After the final morning football practice ended at noon, I drove to the apartment. I would have to start thinking of it as 'home'. By anyone's standard it was small but it was ours. When I stepped onto the landing and grabbed the door handle it was locked. I looked back to the parking lot and noted that Emma's Mercedes was not there. I unlocked the door and was surprised to see that the middle of the kitchen floor was clear of boxes. I looked around the apartment and noticed that the place was looking more like a home than when I left. I went to the coat closet to stow my duffle bag but there wasn't enough room in there to add a piece of paper. I pushed hard to get the door closed again.
Just then the back door to the parking lot kicked open and slammed against one of the kitchen chairs. Emma stepped in with an arm full of paper-bags. She smiled up at me and pushed the bags at me. I took them and looked inside. Groceries; I placed them on the kitchen table. Alexis was right behind her with two more bags. She placed them on the counter. I went out to the car and brought in the final three bags. When I had deposited the bags on the counter, Alexis pushed herself into my arms and stretched up for a kiss. I happily obliged. Emma was already moving the contents of the bags to the cupboards or the refrigerator.
Still in my arms, Alexis said, "After you left, Mom and I toured the campus. We found the buildings I will have most of my classes in. They're not far from where your classes are." I could see the wheels turning in her over-sexed mind.
I smiled down at her, "Okay, Babe. What are you thinking?"
She grinned and said, "Oh nothing. Just saying." I pulled her closer and hugged her hard. Emma was leaning against the counter watching us with a big smile on her face and then returned to unpacking the groceries. I released Alexis and she went to help her mother. I sat down at the kitchen table and watched them. Emma was putting things were she thought they should go but in several instances it was clear that Alexis had a different opinion as she would move some items from where Emma had put them to another cupboard. Emma watched Alexis do this a few times and then looked over at me and smiled. She understood that even though Alexis had grown up in her house were everything was where Emma wanted it, she was in Alexis' house now and she was going to change things just for the sake of changing them. I smiled back at Emma as she abandoned the unpacking and came and sat down beside me. We both watched as Alexis scurried around the kitchen unpacking the remaining groceries.
When she was done, she was smiling to herself. She looked at us grinning at her. We were amused by her show of independence. She was so excited. "What are you guys grinning at?" she said.
I shook my head and said, "Nothing Babe." I looked at Emma and she burst out laughing. Alexis frowned as she realized that she was the object of our amusement.
Emma cut her laughter off and said, "Alexis, sweetie. Seriously. You are glowing right now." Alexis broke into a huge grin.
We talked for quite a while about what to expect these next few days. The first half week of classes would be registering and finding class-rooms, figuring out how long it takes to get from class to class, buying books at the book store or scouring the bulletin boards and websites for someone selling second hand books. It would be a busy few days but no learning started until next week. Meeting tons of new people had been a problem for me last year. I couldn't remember names and it was embarrassing. Alexis meets people really well though. Everyone wants to be her friend. The huge engagement ring on her hand would dissuade most of the guys, but it actually attracted the girls who wanted to 'ooh' and 'aah' over it.
I picked up my duffle bag that I had dropped by the bed earlier and headed out to my afternoon practice. Alexis kissed me at the back door and said that she would have dinner on when I got home. We grinned at each other as we realized that was a new thing that would become a routine thing.
The coach again relegated the non-rookies to laps, wind-sprints and calisthenics while he and his staff made final assessments of the freshman candidates. We would find out before we went home today who had made the team. Across the field, the final decisions on who made the Cheerleader's squad were being announced and Dean was paying more attention to that than the calisthenics. As I expected, the more attractive girls were jumping up and down and screaming while the less attractive ones, who were often better gymnasts, consoled each other in tears. I felt bad for them because talent and ability didn't play any role in the decisions. People put their butts in the stadium seats to see beautiful girls flashing their pom-poms in skimpy outfits. It was plain and simple. It was a fact of life. Alexis would have won a spot on the squad just for showing up even though she couldn't do a split or any of the other moves. At that moment I totally agreed with her disdain for the concept.
Dean was all smiles as he saw his list of hopefuls come to fruition. He raised his hand in a high-five and I half-heartedly slapped it before returning to our workout. At the end of practice, the coach gathered us together and coldly announced who had been cut. One sophomore and eight freshmen hung their heads in shame as we jogged to the locker-room. I lagged behind and shook each of the rejected player's hands and urged them to try again next year. To a man, they smiled as though it was no big deal, but I knew better. They would recover quickly; but right then each was in pain. At least the decision process for these guys was based on skill and ability and not some political process that the girls had to endure.
I showered and dressed and drove home in silence. My mind fast-rewound to last year, when I was one of the freshmen who made the team, I was so gloriously happy. The pain of those rejected never touched me. I didn't even notice. This year, I wasn't fearful of being cut so I could watch the process work around me. My mood was dark when I pulled into my parking slot and trudged up the stairs to the back door with my duffle bag thrown over my shoulder.
