Justin watched as the ambulance drove off with Gus and Brian in it. After talking to Gus to make sure he was alright, Justin decided to stay behind, collect his gear, and then head out to the hospital. On the way to the car he was stopped by many of the parents who asked about Gus and wished him a speedy recovery. Everyone hoped that his injuries were minor so that he could come back the next day and play in the game against Browne. Justin hoped that would happen as well. As he approached his car he heard loud voices coming from behind the shed where the equipment was stored. Moving in the direction of the noise, he stopped when he saw who it was. “What the fuck have you been telling Kevin, Lisa?” “Nothing! I didn’t tell him anything, Joe, why would you think that?” “Because he’s not acting himself. I’ve left him with you for four days and already he’s back to being mouthy and belligerent. When I asked him why he had to go hit that kid so hard he looked at me and laughed. Called him a queer!” “Well,” Lisa said, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” “What the fuck does that mean?” “His father’s a big fairy, Joe, so the kid is probably one too.” “I can’t believe I’m hearing this shit, Lisa. First of all, being gay is not hereditary or contagious, and secondly, whether the kid is or isn’t gay shouldn’t matter. He’s got a good arm and has the potential to be a really good player.” “Well, what about your son, don’t you think he’s a good player too?” “He’s great Lisa, but he’s a linebacker. That’s his spot. He’ll never be the quarterback you want him to be, just because you think it’s a more important position. It’s not; all the positions are important, one no more than the other, and you should stop putting ideas in Kevin’s head. Whether Peterson comes back or not, Kevin will never take his spot. He doesn’t have the talent for that position. He’s much better where he’s at and the sooner you accept that and stop poisoning his mind, the sooner he’ll start acting like a normal kid.” “I am not poisoning his mind, Joe,” Lisa said, her voice starting to rise even more. “Lisa, you know you are. He hears you say shit about other people when you’re angry and it sticks in his head.” “I am not angry,” Lisa screamed at Joe. “Really,” he replied. “Listen to yourself. You’re out of control again.” Lisa lifted her arm and took a swing at Joe, hitting him on his shoulder. Justin watched as her entire demeanor changed from pretty suburban mom into some wild woman. She was lashing out at this giant of a man who patiently held her away from him, trying to protect himself, yet at the same time trying to make her see reason. “Lisa, stop,” Joe said, holding her now as she started crying and hitting him at the same time. Justin couldn’t take his eyes off the scene in front of him. He wanted to just walk away, knowing he was watching something private and painful; he just couldn’t move. Lisa had completely lost it, crying and muttering curses all the while Joe was holding on to her with the saddest expression in his eyes. Justin now understood why Kevin lived with his father and not his mother. The woman obviously had issues, none of which were good for her son or anyone else around her. He quickly moved back in the direction of the car and when he got there, threw his stuff in the trunk and headed out to the hospital. All the way to the hospital he thought about what he had just witnessed. Christ! Of all the women at that party, why did she have to hit on Brian? I’m sure that since the night of Brian’s rejection, Lisa has been stewing, adding one more thing to her reasons for not liking Gus. This really had nothing to do with Brian at all. For once, he just happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Unfortunately, Lisa probably wouldn’t see it that way. Even if Brian had not been gay and had taken her up on her offer, she would have somehow turned it around, adding fuel to the fire. The fact that Brian had rejected and humiliated her in no uncertain terms worked perfectly into her twisted mind, enabling her to rationalize whatever fucked up statements she made aloud so that Kevin would hear. Justin knew that many parents had unreasonable expectations for their children. He had heard that in the world of sports it was carried to the extreme. Most parents viewed their child as special and unique, better than best. And in many ways, children deserved to have this kind of love from their mother and father, knowing that in their eyes they were extraordinary and able to achieve great things. However, most parents were realistic too and did see their child for what they truly were. It was only a handful that deluded themselves into thinking they had the next ‘Michael Jordan’ or ‘Tiger Woods’. These were the ones who could create havoc with their kids psyche as well as the parents, coaches and friends around them. Many a famous athlete had falling outs with overbearing parents or mentors who expected too much. Obviously, Lisa Ryan was one of those mothers who thought her child was better than he actually was. Not to say that Kevin was a bad athlete, he wasn’t. He was very good as a linebacker, a tough position even for the best of them. But he didn’t have the height, the arm or the eye that Gus had. All qualities necessary to be a good quarterback, which, in many people’s eyes, was the most important position in football. Also, the most prestigious. Joe continued to hold Lisa, trying his best to calm her down. He knew from past experience that it was a difficult and long process. Her anger issues seemed to be escalating rather than dissipating. He could sense that she resented his presence here at the game and felt justified in whatever she had been telling her son. Lisa seemed to be projecting her insecurities onto Kevin, hoping that as the mother of the ‘star’ her position in society would be re-established. Right now, she was a single mother without the custody of her only child, subjected to people’s questions regarding this arrangement. It was hard to deal with all that since most of the women around her had known the O’Rileys since they were newlyweds. When she and Joe had split up two years ago, everyone had been surprised. Most people thought they were happy. They always appeared loving and kind to each other in public, so when they separated and eventually divorced, it came as quite a shock. When the courts awarded custody to Joe it was even more shocking. Lisa immediately lost ‘face’ with her friends. She couldn’t tell them why Kevin had been taken away from her. Her status within her circle of friends had changed completely. None of them knew that Lisa and Joe had been fighting non-stop for years. Most of the fights had to do with Lisa’s anger management problems and Joe’s inability to reach her or convince her to get help. It was heartbreaking for Joe because he had loved Lisa since they were in high school and he had never wanted to break up with her. He did it for Kevin, because he was afraid for his child. In the early years of their marriage, Joe would be surprised when Lisa would fly off the handle when little things would go wrong. She would wig-out over dinners not turning out right or beds left unmade. If the lawn was not mowed the way she wanted it, fireworks would erupt. More often than not she would blow up at either Joe or Kevin over the most insignificant things. At first Joe would tease her and tell her it was because she was a fiery red-head, with the temper to match. Eventually he realized that her temper was a demon that was controlling her and ruining what would otherwise be a perfect relationship. He had gone to see a psychiatrist to try and figure out his wife. She had refused to go with him. In her eyes, she was fine. He was told that most anger management problems had to do with control and a person’s inability to cope with the realization that so many things in life are out of their immediate control. He had sat through group therapy, listening to discussions about the different steps one could take to get help. Every time he would broach the subject, she would go into a rage and he would have to drop it to bring peace back to the household. As Kevin grew and became more aware of his mother’s temper, he learned how to hide from her to avoid the backlash of whatever was pissing her off on any given moment. Still, he would end up with bruises when slippers were thrown at him, or wooden spoons landed on his cheek unexpectedly. After a certain point, he was no longer able to hide the marks from Joe and that was when his father decided it was time to put a stop to the abuse. The day Joe told Lisa she had to get help or he would leave and take Kevin with him, was one of the worst days in young Kevin’s life. The yelling and crying had gone on for hours and so many plates had been broken, that night they had to eat off of paper ones. Kevin locked himself up in his room and had listened to his parents fighting non-stop, praying that this would eventually blow over and that no blood would be shed. He loved them both; he was just terrified of his mother when she was in this state of mind. The final result of that unhappy day was a knock on the door and a policeman standing there responding to a neighbor’s call about possible domestic violence going on at the O’Riley home. This signaled the eventual end of the marriage. When Joe was awarded custody of Kevin it came as no surprise to him. He knew they would never let Lisa have him. He had reams of documentation, detailing many incidents when she had been abusive. There were several calls Joe had made to the psychiatrist which were replayed in court with his permission. As the judge laid down his ruling, Lisa’s entire universe blew up in her face. The ultimate control over her life was taken away from her and this time no amount of yelling would fix it. Kevin had moved in with Joe two years ago and slowly started to recover. In the beginning, Joe had taken him to see a child psychologist, to help him deal with all he had been through and to make sure there were no residual effects of Lisa’s abuse. The court had allowed her to visit Kevin every weekend so long as someone was with them. This had been difficult on everyone because Joe preferred not to be there when she had her visits. It was too painful for him because in spite of everything, he still loved her. Eventually they were able to make arrangements for Lisa’s sister, Angela, to be present on the days she came to visit. This last week had been unusual in that Joe had been called away for most of the week on business. Something that had never happened before. He had been unable to make arrangements for Angela to stay with Kevin while he was gone and the rest of Joe’s family lived in other cities and were not able to help. He had to get special permission from the court to allow Kevin to stay with Lisa these last few days because they basically had no choice. Lisa of course was told that if they saw or heard anything about any abuse to Kevin they would never let her see him again. Reluctantly, Joe had left Kevin in her care. On the surface, Lisa had not abused her son. No one would be able to prove that she had. But Joe knew better. In the four days he had been gone, Kevin had been transformed into someone else; an angry young man that was starting to look and sound just like his mother. It broke Joe’s heart and made him pick up the phone tonight to call Dr. Goldberg, Kevin’s psychologist, to talk about this new turn of events. TBC