Father … please …
In the time it took him to breathe out, the images were gone. Sweat gathered across his forehead and the back of his neck and he shook like he hadn’t in weeks. Cheyenne slid to the edge of her seat, clearly concerned. “Cody … what is it? Flashbacks?”
He nodded, hating himself for this weakness. Iraq was behind him. He had no reason to get lost in yesterday at the simple sound of running feet. He wiped his forehead and sucked back a few quick breaths. He wasn’t armed … had no way to protect himself. But if he had to fight someone he wasn’t worried. Cody could handle the situation. He was trained in hand-to-hand combat, and more than once at war he’d had to prove himself. He was one of his division’s best fighters. “Stay here,” he whispered. “I’ll call you if I get in trouble.”
The sound of the footsteps faded, getting farther away. He set off down the hallway running, and at the end of the hall he turned right. Ahead of him in the distance he could see the shadowy figure of someone trying to leave the building. A guy … tall … dressed in dark clothes. Whoever it was, he didn’t have legal access to the building. And the fact that he was trying to escape told Cody he’d probably done something wrong.
Speed wasn’t a problem for Cody — even since his injury. He had competed in marathons and triathlons since coming home from Iraq, and he still did speed training. Times like this he was grateful. He intensified his run, pushing through the school doors and across the back courtyard between the administration building and the athletic complex. “Hey … stop!”
He ran faster … holding the flashbacks at bay … focusing on the figure in front of him. Faster and faster but just before he might’ve made a dive at the trespasser, the guy turned around, gasping for breath, his eyes wide, terrified.
Cody stopped short, his breathing hard and fast. “DeMetri?”
“Coach, …” DeMetri Smith sank down in a crouched position, too shaky to stand. “You scared me to death.”
“Yeah.” Cody doubled at the waist and exhaled hard a few times. “Me too.” He straightened and looked hard at the kid. “Why are you here?” Cody felt his heartbeat finding normal again. “You should be at home in bed … we have practice tomorrow.”
DeMetri rose to his feet. “I … I don’t have anywhere to stay.” The kid didn’t want to cry, that much was evident. He clenched his jaw, fighting his emotion. “My mom got arrested … they evicted me.”
Cody wanted to drop to the ground and cry right beside his player. Another kid? Another mother like his and Cheyenne’s? How many other teenagers tonight weren’t sure where to sleep? How many parents were in prison while their high school sons or daughters tried to dodge the embarrassment and figure out a way on their own? He took a few slow steps to DeMetri. “Smitty, …” He put his hand on the player’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
DeMetri was still breathing hard. With Cody’s understanding, he lost the battle with his tears. “It’s okay. The school’s fine.”
Dawning hit Cody again. “You’ve been staying here … sleeping here?”
“Yeah,” he stuck his chin out, like the situation was fine, as if he didn’t want any sympathy from Cody or anyone else. “It’s okay. I have some stuff in a closet.”
“Where?” His heart broke for his player. “Where do you stay?”
“The wrestling room.” He blinked, and for a few seconds he looked more like a kid than the adult he was being forced to become. “It’s fine, Coach. Really.”
“It’s not fine.” He felt a gust of anger toward DeMetri’s mom, and all those who didn’t fight harder to be parents. “You’re coming home with me.”
DeMetri blinked. “With you, Coach?”
“Yes.” Cody’s roommate was gone this weekend. Besides, they had an office, a third bedroom that neither of them really used. He could work out the details later. DeMetri wasn’t going to spend another night living in the Lyle wrestling room. His tone softened. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”
He finished counting the uniforms, and he and Cheyenne and DeMetri drove home. They dropped Chey off first, and he got out of his pickup only long enough to help her up the stairs and inside. From there she assured him she had it, and even before he could tell her goodbye, Tara appeared in her bathrobe. “You two okay