Going for the Seven

Chapter 17

Samantha

"Murdered my family..." Those words seem to echo throughout the locker room.

"You're related to the scum that killed Coach Young and Cash." Connor, a overly large Defensive tackle, was the first to step forward, cracking his knuckles threateningly as he did so.

"I can't help what my brother did." Stevens was now actively sweating beneath Tyson's hold. "I feel horrible, that's why I came here..."

"You should have stayed away." Someone else chimed in.

"We got it from here Sammy." Another player assured me. But I still wanted my piece of flesh.

It might not have been Guy directly who killed my parents but I still remember that day in the court room. He had taken the stand as a character witness for his brother. He had looked right at me and defended that scum. Had claimed it was nothing but a lapse in judgement.

One night of drunkenness that had taken my world from me. There was no defense in my eyes.

But Guy had looked at me and made a claim that had stuck with me. "His one mistake should not define him. Should not take away his promising life."

I hadn't been able to state my piece then. I could now.

"Cash had his whole life in front of him. Your brother took that from him." I snapped in his face. "I sat there in a rumble of a car for five hours staring into his sightless eyes, in a body that had been crushed to a pulp. My mom with her broken neck and my dad with a steel pipe buried in his chest. They had their whole lives in front of them. Your brother took that from them. From me. And you show up here like you're going to save the day."

"Look..." Unbelievably he still wanted to defend his actions, just as he had defended his brother on the stand.

"Get...Out...Of...My...Sight." I snarled again.

"What's going on in here?" Coach Gates stepped out of an office that a year ago had been my dad's. The name tag, Coach Young, still hung above the door. He took one look around and gouged the situation.

"Samantha." He pinned me with a look I knew well. He wanted to yell at me but he couldn't. He knew I was right.

"How could you?" How could he allow this to happen to my team? How could he betray me?

A long silence fell over us all. Until Coach Gates sighed, breaking it. "Everyone out. We'll have a team meeting at Amber hall in one hour."

Begrudgingly, everyone started to quickly dress and file out. I noticed that Liam was among them, but I could feel that he kept throwing questioning glances my way. I guess he had finally figured out who I was. What I didn't know and didn't have the time or energy to worry about was what games he had been talking about.

"Samantha, Tyson and Kim, my office now." Coach Gates snapped. I was tempted to ignore him and leave. I found myself entering his office only because I wanted to give him a piece of my mind.

Immediately, I knew it'd been a mistake. The whole room was nothing but a shrine to my father and brother. Their pictures were looking at me from each wall. Action photos of my dad coaching on the side line and Cash mid throw. A picture of the two of them celebrating a win. I clutched at my chest, the only thing keeping me from collapsing on the spot was Kim's arm thrown around me and Tyson at my back.

"How could you bring him to the team?" Surprisingly it was Tyson who found his voice first.

"Look..." Coach Gates started his explanation from his spot behind my fathers desk.