Chapter Five
Dominic
My body ached. It was a feeling I was used to though, but it didn’t make it any easier. We were practicing twice a day at the moment, which was a little exhausting considering I also had to cram in as much work as possible in between. I loved and hated this time of the year, and my body went from loving me to hating me throughout the day. When I was playing, I always felt energized. No matter how tired I was, the moment I stepped out onto that field, I felt ready to take on whatever was thrown my way. It was only when I wasn’t playing that I felt the effects of fatigue. I was in the shower now, scrubbing off the dirt from the second, and last, practice of the day, and my body screamed at me to slow down. But I wouldn’t. Nothing would stand in the way of me achieving my goals. And I wanted nothing more than to play football for the rest of my life.
Someone had asked me once what I wanted to do with my life. I couldn’t remember now who it was, a relative that I hadn’t seen all that often. I remembered the conversation more than the person I was having it with. I’d told them that I wanted to play football. They had laughed and told me that football wasn’t a career. I looked at them strangely and began to list off all the people that football was a career for.
“Yeah, but just because you play football doesn’t mean you can turn it into a career,” they said. “I mean, you have to be really good to be one of those guys.”
“Well, then I’ll become really good,” I had said.
“I hope so, for your sake. And then, say you do become this famous football player, what happens later in life? What happens when you’re too old to play?”
“I’ll stay in the business. Football will be a part of my life whether I’m playing or not. You’ll see,” I had said. I had felt determined then. They’d made me promise that I have a backup plan and I’d promised that I would. I believed that it was good to have studied, and to never be too confident in life. But, deep down, I knew that football was the only thing that I really wanted to do. Even now, with my body begging me to take a break, I still found myself looking forward to the next practice or the next game. I loved it.
I got out the shower and changed. The best thing for me to do would be to go back to my dorm and get some rest. Instead, I was taking the guys to see Axel. They all loved Axel. He was a street racer and a member of the motorcycle club. He was the sort of guy that all men wanted to be, and all women wanted to be with. Strong, crazy, and full of life, he was always so much fun to be around. I loved going to watch him race, and so did the other guys.
“So, who’s all coming with me?” I asked the guys.
Hands shot up in the air, and I laughed. Looked like I was going to have a bigger crowd than usual. Axel would be happy. He loved nothing more than a crowd around him.
“I just hope the cops don’t break it up again. That was so disappointing the last time,” said Sam.
“Forever the negative one,” Tim said, and we all laughed.
It was true. The last time we’d gone to watch Axel, the whole thing had been broken up by the cops before it had even gotten started. But Axel had promised that this time would be different. I assured Sam that everything would be fine even though I truly had no idea, and off we went. Thankfully, I wasn’t wrong. The race went by without even one cop coming our way. We all stood on the sides and cheered them on. There was something very exciting about drag racing even though we all knew it was illegal. The guys were all having the time of their life, cheering and hollering throughout. You wouldn’t think that they had all just come from a football practice with the amount of energy that seemed to abound from them.
Afterwards, we all headed out for a beer, and I caught up with Axel at the bar.
“Let me order something for you,” I said. “That was incredible.”
He beamed. “Thanks, man, and it’s good to see you again.”
“Poor Sam was so worried that the cops were going to come and break it up like last time.”
“Yeah, so were we, to be honest,” he said.
I looked at him in surprise. “You were? I thought you said they definitely wouldn’t be there.”
He laughed. “I only said that so you would all come.”
“What? We would’ve come regardless.”
“Thanks, man,” Axel said. “Yeah, who knows with the cops hey. That’s the problem with what we do. There is always a chance it will get broken up. But hey, you know me, I like living life on the edge like this. And it’s way too much fun to give up.”
“Good for you. Life is too short, I say.”
“So, how’s life been on your side of the world? Still practicing like crazy?” Axel asked.
“Always. You know me, I’ll never give up on the dream. It’s going well. I’m looking forward to this year ahead. I have a feeling all my hard work is going to pay off.”
“I’m sure it will. No girlfriend?”
I shook my head. “Who has the time for that?” I said and laughed. “How about you?”
“Nope. People keep asking me when I’m going to settle down. It’s crazy. I am not at all interested in settling down at the moment. I’m way too free-spirited for that.”
“People always seem to find it strange that I don’t have a girlfriend either. I have no idea why it’s such a problem to be on your own these days.”
“Much easier to deal with just your own life. Girls just bring problems. I’m sure I’ll change my mind one day, but for now, I’m just happy on my own,” Axel said.
“Same. Oh, but speaking of girls. Do you by any chance remember a pretty girl from our childhood? Very pretty. Right now she looks a bit like a young Bridgette Bardot, but with a more modern hairstyle. It’s bright red right now, but I’m not sure what it used to be because that is definitely not her natural color.”
Axel frowned. “Hmm, I’m not sure. Do you have a picture?”
I shook my head. “Nah, nothing.”
“Why? Who is this girl?” he asked. “Anyone special?”
“Just a new girl at school. I’ve been asked to do a project with her, and she just looks so familiar to me. And not just in the ‘I’ve seen her on TV’ sort of familiar. I feel like she’s someone I used to know. But I just can’t place it.”
“Doesn’t ring any bells, to be honest. But, she sure sounds sexy. You have the hots for her?”
“No, definitely not. Anyway, she has a boyfriend. And I really don’t like the guy. Doesn’t say about her choice in men.” I had been so surprised to find out that Derek was her boyfriend. I had seen him around before but didn’t really know the guy too well. Baseball players and football players often didn’t hang out all that often together. He hadn’t ever done anything wrong to me, and I didn’t know much about him, but there was just something about him that I didn’t like. Something off with him that I couldn’t place my finger on. And Candice seemed like such a nice girl. It was strange to see the two of them together, but I obviously had no idea who she really was. Perhaps I had judged her too quickly. Maybe she wasn’t such a nice person after all.
“Oh well then, you’re better off without her,” he said.
“Yeah, I guess so,” I said. I wasn’t interested in her, anyway. I had already decided long ago that I wasn’t going to look for girls for a few years. She was, however, very nice to look at and I certainly didn’t mind having her as a partner.
We sat for a while longer, enjoying the beer and catching up. The boys had a lot of questions for Axel, as they always did. I chuckled to myself as I watched them. They seemed to hero worship the guy. I wonder if Axel knew. He always acted so nonplussed in situations like this, but I was sure that it must feel good to have everyone looking up to him that way.
“All right, I better get going. Thanks again for coming to see me. It’s always good having you around. It was a lot of fun,” Axel said.
“Yeah, it was great. Let us know when you’re doing another race. We’ll be here for sure.”
“I’ll do that. See you all around!”
As he walked off, I looked back at the guys and laughed at them. “You guys look at him like he’s a celebrity.”
“Well, he sort of is, you know. I can’t believe the two of you are so close. Haven’t you ever thought of getting involved in drag racing too?”
I shook my head. “Not a chance. Not my thing at all.”
“And what about the motorcycle club? You still go? Can’t you get us in?”
I laughed. “Do you guys ride?”
“No. But does it matter? Just because we don’t ride doesn’t mean we aren’t interested in bikes.”
I pictured them all going to one of the motorcycle club meetings and laughed at the image of them. “It’s kind of an elite group. I don’t mean to sound snobby or anything, but they will annihilate you if you show up and say you don’t even ride a bike. Not only do you need to ride bikes, but you need to own one too. They only want people who live and breathe for riding,” I said. Although as I said it, I realized that this was not at all what I was anymore. I had enjoyed the club at one time in my life, but there was no way I could do that and still maintain the same amount of energy levels that I did at the moment. It was hard enough also having to deal with college work.
“Is that what you do? Live and breathe for bikes?” Harry said and punched me lightly in the arm. He knew this wasn’t me at all.
I laughed. “Not anymore. Also, the club is great and all, but there’s a lot of pressure when you’re in it. And I don’t need that right now. I like to ride for enjoyment. Football has its own sort of pressure, but its pressure that I enjoy.”
“Well, you should still bring us around to the club one day. Just so we can see what it’s like.”
I chuckled. “You don’t give up, do you? Okay, I’ll bring you along one day. But maybe brush up on your motorcycle knowledge in the meantime. At least look like you’re interested in getting one. Now come on, let’s head back. Today has been exhausting.”