College Jock's Secret Baby, page 3
Chapter 4
Macy
I stared up at the brick house, standing three stories high and surrounded by tall trees. The windows looked like they were original to the house, which mom told me was built sometime in the early nineteen hundreds. It looked like there had been a lawn at one point, but it was long gone and replaced with tall weeds.
“It’s just like I remember,” Mom said with a sigh.
I needed to be upbeat. She was struggling to deal with this move. We had made the long drive from LA to this very rural home in Nebraska over the last few days. We were road weary and emotionally drained. Arriving at the house that was to be our home, at least mine for now, was the cherry on top of a draining month.
“It’s big,” I said.
She looked at me. “It’s a third of the size of my house in LA.”
“But this isn’t LA and I don’t think the size of your house matters here,” I said.
I scanned the area. It was so flat. I was certain I could see a hundred of miles in any direction. There was a dirt road that connected to the old two-lane highway. A huge red barn was on the other side of the driveway. Mom also told me the house sat on twelve acres, which was impossible for me to even try and imagine how much land that was. There was an old fence that lined one side of the driveway. It wouldn’t keep anything in or out with all the broken fence posts.
“Shall we go in?” she said with zero enthusiasm. “We could light a match and burn it down. I’ll live in my car while I wait for the insurance to payout.”
“Mom, come on,” I said, and climbed the three cement steps onto the covered porch. “It’s cute. You’ve always said you liked the farmhouse style.”
“I like it in other people’s houses,” she muttered.
She pulled open the screen door. It squeaked in protest. I watched as she slid the key into the lock. “Remember, no one has been here in years. I had someone turn on the power, gas, and water, but you know this is going to be bad.”
“I’m excited for the challenge.”
She snorted and turned the handle. “I could just sell the place. It’s worth a lot more now.”
“How do you know?”
“I talked to a realtor,” she admitted.
But she didn’t list it, which told me there was a hint of nostalgia forcing her to keep the house in the family. She pushed open the door and we both sneezed. “It’s just a little dust,” I said and waved my hand in front of my face to clear the air.
“Oh, good lord,” she groaned as we walked inside.
It wasn’t pretty, but there was a certain charm. I liked it. “Mom it’s so classic!” I exclaimed. “I bet these hardwood floors are original. They’re gorgeous. A little sweeping and mopping and I bet they’ll shine. We can rent one of those floor polishing things.”
“How do you know about those?” she asked.
“I know weird things,” I answered. “I watch the HGTV channel when I’m bored late at night.”
She flipped on the light, which was a mistake. It illuminated the dust in the air. The house was clean, but it showed the signs of sitting empty for so long. There was a thick layer of dust over every surface. We walked through the living room, which had an open archway into a small dining room that attached to the very outdated kitchen. The house was dark. The windows were dirty, which filtered the sunlight. Every room was separated by a wall, which was weird in this day and age of open floorplans. I kind of liked it.
“Should we go upstairs?” I asked.
She sighed and tugged on a piece of wallpaper that was hanging from the wall. “It can’t get any worse.”
“How many bedrooms does it have?” I asked.
“Four,” she said. “And only two bathrooms, one of which is a half bath. Unless there has been some remodeling, we’re going to have to share a bathroom.”
“We’ll make it work,” I said as we reached the second floor. The doors were old with what looked like the original hardware. Again, I thought the antiquity gave the place charm.
After exploring the second floor, we climbed the narrow staircase to the third floor that was all open. I immediately fell in love. “The roof is so low,” Mom complained.
“I love it!” I walked into the center of the room and spun around with my arms out. “We could make this a sitting room. We can put a desk over here and a couch here with short bookcases. It’s so cute! Imagine a warm, fuzzy rug in the center with chairs facing the couch.”
She did not see my vision. I did and I knew I could make the place habitable with a little elbow grease and ingenuity. “I can’t believe this is my life now,” she whispered. “I live in an old, decrepit farmhouse in Nebraska.”
“Mom, the city is twenty minutes away,” I assured her. “You can still go shopping and eat at nice restaurants. You’ll make new friends. Things are going to be good. This is a fresh start for you.”
She was already on her way back downstairs. I followed her down and found her staring out the large window in the living room that looked out at the endless fields of overgrown grass. “You know, this used to be a farm. My grandfather loved working his land. When I was little, I would come and stay for the summers. I had so much fun playing in those cornfields. The farm used to be a lot bigger but after grandpa died, grandma had to sell off some of the land to make ends meet. She left me the house because she thought I loved it. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I used to love it. I’m not the same girl anymore. I’m so much older and more evolved.”
“That little girl who loved this place is still there,” I said gently. “It’s a good place to recover from the trauma Dad inflicted on you. A little peace and quiet will do us both some good.”
“You’ve never been out of the city,” she said. “How are you going to make it out here?”
“Because just beyond that dirt road is a city I know I’m going to love,” I said. “I’m excited to meet new people. I was getting a little tired of the shallowness. I want something new.”
“This is far from new,” she muttered.
“Come on, hop in my car,” I said. “We’ll run down to that farm store. I’m sure they have cleaning supplies.”
“I need to see when the movers are going to arrive,” she said. “I don’t want my stuff coming into this dirty mess.”
“I agree,” I said with a nod. “We’ll rough it for tonight. I bet they’ll have sleeping bags at the store. We’ll have a little campout.”
She was already on her phone. I checked mine to see if there was anything from my father. I expected him to check in. Did he care if we made it or not? He didn’t try to talk me out of leaving California, which stung a little. It was like he was done with his old life and moving on to bigger and better things. He had turned his back on both of us. I felt like he was divorcing me as well. My relationship with my father was strange. I didn’t believe he didn’t love me, but he loved me from afar. He preferred to buy me things and spoil me with material things rather than his attention.
“They’ll be here late tomorrow,” Mom announced.
“Good,” I said. “Plenty of time to shine this place up.”
“Like putting lipstick on a pig.”
I burst into laughter. “You’re already starting to sound like a country girl.”
It took me a few minutes to unload my little car while Mom sat on the front steps. She looked so sad. I wanted to help her. I didn’t know the first thing about getting my hands dirty, but how hard could it be? The hours I spent watching those home improvement shows made me feel like I had a chance.
We drove down the road to a farm store that promised to have all your farm needs. I hoped that included things like brooms and what not. The moment we walked in; I felt the eyes on us. “Which one of these things is not like the other,” I joked to my mom.
I was in my little pink shorts with my favorite pair of strappy wedges. Mom was in her usual slacks and blouse and looked like the perfect society wife. As if she wanted to make us stand out even more, she kept on her large and very dark Chanel sunglasses.
“This is ridiculous,” she hissed. “And what is that smell?”
I laughed as we passed a pile of what claimed to be hog feed in huge bags in the center of the aisle. “Excuse me?” I asked a man wearing a pair of overalls. “Can you tell me where the cleaning supplies would be?”
He looked me up and down. “Cleaning what?”
“A house,” I said with confusion.
He smirked and pointed. “Down there.”
“Thank you,” I said with a smile.
I started grabbing everything I saw and tossed it in the cart. Mom did nothing but watch with abject despair. I found some camping gear and picked us up two inflatable mattresses which made her damn near apoplectic. “It’s better than sleeping on the floor,” I assured her.
I pushed our cart up to the register and used my credit card to buy everything. Dad did tell me I wasn’t being cutoff. I got to keep my platinum card and he would keep up my monthly allowance as long as I stayed in school. There was a part of me that wanted to reject the offer, but then I remembered I was pissed at him.
“I’m going to change,” I said once we were back at the house.
I headed upstairs with my suitcase and claimed one of the bedrooms. It wasn’t huge but it would do. I put on a loose t-shirt and my tennis shoes before jogging back downstairs. Mom was just coming through the front door with a bottle of vodka in her hand.
“Where did you get that?” I asked with surprise.
“I wasn’t leaving him my good alcohol,” she snapped.
“You packed liquor?”
“It wasn’t cheap, and I earned it,” she said and opened the bottle. “We don’t have glasses and I don’t think anyone is going to lecture me about manners.”
I watched as she took a drink straight from the bottle. This was not how I wanted her to deal with the divorce. It wouldn’t help. Eventually, she was going to have to deal with all of it. I was of the mind the sooner she got through it, the sooner she got to find new happiness.
She pushed the bottle at me. “Thanks,” I said and took it, but not because I was going to drink it. “I’ve got my speaker. We’ll put on some music and get busy.”
“I guess I’ll start in the kitchen,” she said with a sigh.
We worked for hours cleaning up the main rooms downstairs before going up to clean up our claimed rooms. The bathroom took very little to make usable. It was late, after midnight, when we finally called it quits.
“Not bad,” I said as I looked around the living room. “I love that fireplace. I can already see a roaring fire while we sit in your favorite chairs and drink hot cocoa.”
“I guess I should be grateful he let me have the furniture,” she muttered.
“Yes, you should, and your attorney said you will get a good settlement,” I reminded her. “You’re not going to leave this marriage empty handed. He owes you something.”
She walked up to me and threw her arms around me. “Thank you so much for being here with me,” she whispered. “I thought I could do this on my own. I know now I couldn’t. You’re such a good daughter. I’m so sorry you have to suffer through this.”
“I’m not suffering, and you don’t have to be sorry. This is right where I want to be.”
Chapter 5
Calvin
I hit the gas, the sound of the diesel engine purring as we drove through town. It was a hot summer day. The kind of heat that clung to your skin. I adjusted the AC a bit lower. Scott sat in the passenger seat with his dark sunglasses on.
“Did your old man say anything more about the agent?” he asked.
“Nope. Basically, I need to shut my pretty little mouth and let the adults handle it. I’m just the jock with the arm. My input is not needed or wanted.”
“Dude, you have an agent,” he said. “That’s crazy. You’re on the cusp of something big.”
“Lucky me.”
“Come on, you know it’s awesome,” he said. “You’re going to be in the big time. I’m still trying to get noticed.”
“I’m thinking about smashing my hand in the door,” I told him.
“That’s about the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” he said. “Why in the world would you even say that?”
“Because I’m not sure I want to play after school,” I told him. “I’ve never been able to have a whole summer off. Six months out of the year I’m training to play. The other six months I’m studying how to play. I’ve been doing that since I was five in the Grid Kids. It’s old. I want something new.”
“It’s another year,” he reminded me. “You know you love playing.”
“I do, but I also want to do something more,” I said. “I feel very unfulfilled. I want to be able to enrich my life.”
“What the hell kind of self-help mumbo jumbo have you been listening to?” he asked with disgust.
“I’m serious,” I said. “I don’t like feeling like a dumb jock. I want to actually have a career. I want to do something that uses more than just my strength.”
“Damn, you really have been digging deep.”
“It’s been like this for a while,” I told him. “I told you last year I wanted to shake things up. Everyone told me to keep it simple. Don’t strain the brain. Don’t take classes that will have a lot of homework. It’s like everyone thinks I’m too stupid to actually pass a real class. I’m not an idiot. I can do more than throw a football.”
“Anyone who knows you, knows you aren’t an idiot,” he said.
“Still,” I said as I turned towards the university. “I hate the professors all taking it easy on me. I could turn in a shit paper and I would still get an A.”
“I’m not sure why you are complaining,” he laughed. “You’ve got a pretty good thing going if you ask me.”
“I do. I know I do. I sound like a little bitch complaining about having it too good.”
“Talk to your advisor,” he said. “See if there is something he can find that isn’t super hard but enough of a challenge to satisfy your need to jog your brain.”
I pulled into student parking at the school and we hopped out. “I’m going to,” I said. “I’m going to do it.”
“Think your dad will be cool with it?”
“This is one thing I can decide on my own,” I said. “He can’t really control my life. Not every aspect, at least.”
Scott was almost immediately pulled away. “I’ll catch up with you later,” he called out as a beautiful woman grabbed his attention. I didn’t know her, but she clearly knew Scott. Judging by the way she was looking at him, she wanted to get to know him a lot better.
I checked in and waited my turn to talk with the counselor. “Mr. Whatley?”
I got up and walked into the office. “Calvin,” he said when I sat down. “I have to say I was surprised to see your name on my calendar today. What brings you by?”
“For one, I need to declare a major,” I said. “I’ve been skating by. I need to graduate with an actual degree.”
He was staring at his screen. “It looks like you’ve been on a business track,” he said.
“Yes, but it hasn’t been made official,” I said. “I need to focus.”
He nodded and clicked on his mouse. “I see.” He was quiet for several seconds. I was worried he was going to tell me I was so far away from graduating with an actual degree it was laughable. My classes had been easy and without direction. “Do you want a degree in business management?” he asked.
“Does it have to be management?” I asked.
“Not necessarily,” he said. “There’s a big umbrella we can slide you in under.”
“Do I have the credits to do that?” I asked.
He nodded. “There’s an economics class I can get you into.”
“Okay.”
“No offense, but this is going to require a little more time than the classes you’ve taken in the past,” he said. “I know this isn’t going to sound right, but is this the best move for your football career?”
“What do you mean?”
“Typically, our athletes that are on track to go pro don’t give a lot of attention or concern to what’s printed on that degree,” he answered. “Do you want to take on the extra work?”
“Yes,” I said. “I want to focus on my education. I’ll worry about the football. I’m more concerned about getting a real college degree. I’ve been doing this thing for years. I don’t want it to be for nothing.”
“That’s good to hear,” he said. “It’s always a good idea to have a backup plan. It’s a smart move. You want to have something to fall back on.”
“Exactly!” I said. I was so glad someone was finally hearing me. “Thank you. Load me up—within reason.”
He chuckled and tapped on the keys. A few minutes later, I had my schedule for the first semester. “Good luck, Calvin. If things get too hard or if it looks like you can’t handle the load, get to me within the first three weeks and we’ll switch things up.”
“I’ll handle it,” I said.
“You know they will hang me out to dry if you start slipping on the field or let your grades drop to the point you’re ineligible.”
“I won’t let that happen,” I assured him. “I’m good.”
“Good to hear,” he said. “Good luck this year.”
I walked out of his office and barely glanced at the other students waiting in the area. Something caught my eye and I had to take another look. There was a woman I didn’t recognize. I would have remembered seeing her before. She looked nothing like any of the other young women on campus.
This girl was the proverbial city girl. It wasn’t just the heels with the shorts that had the ripped front with the pockets hanging out. They were that short. Her legs looked ridiculously long and tanned. She was wearing a tiny tank top with spaghetti straps that hugged her body. She had perfect breasts. They weren’t overly large. I was guessing a strong B, maybe a C. I was something of an expert when it came to the female body.
