Page 54 of Who's Playing You
It hadn’t been a serious injury, thank fuck for that, because I desperately needed that guy to cover my ass.
I looked back down at my phone as it kept buzzing with texts from Dumb and Dumber, debating velour now. I turned the phone off and put it on the shelf in my locker as I stood. When I turned around, it was as if my contemplations had conjuredTerrance up because he stood before me, all three-hundred-and-thirty pounds of him.
“What up, Soba?” he nodded his head to me.
“Hey,” I almost stammered. “T-Bro, how’s it going?”
“We’re heading out to warm up, gotta catch up to you,” he simply stated. When he saw the confused look on my face he continued, “Bruh, I know you already warmed up. How early did ya get here today? One? Two?Threehours early?”
I guess I wasn’t as invisible as I had thought.
I grinned and quickly looked away before facing him again. “Um, I was here about two-and-a-half hours ago. Already got warmed up but I need to warm up my arm now while you guys get loose.”
“Well alright then, let’s go,” he said as he nodded to the exit. “I can set up the net for you and whatever until the coaches and their lackeys are ready.”
I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“Yeah man, let’s go. How’s the achilles?” I asked him as we headed for the tunnel.
He side-eyed me quickly. “Better.” In a clipped tone he added, “Won’t be a problem.” He nodded to me in confirmation, in finality, that he was good-to-go.
“Good. Good,” I said that last one mostly to myself. Feeling relieved that not only did I have the best defender back in full action, but that he might actually be on my side and would actually be caring about his job when it came to protecting my ass.
Once we got onto the field he stopped, his hand going to my chest to stop me too. “Ya know man, you’re not what I expected…” he let that sit there in the open between us.
I was trying to find words for a rebuttal but he ever-so-slightly shook his head. “All of us weren’t sure what to expect when they drafted you. We’re well aware that we’re the worstseed in the conference and it was a slap in the face when the bosses placed all their eggs inyourbasket and started talkin’ like you were God Almighty reincarnate and would singlehandedly save this team.”
“Man, I…”
“No, no, let me finish. Let’s just say that that pissed a bunch of the guys off, not to any fault of your doing. You just took the brunt of that frustration from them, and I’ll fully admit, from me too. And once you were selected, confirming the rumors… Man, we all knew about you and your rep. It’s hard tonotbe aware of your reputation, whether you’re in the football world or not.”
I grinned and gave him my smug smile, “Well, ya know…” I started to showboat but he again cut me off.
“You don’t have to floss for me. I’m a simple guy. Alright? Simple meat-n-potatoes type of guy. I’ll be straight with you and I’m hoping you can be straight with me.” I let my grin, my facade, drop. He was being as straight with me as anyone had been in my life. He was one of the very few who recognized that The Diva was in fact mostly just a front, a facade in fact.
I nodded to him, letting him know he’d humbled me.
“What I was saying is that, knowing some about your rep combined with the attitude here at the team before the draft, let’s just say that you stepped right into something you had no idea about. I’m sorry that you’re bearing the brunt of it, but honestly, I think you can probably handle it.” He chuckled on my behalf.
“At least, you’ve surprised me with how much grace you’ve handled it all. And I’ll be honest with you, I never would have expected that. And your whole ‘Diva’ thing, well, let’s just say that that didn’t help any with our expectations and the already annoyed… or shall we just call it what it is?Toxicatmosphere and attitude we had before, during and definitely after the draft.”
I looked to the ground as I chewed my cheek and nodded. “I appreciate you shedding light on some of that, but it’s pretty much what I figured. And I’m aware that I rub some people the wrong way, that’s just the nature of… well, The Diva. It’s not all high praise. I’m used to the amount of shit that gets dumped on me at the top, that’s also why The Diva has needed to continue to beThe Diva, which you’ve evidently seen through. One of a handful, so props to you. But, ahh, just don’t be, ya know, letting that highly classified info slip out there to the general public,” I teased.
“Nah, man. I got you. And I just wanted you to know that Iseeyou. I see your work ethic, and I’ve heard what you’ve been lecturing some of the other guys about… a loser’s mentality will in factnotget us anywhere. So like I said, you’re not who I was expecting you to be. And I am pleasantly surprised about that, my man. I think that we might have a chance after all, if this is the true authentic you.”
He gave me a toothy grin. “I never doubted your talent, boy, but I was worried about that inflated ego of yours. I knew it wouldn’t mesh here - and like I said, part of that has nothing to do with you. But the anticipation of an inflated ego of a primadonna had everyone’s shackles up, because it was just like adding gasoline to the already out of control fire we had roaring so far out of control.”
“Well, I’m not known as The Diva for nothing, T-Bro,” I returned his toothy grin, my arrogance coming to the surface.
“A little bit of that cocky little personality of yours is certainly expected, and hell bruh, I’m sure you can live up to it too, but I just wanted to let you know that you don’t need to front with me. I’ve seen you these past few weeks, and I’ve heard you. Like, I see you,seeyou. And all I’m saying is… you’re not what I expected, and I mean that in the best possible way.”
“I appreciate that,” I said as I grabbed his hand in a bro-shake.
T-Bro continued with a chuckle, “And call me crazy, but maybe those office jockeys behind the glass windows in those fancy offices up there,” he said as he gestured to where the executive offices were up above us. “Maybe those guys might be onto something with you. Hell, if we start winning, I don’t even know, man. But I actually think that right now we have a little chance of doing something, disrupting the status quo that’s been happening since I went pro.”
“Oh yeah, the status quo, huh?” I said on a chuckle, knowing he was referring to the winningness of the current champs and the controversy surrounding them.
“Yeah man, fuck those guys.” He laughed. “I’d love to go after them, be the ones to topple the champs and ruffle every single one of their feathers. And I don’t know, there’s a buzz here at The Rage now… wouldn’t it be something if that actually turned into something, huh?”
