Chapter Thirty-Seven
Dominic
Two weeks later
There was a time when I thought I would never be able to play again. I thought my name had been tarnished for good. I appreciated being on the field more than ever before, and I knew without a doubt that it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I had always known it, but having it almost taken away from me only made that more prevalent to me.
I was in the locker room with the boys, getting ready to go on. I walked over to Tim and grinned at him.
“Man, it’s good to be here,” I said.
“Yeah, I was worried for a while. I thought we might have lost our best player. I’m not sure what we would’ve done without you. I was thinking of quitting if you got taken off.”
“Are you serious? You’d do that?”
“Of course I would. Why would I want to be a part of a team that isn’t fair? Thankfully it didn’t come to that, though.”
Just then, Coach Bane walked up to us. He must’ve overheard our conversation. He was still acting a little sheepish around me, and I knew that he felt guilty for everything that had happened. I couldn’t even be too upset with him. He wasn’t the first person to have let Lionel take control, and he probably wouldn’t be the last. I still liked Coach Bane, and I was glad that I had confronted him. He seemed to look at me with a lot more respect than he did before. He smiled nervously at Tim and me. I knew how much he appreciated us keeping things to ourselves. We could’ve told the whole team about what he had done, but we hadn’t said anything. They knew that something had gone on with Candice’s father, but they had no idea that the coach was involved.
“Thank you for playing today, boys. I’m glad to have you both on the team. And, Dominic, I’m proud of you.”
I smiled at him. “Thank you. I’m going to play my heart out today. I don’t think anything can get in the way of me and my dreams now. Even if I don’t make it to the NFL, I’m going to play football for the rest of my life. I know it.”
“I know you are. You’re much too determined to let anything stop you. And, uh, thanks for not saying anything,” he said.
The coach called everyone together and did a little speech about how impressed he was with all the work we had put in during practice.
“Now, go out there and show them what you’re made of. And remember . . .”
“HAVE FUN!” the team shouted back. It was a little ritual we had always done before a game. The coach was a big believer in enjoying the game no matter whether we were winning or losing and he was always trying to instill it in us. He didn’t need to try too hard with me, though. If there was one thing I was certain of it was that football was more than just a career path for me. It was my hobby too. There were two places where I felt the most at home – one was with Candice, and one was out on the field. I looked at the coach and smiled as I made my way out, and felt the familiar tingle of nerves and excitement full me.
As I got out, I looked out onto the crowd. I scanned the faces until I found the one that I was looking for. Candice stood in the stands next to her mother and my father. A truce had been made over the past two weeks, and my father had finally accepted the fact that Candice and I were together. I think my father could tell that I was never going to be with anyone else, and he couldn’t deny how happy she made me.
Marian waved frantically at me, and I waved back, smiling to myself. She’d moved out of the big house into her own small apartment and had invited me over often to have dinner with herself and Candice. She was like a whole new person, smiling and laughing constantly. Even though, from this distance, I could see her excitement. It was like she had regained her youth and energy all over and was nothing like the shy and timid woman that she had become over the years. I was happy to see them all there, especially today, probably the most important day of my life.
I turned my attention away from them and focused on the game. I had to win this game. I had to do it for Coach Bane, for Candice, for my father. But most of all, I had to do it for me. And knowing that they were all in the stands, watching me, just made me play even harder than I had before. Instead of making me nervous, they just made me more determined, and I played the best game that I had ever played in my life. It was important for me to do well. I needed to make sure that I had a good career ahead of me so that I could afford to take care of Candice for the rest of my life. I might have been young, but that didn’t mean I didn’t know what I wanted in life.
We won the game, and the crowd erupted in cheers. The coach came out onto the field and congratulated us all, then he rushed up to me and beamed.
“You did it!” he said. “You were amazing out there.”
“Thank you, coach. It was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
He smiled. “Good. So, are you ready?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
Today was important for me not just because of the football game. Today was the day that I was going to propose to Candice. I had planned it over the course of the week, and I’d detailed my plan with Coach Bane because I needed his help in order to execute it correctly. I had thought of telling Marian or even my father, but in the end, I decided that the fewer people that knew, the better. Also, I only wanted to ask her if I won the game. It wouldn’t have been the same if I had lost and then proposed. Which is why the pressure to win had been elevated for me but had also served as a fuel to make sure that I didn’t lose. I knew, going onto the field, that I was going to win no matter what. Nothing was going to stop me.
Coach Bane stood with a microphone in his pocket, and now that the game was over, he took it out and walked over to the middle of the field. The crowd started to notice what he was doing, and a hush fell over the crowd. I walked up behind him and grinned at Tim when I noticed the confused look on his face. For the guy that refused dates for such a long time, I sure had changed. Yet, despite this, I didn’t think Tim or any of the other guys would be surprised by what I was about to do. They all knew how I felt about Candice. It wasn’t something that was easy to hide.
“Thank you all for being such an amazing crowd today!” he started, and the crowd erupted in applause at the sound of his voice. “I want to thank you all for coming here. There’s nothing quite like winning a match, especially on your home ground. My team has worked hard to get to where they are today, and I am so proud of them. But, that’s not why I’m here today. I’m here because one of my star players would like to say a few words. Please can everyone put their hands together for Dominic Aarons,” he said and then handed the microphone back to me. As he did so, he whispered good luck to me, and I smiled nervously at him. I was not one for public speaking, and as I took the microphone from him, I noticed I was trembling. Thankfully, the crowd was so far away I couldn’t see their faces. I took a deep breath.
“Hi everyone,” I said, and the crowd cheered. “Thank you all for coming today and cheering us on. Today was a lot of fun. And as Coach Bane has always taught us, you have to do things in life that you love doing. Otherwise, what’s the point? My goal has always been to go after what I want. A football career is one of them, and nothing is going to stand in my way of going after that dream. But that’s not the only thing in life I want,” I paused and took another deep breath. I almost wished I could see the look on Candice’s face now. The time had come for me to have my say and I couldn’t even really see her. I could just about make her out in the stands, and I focused my attention in that general direction.
“Football isn’t the only love of my life. The reason I am standing here today is because I want the world to know that I’m hopelessly and utterly in love with the beautiful Candice Alice Westerly. Candice, I know we’re young, but we have been through more than most couples have to go through in their entire lives together. And, throughout it all, we have stuck together and overcome the odds. We might be young, but I have no doubt in my mind that you are the only woman for me. Candice, I stand here in front of everyone to let you know how much I love you. And to ask you if you’ll make me the happiest man alive by accepting my proposal. Will you marry me?”
The crowd hollered and screamed the moment I said the words. For a while, I didn’t know what was happening. All I could hear was the deafening sound of their applause. I stood there, wondering what to do with myself, when suddenly I saw Candice running towards me. I ran to her so that she didn’t have to run all the way to the middle of the field. She ran straight into my arms, and I saw that she was crying.
“Yes,” she said and smiled at me.
I wiped away her tears. Took a ring out of pocket, and placed it on her finger. She looked at it and smiled, and despite the roaring crowd, I completely forget about them at that moment. It felt like it was just her and I together again.
“You and me against the world,” I said. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Then, I looked up and saw the crowd and laughed. I grabbed the microphone, which I had dropped onto the floor.
“She said yes!” I said to the crowd, and they all cheered again. I had never heard so much noise in my entire life. It was the happiest day of my life. I looked at the coach and grinned as we walked past him. And when we walked out of the field, both my father and Marian were waiting for us, both of them looking tearful. They hugged us both, and I was relieved to see that they were happy for us.
“That was amazing, my boy,” my father said. “You sure know how to make your pop proud.”