Page 8 of 4th and Goal
“You aren’t stupid.” She doesn’t hear me. The words bounce right off her and I want to shake her to listen to me.
“I feel pretty stupid, but it’s no matter, it’ll pass.” She glances up at me, shy again, her voice somber. “If he shows up…just let me know right away. I’ll deal with him.” Before I can ask what the fuck that means,deal with him, she points to the screen again. “Look at these epic photos! God, I can’t wait to see it all come together!” She changes the subject, going on and on about her ideas for the new campaign featuring Daya and Addy. Something about the symbolism of Addy leaving and Daya just arriving. Potential and growth. All I can focus on is Conner and what the fuck is going between them.
Someone knocks on her doorframe and we both glance up to see Brandon Beiler standing there looking like someone kicked hispuppy. Lilly smiles in greeting. “Hey, shouldn’t you be prepping for the game?”
Beiler smiles back and points toward the field. “I ain’t running up and down that field, I don’t have to prep for nothing.” I snicker, knowing damn well that Beiler works out alongside his players and could probably outrun any of them. He’s a few years older than me, but I can admit the man is in top physical shape. His smile drops. “Can I talk to you?”
“Yeah, sure.” Lilly answers immediately. I grip Lilly’s shoulder and squeeze as I move away from behind her desk to give them privacy.
“I’ll leave you two—”
Beiler raises his hands. “No, please stay. Youshouldstay.” He looks between both of us, his jaw clenching. “It’s about Heacock.”
“Fuck,” I moan but drop into one of the two chairs in front of Lilly’s desk. Beiler takes the other, looking like the weight of the world is on his shoulders…hence the kicked puppy expression when he first knocked. Coach Heacock is like a cancer, and I cannot wait for him to be excised.
“You think maybe he’s constipated?” Lilly blurts out right as Beiler opens his mouth to explain the reason for his visit. We both blink at her in silence, not sure where she’s going with this. “His cranky old man behavior is ratcheting up at an alarming pace. You should have seen him, Brody, in the meeting about Phia becoming the water girl for her thesis. His anger level was unwarranted. And the list of acceptable personnel and players to be photographed that he gave to Edee and Destinaysia was ridiculous.”
“Just listen.” Beiler places his phone on the edge of the desk between the three of us. We listen as Coach Heacock triesto bully Crue Pribula into going pro. Heacock invited Andres Abbott, a former NFL player and scout for Pittsburgh, under false pretenses. Lilly and I laugh when Abbott takes over the meeting and turns it into an interview for a business venture between his food company and Pribula’s family farm. Then Abbott rips Coach a new one and leaves after promising to talk with Beiler about a few key players who Pittsburgh might be interested in. He excluded Heacock from the conversation and as soon as the door shut behind Abbott, Heacock went off on a tear about disrespect and a whole bunch of other bullshit. Prib handled it well, as did Beiler.
The recording ends, and Lilly sits back in her chair, chewing on the end of a pen as she thinks. I cross my legs when my cock twitches thinking I have something else she can twirl her tongue around. Beiler coughs into his fist and rolls his eyes at me. I flip him off and wait for Lilly.
“I’ve met Andres Abbott a few times,” Lilly begins, her eyes focused over our heads as she plays out possible scenarios in her head. I love watching her work. “He’s a good guy, and he won’t let what happened in that meeting be silenced in the community.”
“I thought that too.” Beiler slouches in his seat with a heavy sigh.
“Do you have any other recordings? Audio or visual?” Beiler nods. “Send them to me, please.” Lilly looks at me, completely in business mode. “Can you have Eric run that program he designed to track Coach Heacock’s movements since…he arrived back on campus before summer training camp?”
Eric has worked for me for a couple years now. Technically, he doesn’t have to work since he’s a programmer and has sold a few apps and code. He wrote code for the university as a student, streamlining operations. He also designed the security app weuse, and the firewall and security measures the university uses to protect their data. He’s a genius…who loves football and all things sports. “I can. What are you thinking?”
Lilly grins, but it isn’t sweet or sexy. It’s evil. Pure evil…and ok, it’s damn sexy. Now’s not the time though. The hair on the back of my neck stands up. “I love the smell of emergency board meetings in the morning!”
Lilly 7.
“I shouldn’t have to tell you what a PR nightmare this will be if Heacock is left unchecked.” And yet, here I am telling them. And are they listening? Only half at best. I fight the urge to scowl at the older members of the board; the ones insisting that Coach Heacock is a part of this institution’s foundation and to insinuate he is anything but a blessing sent from above is blasphemous.
I BLASPHEME!
Adam, my boss and mentor, stands next to me when several start to argue. “You heard him on that recording. You’ve seen footage. Coach Heacock is a liability. Not just to the reputation of this university, but to the faculty, staff, and student body. We can march any number of witnesses into this room to testify to his blatant disregard for the rules, disrespect for anyone who opposes his antiquated way of doing things, and the real danger he poses to the health and wellbeing of the students we are charged with protecting. But we aren’t going to do that, because there are too many of you who either agree with him, or are afraid of speaking out against him. Discuss amongst yourselves what kind of future you want for this university, because I can guarantee keeping Heacock around, there won’t be one at all.”
I squee as silently as I can, because damn! Go Adam! It’s your birthday! We gonna party like it’s your—Oh, we’re on the move.If only there was a microphone he could have dropped to signal his intentions, I wouldn’t be scrambling to collect our stuff to follow him. I wait until we’re outside, the sidewalk alive with activity of morning classes. I felt it when I attended, and I revel in it as an employee; the energy is potent. Makes me feel alive in a way I can’t describe or replicate in any other part of my life.
“That. Was. Epic!” I shift my bag over my shoulder so I can clap while badly beatboxing. Adam’s steps stutter as he starts laughing.
“You’re good for the ego, Lilly.”
“Glad I can help. I thought I was holding my own against the old cronies, but then you stand up and drop it like it’s hot!” I touch his shoulder and hiss as I pretend to be burned. He shakes his head fondly, used to my theatrics. He sobers quickly, glancing back at the building we just exited as we walk down the pathway.
“By the time they reach a decision, it’s gonna be too late.” His dark premonition skitters uncomfortably over my skin. In my gut, I know he’s right. For as progressive as the university is, inclusive and supportive, several of those board members have been around since Heacock started decades ago and they seem dead set on clutching to the days of yesteryear. Change is inevitable. To fight it is futile. I wonder if they believe that admitting their “friend” is dangerous is tantamount to admitting to their own obsolescence. I shake off the maudlin thoughts because there is nothing I can do about it. Adam and I presented all the evidence I was able to gather and it’s up to them to decide the fate of Heacock and the university.
“I guess we’ll just have to work overtime to spin whatever catastrophe happens the best we can.”
“You can spin shit any way you want, it’s still shit.”
“Is that Socrates?” I tease, his eyes lighting up and making me feel better. I hate seeing Mr. Dion so defeated.
“Mediocrates.” I’m still laughing when I pull my cell phone out of the pocket of my bag.
“Shit.”
