.

  “Trust me, I know. But Lila wouldn’t let me go to bed when I got to her place.”
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  “You were at a chick’s? Dude, I get it that you’re trying to get these women to help us, but you gotta set some limits.”

  “I will, I promise. She was just emotional when she called me I thought it’d only take a little while for her to calm down, but she went on all night long.”

  “You need to get your head on straight. It’s game day,” I reprimand, disappointed in one of my best friend’s choices.

  I already have to deal with asshole Briggs still being around and not knowing when or if he’ll eventually be kicked off the team, but now Chandler’s slipping up. Granted he’s not a piece of crap like Briggs and I know he’s trying to help me, but he has to put football first when it comes to this stuff. We get one chance to hit the NFL—just one. The shit going on with Briggs is extremely important, but our performance is going to dictate whether this’ll be our future careers. I haven’t worked for damn near my entire life toward being drafted, for people to start fucking it up when I’m so close.

  “Who’s ready?” Coach hollers, interrupting everyone chatting and going through their pregame rituals. “I said, who’s ready?” he yells even louder. I swear the man’s voice can reach decibels I’ve never heard before. It must be a requirement for coaches or something.

  “Alabama, baby!” the team shouts back and stomps.

  “Who?” Stratton goes on, pumping everyone up.

  “Alabama, baby!” The team grows louder, taking over one of our many chants.

  Kash and I line up at the door like usual, ready to lead the team to the field.

  “Watch Gomez.” He turns to me, looking a little uneasy. Usually, if there’s an opposing player he’s concerned about, we discuss it ahead of time, so I can get him to chill out and help deal with whoever the threat is on the field.

  “It’ll be okay, bro.”

  “No, he was on the injured list, they just released him. I got a text update.”

  “Okay, no big deal. I got you, turn off your phone and get game ready.”

  “He’s going to try to take out my legs,” Kash continues as if I didn’t speak at all. Clearly, he’s tripping out inside. “He’s told a few players that he wants me gone for good. For. Good. Owens.”