The Education of Giacomo Jones Ch. 06

"I sort of retreat into this hole and I have to consciously fight not to stay there because that's where it's dangerous, that's where I am at risk of losing myself in that really dark place and being cut off from the people and support systems who always bring me back into the light," she said. As she spoke, looking Caroline in the eye, her right hand sought out Rance's hand and he clasped it reassuringly. Caroline Agostinelli noticed it.

"I see that when you were talking about that just now, your hand reached out to the young man next to you. Tell me about him. Tell me about Rance Martin," the journalist said.

Gia brightened and glanced at Rance. She started to speak, but her lip quivered and she faltered. Rance handed her a tissue and she used it to dab away a tear before it wrecked the makeup that the CBS News technician had meticulously applied. The cameras recorded it all.

"I've never told Rance this - or anybody else for that matter - but I am not sure I would be here if not for him," she said, squeezing his hand. "Throughout this ordeal, he's been the rock, the constant, always there beside me. I was in his room in his house in Tennessee traveling back from a game in Nashville the night I found out that Geno had been released. He was there with Ma and me as we found out that Geno was murdering his way south toward me, and Rance was ready to physically put himself between this animal and me. He was there when it all came to a head and was the first face I saw in the seconds afterward," she said as she struggled again to retain composure.

"But it was really in the aftermath of all this when Rance put everything on hold for me — his classes, his football, his friends, everything — to be there with me ... and with Ma," she said. "We were both a total wreck. I really wasn't aware of all he was doing in those first days, but Rance stepped forward, loaded everything on his back, made the decisions and took the steps that I could not in those days and weeks. In hindsight, that's the difference, that's why I've come as far as I have," she said.

"Rance and I are both very young, essentially 20 years old, but he's the love of my life," Gia said.

For most of the interview, Rance continued playing the exact role Gia had described — her rock. He sat beside her, clasped her hand, looked toward her with a sympathetic smile and calmed her with his presence. When Caroline turned her questions toward Rance, he was deferential and succinct.

"I just knew I had to get her and her mother, Callie, away from the insane environment and the media circus the situation had caused here on campus and around town. So I decided to sneak us all out of town and for a few days of peace and privacy so we could all decompress and start recovering," he said, he said with a gentle smile. "And no, I won't tell you where that was."

"But I certainly didn't do this by myself. My family adores Gia and they were all in from the start. The university and the team were there in a huge way to help shield and support us," he said.

Caroline asked Gia how she felt about the emerging scandals in the New Jersey juvenile justice system that Geno Millions' release and subsequent murder spree exposed, and Gia called on federal and state criminal investigators to hold officials there accountable. Asked if she planned to sue New Jersey as some of Geno's victims' families had already hired attorneys to do, Gia shrugged.

"I think there are a lot of families that lost far more than I did, and I hope that they're successful in court," she said.

Counting a couple of breaks in taping for technical reasons, the interview lasted about 80 minutes and yielded about 70 minutes of footage for the editors and producers to parse. Then, part of the crew joined Caroline and her interview subjects walking on various locations on campus — the Reserve, the Honors College Residence Hall, the stadium and the indoor practice field — additional B-roll to splice into the segment.

After Sunday lunch, courtesy of Caroline and CBS, they bade their goodbyes and Rance retreated with Gia to her room.

"What do we do now?" she said. "Finals are done. I am officially an alumnus and I have to be out of this room by the end of the year. You don't have practice. Literally nothing to do."

He kissed her as he removed her jacket, tossed it on the love seat and filled his hands with both luscious hemispheres of her ass and gently kneaded it.

"I think we'll figure something out," he said as she backed toward her bed, tumbled onto it and pulled him down beside her.

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NEXT: Chapter Seven — As Long as We Both Shall Live