Page 101 of Puck with Karma
“Those are the correct numbers,” he assures me in a quiet tone. I’m used to him raging at me. Seeing calm and quiet is throwing me off.
“But this is nowhere near enough,” I point out. “You’ve been dealing with all my contracts, my investments, my everything, this is all you’re getting paid?”
He smirks in the corner of his mouth. The move looks cocky. It reminds me of myself.
“You really should’ve read your contract before you signed it. Everything was laid out in there. Besides,” he chuckles, “in case you haven’t noticed, your mother and I are still living in the same house we owned since you were little. And we don’t spend money on anything extravagant.”
I lift the papers in disbelief. “That’s because you make no money! Or, not enough to count!”
“We’re fine,” he shrugs. “I had my own investments that did very well over the years. We were never about the lavish lifestyle, but we wanted to be comfortable. And the income we have achieves just that.”
I shake my head at him. I don’t know if I hate him or if I am grateful to him. I think it’s a combination of both.
“Then why did you treat me like you owned me for all these years?”
My father, for the first time in my life, hangs his head in shame.
“I wanted to keep you motivated. Keep your head in the game so that you could achieve all the amazing things you did achieve.” He looks up. “All the things I have no doubt that you will continue to achieve.”
I lean back against the seat, the papers scrunched in my hand, and let out a long breath of air.
“You’ve been acting like an entitled asshole,” I inform him calmly. “Not just to me, but to my teammates, to my coach…” Another thought floods my mind. “You’ve been treating Janie like a stepchild!”
That really gets to him. “We’ve made mistakes with Janie. I will talk to her as well.”
I don’t even know what to do with any of what he just told me. In the back of my mind, I keep on thinking that he’s playingme. He has an ulterior motive for all this, while the better part of me wants to believe that he is remorseful.
“Why are you here?”
“I quit as your manager. Effective immediately.” His voice is even, no hesitation.
Panic takes over my entire body. Although I told him weeks ago that he was fired, I never really expected him to go away.
“You never drew any papers for my termination,” he reminds me. “That would entitle me to a large sum of your money.”
I nod and look away. It’s always about the money.
“Me quitting,” he continues, “makes the contract null and void. You owe me nothing.”
“Which means what exactly?”
He sighs. “Which means you don’t owe me a dime. I am leaving on my own. My resignation has already been filed with the league. They will contact you about it. But Xander…” He takes a moment to make sure he has my attention. “If you need me, call me. I will always be in your corner.”
With that, he stands up to leave. He is almost at the door, when he turns around, his always cold eyes staring me down.
“You’ve been playing like shit lately. I’m sure it’s got something to do with your personal life.” He smirks knowingly. “You’ve always let your emotions drive your play.”
I roll my eyes, and a smile escapes the corner of my mouth.
“Whatever it is, fix it, Xander. Don’t be a dumbass.”
He opens the door and walks out, this time not bothering to add anything more.
I squeeze my hands into fists, making the papers I’m still holding crinkle. They make this entire encounter a bit more real. For reasons unknown, I am having a very hard time processing what just happened. The image of my father from minutes ago does not match the image I’ve had of him since I was a little kid.
I smooth out the papers and read over the numbers again. The amount he’s been paying himself for all these years is laughable. I can only assume that he told me the truth and he and mom do have their own lucrative investments. What I’m looking at would probably just pay the mortgage. That’s it.
Before I think better of it, I grab my phone and call him. I’m not sure how long I stared at those papers, but he must be in the car and on his way home by now.
