Page 48 of The Last Guy On Earth
“Uh, sure,” I say.
Maybe they traded me again, says my subconscious.Maybe Clay’s apology was just for show.
I follow Murphy toward the back of the jet. He pauses at the office’s closed door and turns to me. “Listen, everyone who joins the team has a few onboarding conversations with the staff,” he says. “You already met the trainers and the publicist.”
“Right,” I say slowly, not entirely following him.
“Doc Baker is the team psychologist,” he says, shifting his weight. “He’d like to meet with you now.”
“Oh. Sure.” Every team has a sports psychologist, so I guess it’s my turn.
“The usual rules apply,” he says. “Anything you say is confidential, unless the doctor thinks you’re a danger to yourself or others.”
“Okay. Maybe he can make me suck less, yeah?”
Coach Murphy frowns at me and then walks away.
I tap twice on the door. “Come in,” says a voice.
I open the door and find two people sitting at the table. One of them is Clay. “Take your time in here, guys,” he says, rising to his feet and giving me another sturdy nod. “I’m going to go watch some tape.” He slides past me and leaves the office.
I wonder what hereallythinks about me spilling my guts to the team shrink. Because a few of the things churning around inside me have to do with a relationship Clay’s worked hard to keep secret.
I sit down in front of Dr. Baker, who’s a good-looking Black guy with glasses and a clean shave.
“Coffee?” he offers, pointing at a small pot. “It’s fresh.”
“I’d love some coffee.”
He passes me the pot, and I pour myself a cup. “Look, I’ll save us some time. I’m the new guy. It’s not going great.”
He laughs. “All right. You want to tell me why?”
“Because my life is a cesspool right now. Getting traded a year and a half before my contract ends was the most humiliating thing to ever happen to me. And my family issues keep me up at night.” It’s a lot of honesty, but it’s also a smokescreen. If I talk about my game and my family, I won’t stray into any of the confusing shit between me and Clay.
“Why do you think it’s humiliating to be traded?”
Oh, please. “Why would you think it’snot?”
“A trade takes two parties. Someone who wants you, and someone who doesn’t.”
“Detroit’s opinion weighs pretty heavily on me. I won two cups with them, and they treated me like some garbage that had to be taken out. Then Coach Powers screamed his head off at the GM when he found out they took me without his approval. So, sure, tell me how I’m supposed to unclench.”
He smiles. “I read your file.”
Uh-huh. That’s literally your job. “And?”
“And I noticed that you and Coach Powers used to be teammates.”
That’s not all we used to be, dude. “That’s true. For a short while.”
“Did you two get along?” he asks.
“Not always.”Not after I pushed him away.
He rubs his chin. “Even so, it must have hurt to hear that your former teammate didn’t really approve of this trade.”
“It sucked,” I say grumpily. “But Clay Powers isn’t even in my top five problems. My family is taking the trade hard, which makes settling in pretty tough. Things will get better, though.”Especially if we can stop talking about Clay.
