Page 19 of Off the Clock

“No one’s going anywhere,” Tony interrupted, voice stern. I shot him a sour look for getting involved. I could handle Scotty, thank you very much, even if all the evidence was to the contrary. But Tony simply ignored me and gestured widely at all the kids gathered. “The team needs all of you.”

“And you’re the best quarterback option we’ve had in years,” Cosmo piped up from the other side of Tony. “You and John are gonna be an unstoppable quarterback-receiver duo.”

“Maybe.” Scotty pursed his lips, but at least his tone was thoughtful, not surly.

“Come on, man. You can’t quit on us now.” John brought all his enthusiasm to stand directly in front of us. “We might actually be good enough to lure some recruiters to our games.”

“I’m not a quitter.” Scotty’s eyes flashed, expression going hot and angry. “But how are we gonna afford everything? Buses for away games? Equipment? That shit is expensive.”

“We were discussing increasing the participation fee.” One of the moms, a fussy woman in a matching pastel-pink shirt-and-shorts combo, had been pushing for that option since the informal meeting had begun.

Scotty swiveled his head in her direction, all that fire finding a new target. “You can’t just increase the fees per student. That ain’t fair to the students whose folks can’t pay.”

“Absolutely.” Impressed by Scotty’s rare show of caring, I spoke up for the first time to the whole group. “We have to find a way everyone can play.”

“Agreed.” Tony’s sister, Angel, was nominally in charge of the meeting, but so far, she’d seemed content to sit back and let others talk. But perhaps Angel had merely been biding her time because she clapped her hands together, voice going authoritative. “We’ll have to fundraise.”

“More than a carwash or two.” John’s tone was pragmatic as he glanced over at his dad. Eric had come straight from a shift to the meeting and was still in uniform. Expression weary, Eric nodded in support as John continued, “I wish we were as good at fundraising as the band. Their funding got slashed as well, but they held some sort of alumni band camp with a concert. They made enough to cover their bus fees for the whole year.”

“That’s a great idea.” Angel’s smile turned diabolical, like a general with a fresh plan of attack. “We’ll throw a football reunion fundraiser. And add a charity game of flag football featuring Mount Hope notables.”

“We don’t exactly have a lot of celebrities.” Cosmo had a tendency to take things too literally and wind up confused, which I found endearing.

“We don’t need big celebrities.” Angel waved a hand, a similar mannerism to one I saw often from Tony. However, her bubbly optimism seemed to be her own personality. “People would pay to see certain teachers or the police chief play flag football, and if we feed folks and maybe add a silent auction, it could be the event of the summer.”

“Uncle Tony could get a bunch of the guys from his year to come, like Sean Murphy.” Cosmo echoed his mother’s enthusiasm.

“People still remember the year we were good,” John added.

“Yeah, I can help come up with a list of names.” Shrugging, Tony smiled like he was used to his sister’s big ideas.

“We’re gonna be good this year.” Scotty had a confidence I hadn’t heard from him all evening.

“We? You sure you’re in, bro?” John narrowed his eyes at Scotty. “You sounded ready to hightail it out of here.”

“I’m in.” Scotty gave a sharp nod. “This fundraising plan isn’t crap.”

“I’ll help,” I said quickly before Scotty could change his mind. “I mean, obviously, I’m not playing. But I’m used to cooking for a crowd, and I can help with logistics.”

“Excellent. So that’s you and Tony on the planning committee.” Angel shifted into a commanding tone as she produced a clipboard. “Now let’s pass a sign-up sheet around…”

“Whoa. How did that happen?” I asked Tony in a low voice as folks passed the sign-up sheet around the room, precious few names joining ours on the committee I’d apparently volunteered for.

“My sister is a force of nature,” Tony said fondly. “Don’t worry. You can back out. I won’t hold you to helping.”

“I’m going to help.” I kept my voice firm. His assumption that I might want out only made me more stubborn. “I might not know much about football, but I know how it feels to be a kid who can’t afford fees, and I owe it to Scotty to make sure the team can play this year.”

“Well, I owe Angel and Cosmo, so we better figure out how to get along on the committee,” Tony whispered back.

“We’re not fighting.”

“That’s not what I meant.” His voice was gruff, making my skin prickle with fresh awareness of his nearness. I knew exactly what he meant. Keeping my hands to myself was hard enough at the station, where I had every reason to keep my distance. Away from work, it would be that much easier to forget all the reasons we couldn’t have a repeat of the Fourth of July.

After the list of the various committees came around, the meeting started to break up. However, before I could make my escape, Scotty bopped my shoulder.

“Gotta few bucks? The guys are going to Pinball Pizza. It’s one of their all-ages nights where you don’t have to be twenty-one.”

“I’m gonna be broke before the school year even starts,” I groaned as I dug out my wallet. “Okay. Have fun.”

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