Football Injuries Alter Lives

For the record, if you read through all of my stories there will be at least one you absolutely hate. I know because I hate a few of them myself. Not every idea ends up shining like a star.

My friends tell me that I don't flesh out my characters, my stories are more like outlines, and that I lose interest and just rush to finish the story. They know me so well. And get this: they keep thinking that I want to be a better writer. Silly wabbits. I'm simply trying to keep that dude shrouded in a dark, hooded robe, and carrying a scythe from choosing me next. Those of you who get irritated because Kansas and Arkansas are pronounced differently, just leave now.

This is a story I found while looking for something else. Knowing you wrote something but then having to wade through several hundred unfinished stories is a real pain. Anyways this one seems to incorporate many of my shortcomings so I tried to finish it.

Johnny Nash: "Oh, yes I can make it now the pain is gone. All of the bad feelings have disappeared, here is that rainbow I've been praying for. It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day!"

= = = =

Some people never get the opportunity to live vicariously through their children. I'm one of the lucky ones as my son Doug in playing in college. I worked very hard coaching him and his sister Franny when they were young. Both watched intently while I played in rec level soccer leagues. My weekends were dedicated to their soccer tournaments where both were stars. My weeknights were spent shuttling them to and from practices or on skills and drills at whatever park wasn't being used. They played sports every month of the year but soccer was where they really excelled.

It was also my wife Shay's desire to keep them so preoccupied with sports that the riskier pastimes of life had difficulty creeping in. On the surface that appears to have worked. On the surface. Doug quit soccer before his senior year in high school and has turned down soccer scholarships. Mostly out of rebellion we think. Kind of like a 'Take THAT!' It worked out well enough for him as he became the high-school football team's field goal kicker and occasionally as a punter too.

So how is it that I'm watching Doug play in college? Well Tech thought he had about the strongest leg they'd seen recently so they offered him a football scholarship. The intent for him was to be a field goal kicker but he outperformed the punter so soundly that he secured the spot as their number one punter. As a true freshman. Franny is pissed beyond belief. Doug quits soccer, flips everyone off, and ends up smelling like a rose. Now those Division II schools chasing after Franny are in her rear view mirror. She wants to play at a Division I school just like her brother. Ah, sibling rivalry.

At every Tech home game Shay and I have seats in the section set aside for the parents of the players. What makes it even cooler is that everyone actually sits and watches the game rather than standing up from 'flag fall to that's all'. Another bonus is that the drunk student section is far away. If we wanted, the school could get us tickets to the away games as well. So far we've not done that but are planning on going once or twice.

Our local television station has the contract to broadcast all of the Tech games. I record them to the cloud. When the quarterback throws a touchdown pass, they zoom in on his parents to see their reaction. When the running back zips in for a touchdown, they zoom in on his parents to see their reaction. When the punter kicks an awesome one out inside the five, they cut to commercials. Yeah, well, who can blame them? The parents aren't really a social bunch, especially if your kid is a kicker, so we didn't make many friends in the stands during the first home game. Still, it's a lot of fun.

Whereas my short business trips never really caused me angst, the upcoming product rollout was scheduled for the weekend Tech hosts State. I'd have to miss the game but planned on watching it later in my hotel room. I'd rather be at the stadium but work pays the bills and a punter's scholarship doesn't exactly cover all of the costs.

+ + + +

Shay and I met shortly after graduating from college. Our respective companies sent us to the same seminar. Our first meeting was uneventful.

"Brock Zellman, are you related to Charles Zellman" the attractive brunette spoke after looking at my name tag.

"Well, Shay Wilson, not that I'm aware of. I assume you know him?" looking up from a lingering glance at her boobs and the nearby name tag.

"As a matter of fact. He was a year ahead of me in high school. Just thought that with your unique last name there was a chance" as she smiled.

"Maybe we should have a drink this evening and I'll see if you're related to Ann or Nancy Wilson" as I returned her smile.

"Cute reference. Sure, I'll meet you after the last session in the hotel lobby after visiting the powder room."

Later on, as I stood in the hotel lobby wondering if Shay had pulled a runner on me, one of my work associates started chatting me up. He was really into the last speaker so I pretended to be interested. I caught Shay out of the corner of my eye.

"Sorry to cut you off but my drinking buddy is here."

"No problem Breeze, see you tomorrow."

"Hey Shay, ready to go?"

"Breeze?"

"Yeah combining my first and last names. I've heard it all my life so it's kind of stuck."

"Well Breeze, you offered to buy me a drink. Let's go!"

Corny, but we really got along well that night. A gentle peck on the lips left me wanting much more but that wouldn't happen for several months and after several dates. It was worth the wait.

Not much out of the ordinary about our courtship and marriage. Her parents seemed to like me and mine her. Since the marriage budget was tight it was a small event with about forty people.

We qualified for a starter home about half-way between her office and mine. Two years later we welcomed Doug and not quite two years later Franny came along.

+ + + +

As this was the first and only time I've been married I didn't question that there would be arguments. We could find the stupidest things to bicker about. Not enough money. Not enough time. Should have checked with Shay first. Why am I bothering her with that? We'd go out of our way to piss the other off before the dust from the argument had settled.

To put an end to our abusive behavior towards each other we finally agreed to see a counselor. That seemed to help some, but we have a ways to go.

One Saturday night, after some tussle about what I can't remember, we had my company party to attend. Shay flirted shamelessly and danced inappropriately all evening just trying to get me to make a scene. I watched like a hawk but she always kept pawing hands at length. However there were touches and chaste kisses and embraces. I wasn't going to play her game.

Shay tried to start a fight on the drive home "Some of your salesmen said that you appeared to be getting off on them flirting with me."

"Sometimes bodies are never found. They just disappear. No disputes over custody or alimony."

Her eyes got wide and she shut up. It was frosty at our house for over a week. No apology was ever extended.

What really irked me was the sales staff, in the week after the party, telling me that I wasn't worthy of the hot babe I was married to. One asshole even had the gall to ask if we had an open marriage. A note on my desk suggested that since I was inadequate in the sack I should hand her off each weekend.

+ + + +

On the day that Tech played State, I asked Shay to refrain from telling me how things turned out. I wanted to watch it in my suite enjoying the company paid room service dinner and drinks. To ensure radio silence I powered my cell phone off at game time earlier that afternoon.

The game itself was sloppy, as is the norm for bottom-feeding teams. Doug boomed a few punts. Late in the third quarter Doug punted again but this time some overly aggressive defensive player leveled him in a deliberate cheap shot. Personal foul, roughing the kicker, but Doug stayed down. The players nearby looked panicked and took a knee. A replay showed Doug's leg bending in a way a leg should never be bent. As the Theismann broadcast rule kicked in, they didn't show the replay of his leg breaking. (In 1985 quarterback Joe Theismann was sacked and his leg broken in a very grotesque manner. We all know that as they showed it from several angles about a thousand times. The backlash was immediate and fierce. Broadcasters now shy away from letting you see the gory stuff.)

Backing the video up, I watched the collision several times. No way does Doug play again this season. The cart eventually loaded him up and started his journey to the hospital I assumed. He waved as the crowd cheered. I paused the broadcast and then powered my cell phone on. There were numerous texts and voice mails from friends and family which I waded through. Then I called Shay. She seemed really shook up. Doug was in surgery and she would call me back when she knew more. Checking with the airlines there was no way getting home this evening.

My food was cold and I was already out of beer. What else could go wrong? Never tempt the gods like that. I resumed watching the broadcast. As the cart rolled across the turf they cut to the parents section and showed Shay with tears dripping and her hands over her mouth. She was being consoled by Robert Marks. He's a salesman for my company and was one of the guys who was sniffing around her at that company party. He kissed her on the forehead as he pulled her close to his chest. Why the hell is he sitting in my seat and consoling my wife? The caption on the screen even misidentified them as 'Brock and Shay Zellman'. A six second clip that ended my ignorance and likely my marriage.

My phone buzzed every once in a while. I didn't answer any calls but I listened to the messages. None of them, Shay included, mentioned the six-second clip. Shay's message said that Doug was awake and alert. I called University Hospital and they connected me to Doug.

"What's up dad?" in his usual cheery voice.

"Just saw you get hammered in the game. How bad?"

"Well this season is over but it's just some broken bones and ligament damage. At least it's not my kicking leg. They operated almost immediately and wheeled me back into this room not long ago. I should be fine in a few months."

"Do football studs get special treatment in the hospital?"

"Yeah, I guess. A couple of the younger nurses are being overly friendly. Should make me quite popular at the frat parties, needing overnight nursing care you know" he chuckled.

That's my boy! Looking to cash in on an angle.

"Well gotta go. Glad to hear it's nothing worse. See you when I get home. Love you."

"Wait, mom wants to talk to you."

"Tell her I'm busy working on something important. Goodnight."

"Night dad."

My heart was still racing. You sometimes see a kid take a hit and never walk again. That bullet's been dodged. I powered my phone off again. I had no desire to talk to anyone else tonight.

+ + + +

The company that I work for makes the storage devices and search software for tracking GPS movements. The most common use is for tracking or mapping applications. Almost all cars nowadays send a signal which gets captured by our software. You can determine the change in their global positioning and then compute how fast they accomplished it. When you intersect that GPS reading with known highways you know how traffic is moving. Mapping doesn't rely on a single vehicle but combines all headed in that direction to determine traffic flow. Repeat that for all roads in all directions and you begin to see the magnitude of the storage requirements. What's captured is little more than a device ID, coordinates, and date-time stamp. Pretty simple when you think about it. Law enforcement uses it to place people at the scene of a crime. How do I know this? I worked on the team that wrote that software.

With time to kill I figured I'd try to play sleuth before the data is archived. I've done this countless times. When the police come calling we cross-check devices in the time leading up to a crime. Cars that move slowly through a neighborhood and then return a day or two later, the same day as a crime, usually get thoroughly researched. Cars that have never stopped at a residence before and then something bad happens around the time that car speeds off also get a lot of examination. Tools like this make identifying potential suspects easier. There's several lawsuits winding their way through the courts claiming that this violates someone's right to privacy. Most have lost as this isn't really all that different from an eye-witness report.

With the exact global coordinates for my house I searched for all GPS signals near that location starting at around 2 Am Saturday. As one might suspect, not much activity at that time of day. Around 8 Am the database picked up a new device and almost immediately a second device. The first one is likely to be Shay's car and the second her cell phone once it disconnected from the house WIFI. Gathering hits from both devices into a temporary database I knew where those devices went since then.

Shay's car stopped moving around 8:30 Am but her cell phone pinged right up until now. Having captured that data I set about to put streets and buildings to the device movements. What I found made my blood boil. Her car stopped at a house owned by Robert and Teresa Marks. Her cell phone stayed there until around 11 Am and then continued to the football stadium on Tech's campus. So she had her own little tailgating party at the Marks' residence. Maybe they were simply making bets on the game, going over the stats? Right? My turn to call bullshit!

Around the time Doug was taken to university hospital, Shay's cell phone also made its way there and that's where it is currently located. Guess she'll need a ride to pick up her car.

On a whim I decided to map all of Shay's car movements for the last week. That's all that's available without tapping into archived databases. I discarded all but the stopping points and it painted a sickening picture. As expected she went to work stopping for short periods at what must have been stoplights. Stops at the grocery store after work raised no eyebrows. Stopping at the Marks' residence on Wednesday from noon until 1:30 Pm had me seething.

Armed with what I now knew I sent out several emails to various firms specializing in tracking people. Private investigators is what they fancy calling themselves. Exhausted I dozed off.

In the morning, prior to turning on my cell phone, I repeated my searches. Shay's cell phone left the hospital around 11 Pm and went directly to her car. With little hesitation her car left the Marks' residence and both devices returned to our house just before midnight.

A few of my emails requesting rates and availability had been answered. Of course they were available to help me if my wallet was fatter. Looks like I'll need another strategy.

When my cell was revived there were more well-wishers and a pissed off Shay since I failed to call or text her. I still wasn't in the mood to talk so I sent a message 'Late night, early start, chat with you later.'

My phone buzzed with an incoming call, Shay of course, but I simply let it go to messages. I didn't need to meet up at our demo booth for another ninety minutes so I dug into the background of Robert and Teresa Marks. I was specifically looking for her email and phone number, which I found. They were parents of one child and their kid was in a different high school than Franny. It was time to head to work so I filed all that information away. My plan was to have Teresa Marks discover them if they repeated their Wednesday get together. How to supply that information without it tracing back to me was my next obstacle to overcome.

At lunch I did some more research on Teresa. My plan was to Print Shop a picture of Robert, Shay, and Shay's car. With a note stating that this car has been seen at her house on Wednesday's around noon and the lady and gentleman went inside for ninety minutes. I'd overnight an envelope to Teresa at her office and let her do the dirty work.

Before my lunch break was over I called Doug again. He was soaking up the attention and had even done an interview with our local television station. Turns out the roughing the kicker penalty gave our team a first down and they scored the go-ahead touchdown a few plays later and then held on to win the game. Quite a price to pay but he was loving it. Shay must have been at the hospital as she called as soon as I disconnected from Doug.

"This is Breeze" should piss her off.

"This is your WIFE! Would it kill you to call me?"

"Hey, I'm trying to earn a living. What's so important that it can't wait until I get home?"

There was a hesitation "I just miss you and it was very traumatic when Doug got injured."

"Well he seems to be doing fine. My lunch break is about over. I'll call you from the airport later tonight."

I didn't wait for a response, and ignored the immediate return call. I should probably tone it down or she might not repeat her Wednesday affair. I really want Teresa to handle this as I don't think I could avoid jail time if I got involved. I prepared the overnight envelope for Teresa and dropped it off on my way to the airport.

+ + + +

Getting in near midnight on Sunday gave me an excuse to spend very little time with Shay. She left for her job Monday morning before I got up. As I had some comp time coming I dropped by University hospital and visited with Doug. His cast had too many signatures to count. His current girlfriend, whom I'd never met, was anxious to get him away from the fawning cheerleaders and nurses.

Later in the day Shay sent a text 'What time will you be home tonight?'

I responded 'Lots of paperwork from the show so don't wait on me to eat.'

When I rolled in around 9 Pm I could tell that Shay was pissed. I figured if I kept her in that mood she'd seek comfort in Robert's arms again. Our conversation was dominated by me rambling on and on about imaginary problems with the show and my boss and the customers and Shay finally said she was going to bed.

Franny sent me a text on Tuesday telling me she'd gotten a campus visit invite. This worked perfectly and I replied that we should go out and celebrate tonight.

By the time we got home it was about 10 Pm and everyone was exhausted. Again I didn't have to spend time with Shay.

Wednesday morning brought mixed emotions. I wanted to believe that Shay would never cheat but that was being overridden with the desire for Teresa to catch her in the act.

Unlike the previous few days there were no text messages from Shay. So late afternoon I sent one to her 'I'll be home early tonight.'

Shay usually beats me home unless she stops to run errands. When Franny came in from practice, around 7 Pm, she looked around "Where's mom?"

"Not sure. I haven't heard a thing from her today. I sent a text earlier but got no response."

"Just as well. She's been a real bitch recently. You guys okay?"

"I don't know. Bitchy doesn't begin to describe it. What do you want to do for dinner?"

"I've got some protein meals so don't worry about me."

I tried Shay's cell and left another voice message. Franny went to bed at her normal time. I was beginning to get worried so I sent another text message. Still no response. I tapped the database again and confirmed that Shay's car arrived at the Marks' residence a few minutes after noon. Different this time was that it left around 12:45 Pm and stopped at a rest area off of the interstate thirty miles north of the city. That's where it currently sits.