Page 54 of Rocking Player
“It’s been the buzz in the office for hours,” he said, like it was obvious.
That didn’t matter. The crowd jeered as we were not the home team, but I jogged out with my friend. “Either way I’m here and I’m here to win.”
A few minutes later, the first ball was tossed and almost rammed right into my face, but I caught it. And instincts took over.
Every game was war, and I focused all my attention on it.
The few hours flew fast and it was nighttime as the game ended.
I shook hands with the other team and headed into the locker room.
Rodriguez, after being relieved in the eighth inning, shook the champagne, and let the liquid shower us as we headed inside. I gave Rodgers a high five.
A few minutes later, I was clean and in my jeans with my uniform tossed for Aaron to collect for us.
I avoided the press and headed to my rental car.
My hotel bed was all I had to sleep on, but it wasn’t the worst bed I’d ever had.
As I raced away from the stadium, my phone rang. I reached for it and hoped it was Georgie.
But it was a number I didn’t recognize. I answered and the stranger said, “Great game tonight.”
The man sounded older, but I kept that to myself and said, “Thanks. Who’s this?”
“Gary Narmeli, the attorney that Phil said would call.”
My skin vibrated and my stomach turned into a knot. My agent must have set this up, but my throat froze. I turned into the hotel parking lot and switched my car off. “Right.”
“Look, you’re free to hire whoever. Phil and I have worked together for his players for over ten years now.”
I headed into the lobby and saw no teammates at the bar. Good. I continued to my room. “I trust Phil’s recommendations.”
“So what’s going on?”
Was that code for talk about Georgie? I pressed the button for the elevator and said, “Nothing I’m ready to talk about yet.”
“You sure?”
“I’ll call you when I’m ready,” I said and hung up as I stepped into the elevator.
If I went this route, I gave up on Georgie.
Maybe tomorrow I’d be ready to talk about how my life had changed and what I’d do next. No one needed to lead me anywhere.
As I got off on my floor, Rodriguez was on my caller ID. Had I left something in the locker room? I answered and he said, “Sorry I doubted you earlier Irons. You were good today.”
There he was, the heart of the team. Every team needed one like Rodriguez.
I said, “I wish I could stay with the Sooners, but I need to follow my dreams.”
“We hoped you'd stay, but Rodgers is planning a goodbye bash.”
“I’ll be there,” I said and opened my empty hotel room.
Alone.
I was here for two more days. My shoulders slumped and he said, “Take care of yourself. We need your head in every game till the end.”
