NOAH
Allie was weirdly distant at practice this morning. At first I thought it was because of our kiss last night, but the more I watched her, the more I realized something else is going on. When I asked if she wanted to talk, she told me, “Not yet. But soon.” Which has left me more confused than ever.
On my way home from the gym, I decide to stop at the grocery store and pick up some staples. I’m not even out of my car before my phone rings. One look at the screen and I see that it’s Tom Hanks.
“Tom,” I say, trying not to sound too eager.
“Noah, how are you?”
“I’m fine. What can I do for you?”
His voice lowers to an ominous timber. “Holland Frame had a heart attack last night.” Before I can ask after his welfare, he adds, “He’ll eventually be okay but he’s not going to be able to coach this year.”
There is no part of me that is happy to hear this. This is not how I wanted to get my old job back. I wanted to prove I was thebest man for the position, not have it handed to me. If that’s what’s actually happening here. “And?” I ask.
“Don’t be stupid, Noah. We need you. That should make you very happy.”
I adjust the seat in my car, so it’s slightly reclined. “I’m not happy the man had a heart attack,” I tell him.What kind of a monster does he think I am?
“Of course not. But it’s still working out rather well for you. You do want to come back, don’t you?”
I do but I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of thinking I’ll be that easy to get. Instead, I say, “I have a job, Tom.”
“At some hick high school in Wisconsin that no one has ever heard of.” Even though I once thought this very thing, I don’t appreciate hearing it from someone who’s never even been to Elk Lake.
“It’s my alma mater,” I tell him with a large dose of irritation.
“Well, good for you that you made something of your life, then. But I don’t care if the president of the United States went there, it’s still a nothing school.”
Tom is really starting to make me mad and it’s all I can do to keep from telling him to take his job and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine. “So, are you offering me my job back?”
“I have the school board’s permission to do so, yes. We would ideally like you to start in a week. We realize it would probably be impossible for you to start this Monday.”
“In a week? What’s that going to do to my current team?” Not that he cares.
“They’ll probably stay at the bottom of the heap like they already are.” The air goes dead while we both try to compose our thoughts. Tom beats me to the punch when he says, “You don’t sound very happy about this opportunity, Noah.”
Truth be told, I’m not very happy. I didn’t want someone else to get sick and have it handed to me like a consolation prize. But I can’t very well say that. Instead, I ask, “What will the pay be?”
“Same as before plus a small added moving bonus to bring you back to Chicago.”
“Then my answer is no,” I tell him without any hesitation.
“Don’t let your pride stand in the way of your dreams, Noah.” He sounds like a minister lecturing me on the finer points of theology.
“If you need me back like you say you do, Tom, the cost is going to be twice my previous salary.”
“That’s ridiculous. You’d practically be making as much as the principal if you got that.” He sure isn’t making me feel very valued and that’s ticking me right off.
“Basketball is a big money maker for Banks, Tom. A lot of the students who enroll there do so because they want to play for the Bulldogs. Nearly every player on the varsity team gets at least one D-1 offer.”
“Twice isn’t going to happen,” he maintains.
Both sides of this argument are playing out in my head like an angel and devil vying for the title of heavyweight championship of the world.
Angel: You’re getting your job back, Noah. It’s what you’ve wanted.
Devil:You’re not getting it on merit; you’re getting it out of their desperation.
