CHAPTER 43

I left his office in a state of disbelief, I couldn't imagine it. To be drafted as a professional after only two seasons, it didn't seem possible. That's all I thought about on the ride home, there was actually a chance that I could play pro football and possibly make a great deal of money. It was around noon on December 23rd when my friend dropped me off at home. I noticed that Ashley's SUV was not in the drive, I actually felt somewhat relieved. I went inside, unpacked my bags, starting two loads of laundry. I fixed myself a sandwich and was sitting at the kitchen table eating when Ashley came through the door.

"Hey, when did you get here ?", she asked, sitting the grocery bags down on the counter.

"Just about thirty minutes ago, a friend dropped me off here. I have off until January 2nd.", I answered.

"That's nice, I was hoping to have company over the holidays.", she told me, putting the groceries away.

While she seemed to be genuinely delighted to see me, for the first time in I can't remember how long, she didn't hug or kiss me. I just sat there eating as she put away the remainder of the groceries. I finished, got up and rinsed the dishes, placing them in the dishwasher. I went and laid down for a while, it had been a long trip home, I was up most of the night. I was startled from a dead sleep by the cell phone on the nightstand next to the bed. I picked the phone up, looked at the number, it looked familiar, so I answered.

"Hey Brian, how are you son ?", came the familiar voice.

It was Mr. Timmons , Courtney's Dad, in spite of what had happened between his daughter and I, we had become somewhat close in the past few years. It was always good to hear from him.

"Hey Mr. Timmons, I'm doing fine sir and you ?", I asked.

"Just great Brian. Look, I am having a really big Christmas Eve party tomorrow night at my house. If you're coming into town, I would love for you to stop in for a few minutes.", he asked.

"I'm in town now sir. I got in last night. But I don't know if it's a good idea, I mean I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable.", I replied.

"You won't make anyone uncomfortable Brian. Both my wife and I would love to see you, I don't think Courtney would mind either.", he shot back.

"Oh, she isn't seeing Darren anymore ?", I inquired.

"I don't know, I hope not, I can't stand that asshole. Anyway, forget about that, just please stop by for a few minutes.", he begged.

"Ok sir, I will come by for a few minutes, I promise.", I said.

Ashley must have been in her bedroom while I was on the phone with Courtney's Dad, she walked up to my door almost as soon as I had hung up the phone.

"Who was that ?", she asked.

"Mr. Timmons, he asked me to stop over at his house tomorrow night for his Christmas Eve party.", I replied.

"Oh... You're thinking of going ?", she inquired.

"I promised him I would stop by for a few minutes. He still calls me at least once a month at school, he has always been so nice to me. I couldn't say no.", I responded.

"Is Courtney going to be there ?", she asked, in an annoyed tone.

"I have no idea Ashley, I didn't ask.", I answered.

She turned and walked down the hallway toward the front of the house. For the rest of the day, you could feel the tension in the house between us. I tried my best to be cordial but it was difficult to say the least. I went to bed early that night just so I wouldn't have to deal with the situation any longer. I heard Ashley up several times during the night, I had no idea what she was doing.

I woke up early on Christmas Eve and decided to go into town and just walk around. Even though it was a very small town, everyone always went all out decorating for Christmas. I stopped in at the diner and had breakfast, a few cups of coffee, then started walking down main street. I saw several people I knew, stopping to talk to each of them for a few minutes. I window shopped for a while, then decided to go to Van Buren's to get a haircut. Mr. V, as everyone called him, had been cutting hair in our town for over thirty years, he had cut my hair since I was a toddler. Lately he had slowed down, hiring two other barbers to help him part time. As I opened the door to walk in, I saw the place was packed. Mr. V looked up from his customer, his face lighting up upon recognizing me. He waved me to come in immediately.

"It's ok Mr. V, I can come back when you're not so busy.", I said, thanking him.

"No, no Brian. You come right in, we will squeeze you in.", he said, shaking my hand.

He turned to all of the men, their ages varied from teenager to senior citizen and addressed them as if they were all old friends.

"I think you all know who this is. If you don't know, get out.", he said laughing hysterically.

Everyone in the shop roared in laughter, as most of them waved a warm hello to me as I sat in the only chair open. As soon as Mr. V finished with the customer he had in his chair, he motioned for me to come over and sit down. I tried to refuse, pointing to all of the people who had been sitting there waiting, but most of them motioned for me to go ahead. I sat down in the chair, as Mr. V quickly wrapped the white cover around me and secured it to my neck. He stepped around in front of me with clippers in his hand.

"So Brian, you didn't see that you made the wall of fame ?", he said, pointing to the main wall.

I scanned through the maze of pictures he had accumulated through the years, he was an avid football fan, his memorabilia collection was impressive. Finally about mid-wall I noticed a large 11 x 16 photo that had to be taken during the Virginia game. It was the hit I had made on the wide receiver reverse causing the fumble. The picture was phenomenal, both of us were off the ground, the ball hovering in the air over us.

"Wow Mr. V, where did you get that ?", I asked.

"Your old Coach brought that in for me, he had it framed as well. When you get to the pro's, it will be one of the highlights of my collection.", he beamed.

"Well I hope I get there Mr. V, I will try not to let you down.", I answered.

For the next few minutes I was bombarded with questions about our team, what I thought our chances were of beating Ohio for the National Championship. Everyone was very nice and wished me luck in the big game. Mr. V had finished up, cleaned me off, and removed the wrap allowing me to stand up. I reached into my wallet and handed him a twenty dollar bill, he pushed my hand away.

"I don't want money, I want a favor from you.", he said.

"I'll try Mr. V, what can I do for you ?", I asked.

"I want you to autograph that for me.", he said, pointing to my picture on the wall.

"No problem Mr. V, I would be happy to do it.", I answered.

The old man bolted over to where the large photo was hanging on the wall. He snatched it down quickly, turned it over and turned the clips that held the backing in place. He fished out the photo and walked back over to me, extending it proudly. One of the other barbers grabbed a black sharpie marker from the drawer and handed it to me. I stared at the photo for a second thinking of what to write. I inscribed the photo neatly, making sure not to mess it up.

To Mr. V, Thanks for everything.

Brian Stevens # 99

I handed the photo back to him, he was grinning from ear to ear. He wrapped his arms around me giving me a big hug. He started replacing the photo back into the frame. He finished, turned and hung it back in its place on the wall. He turned back to me as I was about to walk out and shook my hand wishing me a Merry Christmas.

I headed back towards my vehicle, then headed home. It was close to three o'clock by that time, so I needed to get ready for the party. I arrived home, immediately taking a shower and getting dressed for the party. I was ready about an hour early, so I sat down and watched a bit of TV. I had always tried to bring some sort of item from the past season to Mr. Timmons, he had an office in his home which was wall to wall football memorabilia, but I had forgotten to bring anything from school. Suddenly it struck me that I had three of my first year jerseys hanging in my closet. Every year, you were given two home jerseys and two away jerseys. If they were still intact at the end of the year, you were allowed to keep them, give them away, they were yours. I went to my closet and found one of my white home jerseys hanging in there. I pulled it out and placed it in a plastic bag. I watched TV for about an hour more, then left for the party.

As I turned on the block, I could see that this was not one of Mr. Timmon's normal get togethers. There were three to four times the amount of vehicles that normally were parked in and around his home. I had to park in the block before his home and walk the rest of the way. I arrived at the front door and rang the bell, Mrs. Timmons opened it quickly.

"Hi Brian, I'm so glad you decided to come.", she said, hugging me quickly.

She closed the door behind me and ushered me into the family room, although there were people throughout the house. It took a few minutes for me to find Mr. Timmons, he was in the kitchen icing down more beer. As I walked through the room looking for him, I could feel a lot of eyes watching me. As I stepped into the kitchen, he immediately jumped up and shook my hand.

"Brian , I am so glad to see you. Thanks so much for coming. Come on, I will introduce you to everyone.", he said.