Fiction/Drama
Assumptions — Senior Year — Chapter Twenty-Two
Ash West
I heard tires hit the gravel outside our driveway. I knew Dad had made it back from his twelve-hour shift cruising around in his police car. Hopefully, he’d grab dinner, some beer, and watch football or something. I wasn’t in the mood to listen to any of his sermons regarding me playing ball, Reagan and her mother, my academics, or anything else he could find to bitch about.
Our practice today was rough, and the quarterback meeting we had afterward was mentally exhausting. Mr. H. and our head coach, Mr. Taliani, basically told me if I couldn’t keep my grades at a ‘B’ level, I would be benched.
What the fuck!
I’d been the starter since my freshman year. We were so fucking fine that year with me, Colton, Levi, Stark, Jackson, and Josh. We made it to the semi-finals for the playoffs, which wasn’t bad for a bunch of fifteen-year-olds.
My grades weren’t all that bad—not great—but enough to get me into a decent college on a football scholarship. But, I had to play my entire senior year without any disciplinary actions against me to be considered.
After the meeting, I came back home, texted Reagan to make sure she’d gotten back safely, ate a quick dinner, and started back on my evening workout regimen.
Without a knock, my door opened. My dad entered, still in uniform, his hand on the side gun holster, like someone would be in my room besides myself. With him, there was no sense of privacy.
His House.
His rules.
Listen or get the fuck out.
Nine more months.
Nine more months to freedom.
“You go to practice today?” He walked around, looking at all the things he’d seen a thousand times before.
My room consisted of a bed, dresser, computer desk with PC, shelves for trophies, a closet, and a wall-mounted TV. Nothing had fuckin changed.
I swear to God he was looking for drugs or something the way he snooped and opened drawers.
I didn’t give him the satisfaction of a verbal answer. Instead, I nodded and continued doing my arm curls. His barging in and pissing me off gave me all the incentive I needed to do another repetition with the fifty-pound dumbbell.
“I want you to give it everything you got this year.”
“I do every year.” My voice was strained as I kept curling.
Dad twisted the ring on his right hand’s fourth finger around in circles. It was the State Championship Football ring he and the team won almost twenty years ago. “This is it. Last year to get one of these.”
My jaws clenched tighter than my bicep. “I know, Dad, I’m working on it. Giving ball one hundred and ten percent.”
Dad walked back toward the door. Finally, he was fucking leaving. Nope, my mistake. He turned back to me with his finger pointed. “Get yourself into college, play some ball, and then it will be an easy ride onto the force.”
I closed my eyes and nodded. What could I say? Major fight if I told him that was his dream for me, not mine.
Dad’s hand reached for the doorknob. “Lose the girl. She’ll only bring you down.” He didn’t even have the decency to tell me that to my face.
Okay, fucking enough. He could talk about me and my going-nowhere life but didn’t need to blame anything on Reagan.
The dumbbell hit the carpet with a thud. “There’s nothing wrong with Reagan.”
Dad chuckled. The evil laugh of ‘this ain’t over, boy.’ He turned to face me. “That whole family is messed up. Do you know how many times I’ve arrested her mother? That woman is always messed up on drugs. And now what, she’s with that black guy with them two kids. He’s been picked up for selling weed once or twice.”
“Reagan isn’t like that, Dad. And Josh is on the team with me, and Elizabeth works. So not everyone is as bad as you make them out to be.”
Anger contorted Dad’s face. He looked like an evil abomination from a Marvel movie. “I’m telling you, boy, that girl is gonna be just like her momma. She’ll be jobless and have five kids before she hits twenty-five.” He finally opened the door to leave, then looked back over his shoulder at me. “And it better not be by my son.” He walked out, slamming the door behind him.
I fell back onto the bed. It was hopeless. I closed my eyes as the exhaustion of the day overtook me.
The sound of Reagan’s text ringtone woke me. I scrambled to the head of my bed, where my nightstand sat to the side, holding a table lamp, an alarm clock, and my cell phone. The clock read eight o’clock and judging by the darkness settling in, it was still the same day. I guess I didn’t sleep as long as I thought. I felt pretty refreshed after the short, hour-long nap.
Reagan’s text read, ‘Meet me at the park.’ Which meant I’d have to sneak out before my dad could question where I was going.
I put on new shorts and a T-shirt since I didn’t get a shower yet. I slipped on my sneakers and opened my bedroom door as quietly as possible.
I passed by the guest bedroom doorway and the hallway bathroom and made it to the foyer. The light from the TV flickered, meaning Dad was in there. He was probably watching some sports channel, wondering how his life ended up as it did. How wasn’t he some great NFL star or at least a commentator? And how the hell did he get a son dating someone who wasn’t of the same ethnicity as him?
Was Dad racist? Eh, he had his moments.
The front door clicked softly behind me as I stepped out onto the porch. The warm, humid August air hit me. I love summer but could do without the eighty-degree nights. I knew exactly where Reagan would be—the only pavilion at the little park in between neighborhoods.
Our community, where I, Reagan, and some of the other guys on the team live, has a pathway leading to a small park with a playground. We all used to go there every day when we were little. It sorta became our comfort zone now.
On the opposite side of the playground is another trail leading to the trailer park community. This was where Tabby, Brady, Connor, and some others in our class lived. My neighborhood wasn’t much better. It did have better housing, but nothing fabulous. But it seemed if one lived in the'redneck' area of town, the trailer park, they were considered trash. Not sure why that was. But to me, we were all the same, just trying to survive with the hand we got dealt and hoping to get out of Bayshore alive.
I saw Reagan sitting on the picnic table when I rounded the last bend of the trail. Her head was in her hands as she rested her elbows on her knees. Even though she liked to put up a tough exterior, at this moment, she looked so tiny and frail.
“Bad night?” I stepped on the bench and sat down beside her on the table.
Reagan wobbled her head at my assumption and leaned into me. “I guess you could say that.”
I pulled her tight against me and kissed her on the forehead. “Your mom?” I felt her nod. “She back doing her thing?”
Reagan shrugged and sat upright. She rubbed her hand over her face and growled out of frustration. “I don’t know. I think. She’s back to her secrets. Lying about where she’s going, what she’s doing, same bullshit as before.”
“What’s Marlin saying about it?”
Reagan let out a soft, sad laugh. “Nothing. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the one giving her the shit.”
I pulled her close once again. “One more year, Reg, then we can get away from all of this.”
She sighed heavily. “Do you really think it’s going to be that easy?”
I nuzzled close, kissing her tenderly on the cheek. “No, but we’ll be able to get away from both our families. It’s gotta get better after that.” I stood and held out my hand. “Wanna stay the night again?”
Reagan looked up. I could see it in her eyes; she was contemplating the idea. “What about your dad?”
I took her hand, pulling her up to me. “Don’t worry about him. He’s off tomorrow, so it’s past football games and a six-pack tonight.”
Reagan nodded. “Okay. Just make sure I get up early enough to go back home to get ready for school.”
.Her need to always look perfect before going to school made me chuckle. She didn’t get how fuckin beautiful she was, whether dressed up or lounging around in sweats.
“I will. Or you could always just wear something of mine. You look so hot wearing my clothes.” I kissed her deeply. “We could always skip school and hang out in my room.”
Reagan rolled her eyes and took a step back. “Men. That’s all they think about.” She clenched my hand and led me toward the pathway home.
