“Hey, man,” Cap greets me tentatively.
“Hey, Cap.”
“How are you today?”
“The same I guess.”
“You know why I’m calling, right?”
“Because you’re a pain in the ass?”
“You’re not answering Coach’s calls or anyone’s calls, man. Everyone’s worried about you.”
“It’s only been a week.”
“I know, but you can’t just go dark like this. They just want to know that you’re okay. Maybe see where your head is at. What happened last Sunday was…well it was unprecedented. We’re all still reeling from it.”
“You mean everyone’s reeling from me killing a man on the football field in front of millions of television viewers?”
“Stop that. You didn’t kill anybody.”
“His heart literally stopped. I’d say that’s the definition of dead.”
Cap takes a long pause, then responds. “You do realize that McCall is going to make a full recovery, right?”
“Always the optimist. You don’t know that for sure.”
“Even if he isn’t back to 100%, which he will be, we all know what we’ve signed up for in the NFL. We’ve been playing football since we were old enough to run. It’s a gladiator sport and every man who steps out on that field knows the chances that he’s taking. There’s a cost for being the best at what we do. I knew that at three-years-old and I know it at thirty. I bet McCall understands that as well.”
I get that Cap means well, but it sounds as if he’s regurgitating the same old sayings that I’ve heard from every football coach I’ve ever had. We’ve all heard the warnings about how violent football is, but do we really believe that we’re putting our lives on the line when we play? Maybe a broken finger or even a torn ACL, but my life?
Or another man’s life?
I’m not sure that I agree with that.
Hell, I’m not sure about anything anymore.
“I need to go, Cap. I’ve got some things to get in order before Bella comes this weekend. You know Jana’s going to talk crap if I don’t have the house stocked with healthy snacks in the house.”
“Oh, baby girl, is coming for a visit?” His voice becomes lighter. Cap is Bella’s honorary godfather as far as I’m concerned, although Jana would never officially allow it. Ever since she met her new boyfriend, all of a sudden my friends are unfit role models.
“Yeah, Jana is going out of town for a few days.”
“That’ll be good for you. Spending time with Bella will help get your mind off things.”
“Yeah, it will.”
“So, what do you have on deck for today?”
It’s clear that we’re getting to the real reason for this call. Everyone in my life seems to have a secondary agenda with me today.
“Why, Cap?”
“I need you to give Coach a call,” he exhales harshly.
“I was hoping that maybe he’d let me skip practice to wrap my head around all of this.“
“It’s not about missing practice. Just call him. He’ll explain.”
