Destiny (26 page)

“I
will. I’ll probably see you at some point soon. I’m heading that way right
after the draft. Even if he’s going to be fine, I still want to see him.
There’s something about thinking that a person you love is gone forever that
makes you realize what’s important.”

“Tell
me about it. I’ll see you soon then,” Olivia said and told me goodbye.

When
I walked back in, I noticed that Chastity was looking at me strangely. I didn’t
know what was going on, but I had seen that look before. I remembered her
catching me looking at another girl in high school. This was that look, and
what followed that look hadn’t been good.

“What’s
going on?” I asked.

“It’s
nothing. That was her, though, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.
Is that weird?”

“A
little. She’s the whole reason you didn’t talk to me for three years after you
got home. Why was
she
the one to call
you?”

“My
aunt didn’t want anyone to tell me what was happening. She knew that it would
ruin my time in New York. Olivia thought I would want to know, though, so she
called. We don’t normally talk. As a matter of fact, today is the first time
I’ve talked to her since the summer.”

“I’m
acting ridiculous. We’re not even serious yet. I definitely shouldn’t be
feeling jealous.”

“Hey,
I consider us serious. I don’t take just any woman to New York on the trip of
my lifetime, and not just anyone would go home with me to visit my sick uncle.
We’re something special. I know that much, so don’t doubt that or get freaked
out over someone from my past. She’s married, and I’m with you. That’s the end
of the story. Besides, I’m sure there are plenty of guys from your past that I
could be jealous of right now. I don’t have to, though. They didn’t get you.”

“I
don’t know about plenty, but I guess you’re right. It’s been a hard day for
you, and I know tomorrow is going to be even more stressful. Why don’t we go to
bed a little early?”

“That’s
a good idea. I need to be rested for tomorrow.”

“I
didn’t say anything about rest,” Chastity joked.

“Oh,
really? Well, I think I can be tired. Let’s . . .” I managed to say before the
phone rang again.

This time it wasn’t Olivia. It was
Marcus. I knew this couldn’t be good. Marcus wouldn’t be calling unless there
was trouble.

“Hey, what’s happened?” I asked.

“You know those guys who do something
stupid that costs them a chance at being the first pick in the draft?”

“What
did that idiot do?”

“You
just need to get down here. I tried to stop things, but it escalated.”

“Tell
me what’s going on.”

“Mr.
Football himself was here tonight - the Heisman trophy winner, Jerry Grissom.
You know that Emmitt was sore when he finished second to someone who never
actually won anything but that. Emmitt got really drunk tonight. He partied
like he normally does, and that did the thing that it also does to him on most
nights. It made him lose his sensor. I tried to stop him from talking to the
guy, but he did it anyway. Emmitt tried to make a fool out of him and made a
fool out of himself instead. They traded a couple of blows, and then the police
were called. Derrick and I would have stepped in, but we have a lot to lose,
too. The cops are here now. I think they’re going to be arrested.”

“That’s
just great! I’ll be there as soon as I can. Don’t move, and whatever you do,
don’t drink anything or get into a disagreement with anybody. I don’t think I
can take more than one of my clients being an idiot tonight.”

“You’ve
got it, boss,” he joked, and we got off the phone.

I
explained everything to Chastity and caught a cab to the club. They had both of
them in cuffs, but they hadn’t taken them to jail yet, so that was a good sign.
I immediately found the first police officer I could and asked what was going
to be done about them.

“There
was damage done in the fight. The owner doesn’t want to press charges, though,
and neither of them wants to press charges against each other either. We’re
trying to decide what to do with them now. It might just be easier to let this
one go,” he said.

I
convinced him to let me take custody of Emmitt and to let Jerry go as soon as
we were gone. Thankfully, the NYPD were having a busy night, and they didn’t
feel like doing the paperwork on two people who weren’t going to press charges
against each other. As long as they had someone to drive them home, the police
were going to let them go.

When
they finally released Emmitt, he tried to explain himself to me, but I told him
to shut up. We were going to talk about all of this, but it was going to be in
private. After Marcus and Derrick had gone to their rooms, I walked into
Emmitt’s room with him.

“Man,
I can explain,” he said as I shut the door.

“I
don’t care what he said to you or how much you hate that guy. I would have when
you were in college, but you’re blowing it right now! Do you have any idea how
many people would kill to be you? You’re about to make more money than I could
ever dream of, and I’m managing three people! Then there’s the fact that you
could have any woman you want, but you’re too much of an idiot to settle for
one person. You’ve got the money, people love you, and God gave you an amazing
talent. All you’ve got to do is cash in on it. Why is that so hard for you?”

“I
don’t know. I guess I don’t really feel like I belong here,” he said and sat
down on the couch.

“Emmitt,
you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t belong. I love you, man. You know that, and
I’m not saying this to be
mean
, but you have to get it
together. I’m not saying that you can’t party or be yourself, but you’ve got to
give me something here. Don’t you realize that normal people don’t get blitzed
every weekend and attack people just because they might have been better than
them at something?”

“That
guy wasn’t better than me!”

“That’s
your problem, and if you’re not careful, it’s going to be your downfall.”

“What
are you talking about?”

“You
think you’re better than everyone. You don’t even believe you can get better
because you think you’ve reached your maximum potential. I see so much more in
you, though. I just hope you see it before it’s too late. Now, listen well.
This is what we’re going to do. You’re going to get some rest, and tomorrow
we’re going to do damage control. After that, we’ll just hope for the best.
Maybe this can be a learning experience for both of us,” I said and walked out.

I
didn’t know how right I was. It was going to be a learning experience, and for
once, Emmitt was going to change, or at least give the appearance of changing.
If nothing else, my talk had made him realize that he had to be more
responsible in public. Looking back, I think I missed the mark. That’s a story
for later on, though. The next day would be a much happier one.

Chapter 26

The
Draft

The
following day, I let Emmitt sleep in. He needed to sleep off the hangover, and
I figured the other guys wanted to relax for a while before the big night came.
Plus, I was a lot happier in the room with Chastity than I would have been out
trying to set up some interview or sponsorship. All the work was done until
that night. Now I could finally spend some time with her. There was one problem
with that. I had been so busy that I hadn’t actually had time to spend with
Chastity alone talking. That morning, we encountered our first issue. We had
absolutely nothing to talk about. Sure, things had been electric with her two
nights before, but that was physical. Did we have a connection outside of that?
I didn’t think so.

“Well,
this is a little awkward, isn’t it?” Chastity asked as we watched television in
silence.

“We
moved really fast. We skipped through the boring days and talks. I didn’t
realize this would be so hard. What do you want to do today?” I asked as I
clicked the television off.

“I
don’t know. You’re right, though. It’s weird. We haven’t just spent a day
talking since high school. It was so natural back then. I just thought it would
be now.”

“Why
don’t we talk about that then?”

“What?”

“You
know . . . what we’ve been doing since then. I want to know everything about
you. Start at the beginning. I already know about your dad cutting you off and
why you’re not at some fancy university, but what happened before that?”

“After
you left, I went into a deep depression. I missed you more than I thought I
would. Eventually, I tried to put myself back out there. I started dating Jack,
but . . .”

“Wait
a minute. Creepy Jack?”

“I
wouldn’t call him creepy.”

“No,
you definitely used to. I still remember how he always stared at you anytime we
were around. I can’t believe you actually dated him.”

“I
was really depressed, and he was interested. I wanted to pick up where we left
off, but you weren’t around, so I tried to do it with someone else.”

“How
long did he last? Two dates maybe?” I asked sarcastically.

“Almost
a year.”

“Really?
How close
were
you with him?”

“I
treated him like he was you. I was lonely, and I just wanted someone who loved
me. I practically threw myself at the guy. We became as close as two people
could be, but it wasn’t real. I was always picturing you when I was with him.
It wasn’t fair, so I broke it off. Now, let me tell you the rest of the story .
. .” I heard her say before completely zoning out.

Was
I doing the same thing to her that she did to Jack? Olivia was constantly in the
back of my mind. It was obvious that Chastity had always cared about me, and
here I was giving her hope where there might not be any. Then again, it wasn’t
like there was any hope of me being with Olivia, so what did it matter?

“Hey!
Are you listening to me?” Chastity asked after noticing that I had zoned out.

“Yeah,
of course I am.”

“What
was the last thing I said?”

“It
was uh . . . about your life. You know, before we ran into each other again.”

“No
duh, genius! If you’re not going to listen, then I’m going to make you do the
talking. Tell me about what happened when you were in Wisconsin,” she said with
a smile.

I
told her everything except for a few details. I left out the heavy stuff with
Olivia. There was no need for me to tell her the major details of our
relationship or about the abortion she had in high school. I also left out the
detail of Emmitt and me taking money under the table from a booster. It took
over an hour for me to tell her everything that had happened, even with those
details left out. When I was done, Chastity looked satisfied.

“Well,
I certainly got you talking. It sounds like you were very busy without me. I
still can’t believe you beat up that guy in Wisconsin. I never knew of you to
raise a hand to anyone when we were kids. I liked you a lot, but I never viewed
you as the protective type. I wonder if you would beat up an athlete twice your
size for me,” she said.

“I’ll
beat up Emmitt right now if you want me to. I swear that guy is a handful,” I
joked.

We
talked and watched television for the rest of the morning and most of the
afternoon. It was nice to just sit in a room with a woman who cared about me
and do nothing but order takeout and enjoy life.
That’s
what I had been missing. I had spent so long being
depressed, but I was happy in this situation. I decided on that day not to
question anyone who ever made me happy. She wasn’t Olivia, but that didn’t mean
Chastity wasn’t special and worth loving. That was the start of me allowing
myself to love her. I hadn’t fell in love back when we were teenagers, but that
was only because I made a choice not to. I wouldn’t make that decision again.

The
time passed faster than I would have liked it to, and it was eventually time
for us to head off to the draft. We had only reserved four seats, so Chastity
couldn’t come. I felt bad about that, but it couldn’t be helped, and she
understood.

Once
we arrived at the draft, reporters swarmed Emmitt and asked him about the brawl
from the night before. His bruised eye also attracted a lot of attention from
photographers. I simply said no comment to the questions. It was too late to
undo his mistake now. Teams were going to look past his obvious character
flaws, or they weren’t. I couldn’t change that with any answer, though.

When
we were inside and the draft began, I noticed that Emmitt looked nervous. He
had reason to be. He was projected as the first pick, and being any less than
that would be an embarrassment for him. It would mean that his conduct the
night before had cost him millions.

“It’s
going to be all right, Emmitt. I can’t guarantee that you’ll get picked first,
but I’m going to make sure you find a good home and a fat check before this is over.
Trust me,” I said.

He
nodded and stared on as the commissioner of football came out. As fans did on
most years, they booed him when he walked to the podium. The commissioner was
probably the most unpopular man in sports. I didn’t hate the guy, but then
again, I didn’t even follow sports. I was just there for the cash. I had
figured out long ago what players were worth. So many touchdowns equaled so
many dollars, and so many sacks equaled a bigger paycheck.
I
looked at players like I would a stock, and as far as I could tell
,
business was good
.

“With
the first pick in this year’s draft, Houston selects Derrick Wild - defensive
end out of Miami,” he said.

I
was in shock. I expected Derrick to go high, but this was incredible for him. I
didn’t know how to feel. This was the best thing for one of my clients, but it
also signaled a deep problem for Emmitt. I hugged him as we stood, and then I
watched as he walked up and took a picture with the commissioner in his new
jersey. No sooner than he stepped off the stage did I pull out my phone. I had
the general manager from Houston on speed dial. I had anticipated Emmitt going
there, so I had talked numbers with the guy a few times.

“Eric,
congratulations,” he said upon answering.

“Thank
you. I know it’s early on and you’re probably going over what to do tomorrow in
the second round, but I was hoping to talk numbers. I’ve got to be out of town
soon. I’m working on some endorsement deals for Derrick, so if this can get
done in principle over the phone, then I would be really happy.”

I lied
about where I was going because I wanted to be in a position of power. Acting
like I was working on making my client even more money sounded better than
saying that I was going to see my uncle in the hospital. If I hadn’t lied, he
might have smelled weakness and waited to negotiate with Derrick alone. I
couldn’t have that.

“That
depends on what he wants. Let’s talk cash.”

“I
think he’s good for twelve to fourteen sacks this year. He might be a rookie,
but he’s a freak of an athlete. We both know that. Twelve to fourteen sacks are
normally worth about eight million a year. Doesn’t that sound right?”

“If
he were a veteran. He’s not, though. Derrick has to prove that he can perform
at that level before we invest that much. I know he’s the first pick in the
draft, though, so we’re willing to offer a substantial amount. I’ll offer you a
four year sixteen million dollar deal right now.”

“I’ll
meet you half way. We want a four-year twenty-four million deal. Fourteen of it
guaranteed. He’ll work on incentives for the rest because I know he won’t
fail.”

“That
sounds reasonable. Let’s talk about what the incentives will be,” he said and
we continued to talk money.

I wrote everything down that he said. After
a few minutes, I was off the phone, and I turned toward Derrick. I handed him
the paper.

“How
does that deal look to you?” I asked with a smile.

“Like
a dream come true. I can’t believe this,” he said with tears in his eyes.

I
had never seen Derrick cry. He always seemed like a hard man, but there’s
something about a person seeing the fruits of their labor that makes them
soften. This was what he had worked for. For the first time, I felt pride in
what I was doing. It wasn’t just about the money. We were changing lives there.
Derrick would be set for life.

While
I was attending to Derrick, I had completely forgotten about another client who
was absolutely crushed. We were already on the tenth pick, and Emmitt’s name
still hadn’t been called.

“Are
you all right?” I asked him.

“Do
I look all right? My future just went down the drain, so what do you think?”

“I
think you’re overreacting. We knew last night would have repercussions. Just
wait. It’s not like you’re going to slip out of the top twenty.”

He
did, though. Pick twenty was Marcus. He went to Green Bay, of all places. There
was no need for a phone call to their general manager because I would be in
town to negotiate the deal soon enough. At that point, I told the guys all
about my uncle and that I wouldn’t be around after that night. Emmitt and
Derrick understood, and Marcus seemed happy that he wouldn’t be flying to
Wisconsin alone. One thing needed to be worked out before I could even go to
Wisconsin, though. If Emmitt wasn’t drafted in the first round, then that would
mean I had to stay until the following night when they did the second and third
round picks. I couldn’t let that happen. I needed to be back at home, and
Emmitt deserved a good future. I called the place I knew he wanted to go. I was
on a first name basis with the owner of New York’s team. He was a man who had
more involvement with decisions about his team’s roster than his coaches would have
liked. He had a GM to assemble the roster, but most thought that the GM was
just a puppet. If I was going to get Emmitt where he wanted to be, then that
was the man I needed to talk to.

“Mr.
Wyatt, it’s nice to talk to you again. This is Eric Wilson, and I was hoping I
could talk to you about taking Emmitt Brown with the twenty-fourth pick,” I
said.

“We
already have a quarterback, and he doesn’t come with baggage.”

“Let’s
be honest. You have a mediocre quarterback who takes too many sacks because he
can’t get through his reads fast enough. Emmitt has the potential to be one of
the premier players in this league. After what happened last night, I’m not
even going to try to convince you to take him based on his character. I’m just
going to tell you there’s a chance that he’s the next Aaron Rodgers. A lot of people
passed on him, too. Do you want to be
that
owner? If you pick him and he works out, then you have a franchise
quarterback for the next fifteen years. If it doesn’t, then you have the same
guy you have now. Just give him a shot. New York is where he’s wanted to be
from the start.”

“That’s
strange. Everyone who slips in the draft says New York is always where they
wanted to be.”

“In
this case, it’s true. I care about this guy, and I’ve seen for three years just
how talented he is. Take your pick of big names. He can play with the
Mannings
and
Bradys
of this
league. I know that for a fact.”

“If
I pick him, you’re not going to expect top five money, are you?”

“No.
We’ll take a four year twelve million dollar deal.”

“That’s
still a bit pricey for someone who probably won’t be in this league for over
two or three years.”

“You’re
wrong. I know he’s going to be the best thing New York has seen in a long time
over the next four years. After that, he’s going to cash in with a contract
five times that size. As a matter of fact, I’m so confident that I’ll be willing
to put my money where my mouth is. I take ten percent of his money as his
agent. That would come out to 1.2 million dollars over the next four years.
Emmitt’s cut would be 10.8. He’ll make that much, but I’ll cut my commission in
half on this one contract to get him in the uniform he wants to be in and save
you enough money to make you feel more comfortable with picking him.”