“I’m just saying that you didn’t have to hit him with a football. There are legal options you can explore if he prints misinformation or—”
“It’s not even really about what happened back then. He made it quite clear that he was interested in you. That he was going to pursue you. And it looked like … it looked like that was happening.”
“We were just talking like we do at any other practice, Coop. He’s just a friend.”
“Really–because you seem to be mighty concerned about his well being right now, and I don’t particularly like that shit.”
“I was worried for you not him. Hitting him with the ball was beneath you. You were embarrassing yourself.”
“Well I’m not embarrassed by the shit at all. I’d do way more than hit somebody with a football for you, Owens. I would do any fucking thing.”
“Coop—”
“You think you know what happened that day. You only know half of the story. Yes, I was abducted. Yes, it was us who crashed into your car ultimately killing your mother. Yes, it was me who pulled you out of that car, then left you on the side of the road.”
“Coop—”
“I told them, Owens. I told anyone who would listen that you two needed help and went to you. The officers finally listened and took me back, but the ambulance was cutting your mother out of the car and they had you on a gurney. It looked like you were safe, so it was time for them to do their job and get me back to my family. I didn’t think your mother would die. I swear to you. I didn’t know.”
“Thank you, Coop.”
“But your mom.”
“You’re not responsible for her death. You didn’t kill her. That insane woman who took you is responsible for that. That wasn’t your fault. You have to know that.”
“But I left you there.”
“I never thought that. I don’t think that. You pulled me out of the car and you comforted me when I was most afraid. That’s more than most adults would have done.”
“Your mom asked me to help, Owens. I need you to know that in those last moments, she was thinking of you. She must have loved you so much.”
Tears start to fall. I know my mother loved me more than life itself, but hearing the words from the last person she said anything to really hits home.
“Thank you for telling me that.”
He continues explaining himself. I know he needs to do it, and I want to hear everything he has to say, so I continue to stand patiently in front of him and listen to every word.
“Once I signed my first contract with the NFL, I knew that the very first thing I wanted to do with my money was to look for you. The little girl I made a promise to which I couldn’t keep.”
“Youdidkeep it. You came back for me.”
I won’t allow him to keep saying that. He’s distorted the truth. We’re both survivors. Coop was a hero.
“It took me almost two years to find you, because like Jim told me once, no paper trail is ever truly destroyed. I can only describe it as kismet when I found you though. You had been out of school for three months and needed employment. I needed an assistant. I found your résumé on a basic job site by accident. I recognized the name from a copy of the police report that I’d gotten my hands on. I forwarded your application to the agency who was screening applicants for me.”
My heart actually almost skips a beat.
I wasn’t invisible like I thought.
I actually was important to him.
I’ve always been important.
“They must have thought you were an idiot passing on that pitiful résumé.” I laugh.
“Nah, they were too busy thinking about all the babies they wanted to have with me to question my applicant selection.”
I laugh. “Honestly, Coop, not every woman is attracted to you.”
