Secrets or Surrender

by Mary Tribbey

  Chapter 6

  By the time the game was over, Joan had learned many of the players’ names. When the final whistle blew, the score ended at 45 to 10. The fans began swarming for the exits. Cindy and Joan stayed in their places for several minutes, knowing it would take some time for the team to get into the locker room and change clothes. The Coliseum began to empty out, and shadows of the afternoon moved silently over the nearly deserted section.

  After about 15 minutes, Cindy and Joan gathered up their belongings and headed for the lower tunnel. The guard near the team entrance greeted Cindy and opened the door for her. “Sounds like quite a celebration is going on down there,” he said as they passed through.

  “I had no idea there was all this space down here under the seating area. It’s almost like an underground city with all the halls and doorways,” Joan marveled.

  As they approached the team area, Cindy and Joan noticed a group of men with cameras standing in the hallway. Joan stopped abruptly.

  Cindy turned around and looked at her. “What's wrong?” she asked. “It’s only some reporters. They won’t hurt you.”

  “You go ahead,” Joan gasped in a strained voice. “I think I'd better leave. I can’t go down there with those reporters!”

  “Joan, you can't leave now. You’ll spoil everything. This is all in your honor. The team arranged to have a celebration for you. Come on,” Cindy coaxed.

  Joan turned around, trembling violently. “You don’t understand! It will destroy my life, and all I’ve worked for during the last two years if I go down there. Please, Cindy, I'll do anything else, but not that. Help me get out of here. I’m begging you,” Joan cried.

  Cindy put her arm around Joan and quickly pushed her into an office marked Team Trainer. There was no one inside. She shut the door and tried to calm Joan down, but she saw it was no use.

  “Wait here. I'll be right back. I won't let them see you I promise.” Cindy promised as she slipped out into the long hallway. She walked quickly past the reporters, knocked on the door, and asked to speak to Lyle. When he came to the door and saw Cindy was alone, he pulled her inside.

  “Where is she?” Lyle asked.

  “She’s in the Trainer's Office. When she saw the reporters, she got hysterical. I tried to get her to come in, but she's terrified of something. Can you come and talk to her? I didn't know what else to do,” Cindy urged. “She's terribly upset.”

  “Let me fill Dave and Coach in, then I’ll meet you in the Trainers Office. You’d better get back to her,” Lyle advised.

  Cindy slipped out. The reporters ganged around her. “Why is there all the secrecy? It looks like something’s up,” they asked

  “I don't know. I just came to see how much longer Lyle would be. It's our anniversary, and I wanted to get home to the boys,” she answered sweetly.

  “Why won’t they let us in?” another asked.

  “You'll have to wait and hear that from the coach. I don't know. Lyle said they could be another half hour or more before they're ready to leave. That's all I know,” she added.

  She walked away from them and turned into the trainer's room. In a minute, Lyle entered through an inside door.

  When he saw Joan, he walked over and put his arms around her and gave her a hug. She leaned her head against his chest and cried.

  “This is getting to be a habit,” he chuckled softly. “What’s the matter?”

  Joan looked up at him, fear and panic clearly showing on her face. “It's the reporters. If you care about me at all, please help me get out of here without any publicity. It would destroy my life here to put my picture or my name in the papers. I can’t explain it, but it would mean my having to leave here and start all over again. Please help me,” she begged.

  Lyle looked down into her haunted eyes. He hugged her again. “You’ve got it. I’ll get rid of them. You just stay here with Cindy. I won't let anyone bother you. I don’t understand what the problem is, but I owe you that much. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be in this mess. Just calm down”

  Lyle hurried back down to the locker room. He motioned for Dave to come over. Lyle quickly explained the fear Joan had of publicity, and how she was in the trainer's room nearly hysterical with fear. “I promised her I’d get her out without the reporters seeing her. I don’t know how I can do it, but I’m going to keep that promise.”

  They called the coach over. After a few minutes of conversation, the coach gathered the players around. He told them that the press part of the celebration was off. He ordered, “Don’t tell the reporters anything about Joan or what we had planned.” They all agreed.

  He had the reporters admitted. They came swarming in like summer mosquitoes. They asked a lot of questions, but the coach explained that he just needed a few minutes with the team before they opened the locker room to the news media. He stated it was just a routine team meeting.

  The reporters turned to Dave. They sensed something was up, and they weren't about to let it drop without a story. Dave shrank away from publicity; he hated the stupid, prying questions they asked. In his college years, he had been so badly misquoted by the press that he usually refused interviews. The reporters kept asking questions. He didn’t mind discussing the sports coverage of the game, but he hated the prying, personal questions the most. When it seemed the reporters weren’t going to leave without a story. Dave finally promised to have a meeting with the press on Wednesday afternoon, if they would clear out now. A press meeting with Dave Allen was such an unusual occurrence, they agreed reluctantly to leave. Within five minutes, the reporters were all gone

  Lyle went back down to where Joan and Cindy were waiting. “They’re gone. It’s safe for you to go to the locker room now. I promised I’d get the reporters to leave and they have. Let's go down now. Dave and some of the team still want to meet you. Is that all right, if there are no newsmen?” he asked.

  “Why did you have to make a fuss? I said I didn't need to be thanked,” Joan asked.

  “Please trust me. I won't let anyone bother you. If it gets too bad, I'll get you out of there,” Lyle promised.

  Cindy took Joan’s hand, and Lyle led them down the interior hallway to the locker room. When they entered, Lyle put his arm loosely around Joan’s shoulder and escorted her into the center of the room. Joan blushed and looked down at the floor. When she looked up again, she saw that the men were all smiling at her.

  The coach walked over, shook her hand, and welcomed her to the Ram’s team. He explained that the men had all voted to make her an honorary member of the team because of what she done for Dave. Dave walked over next and draped a team jacket around her shoulders. She glanced up at him but quickly lowered her eyes. Next he handed her a huge bouquet of red roses. She held them in her arms and breathed in their heady aroma. Everyone cheered and she blushed furiously, turning nearly as red as the roses. Next they gave her a season ticket in Cindy’s box.

  “Speech! Speech,” some of them called.

  Joan looked up, tears in her eyes, at the sight of all the people smiling and welcoming her. Although she was still self-conscious, she cleared her throat and began to speak in a soft firm voice. “I don't know how to thank you for this honor. I've never been on a football team before, but after watching you play today, I'm glad I'm only an honorary member. It looks too dangerous out there on that field for me! I'll leave the game playing for you, but I'd be honored to come and cheer you on. Thank you for everything,” she added looking around at all of them.

  Lyle still stood by her right side, his arm protectively around her shoulder; Cindy stood on her left side. Dave stood a few feet away and silently watched her. The team laughed and cheered for her again. One by one, they came up and greeted her. Henry, one of the men that she recognized from the Adam’s Rib, leaned over, and lightly kissed her cheek. She squeezed his hand. He flashed her a smile and playfully
winked at her.

  After everyone had filed by, the team members began drifting out of the locker room. Soon only five men remained behind. Joan realized they were the five men from the Adam’s Rib. They were all going out with Cindy and Lyle to toast their fifth wedding anniversary.

  “We’d better hurry up and meet our ladies,” Jordan reminded Henry.

  “Yeah, they’ll be steamed enough about waiting so long for us already, but then we are worth it!” Henry bragged. “We’ll meet you at the Sand Trap Bar.”

  Cindy hugged Joan, “I'm sorry if we embarrassed you or upset you. We only wanted to let you know how grateful we are for your saving Dave’s life for us. Please forgive me for tricking you into coming here.”

  Joan looked at her and smiled. “I can't believe what just happened. I've never been so surprised or so pleased. This is the first time I ever received a bouquet of roses. They are so beautiful!” she sighed, slowly pressing her face closer to draw in their fragrance.

  “The jacket is from all of the team. It was a unanimous vote to make you an honorary team member. As far as I know, that's never happened before. The season ticket was my idea. After meeting you, I'm even happier that we did it. Think how much fun we can have watching the games together. Even when I bring the boys, I feel lonely for adult company. Those gorgeous roses and the stuffed bear are from Dave. They were his idea,” she added with a smile.

  Joan looked up and saw Dave standing nearby looking intently at her. She glanced up into his eyes and realized they are even more beautiful than she remembered. In a shy voice, she whispered, “Thank you for the roses. They are so beautiful!”

  “I can’t believe they are the first roses you every received. Someone as beautiful as you should have been showered with roses,” he declared softly.