Simulating Sucess - The Story of Rick Charisma

Year 5: Peace

Read the whole novel right now! click here. https://gum.co/zrlgY

I called Bud Richards into the office to see how he was doing, to see if he had forgiven himself for his showing in the NITs.

"Hi, Coach Rick," Peace said, closing the door behind him. He was carrying his backpack with him. When he was a freshman, it was a rare sight. Now, I never saw him without it.

"It looks like you've been studying." I knew he had made getting his degree a real focus in the last year or so. It's something many people his age promise to their parents, and several take more than four years to do it. He and I both knew that beyond this year, it was going to cost him. "How's the major looking?"

"It's coming along. I'm studying all the time. Helps that it's new, and we get more help than we probably would if it was something else," he answered.

"What are you studying again? Defense was it?" I had remembered it had something to do with the military, but because the school had so many programs, I couldn't recall the exact one he was a part of.

"Law Enforcement and Justice Administration, Coach. LEJA," he answered, taking out one of the textbooks to show me.

"That's right," I answered, signaling for him to put it back in his bag. "All this money from the government streaming into the school. All these opportunities that weren't there even just a couple of years ago. I'm glad for it."

"It's the President. It's great to have a president from Illinois," Bud replied. "I'm not even from Illinois, but I'm so glad I came here."

"He's been all over the state. The election isn't even for another year. I guess all of it keeps happening earlier and earlier. Soon we'll just be perpetually in an election cycle our whole lives." I was getting off the subject. "One of our athletes got to meet him personally."

"I heard about that, but I didn't recognize the name,"

"Well, not many students would be able to pronounce it." I myself was worried I'd make a mistake. "He's a member of the MLS team, the Colorado Rapids. They'd won the title earlier this year. He's from Japan, and was a student here before both of us came to the university."

"So that's how he met the POTUS," Bud said.

"Can you imagine the year he's had?" I continued, trying to get us back on topic. "In March, his country is devastated by a force of nature, and yet he's able to have the resolve to help his team win the soccer championships. Incredible. That deserves the highest possible honor we as a nation could give him, don't you think?"

Peace was able to put two and two together. The both of us knew it was time to talk about what had happened. "Coach Rick, I'm really sorry about the Clemson game. It was totally my fault. I know I let the team down and..."

"Who said anything about it being your fault?" I couldn't stand for the best player on my team to be taking responsibility for something so heavy. "Look, it was definitely uncharacteristic, but to take the blame for it. It's a game, and somebody wins and somebody loses. That's all there is to it. It was a great game, after all. You've got to forgive yourself."

He sat quietly for several moments. That's good. He probably had a lot to say, and never got the chance to. "Everyone says the same thing. It was a bad game and we all have bad games, and nobody says it's my fault, but I do feel it was on me."

"Alright. Tell me why." We weren't going to start the season on the right foot until this was out of the way. I knew it haunted him, and he was out of time to have something like this hanging over him.