Page 19 of Play of Love
And as I tackled the defense for the Bears and shot the ball to Gage, I knew we’d win hands down. Nobody was faster than Gage.
As the crowd cheered when he scored the winning touchdown, I looked to where Dad had been sitting and saw the empty seats. It was only then that I realized something must have been wrong. Only then.
I couldn’t even cheer with my team. I walked off the field to find my father sobbing with devastation and his face grief stricken. The poor man couldn’t even talk. It was Zelda that had to break the news of what happened to me. I could still hear her voice now. The sadness in the tone and the tears that filled her eyes. I could still hear my heart break and shatter. The news ripped away my soul and everything strong that was in me. It ripped my world from under my feet and I hadn’t been able to function since.
The doorbell rang, bringing me out of my memories. I wondered who that was. I wasn’t in the mood for visitors and actually noticed that my little PA hadn’t bothered to come back yesterday. I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was nearly twelve. She’d been coming in at nine and I hadn’t heard her, so I was guessing this meant she’d quit.
Good.She didn’t need to be here, I didn’t need her, and now I could tell Zelda that I wanted to do things my way.
The bell rang again, but this time with insistence. I got up to answer it because there was only one person who rang the bell like that.
Corey stood on the porch with his hands in his pockets and a silly lopsided grin on his face.
“Hey.” I offered a small smile.
“Hey yourself.”
I stepped aside so Corey could come in, then I closed the door.
“Is Allegra and friend here?” Corey asked.
“Nope.”
“Good.” He actually sighed with relief.
We went into the living room and sat down. I laid back on the larger sofa and placed my hands behind my head. Corey always came by at some point in the week for a pep talk, I just hadn’t expected him so soon as I’d only seen him on Monday. I rolled my head to the side, gearing up to hear it.
Corey sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees.
“Okay talk.”
“You’re sober,” Corey noted.
“Yes, until you leave.”
“Josh…” Here we go. “You can’t continue like this, man.”
Yup. That was how our conversation always began. Every single week.
“I’m fine.” I grabbed a stress ball and started tossing it up and down.
“You aren’t fine. You have problems and one day soon it’s going to catch up with you.”
“I don’t care.”
“But you do.”
“Why do I care, Corey? Tell me what is there to care about?”
Corey frowned. “Josh, you’re acting like you don’t have friends or family.”
“I don’t have a family. They’re dead.”
“You have a father, and he’s done nothing wrong.”
As far as I was concerned everyone was dead. I couldn’t face Dad. Every time the thought crossed my mind I remembered how inconsolable Dad was as he cried by the gravesite.
I could never see him again. Not ever.
