SIGNING FREE AGENTS
Ryan returned home after the game against Tennessee-Martin. They gave them a pounding of 29-3. Next week was an away game against Northern Illinois. It was late and he couldn’t wait to jump in the shower. They had showers in the locker room but he had no desire to take showers there. There was an uneasiness of getting some sort of disease from the floor and he just felt more comfortable in his own shower. He could fully relax. He trudged up the stairs and was hit with a wave carrying the smell of pizza. It came from his old room that Jamie had taken over when he decided to move in. He was officially assigned to the dorms at Hocking College but preferred to stay here as it was much more fun and interesting. He also didn’t like his assigned roommate who was some redneck from Vinton County. He only slept in his dorm if he had long breaks between classes. He was happy to take Ryan’s old room.
Ryan poked his head into the room to find Jamie, Garfield, and Bryce sitting around Jamie’s computer watching Naruto. They all greeted him as he stepped into the room. He had his single bed shoved into the alcove space just under the window and his giant computer desk set up next to the other window. He had other random things taking up the rest of the space.
“Taking a break between deliveries?” Ryan asked.
“I’m not doing deliveries anymore,” Bryce said looking back over his shoulder. “My car got stolen right out of the parking lot.”
“No shit?”
“I left it running as I ran inside to grab another order and when I came back it was gone. I was only in there a few minutes.”
“Fuck, man that sucks.”
“So now I’m just cooking,” Bryce said with a sigh. “It sucks because I made nice tips every night.” He turned around on his stool to face Ryan. “I asked these guys but they said I should ask you or Kaiser since you two are on the lease. Since this place is close by compared to my house which is in Albany, I was wondering if I could crash here. I’ll gladly help with rent and bills.”
“Well as long as you’re helping with that, I don’t think Kaiser will have any problem. I’m fine with you crashing here.” He stepped closer to them to get a better look at which episode they were watching. Jamie held up one of the pizza boxes offering him a piece. It was from Hungry Howie’s. Ryan believed that place had the better crust that didn’t need to be dipped into butter sauce like Papa Johns. He stood behind them as he ate a few pieces deciding his shower could wait a little longer.
Ryan patrolled the dining hall on one of his few dining hall shifts. He spent most of his time either in the market or the grab n’ go. He grabbed a drink from the bus n’ bev station where Shawn was working. Shawn hadn’t talked to him a great deal since he moved out but things still appeared to be good between them from Ryan’s perspective.
“Hey Ryan,” a voice called from the main serving line. “You suck.” It was a local high school kid who normally worked in the dish room but wanted to work other stations because he felt he could be a manager. Ryan couldn’t remember his name only that it started with an S. Ryan didn’t care to remember. The guy often said he should’ve been a manager as soon as he started last spring. His aunt was one of the custodians. He had been written up a few times and his aunt always had a talk with that manager about erasing the write-up.
“Tell me something I haven’t heard before,” Ryan said.
“You’re hot,” the kid shot back. Ryan admitted that was a good response. He just gave him a thumbs-up before walking off. After giving a visual-only inspection of the belt line making sure it was clean, he noticed some of the international students sitting at a table on the far side of the room near the back door. At least once a day some students would try to sneak in. Rarely did they succeed. It was some of the Japanese students and a few others he didn’t know. One of them was Suzumi, the cute one that was assigned to Ryan to give him a native Japanese-speaking partner. She was one of two students from Saga University in Saga Prefecture. The other Japanese students came from Chubu University in Aichi Prefecture.
The seat next to her was open and he saw it as an opportunity to increase exposure outside of their meeting times. On the other side of her was the other Saga student, Tatsuya. Ryan only briefly talked to him a few times since they met and he seemed laid back. He also had a sense of humor that was close to Ryan’s. The students that Ryan didn’t know sat on the opposite side of the two Japanese as if they were battling each other. If Ryan had to guess he figured they were Korean judging by the haircuts of the two guys. He assumed the girl was Korean as well just based on the fact she was sitting with the two guys. Ryan took a seat next to Suzumi.
“Hey, guys.” The two Japanese students appeared happy to see him.
“Hey Ryan,” Tatsuya said. “Come join us.”
“I’ll sit for a moment. I’m working so I can’t stay too long.”
Suzumi was surprised to see him dressed in a shirt and tie. “Why are you dressed like that?”
“I’m a manager here.”
“Oh, you’re a manager?” one of the guys asked. “Can you get me free food?”
Ryan smirked. “Nope.”
“Damn,” the guy said. “I’m Hyun-shik but you can call me Hyung.”
“Doesn’t that mean older brother?” Ryan asked.
“You can speak Korean?” Hyun-shik asked visibly surprised. The other two matched his reaction. Ryan held up his finger and thumb signaling he knew a little.
“I’m Young-Jae,” the other guy said. He sported a bowl cut that made him look younger than he was. It was a hairstyle Ryan had when he was in high school.
“I’m Hyun Jae,” the girl said. He greeted her in Korean which caused the Koreans to laugh and give their approval. “Your pronunciation has a dialect to it that is a little weird but it’s good. I can teach you more if you’d like.”
“That’d be great,” Ryan said. “I’ll give you free food whenever you want.” Hyun Jae cheered happily clapping her hands together rapidly. Hyun-shik protested.
“What the shit? Why does she get free food?”
“Because she’s offering me lessons.”
“I can help with your Korean.”
“But she’s cute.”
Hyun Jae made a face mocking Hyun-shik. “Ah, shit the fuck,” he said.
Ryan noticed Suzumi shoot him a look but he wasn’t sure why.
Ryan wondered if the houses on Congress Street were originally family homes before being given to students or if they were built for student housing. He couldn’t determine which because if they were built for students then why did they all vary in design? But if they were family owned before then why is it only students and no families at all living on this street? He couldn’t imagine families living on this street as there were parties every weekend.
Quinn asked Ryan to come along to a party at Angie’s house on North Congress. Parking was only permitted on one side of the street and there was nothing available. Quinn parked her car on Mound Street which ran parallel to Congress. Angie lived near the intersection of Congress and Pine.
Ryan was told it was BYOB but people could drink Hairy Buffalo or the beer that was offered. However, there was a catch to it. It was some sort of roulette game. In the middle of the kitchen was a trash can and its lid had a hole cut out. Bottles of beer were tied to a string and lowered into the trash can that had ice at the bottom to keep it cold. Anyone who wanted a beer had to grab a string and drink the one they pulled out. The catch was that some of them had notes inside of them with instructions for the person to do. So far, the instructions seemed relatively tame such as chugging the beer or eating cereal with beer instead of milk. That one was called “Breakfast of Champions.” Ryan was suspicious there might be some nefarious ones hidden in there.
He was safe for the time being as he brought a six-pack of Killian’s. He didn’t plan on drinking once he was done with that but that plan may change. The plan for the night already had changed as Quinn was supposed to drive him home or at least back to her place but she left about an hour ago with some guy she knew from high school. Now, Ryan would have to walk back to 51 which was at least an hour's walk.
Ryan roamed the party just observing some of the games people were playing such as Drunk Jenga and Beer Pong. He played a round earlier that came down to a cup each and he sunk the last shot on a floater. He didn’t expect it to work but he was missing all the other shots. Someone asked him if he always came in clutch referencing Ryan’s game-winning interception last year. Ryan just smiled and shrugged.
The crowd had slightly thinned out and Ryan was down to his final beer.
“Any ideas for the NFL this year?” The clutch guy asked Ryan.
“I’m hoping for a Steelers repeat.”
“You’re a Steelers fan? Are you from Pittsburgh?”
“No, I went to high school south of Pittsburgh. Liberty Falls.”
“The same one with the shooting?”
Ryan nodded. “Yep.”
“If you’re in college now then you luckily missed that.”
“If only I were that lucky,” Ryan said. “I waited to go to college. The shooting was my senior year and in my classroom.”
“No shit? Fuck, man. I’m sorry to bring that up.”
Ryan shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. You had no way to know that and I don’t mind talking about it.”
The guy tapped a nearby guy and told him about Ryan being at Liberty Falls during the shooting. That gained the attention of several people who surrounded Ryan.
“Did you know the shooter?”
“Yeah, I used to eat lunch with him.”
“No way. That must’ve been rough.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Ryan said.
“You’re lying,” someone said. “You’re just saying that for attention.”
“I’m not that deranged,” Ryan said. “But it’s funny you should say that because the shooter, Vince, was the type to do that.”
“There is no way that you were there. You’d have to be like thirty now.”
“Christ, the shooting was only five years ago. That was my senior year. I was seventeen at the time so if you carry the two then that would make me twenty-two now. I waited a few years before going to college.”
“You have no proof you were there.”
“Of course I don’t, I’m at a party. Why would I have something like that readily available? I don’t normally advertise it but this time it came up in conversation.”
“What are the odds of any of us meeting a school shooting victim? It’d have to be astronomical.”
“But not impossible. Look, I don’t care if you believe me or not. There’s nothing I can say that would make you change your mind.”
“You see? He can’t prove it so he wants to drop it.”
Ryan huffed. “Why are you so determined to prove I’m lying?”
“Because you are. You’re looking to score sympathy points with some girl here hoping she’ll sleep with you.”
“Here,” Ryan said as he pulled out his driver’s license. He held it out showing his Liberty Falls address and date of birth. “Will this help?”
“Those are easily faked.”
“I would not go to the trouble of making a fake license just to say I’m from Liberty Falls,” Ryan said.
“Nah,” another guy said looking at Ryan’s license. “This is legit. I’m from Philly and it’s exactly the same.” The guy matched his license to Ryan’s just to show it was real.
“Whatever,” the doubter said before walking off.
“He was determined,” Ryan said.
“I’ve seen him do that a few times when he thinks there’s no chance of it being true,” another guy said. “So far, he’s been proven wrong every time.”
Ryan sat down on the empty couch with not much beer left in his bottle. He had been standing for most of the night and wanted to rest his legs for a few minutes before starting his trek across all of creation.
“You need another one,” Angie said walking up to him.
Ryan shook his head. “No, I’m good. I’m about to head home. I have to walk back to my place which is at the end of Richland Avenue.”
“Just stay here tonight,” Angie said. “I’ll give you a ride in the morning.”
Ryan shrugged at the appealing offer. “Twist a guy’s arm.”
“Come get another beer.” Ryan followed Angie to the kitchen where the roulette trash can still had countless strings reaching into its pit. She grabbed a string and pulled it from the others, causing the bottles inside to knock into each other.
Ryan held his breath as he listened to the death melody as he waited for the bottle to emerge. He wondered about the odds of him getting one with a note inside. While he hadn’t been paying close attention to how often people pulled one out, he assumed luck was in his favor.
Angie pulled out a Miller Lite and handed it to Ryan. His stomach dropped when he noticed the cap was slightly bent. It came off without any effort. Luck was not in his favor.
Damn it.
He looked at Angie with pursed lips as he pulled the note out with his ring finger. He looked at the note and let out a smirk before handing it to Angie. He shook his head in disbelief as she read it.
“Show your junk for thirty seconds,” Angie said announcing it to the room. Everyone cheered and laughed.
“Figures,” Ryan said. He could easily decline and leave which was the penalty but he felt his pride was on the line.
“No one has pulled this one all night and we have a few in there,” Angie said.
“Lucky me,” he said flatly.
“You don’t have to do it out here. You can show me in another room.”
“That’s a relief.”
Ryan followed Angie upstairs into a bedroom he assumed was hers. After closing the door she stood in front of Ryan and waited for him to reveal himself.
He looked up at the ceiling while he undid his belt. He couldn’t understand why this was embarrassing for him. He’s had sex with several girls and he had no problem getting naked so why was this a problem? He assumed it was because sex wasn’t involved. It was just him showing his dick to a girl. He had to admit it was better than to show it to another guy.
He pushed down his pants and held up his shirt to give Angie an unobstructed view. She looked down at it with a smile on her face. Ryan figured she had to have been greatly amused.
Shit!
He felt himself getting hard. There was no way to avoid it or hide it. Angie’s revealing top was not helping matters.
She raised her head to look at Ryan before she leaned in to kiss him. Ryan didn’t reject the kiss but he seriously doubted that the mere sight of his dick got her in the mood.
“Why do you think we had those notes in there?” she asked. “We wanted to have some fun tonight.”
“So, this was all planned?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah. Not with you specifically but we hoped we’d find a guy to have sex with.”
Ryan had no further questions as he helped Angie get naked before they got into bed.
