Family Money(14)

The fight had started at her college apartment. It had been my fault. Taylor had caught me in a lie. I’d brushed off dinner with her family the previous night and had told her I’d had a mandatory football team study-hall session. The truth was, I simply wanted to go out drinking with some of the other guys on the team and didn’t want to get any pushback from her about it. One of her girlfriends busted me. It was the second time Taylor had caught me in the same kind of lie this past month. She was furious. I’d been able to wiggle my way out of the first situation, but she wasn’t having it the second time around. She went off on me, said she could no longer trust me. And because trust was everything in a relationship, that meant we were done.

Then she stormed off, got in her car, and sped away.

I didn’t go after her. After five years together, I wasn’t so sure about us anymore. Taylor was all I’d ever known. And because I was on the football team at a place like the University of Texas, I had pretty girls constantly showering me with undeserved attention. I also felt pressure from some of my teammates to live it up while I still had the chance. I had not yet given in to that temptation. But I was flirting dangerously close to it. I felt confused. I certainly didn’t want to hurt Taylor. But I also didn’t want to lie to her anymore. I was at a crossroads, uncertain of the right path forward.

When I needed to find clarity about something, I would often go to a driving range near campus and hit golf balls. That’s where Joe found me that night. I was all by myself at the very end of the range and had already made my way through half a bucket of balls. Only a couple of other golfers were out here with me tonight. I really wasn’t much of a golfer yet. But I liked the game and was trying to get better. Taylor’s dad had introduced me to the sport back in high school. Joe was an excellent golfer.

I spotted him walking toward me up the range wearing khaki shorts, a blue polo shirt, and brown loafers with no socks. I just kept on swinging my club and knocking balls as far as I could at various targets in the wide-open field of green. I knew why he was here. Taylor had probably gone straight to her parents’ house, told them what had happened—how I was a lying jackass and all—and now her father was here to rip me a new one for the way I’d treated his daughter. That was fine. I deserved whatever harsh words Joe had for me, but I wasn’t going to stop what I was doing and beg for it. He settled about fifteen feet from me, crossed his arms, and didn’t say anything for a moment. I took another swing with my driver and watched the ball sail off into the distance.

“I think you’re getting ahead of the ball,” Joe said. “That’s probably why you’re not getting through your swing with as much power as you want. Make sure you keep your head steady, and stay behind the ball.”

I put another golf ball on the tee, took my stance, pulled the driver all the way back, focused on what he’d just said, and then swung the club. The ball rocketed forward straight as an arrow and landed about thirty yards farther than my previous drive. I hid a smile. Joe always had a way of doing that. A few solid words of advice, and everything just seemed right.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Joe said. “Let’s see you do it again.”

I teed up another and took a big swing. I again connected beautifully and sent this ball even farther than the last.

“That’s a perfect release,” Joe mentioned. “Sometimes small things can make a big difference. Golf is a lot like life in that way.”

I grabbed my six-iron from my golf bag and began hitting shorter shots. Joe made suggestions here and there to improve my swing, and each time I hit the ball better. We did this for the next twenty minutes as I worked my way through the clubs in my bag. Not once did he bring up anything about Taylor. I appreciated that. When I started to work up a good sweat, Joe went over to the small clubhouse and grabbed us a couple of bottles of cold water.

It dawned on me that if Taylor and I didn’t make it, I would likely lose moments like this with her father. That really bummed me out. The man had walked step-by-step with me these past five years. He’d helped me get through my own father’s death. He’d traveled with me across the country when I’d gone on several college football recruiting trips and had helped guide me to the decision to stay in Austin and play ball at UT. He’d gotten me through the pain of a knee injury a year ago that put me on the bench and had basically spoiled any chance I’d had at pursuing football professionally. He’d given me academic advice when I was struggling to find a specific degree plan to pursue. In every way, Joe had stepped into my life as a second father to me. I would be losing a lot more than just Taylor.

I looked over at him. “Guess we won’t be playing golf together anymore, huh?”

“Well, that’s up to you, Alex. I said from the very beginning, our friendship wasn’t conditional.”

“Yeah, well, Taylor might have different thoughts.”

He chuckled. “I can’t deny that.”

“Look, Joe, I know I shouldn’t have lied to her.”

“Yeah, lying is never good,” he agreed.

“Especially with Taylor. It’s the most important thing.”

Joe sighed. “I taught her from birth that honesty in a relationship is a gift to be protected. It’s like a beautiful snow-capped mountain. Lies are the small cracks in the ice layer beneath the snow. They can seem innocent at first. We can even rationalize them as honorable. But once they start, it’s hard as hell to stop them—until everything suddenly fractures. Then you have a full-on avalanche on your hands that could crush you. Believe me, I know.”