The disrespect for our other protagonist.
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
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Captain Canada
- Posts: 2220
- Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 00:15
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Antagonist
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Decisions
Devin helped Danny lift a Christmas tree into the bed of Carla’s dad’s truck. Danny had a much easier time of hefting the large tree, with a few months of doing it under his belt from the year before and likely could’ve done it himself, but Devin offered a hand.
Carla leaned against the side of the truck, swinging the key fob around her finger as she watched them. “Make sure y’all don’t mess up the tree. I don’t want to have to hear my mom complain that the branches are broken again this year.”
“It should be fine. You just have to make sure you don’t drag it out when you get it home. I think it helps if you lift it from the top instead of the bottom and kinda flip it down so you aren’t pressing down on the skinnier par—”
Devin handed him one end of a strap to tie the tree down. “You’re rambling, bro. She’s just pissed at me. Don’t worry about what she says.”
“Oh, right.” Danny took the strap from him and nodded.
“I heard that, Devin.”
“I know you did, Carla.”
She sighed and got into the driver’s side of the truck, slamming the door. A couple moments later, it roared to life.
“What’d you do to make her mad?” Danny asked.
“Tell her where I was committing a few weeks ago before telling her again today and she was mad that I didn’t change my mind.”
“Where are you committing?”
Devin checked his side of the strap a few times to make sure it wasn’t too loose before grabbing a second one out of the bed and tossing one end to the other side. “What time is it?”
“I don’t know. Like 9:30?”
“You’ll find out with everyone else some time after 1.”
Danny nodded. “I forgot there was that big signing thing today in the Field House. A girl in my algebra class told me it was going to be crazy with all the reporters and everything and all of the guys signing their LOIs.”
“When you have like 15 guys from a state championship team committing on the same day, that’s expected.” Devin checked the second strap, and satisfied with it holding the tree down, wiped his hands on his pants. “Couple more years and that’ll be you, huh?”
“I hope so. I’m already nervous about next year with so many of the starters graduating.”
“You’ll be alright,” Devin said, taking his phone out. “Y’all got Apple pay, right?”
Danny pointed to the cab of the truck. “She paid my boss while we were moving the tree.”
“Gotcha. See you in a couple weeks for the spring semester, man.”
Danny nodded before jogging off to help another customer, a woman who was getting progressively angrier that people weren’t attending to her before everyone else.
Devin hopped into the truck and stared at the side of Carla’s face.
“What?”
“You hungry?”
“Nope.”
“You sure?”
“Yep.”
“Just checking.”
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye for a moment, put the truck into gear and pulled out of the lot without responding.
The Field House had been decked out in the typical things for signing ceremonies, crimson and gold banners and streamers with the school’s logo emblazoned in as many places as possible so every picture or video taken would have a “THS” backdrop.
But there was one key addition that had never been present for one before – a banner at the entrance to the building that read “Home of the Louisiana 5A State Champions.”
There was a brief round of applause as Noah announced that he would be signing for Louisiana Tech for the upcoming school year.
“Your folks comin’?” Hasan asked Devin as the two of them sat in the bleachers.
“Yeah, later. When coach told me I’d be the last one announcing, they said they’d come back then so they can get some things done without having to wait around. I don’t know why they set this shit up in 15-minute blocks.”
Hasan shrugged and nodded down to the court where Bentley was set to make it official that he was going to Southern Miss as soon as Noah stopped crying and hugging his mother. “’Cause they got motherfuckers doin’ all that shit. Why you last anyway? Mr. Number One Overall Recruit ain’t the main event?”
“I don’t think he’s here.”
“The fuck you mean? You tellin’ me that bitch motherfucker gonna try to steal all of our shine by doin’ his signin’ somewhere else? That sounds just like some shit he’d do.”
“I don’t know what he’s doing. I just don’t think he’s here. When I was talking to coach, I heard Bentley and all talking about him. “
“Well, shit. I hope his ass don’t commit to LSU, bruh. I don’t want that motherfucker nowhere ‘round me as soon as I get out this bitch. I don’t even want the motherfucker to go somewhere in this state. Like go to fuckin’ Oregon or somethin’.”
Devin nodded. “I’m kinda mad that I’m going to have to hang around in the same circle as him for another six months. I was hoping he would’ve made his decision by not and enrolled in January. I guess we still got a few weeks to bet on that though.”
“First of all, no one told your ass to decide to finish the whole year instead of enrollin’ early. Second of all, just break up with Carla and then y’all ain’t in the same circle no more. Y’all about to go to college anyway. Time to find somethin’ new to dive in.”
“You know I’m not trying to have this conversation right now, right?”
“I’m just tryin’ to help you, bruh,” Hasan said, laughing.
…
Hasan’s brother clapped him on the shoulder as he sat down at the table where the others had done their signing. He looked up so the social media “journalists” could snap a few pictures of him to post and get their likes and follows.
Grabbing a tablet that had been placed on the table for him, he unlocked it to find the letter of intent already loaded and scrolled down to where he was to sign.
“Look, we ain’t even goin’ to have all that talkin’ about decisions with me. Short, simple and sweet. LSU baby. It’s goin’ to be a whole movement in Baton Rouge for the next three years,” Hasan said holding his fingers up in an L shape before signing the letter on the tablet. “I better see all y’all postin’ hold that tiger right now. Right na!”
Hasan stood up and hugged his brother who gave him an LSU hat to put on.
…
Devin took his place at the table, looking out of the doors and seeing that the sun had started to go down after a long day of announcements. He looked back at his parents. His mother put her hand on his shoulder and his father nodded to him. Then he looked over to Carla who was standing off to the side and smiled. She offered one back so maybe she wasn’t angry with him anymore.
He sighed and grabbed the tablet. He scrolled up to the top and looked at the header on the top of the document, the header of the school that he was about to commit the next four years of his life to as a member of their football team.
Taking a deep breath, he scooted closer to the table and set the tablet down.
“First, I want to apologize to everyone for making y’all stay here so late because of me. I could’ve just done like the rest of the guys and announced where I was going earlier but I wanted to focus on state and,” he paused pointing outside. “I don’t know if y’all saw it, but we won state. I just wanted to mention that again.”
He took another breath before he continued. “This was a tough decision. Probably the toughest decision of my life so far. I never thought I would’ve had so many schools interested in me and I appreciate them all taking the time to talk to me as much as they did. I know that not every high school football player gets to experience that, and I consider myself very fortunate.”
“With all that said and so we can get out of here before it gets dark. I’ve decided that I will be attending Texas Christian University.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Horned Frogs hat, pulling it on, before signing the letter of intent.
He stood up and took a couple pictures with his parents then waved Carla over and took a couple with her as well.
Hasan ran over, threw his arm over Devin’s shoulders and shouted “Y’all, my baby, he all grown up!”
Devin helped Danny lift a Christmas tree into the bed of Carla’s dad’s truck. Danny had a much easier time of hefting the large tree, with a few months of doing it under his belt from the year before and likely could’ve done it himself, but Devin offered a hand.
Carla leaned against the side of the truck, swinging the key fob around her finger as she watched them. “Make sure y’all don’t mess up the tree. I don’t want to have to hear my mom complain that the branches are broken again this year.”
“It should be fine. You just have to make sure you don’t drag it out when you get it home. I think it helps if you lift it from the top instead of the bottom and kinda flip it down so you aren’t pressing down on the skinnier par—”
Devin handed him one end of a strap to tie the tree down. “You’re rambling, bro. She’s just pissed at me. Don’t worry about what she says.”
“Oh, right.” Danny took the strap from him and nodded.
“I heard that, Devin.”
“I know you did, Carla.”
She sighed and got into the driver’s side of the truck, slamming the door. A couple moments later, it roared to life.
“What’d you do to make her mad?” Danny asked.
“Tell her where I was committing a few weeks ago before telling her again today and she was mad that I didn’t change my mind.”
“Where are you committing?”
Devin checked his side of the strap a few times to make sure it wasn’t too loose before grabbing a second one out of the bed and tossing one end to the other side. “What time is it?”
“I don’t know. Like 9:30?”
“You’ll find out with everyone else some time after 1.”
Danny nodded. “I forgot there was that big signing thing today in the Field House. A girl in my algebra class told me it was going to be crazy with all the reporters and everything and all of the guys signing their LOIs.”
“When you have like 15 guys from a state championship team committing on the same day, that’s expected.” Devin checked the second strap, and satisfied with it holding the tree down, wiped his hands on his pants. “Couple more years and that’ll be you, huh?”
“I hope so. I’m already nervous about next year with so many of the starters graduating.”
“You’ll be alright,” Devin said, taking his phone out. “Y’all got Apple pay, right?”
Danny pointed to the cab of the truck. “She paid my boss while we were moving the tree.”
“Gotcha. See you in a couple weeks for the spring semester, man.”
Danny nodded before jogging off to help another customer, a woman who was getting progressively angrier that people weren’t attending to her before everyone else.
Devin hopped into the truck and stared at the side of Carla’s face.
“What?”
“You hungry?”
“Nope.”
“You sure?”
“Yep.”
“Just checking.”
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye for a moment, put the truck into gear and pulled out of the lot without responding.
-*****-
The Field House had been decked out in the typical things for signing ceremonies, crimson and gold banners and streamers with the school’s logo emblazoned in as many places as possible so every picture or video taken would have a “THS” backdrop.
But there was one key addition that had never been present for one before – a banner at the entrance to the building that read “Home of the Louisiana 5A State Champions.”
There was a brief round of applause as Noah announced that he would be signing for Louisiana Tech for the upcoming school year.
“Your folks comin’?” Hasan asked Devin as the two of them sat in the bleachers.
“Yeah, later. When coach told me I’d be the last one announcing, they said they’d come back then so they can get some things done without having to wait around. I don’t know why they set this shit up in 15-minute blocks.”
Hasan shrugged and nodded down to the court where Bentley was set to make it official that he was going to Southern Miss as soon as Noah stopped crying and hugging his mother. “’Cause they got motherfuckers doin’ all that shit. Why you last anyway? Mr. Number One Overall Recruit ain’t the main event?”
“I don’t think he’s here.”
“The fuck you mean? You tellin’ me that bitch motherfucker gonna try to steal all of our shine by doin’ his signin’ somewhere else? That sounds just like some shit he’d do.”
“I don’t know what he’s doing. I just don’t think he’s here. When I was talking to coach, I heard Bentley and all talking about him. “
“Well, shit. I hope his ass don’t commit to LSU, bruh. I don’t want that motherfucker nowhere ‘round me as soon as I get out this bitch. I don’t even want the motherfucker to go somewhere in this state. Like go to fuckin’ Oregon or somethin’.”
Devin nodded. “I’m kinda mad that I’m going to have to hang around in the same circle as him for another six months. I was hoping he would’ve made his decision by not and enrolled in January. I guess we still got a few weeks to bet on that though.”
“First of all, no one told your ass to decide to finish the whole year instead of enrollin’ early. Second of all, just break up with Carla and then y’all ain’t in the same circle no more. Y’all about to go to college anyway. Time to find somethin’ new to dive in.”
“You know I’m not trying to have this conversation right now, right?”
“I’m just tryin’ to help you, bruh,” Hasan said, laughing.
…
Hasan’s brother clapped him on the shoulder as he sat down at the table where the others had done their signing. He looked up so the social media “journalists” could snap a few pictures of him to post and get their likes and follows.
Grabbing a tablet that had been placed on the table for him, he unlocked it to find the letter of intent already loaded and scrolled down to where he was to sign.
“Look, we ain’t even goin’ to have all that talkin’ about decisions with me. Short, simple and sweet. LSU baby. It’s goin’ to be a whole movement in Baton Rouge for the next three years,” Hasan said holding his fingers up in an L shape before signing the letter on the tablet. “I better see all y’all postin’ hold that tiger right now. Right na!”
Hasan stood up and hugged his brother who gave him an LSU hat to put on.
…
Devin took his place at the table, looking out of the doors and seeing that the sun had started to go down after a long day of announcements. He looked back at his parents. His mother put her hand on his shoulder and his father nodded to him. Then he looked over to Carla who was standing off to the side and smiled. She offered one back so maybe she wasn’t angry with him anymore.
He sighed and grabbed the tablet. He scrolled up to the top and looked at the header on the top of the document, the header of the school that he was about to commit the next four years of his life to as a member of their football team.
Taking a deep breath, he scooted closer to the table and set the tablet down.
“First, I want to apologize to everyone for making y’all stay here so late because of me. I could’ve just done like the rest of the guys and announced where I was going earlier but I wanted to focus on state and,” he paused pointing outside. “I don’t know if y’all saw it, but we won state. I just wanted to mention that again.”
He took another breath before he continued. “This was a tough decision. Probably the toughest decision of my life so far. I never thought I would’ve had so many schools interested in me and I appreciate them all taking the time to talk to me as much as they did. I know that not every high school football player gets to experience that, and I consider myself very fortunate.”
“With all that said and so we can get out of here before it gets dark. I’ve decided that I will be attending Texas Christian University.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Horned Frogs hat, pulling it on, before signing the letter of intent.
He stood up and took a couple pictures with his parents then waved Carla over and took a couple with her as well.
Hasan ran over, threw his arm over Devin’s shoulders and shouted “Y’all, my baby, he all grown up!”
-
Captain Canada
- Posts: 2220
- Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 00:15
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Now transfer to LSU 
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Wanted Man
Caesar idly tapped a fork against a plate of food that he’d thrown together for breakfast. Once hot, it had now cooled to room temperature. He stared out of the window, but at nothing in particular. The house was empty per usual save for him.
And, also per usual, his phone rang incessantly on the table.
He’d convinced himself that the week of the early signing period would be a quiet one as schools focused on getting as many guys as possible tied down to LOIs before they started changing their minds and reopening their recruitment.
The opposite had happened.
Once most of the top recruits had made it official, the calls and messages to him had ramped up as schools looked to make use of their last few scholarship spots – or one of the scholarships promised to a lesser recruit – to get his signature.
If nothing else, he was learning firsthand why his father had multiple phones. It would be easy to turn one off if it meant still being able to get in touch with the people that you were okay with using your time on.
He stood up and tossed the plate into the sink, the uneaten food spilling into it. He ran water over it but that only served to make it a sloppy mess instead of forcing it down the garbage disposal. Sighing, he watched as the eggs and toast crumbled under the water. Pierre would complain about it in the morning if he left it there, but he couldn’t muster the energy to care.
A tray of Christmas cookies sat on the counter. Unopened. His mother had somehow convinced her family to make the trip from Oklahoma to Louisiana for the holidays. But only after Christmas Day, of course so that visit was still a week or two off. Flying in beforehand would be expensive and they wouldn’t accept his mother’s money because that was his father’s money. It would be the first time in years.
Knowing his mother, she likely went over his uncle’s head to his wife and played up the family card. His Aunt Jeannie was always the one that would convince them to have a big family get-together in Oklahoma when he was younger.
Some argument along the way had Uncle Lou taking over on that decision making.
Caesar slid the tray closer and ran his finger under the tape to pop it up. They were from his mom’s favorite bakery in New Orleans. An expensive bakery that sold individual cookies for four or five bucks. Uncle Lou would throw a fit if he knew how much the few dozen cookies in the tray cost.
He grabbed a snowman cookie and bit its head off, putting the rest of the cookie back in the tray.
Leaning against the counter, he looked out of the window and down the long, winding driveway for a moment.
Then he walked over to the table to grab his things, went to the side door, shoved his feet into a pair of shoes he’d left there, and left the house.
Caesar slowed to a stop in front of the house the GPS had led him to. Rubbing his eyes after the lengthy drive, he grabbed his jacket out of the passenger seat and got out. He looked around. The neighborhood was nice. Not nice enough that his car with a six-figure price tag didn’t stand out, but nice and decidedly upper middle class.
Walking up the driveway, he glanced at the cars that occupied it. Five of them, only one he knew.
He knocked on the door then rang the doorbell, noticing it behind a wreath.
A woman cracked open the door and peeked outside. “Whatever you’re selling we don’t want it. Now, go on.”
Caesar looked down at his clothes and rolled his eyes. “I’m not selling anything. I’m—”
“Caesar?” Kaley said, opening the door wider. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, this is the guy you left David for? No wonder.” The woman scoffed as she turned around and retreated back into the house.
“Fuck off, Kara,” Kaley said, flipping her off as she passed. She then stepped outside and pulled the door closed behind her. “As I was saying, what are you doing here? How do you even know where I live?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t make it sound like I’m some crazy stalker. You’ve literally told me before and that time I brought you to your ex’s house you told me this address first. And I’ve bought you shit and have had it sent here. I just never had a reason to come here because you always came to Houma.”
“Oh, right. Okay then. What are you doing here?”
“You’ve never offered to introduce me to your family.”
She moved away from the door. “So, you drove all the way to Slidell for that instea—”
“Are you embarrassed by me?”
“What? No, of course not. I’m just not really a fan of surprises. You could’ve at least called or texted me on the way.”
Caesar shrugged. “You could’ve said no if I would have done that. Easier to do over the phone than it is to do face-to-face, you know?”
“A bit manipulative, don’t you think?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“You can still say no.”
She sighed and reached back for the doorknob. “I’m just warning you now that my stepdad and Owen have been drinking a bit so don’t take anything they say seriously.”
“Yes, Kaley, of all the things I’ve been told by people what’s going to send me running for the hills is something that a couple of drunk guys at,” he paused to look at his watch. “12:45 in the afternoon say to me.”
“Caesar,” she said, exasperation in her voice.
He held up his hands. “Alright, alright. I’ll behave. One question first, though.”
“What?”
“Is it like a family thing for everyone’s name to start with a ‘ka’ sound? Kaley, Kara, Carla…”
“Kay-lee, kah-rah, car-lah. Not all the same.”
“It’s pretty damn close. That shit couldn’t have been a coincidence.”
She just shook her head before pushing the door open. Caesar was met with the smell of cooking as he followed her into the house. He heard a bowl game on a TV somewhere in the house and was almost taken out by a little boy running from one room to another.
Kara poked her head out of the kitchen. She pointed toward the door with her phone in her hand. “That’s your car out there?”
Caesar looked over his shoulder and then back. “Yeah?”
“The Porsche? Like yours yours? Like not your dad’s yours? Like your name is on the title yours?”
“That one? I think so.”
“That one?”
“Yeah, that one. The other tw—”
Kaley pulled Caesar’s arm to tug him along. She shot a glare at her sister. “Mind your fucking business, Kara. Don’t you have something to be helping mom with in there anyway?”
“You better get in here and learn a thing or two before he goes and finds someone who is willing to make sure he has a meal to come home to every night.”
“It’s not 1950.”
“Men are men whether it’s 1950 or 2051.”
Caesar chuckled under his breath at their little spat which earned him a dirty look from Kaley. She turned and started walking away so he followed, figuring it’d be better to exit that conversation that to stand there and let it keep going.
She led him into the living room where two men and an older woman sat. All three of them looked up at Caesar as soon as he entered the room.
“Mom, Jack, Owen. This is Caesar, my boyfriend,” Kaley said, gesturing to him. “Caesar. Mom, Jack, my stepdad, Owen, Kara’s husband.”
Her stepdad set his beer down and gave Caesar a once over. He nudged Owen and laughed. “I don’t know what to say first. This one done brought a giant up in here and he’s got on hundred dollar shoes!”
Kaley elbowed Caesar before he could say anything to give the correct cost of his shoes.
“You must be kin to the governor. Got all that ‘clean energy’ money.”
“Nah,” Owen said, looking over the lip of the beer bottle he was holding. “That’s Caesar Jenkins. Big football star. The most wanted kid in the country. Deion Jenkins’ kid. You know that quarterback from back in the day who always shit-talked the Saints?”
Jack waved his hand, coughing a bit before picking up his beer again and taking a swig. “How you gonna be from Louisiana and not like the Saints is my question? That’s worse than these socialists who don’t like our country running around for the last thirty years!”
“The Saints suck, to be fair. Have sucked since Brees retired in ’21,” Caesar said, shrugging.
“Caesar,” Kaley said under her breath.
“Well, you gonna make him stand the whole time?” her mom asked. “Go get him something to drink and offer him a seat.”
Caesar looked around and sat down on a loveseat that was definitely not made for anyone as tall as he was. He motioned for Kaley to sit down next to him. “You don’t have to get me anything.”
Jack looked down at Caesar’s shoes again. “Baw. Where you get them shoes? I gotta get me some of them.”
Kaley rubbed at her forehead as she sat down. Caesar covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.
Caesar idly tapped a fork against a plate of food that he’d thrown together for breakfast. Once hot, it had now cooled to room temperature. He stared out of the window, but at nothing in particular. The house was empty per usual save for him.
And, also per usual, his phone rang incessantly on the table.
He’d convinced himself that the week of the early signing period would be a quiet one as schools focused on getting as many guys as possible tied down to LOIs before they started changing their minds and reopening their recruitment.
The opposite had happened.
Once most of the top recruits had made it official, the calls and messages to him had ramped up as schools looked to make use of their last few scholarship spots – or one of the scholarships promised to a lesser recruit – to get his signature.
If nothing else, he was learning firsthand why his father had multiple phones. It would be easy to turn one off if it meant still being able to get in touch with the people that you were okay with using your time on.
He stood up and tossed the plate into the sink, the uneaten food spilling into it. He ran water over it but that only served to make it a sloppy mess instead of forcing it down the garbage disposal. Sighing, he watched as the eggs and toast crumbled under the water. Pierre would complain about it in the morning if he left it there, but he couldn’t muster the energy to care.
A tray of Christmas cookies sat on the counter. Unopened. His mother had somehow convinced her family to make the trip from Oklahoma to Louisiana for the holidays. But only after Christmas Day, of course so that visit was still a week or two off. Flying in beforehand would be expensive and they wouldn’t accept his mother’s money because that was his father’s money. It would be the first time in years.
Knowing his mother, she likely went over his uncle’s head to his wife and played up the family card. His Aunt Jeannie was always the one that would convince them to have a big family get-together in Oklahoma when he was younger.
Some argument along the way had Uncle Lou taking over on that decision making.
Caesar slid the tray closer and ran his finger under the tape to pop it up. They were from his mom’s favorite bakery in New Orleans. An expensive bakery that sold individual cookies for four or five bucks. Uncle Lou would throw a fit if he knew how much the few dozen cookies in the tray cost.
He grabbed a snowman cookie and bit its head off, putting the rest of the cookie back in the tray.
Leaning against the counter, he looked out of the window and down the long, winding driveway for a moment.
Then he walked over to the table to grab his things, went to the side door, shoved his feet into a pair of shoes he’d left there, and left the house.
-*****-
Caesar slowed to a stop in front of the house the GPS had led him to. Rubbing his eyes after the lengthy drive, he grabbed his jacket out of the passenger seat and got out. He looked around. The neighborhood was nice. Not nice enough that his car with a six-figure price tag didn’t stand out, but nice and decidedly upper middle class.
Walking up the driveway, he glanced at the cars that occupied it. Five of them, only one he knew.
He knocked on the door then rang the doorbell, noticing it behind a wreath.
A woman cracked open the door and peeked outside. “Whatever you’re selling we don’t want it. Now, go on.”
Caesar looked down at his clothes and rolled his eyes. “I’m not selling anything. I’m—”
“Caesar?” Kaley said, opening the door wider. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, this is the guy you left David for? No wonder.” The woman scoffed as she turned around and retreated back into the house.
“Fuck off, Kara,” Kaley said, flipping her off as she passed. She then stepped outside and pulled the door closed behind her. “As I was saying, what are you doing here? How do you even know where I live?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t make it sound like I’m some crazy stalker. You’ve literally told me before and that time I brought you to your ex’s house you told me this address first. And I’ve bought you shit and have had it sent here. I just never had a reason to come here because you always came to Houma.”
“Oh, right. Okay then. What are you doing here?”
“You’ve never offered to introduce me to your family.”
She moved away from the door. “So, you drove all the way to Slidell for that instea—”
“Are you embarrassed by me?”
“What? No, of course not. I’m just not really a fan of surprises. You could’ve at least called or texted me on the way.”
Caesar shrugged. “You could’ve said no if I would have done that. Easier to do over the phone than it is to do face-to-face, you know?”
“A bit manipulative, don’t you think?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“You can still say no.”
She sighed and reached back for the doorknob. “I’m just warning you now that my stepdad and Owen have been drinking a bit so don’t take anything they say seriously.”
“Yes, Kaley, of all the things I’ve been told by people what’s going to send me running for the hills is something that a couple of drunk guys at,” he paused to look at his watch. “12:45 in the afternoon say to me.”
“Caesar,” she said, exasperation in her voice.
He held up his hands. “Alright, alright. I’ll behave. One question first, though.”
“What?”
“Is it like a family thing for everyone’s name to start with a ‘ka’ sound? Kaley, Kara, Carla…”
“Kay-lee, kah-rah, car-lah. Not all the same.”
“It’s pretty damn close. That shit couldn’t have been a coincidence.”
She just shook her head before pushing the door open. Caesar was met with the smell of cooking as he followed her into the house. He heard a bowl game on a TV somewhere in the house and was almost taken out by a little boy running from one room to another.
Kara poked her head out of the kitchen. She pointed toward the door with her phone in her hand. “That’s your car out there?”
Caesar looked over his shoulder and then back. “Yeah?”
“The Porsche? Like yours yours? Like not your dad’s yours? Like your name is on the title yours?”
“That one? I think so.”
“That one?”
“Yeah, that one. The other tw—”
Kaley pulled Caesar’s arm to tug him along. She shot a glare at her sister. “Mind your fucking business, Kara. Don’t you have something to be helping mom with in there anyway?”
“You better get in here and learn a thing or two before he goes and finds someone who is willing to make sure he has a meal to come home to every night.”
“It’s not 1950.”
“Men are men whether it’s 1950 or 2051.”
Caesar chuckled under his breath at their little spat which earned him a dirty look from Kaley. She turned and started walking away so he followed, figuring it’d be better to exit that conversation that to stand there and let it keep going.
She led him into the living room where two men and an older woman sat. All three of them looked up at Caesar as soon as he entered the room.
“Mom, Jack, Owen. This is Caesar, my boyfriend,” Kaley said, gesturing to him. “Caesar. Mom, Jack, my stepdad, Owen, Kara’s husband.”
Her stepdad set his beer down and gave Caesar a once over. He nudged Owen and laughed. “I don’t know what to say first. This one done brought a giant up in here and he’s got on hundred dollar shoes!”
Kaley elbowed Caesar before he could say anything to give the correct cost of his shoes.
“You must be kin to the governor. Got all that ‘clean energy’ money.”
“Nah,” Owen said, looking over the lip of the beer bottle he was holding. “That’s Caesar Jenkins. Big football star. The most wanted kid in the country. Deion Jenkins’ kid. You know that quarterback from back in the day who always shit-talked the Saints?”
Jack waved his hand, coughing a bit before picking up his beer again and taking a swig. “How you gonna be from Louisiana and not like the Saints is my question? That’s worse than these socialists who don’t like our country running around for the last thirty years!”
“The Saints suck, to be fair. Have sucked since Brees retired in ’21,” Caesar said, shrugging.
“Caesar,” Kaley said under her breath.
“Well, you gonna make him stand the whole time?” her mom asked. “Go get him something to drink and offer him a seat.”
Caesar looked around and sat down on a loveseat that was definitely not made for anyone as tall as he was. He motioned for Kaley to sit down next to him. “You don’t have to get me anything.”
Jack looked down at Caesar’s shoes again. “Baw. Where you get them shoes? I gotta get me some of them.”
Kaley rubbed at her forehead as she sat down. Caesar covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
I felt that one.War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Words of Wisdom
“Fuck off, Devin!”
Devin stopped Carla from slamming the door in his face and stepped into her house as she stormed into the kitchen. He shut the door behind him, hearing the cabinets ripped open and shut with a bit more force than was necessary making the dishes rattle inside of them.
“Carla, can we just sit down and talk for a moment?” Devin asked as he crossed the living room. He stood at the counter waiting as she turned on the sink to fill a glass with water. He thought she would turn the faucet off when the glass was full, but instead she left it running as she sipped from the cup. “C’mon on, Carla. Cut me some slack.”
She tapped her ear and pointed to the running water while continuing to stare out of the window above the sink.
“This is real childish, you know.”
She put the glass down and shut off the faucet. “You’re a real dick, you know?”
“I don’t know what you’re angry about. You know that I was going to commit to TCU before anyone else. You didn’t say anything until – You didn’t say anything! You just one day decided that you were mad at me and you’ve been like this for three weeks now!”
“I don’t have to be angry about anything to be angry. It’s a free country!”
Devin closed his eyes and rubbed at his temple. “Can we just talk? Like, you know, normally? Without all the shouting and stuff? I’m sorry that I upset you. I just don’t want to spend the next six months pissed off at each other before going to Fort Worth.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and turned so her back was against the counter behind her. “I’m pissed off because you decided to go somewhere that’s not far but not all that close either. I can do the long-distance thing but it’s fucking annoying that you’ll be seven hours away and not seventeen hours away. There, now you know.”
“I’m sorry. I told you. TCU was the best offer on the table. I mean, shit, they’re in the playoffs. It’s a really good program and a really good school.” He walked around the counter. “And it’s not like I’m never going to come home when there are breaks.”
“As if there are breaks in college football,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Damn it, Carla! I’m trying to make this work!”
She exhaled and ran her hand through her hair. “I’m sorry. It’s just frustrating, okay? I’m not trying to be a bitch about it. I have all these friends at school and they’re going to college with their boyfriends and shit and here I am with the football star who could’ve gone anywhere.”
“Fort Worth isn’t that far. This can work. We can make it work. Okay?” Devin asked, trying his damnedest to sound reassuring to quell her anger after weeks of it.
“I’m going to call you everyday,” she said, jabbing him in the chest with her finger.
“That’s fine.”
“And if you don’t answer me, I’m going to assume that you’re cheating and I’m going to fly to Fort Worth and kill a bitch.”
He shook his head. “What in the entire time you’ve known me has made you think that I would ever even think about cheating?”
“I’m just letting you know.”
“So, you’re done being mad at me?”
She shrugged. “For now, I guess.”
Devin knocked on the door in front of him before rubbing his hands together, feeling the cold beginning to seep to his fingertips. He looked behind him and waved at an old man walking a dog that was equally old. The man flipped him off and kept shuffling along.
“Well, fuck,” he said to himself.
Mrs. McCoy opened the door with the couple’s newborn son on her hip. She leaned out and shouted to the old man. “How’s it going, Mr. Daigle?! Not walking too far today, are you?!”
The man threw up another middle finger over his shoulder as he continued to shuffle down the street.
“Half-dead bastard,” she said before turning to Devin. “Hey, honey. I’m guessing you’re here to see that no-good husband of mine.”
“Yes, ma’am. Is he home?”
“Sure is. Come on in.” She stepped out of the way to let Devin walk inside. “He’s out back doing something that he probably doesn’t know a lick about. That man never knows what to do when he isn’t out on a football field somewhere.”
“Thanks. Which way?” Devin asked.
She pointed down the hallway. “Just that way. You can’t miss it.”
Devin nodded his thanks and started down the hallway. The McCoy’s home was nice, but he should’ve expected that considering Coach McCoy was once a position coach for a Power 5 university. He was undoubtedly bringing down way more than six figures. And while he didn’t know much about housing markets, it didn’t take a real estate guru to know houses in Houma were a little cheaper than the houses in and around Austin.
He found the coach sitting out on a patio, a pile of parts for what looked like a car before him and a tablet in his showing a video.
Devin stepped outside. “Hey, coach.”
Coach McCoy looked up from the video. “Devin, you know anything about putting together toys for kids?”
“Can’t say that I do.”
“Considering how many kids at that school having kids, you’d think there would be a class for this very thing.” He raised an eyebrow at his own comment and shook his head. “You keep that statement between the two of us, huh?”
“Don’t know what statement you’re talking about, coach.”
“Good man. What brings you ‘round these parts?”
Devin stepped around the mess on the patio to sit down on a lounger off to the side. “I know I kinda made my college decision solo, but is it normal to still be debating about it after you have everything signed and ready to go?”
“You’re asking me if it’s normal for a 17-year-old kid to not be decisive? I’m going to be honest with you, Devin. I wouldn’t be against changing the whole recruitment process so schools didn’t contact players at all and players would just make the decision without that and the schools accepted or rejected them like any other student. Y’all can’t even decide what you want for lunch, but we expect you to decide what university to spend four years at when everyone is in your ears trying to sell you on what’s best. It’s just stupid.”
“I agree.”
Coach McCoy picked up a part of the car and tried to figure out where it fit into another part. “So, you’re having second thoughts about TCU?”
“Not really second thoughts. I think it’s the best fit. I think the problem is I didn’t really discuss it with anyone before making the decision. I just did it. Now, I feel like I’m having to justify that decision to everyone.”
“Justify it for what? You’re the one that’s going to have to go there. If you felt that it was a good place for you to go, then that’s the end of the discussion. Anything beyond that is… How do y’all say it around here? Lagniappe? It’s all just lagniappe.”
Devin nodded, taking in what the coach said. “And what happens if it turns out to be the wrong decision when I get there?”
“Well. Shit.” The coach cursed to himself as the pieces didn’t fit together before throwing them aside. “Well, if you get there and it isn’t a good fit, you have the college athletes of the ‘10s and ‘20s to thank for making transferring so easy. I’m honestly surprised they haven’t gotten to the point that you can transfer and play immediately mid-season yet.”
“I guess that’s true.”
“If you want my opinion, and excuse my French, fuck TCU but I feel that way about all of our friends in Texas that don’t wear burnt orange. From an unbiased point of view, they’re playing in the semis next week and got a damn good chance of winning the whole thing. Not a lot of better landing places in college football right now.”
“Yeah, they’re having a watch party for all the incoming recruits in Fort Worth.”
“For the semis?”
Devin shook his head. “For the national championship. Since it’s in Arlington, you know?”
The coach laughed. “Cocky sons of bitches. Point is, you’re in a no-lose situation. Either you go to TCU and it’s the right place or you go there and it’s not, so you transfer. Stop worrying about everything. You have a six-month vacation coming up.”
Brushing his hands on his pants, Devin stood up. “Thanks for the chat, coach.”
“My payment for that wisdom is you putting this damn thing together, so my wife doesn’t kill me.”
“No can do, coach. She’ll really kill you if it falls apart after I try to do that.”
Coach McCoy sighed. “Tell her I’ll be out here for another few hours when you’re leaving.”
“Will do,” Devin said, laughing.
“Fuck off, Devin!”
Devin stopped Carla from slamming the door in his face and stepped into her house as she stormed into the kitchen. He shut the door behind him, hearing the cabinets ripped open and shut with a bit more force than was necessary making the dishes rattle inside of them.
“Carla, can we just sit down and talk for a moment?” Devin asked as he crossed the living room. He stood at the counter waiting as she turned on the sink to fill a glass with water. He thought she would turn the faucet off when the glass was full, but instead she left it running as she sipped from the cup. “C’mon on, Carla. Cut me some slack.”
She tapped her ear and pointed to the running water while continuing to stare out of the window above the sink.
“This is real childish, you know.”
She put the glass down and shut off the faucet. “You’re a real dick, you know?”
“I don’t know what you’re angry about. You know that I was going to commit to TCU before anyone else. You didn’t say anything until – You didn’t say anything! You just one day decided that you were mad at me and you’ve been like this for three weeks now!”
“I don’t have to be angry about anything to be angry. It’s a free country!”
Devin closed his eyes and rubbed at his temple. “Can we just talk? Like, you know, normally? Without all the shouting and stuff? I’m sorry that I upset you. I just don’t want to spend the next six months pissed off at each other before going to Fort Worth.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and turned so her back was against the counter behind her. “I’m pissed off because you decided to go somewhere that’s not far but not all that close either. I can do the long-distance thing but it’s fucking annoying that you’ll be seven hours away and not seventeen hours away. There, now you know.”
“I’m sorry. I told you. TCU was the best offer on the table. I mean, shit, they’re in the playoffs. It’s a really good program and a really good school.” He walked around the counter. “And it’s not like I’m never going to come home when there are breaks.”
“As if there are breaks in college football,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Damn it, Carla! I’m trying to make this work!”
She exhaled and ran her hand through her hair. “I’m sorry. It’s just frustrating, okay? I’m not trying to be a bitch about it. I have all these friends at school and they’re going to college with their boyfriends and shit and here I am with the football star who could’ve gone anywhere.”
“Fort Worth isn’t that far. This can work. We can make it work. Okay?” Devin asked, trying his damnedest to sound reassuring to quell her anger after weeks of it.
“I’m going to call you everyday,” she said, jabbing him in the chest with her finger.
“That’s fine.”
“And if you don’t answer me, I’m going to assume that you’re cheating and I’m going to fly to Fort Worth and kill a bitch.”
He shook his head. “What in the entire time you’ve known me has made you think that I would ever even think about cheating?”
“I’m just letting you know.”
“So, you’re done being mad at me?”
She shrugged. “For now, I guess.”
-*****-
Devin knocked on the door in front of him before rubbing his hands together, feeling the cold beginning to seep to his fingertips. He looked behind him and waved at an old man walking a dog that was equally old. The man flipped him off and kept shuffling along.
“Well, fuck,” he said to himself.
Mrs. McCoy opened the door with the couple’s newborn son on her hip. She leaned out and shouted to the old man. “How’s it going, Mr. Daigle?! Not walking too far today, are you?!”
The man threw up another middle finger over his shoulder as he continued to shuffle down the street.
“Half-dead bastard,” she said before turning to Devin. “Hey, honey. I’m guessing you’re here to see that no-good husband of mine.”
“Yes, ma’am. Is he home?”
“Sure is. Come on in.” She stepped out of the way to let Devin walk inside. “He’s out back doing something that he probably doesn’t know a lick about. That man never knows what to do when he isn’t out on a football field somewhere.”
“Thanks. Which way?” Devin asked.
She pointed down the hallway. “Just that way. You can’t miss it.”
Devin nodded his thanks and started down the hallway. The McCoy’s home was nice, but he should’ve expected that considering Coach McCoy was once a position coach for a Power 5 university. He was undoubtedly bringing down way more than six figures. And while he didn’t know much about housing markets, it didn’t take a real estate guru to know houses in Houma were a little cheaper than the houses in and around Austin.
He found the coach sitting out on a patio, a pile of parts for what looked like a car before him and a tablet in his showing a video.
Devin stepped outside. “Hey, coach.”
Coach McCoy looked up from the video. “Devin, you know anything about putting together toys for kids?”
“Can’t say that I do.”
“Considering how many kids at that school having kids, you’d think there would be a class for this very thing.” He raised an eyebrow at his own comment and shook his head. “You keep that statement between the two of us, huh?”
“Don’t know what statement you’re talking about, coach.”
“Good man. What brings you ‘round these parts?”
Devin stepped around the mess on the patio to sit down on a lounger off to the side. “I know I kinda made my college decision solo, but is it normal to still be debating about it after you have everything signed and ready to go?”
“You’re asking me if it’s normal for a 17-year-old kid to not be decisive? I’m going to be honest with you, Devin. I wouldn’t be against changing the whole recruitment process so schools didn’t contact players at all and players would just make the decision without that and the schools accepted or rejected them like any other student. Y’all can’t even decide what you want for lunch, but we expect you to decide what university to spend four years at when everyone is in your ears trying to sell you on what’s best. It’s just stupid.”
“I agree.”
Coach McCoy picked up a part of the car and tried to figure out where it fit into another part. “So, you’re having second thoughts about TCU?”
“Not really second thoughts. I think it’s the best fit. I think the problem is I didn’t really discuss it with anyone before making the decision. I just did it. Now, I feel like I’m having to justify that decision to everyone.”
“Justify it for what? You’re the one that’s going to have to go there. If you felt that it was a good place for you to go, then that’s the end of the discussion. Anything beyond that is… How do y’all say it around here? Lagniappe? It’s all just lagniappe.”
Devin nodded, taking in what the coach said. “And what happens if it turns out to be the wrong decision when I get there?”
“Well. Shit.” The coach cursed to himself as the pieces didn’t fit together before throwing them aside. “Well, if you get there and it isn’t a good fit, you have the college athletes of the ‘10s and ‘20s to thank for making transferring so easy. I’m honestly surprised they haven’t gotten to the point that you can transfer and play immediately mid-season yet.”
“I guess that’s true.”
“If you want my opinion, and excuse my French, fuck TCU but I feel that way about all of our friends in Texas that don’t wear burnt orange. From an unbiased point of view, they’re playing in the semis next week and got a damn good chance of winning the whole thing. Not a lot of better landing places in college football right now.”
“Yeah, they’re having a watch party for all the incoming recruits in Fort Worth.”
“For the semis?”
Devin shook his head. “For the national championship. Since it’s in Arlington, you know?”
The coach laughed. “Cocky sons of bitches. Point is, you’re in a no-lose situation. Either you go to TCU and it’s the right place or you go there and it’s not, so you transfer. Stop worrying about everything. You have a six-month vacation coming up.”
Brushing his hands on his pants, Devin stood up. “Thanks for the chat, coach.”
“My payment for that wisdom is you putting this damn thing together, so my wife doesn’t kill me.”
“No can do, coach. She’ll really kill you if it falls apart after I try to do that.”
Coach McCoy sighed. “Tell her I’ll be out here for another few hours when you’re leaving.”
“Will do,” Devin said, laughing.
-
Captain Canada
- Posts: 2220
- Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 00:15
War of the Roses: Redux Edition
Nice lil fluff piece, good to have a new update.