Tony got back to his frat house in the early hours of the morning, easing himself quietly through the door so not to wake anyone up. Most of his frat brothers had planned to have an early night, saving themselves for the inevitable all night partying that would take place after the championship game. Win or lose, his frat brothers, basketball team and anyone remotely connected to Ohio State who wanted to party, would use the result of the game (celebration or commiseration) to stock up on alcohol and party till the night was over.
Thinking about it, Tony realised he had always relished the idea of family and solidarity. Growing up under the rather unorthodox ways of his father had showed him that money was no substitute for family and even though his father relished having money and the lifestyle it allowed him to live, it hadn't done much to forge the father son bond between the two of them. Even during his time at boarding school, where kids were away from their parents, Tony had seen and heard about family times that he could only dream of. Of course, when he returned from school holidays he would brag about the awesome time he had had with his father going abroad, ogling at women and tasting alcohol at lavish parties his father held. But in reality he had either been left with his cousin Petey or sent back to the boarding house early, left to dream up stories that could compete with his friend's tales of spending quality time with family and friends.
Joining the fraternity had gone some way to giving Tony the family times he had only heard about at boarding school. At least here people would invite him to parties, lend him a dollar if he was short at lunch, even enquire about his health (usually right before an important game though). Whilst this made him at least feel wanted, Tony wondered if they actually wanted the real Tony, or just the goofy basketball pro who always had a grin on his face and scored with the ladies. As lame as it might sound, Tony wanted someone who he could feel comfortable enough to be himself around, someone with whom it wouldn't matter if he was happy or sad-they would look out for him just the same.
As Tony sat in the kitchen with a tub of ice cream contemplating all of this, a thought came to him. He couldn't just wait for family to come to him, he had to do something to start the process. That kid tonight had begged him to save his sister, had put her life above his own safety. It showed Tony how family was meant to be, how you looked out for each other and had such a strong bond that no matter how bad things got, another family member would always have your back.
Standing up, Tony decided to at least try and get some sleep before facing the big game. As he stood up he knocked a pile of leaflets to the floor. Among the pizza menus and social flyers were a few career leaflets that had been shoved through the mailbox and promptly forgotten about the other day. The fraternity lived very much in the here and now and focussed more on partying than thinking about the future and the world of work. As Tony scooped them up he saw a flyer that caught his eye. It had a picture of a group of police officers all standing together and saluting the American flag. They looked strong, level headed and most of all completely at ease with what they were doing and with each other. It was like they all had a shared purpose of duty and didn't mind who knew and did not worry about being embarrassed about their desire to serve. As Tony thought about it, he remembered always seeing cops in pairs or in big groups on their meal breaks, always appearing to be enjoying each other's company and, most of all, ready to back each other up if something ever went down. Certainly the cops he had spoken to after the fire had praised him and also tried to talk him about not beating himself up about the life he could not save, but instead focus on the one he had. The chat had helped a lot and it felt like the cops knew where he was coming from and understood his feelings, connecting on a level that Tony couldn't imagine his frat brothers or team members would be able to do. Folding the leaflet up into his pocket, Tony made his way up to his room, deciding to drop by the station in a couple of days to find out some more about recruitment. But first he had a game to prepare for, after all, police officers always fulfilled their duties and at the moment his commitment was to his team and to his sport. Hopefully though in the near future it would be to a bigger cause, and there would be a lot more people around him helping him achieve his purpose.