gently.
Internally I smiled. I almost forgot why I had been so excited to see him again. It was like we were starting afresh. I sat on the bench in the middle of the gazebo and pulled him down. “Sit with me, let’s talk. What happened?”
It was like pulling the plug at the bottom of a water tower. At first the water leaks out then it gushes. The words and emotions began to flow, a trickle at first and then rapidly, as he told me of his marriage to Sybil Zimmer, one of Memphis’ most attractive sports reporters. They had a whirlwind romance and married during his last year with the Grizzles.
“Charley, I thought I was in love with Sybil. She was beautiful, intelligent, a tiger in bed, the hit of the party. She said she loved me, but I know now she loved the spotlight more. When my injury forced me to retire, I got an assistant coaching job at a local junior college basketball program. Charley, I fell in love with coaching young men, and they loved me. It was truly a perfect match. Sybil was not too happy about it. For her it was a status thing, and assistant coaches at unknown schools didn’t rank very high on her social standards list.”
By now I was hooked. He was telling the story in great detail and for him it was important to get everything out just right. Gradually he began to slow the pace, and I could feel the tension developing as he began wrapping up. His eyes began to tear up. He let go of my hands and buried his own hands into his lap. I knew he needed help to finish.
“What happened?”
“I came home early from a game we had outside the city. The plan was for us to spend the night and return the next day. But one of the kids got sick, food poisoning I think. We made the decision to drive back to the school early. I got back to our apartment around 1:30.”
His teeth clenched, his eyes became hard and deep burrows lined his forehead. The anger building in his mind was written over his face.
“She, that goddamn bitch, was in bed with some bastard, one of the guys she worked with, I think. I was so enraged. I couldn’t see him clearly in the dark. When I walked in on them, she didn’t even bother to apologize, or even act surprised. That whore leaned over and kissed the mother, and told him she would see him the next day!”
By now, Coach was breathing deeply and trying to regain some control of his emotions. I couldn’t do or say anything. I pulled his head to my chest and let him cry.
After a few minutes, he pulled back, wiped his face with his wet tee-shirt and said to me. “Charley, I apologize for my swearing.”
“That’s okay, I’ve heard worse for lesser reasons.”
“I wasn’t going to come to this convention, until they told me it was going to be at the Summit Hotel in Nashville. I remember that first time, when I saw you at the Boys and Girls Club benefit in Memphis, and you said that you were from Nashville. You were beautiful, sexy and knew more basketball than any woman I know. It was like we were two peas in a pod. You fascinated me.”
“That’s sweet PJ, but I was married.”
“I know, I screwed up and you made me pay. That’s why I came back that night to apologize to you and Randle, and why I gave you and Randle those tickets. I needed to see you again. In the last six months, Charley, I’ve been having those same feelings. I needed to see you again. Only problem is I remembered your name as Charley Brewster, but I didn’t know how to find you. I knew you lived here, but I didn’t know where either of you worked and neither you or Randle are in the phone book. To complicate things you changed your name. I guess everyone knows you as Charlotte Howard now, but I didn’t. And you’ve changed so much that I didn’t recognize you, even when you introduced yourself last night. Charley, I’ve been dreaming about you for months.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I kept rolling it around in my mind. He , has been dreaming of me ? Now what do
Internally I smiled. I almost forgot why I had been so excited to see him again. It was like we were starting afresh. I sat on the bench in the middle of the gazebo and pulled him down. “Sit with me, let’s talk. What happened?”
It was like pulling the plug at the bottom of a water tower. At first the water leaks out then it gushes. The words and emotions began to flow, a trickle at first and then rapidly, as he told me of his marriage to Sybil Zimmer, one of Memphis’ most attractive sports reporters. They had a whirlwind romance and married during his last year with the Grizzles.
“Charley, I thought I was in love with Sybil. She was beautiful, intelligent, a tiger in bed, the hit of the party. She said she loved me, but I know now she loved the spotlight more. When my injury forced me to retire, I got an assistant coaching job at a local junior college basketball program. Charley, I fell in love with coaching young men, and they loved me. It was truly a perfect match. Sybil was not too happy about it. For her it was a status thing, and assistant coaches at unknown schools didn’t rank very high on her social standards list.”
By now I was hooked. He was telling the story in great detail and for him it was important to get everything out just right. Gradually he began to slow the pace, and I could feel the tension developing as he began wrapping up. His eyes began to tear up. He let go of my hands and buried his own hands into his lap. I knew he needed help to finish.
“What happened?”
“I came home early from a game we had outside the city. The plan was for us to spend the night and return the next day. But one of the kids got sick, food poisoning I think. We made the decision to drive back to the school early. I got back to our apartment around 1:30.”
His teeth clenched, his eyes became hard and deep burrows lined his forehead. The anger building in his mind was written over his face.
“She, that goddamn bitch, was in bed with some bastard, one of the guys she worked with, I think. I was so enraged. I couldn’t see him clearly in the dark. When I walked in on them, she didn’t even bother to apologize, or even act surprised. That whore leaned over and kissed the mother, and told him she would see him the next day!”
By now, Coach was breathing deeply and trying to regain some control of his emotions. I couldn’t do or say anything. I pulled his head to my chest and let him cry.
After a few minutes, he pulled back, wiped his face with his wet tee-shirt and said to me. “Charley, I apologize for my swearing.”
“That’s okay, I’ve heard worse for lesser reasons.”
“I wasn’t going to come to this convention, until they told me it was going to be at the Summit Hotel in Nashville. I remember that first time, when I saw you at the Boys and Girls Club benefit in Memphis, and you said that you were from Nashville. You were beautiful, sexy and knew more basketball than any woman I know. It was like we were two peas in a pod. You fascinated me.”
“That’s sweet PJ, but I was married.”
“I know, I screwed up and you made me pay. That’s why I came back that night to apologize to you and Randle, and why I gave you and Randle those tickets. I needed to see you again. In the last six months, Charley, I’ve been having those same feelings. I needed to see you again. Only problem is I remembered your name as Charley Brewster, but I didn’t know how to find you. I knew you lived here, but I didn’t know where either of you worked and neither you or Randle are in the phone book. To complicate things you changed your name. I guess everyone knows you as Charlotte Howard now, but I didn’t. And you’ve changed so much that I didn’t recognize you, even when you introduced yourself last night. Charley, I’ve been dreaming about you for months.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I kept rolling it around in my mind. He , has been dreaming of me ? Now what do
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