Chapter 9
Rob's POV
Will I ever escape Jack O'Callahan? Looks to me like all signs are pointing to no. In his ever infinite wisdom, Herb decided Jack and I should be roommates. I was perfectly happy rooming with Rizzo. The guy actually made people from Boston seem halfway decent. Herb didn't even tell me I was getting a new roommate until I walked in after practice.
"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded, as I watched Jack stuff a few shirts into the dresser drawer that once housed Rizzo's clothes.
"Coach decided to stick me in a room with you," he muttered unhappily.
"Where's Rizzo staying?" I asked.
"With Jannie in my old room," Jack answered curtly.
Why did I try to talk to this guy?
"Hey Mac," he suddenly said, breaking me from my thoughts.
"What?"
"I just wanted to say sorry," he said quietly, going back to his unpacking.
"And what for, OC?" I inquired snidely. "Beating me up or breaking up me and my girlfriend?"
Ha, that struck a nerve! Jack just scowled, looking like he was trying to sustain his anger.
"I'm not trying to start anything, Mac," OC replied, putting his hands up in a surrender position. "What happened with Emma and me shouldn't have happened. I'll admit that. And beating you up…well, that was just to say thanks for '76."
"Eh, I still got the ring," I mumbled thinking I'd get hit again. OC just laughed. "I guess we're even on that then."
"And Emma?" he asked nervously. Why would he care about Emily?
"First, she hates being called Emma. Second, I haven't even really talked to her in three years," I told him. "What's this?" I asked, holding up a blue balled-up garment that fell to the floor as OC moved his jacket to the closet.
"Oh, it's nothing," he replied, snatching it from my hand, looking rather guilty.
"So, have you talked to Emily?" I asked, trying to find some way to break the awkward silence.
"Umm…just to get my ear chewed off for hitting you," Jack responded, never making eye contact.
I'm starting to get the feeling he's hiding something.
"Hey Mac, let me in!" Rizzo called from the other side of the door.
"Why are you screaming at the door like a crazy person?" I inquired when I opened the door.
"I gotta talk to OC. He got a call," Rizzo replied.
"From who?" Jack piped up.
"A girl," Rizzo answered guardedly. He knows something. I don't know what, but he knows something.
"Did she leave a number?" Jack inquired.
"Yeah, here you go," Rizzo said, handing him a small piece of paper with chicken scratch handwriting on it. "So, who is she, OC?"
"No one," OC grumbled. "I don't wanna talk about it."
"That means she's a dog," Rizzo joked, nudging me in the ribs.
"Poodle or beagle, OC?" I questioned, getting Rizzo to laugh harder. If this guy had milk right now it would have sprayed out his nose.
"Funny," OC muttered, picking up the receiver to call this girl back. "Will you two leave?"
"My room first. I'm not leaving," I stated adamantly.
"Fine, whatever," OC mumbled. Oh, his uneasiness is amusing.
Jack's POV
This is horrible. I have to call Emma back with Mac in the room. Yeah, this'll be fun.
"Hello?" Emily said when she answered.
"I moved," I told her in a hushed tone.
"The duck flies north at night," Emily replied in an equally hushed tone.
"What?"
"I thought we were speaking in code," Emma answered. "So, you moved?"
"Yeah, Herb put Mac and me together," I told her, giving Mac an evil look. This is hell. Thanks god for reopening the book!
"So, come over to my place," Emily suggested. "It might not be a good idea to be sleeping next to Robbie."
"I'm supposed to be bonding with my teammates," I muttered.
"Fine, but if you wake up dead, don't come crying to me," she stated dramatically.
"What? Wake up dead?" I inquired with a loud laugh, which got Mac's attention.
"I don't think you can wake up dead," Mac said to me with a laugh.
"Babe, you can't wake up dead. It's a contradiction of terms. Second, if I'm dead, I won't be able to come crying to you," I explained, trying to quell my laughter. Mac just kept right on laughing.
"Fine, but consider yourself uninvited," she said, mock pouting. "Talk to you tomorrow."
"Baby, don't be mad," I pleaded.
"OC's in the dog house," I heard Mac mutter before I threw a pillow at him.
"I'm not mad. If you'd rather sleep with Robbie, go right ahead. You two would make such a pretty couple," Emily teased.
"I'm not sleeping with Mac. Hell, I could do way better than Mac," I stated.
"You wish, man," Mac replied, throwing the pillow back at me.
"I swear I'll stay over tomorrow night," I told her. "Herb just wants us to all stay in the dorms tonight. Can't disobey the man who's holding my future in his hands."
"I guess you're right. Just behave. I don't want to hear from any of the guys that the reason Mac's not at practice is because he's wearing a toe tag at the city morgue," Emily lectured.
"I'll try to be good," I replied, rolling my eyes. "Talk to you tomorrow."
"Good night, Jack," she said. "Give Mac a kiss for me. You know you want to."
"Down with the girlfriends," I grumbled, hanging up the phone.
"I think I like this girl already," Rob mused.
Oh, if he only knew.
"Hey Mac, let me ask you something. Why'd you and Emma stop talking?" I inquired.
"I don't know," he replied, pensively. "She said she wanted to be friends, but then she just stopped. I didn't see her at school or at the track or anything. I think one of her friends said she transferred to some school in Connecticut. Leave it to Emily to try to get as far away from her parents as she possibly can."
"They don't get along?" I asked.
"Well…she and her dad do. They're two friggin peas in a pod. But her mom is a different story," Rob explained. "I don't think they've ever gotten along."
"Ok, so hypothetical situation," I posed, "What if Emma got pregnant before being married. What would her mom do?"
"My guess, ship her as far away as she possibly can. Ya know, get rid of the mistake," he answered. "Where'd you get that hypothetical from?"
"Oh, it just popped into my head," I told him.
That shed a whole new light on my relationship with Mac's ex-girlfriend.
Feedback please! Thanks for all the feedback you've given already. I gotta say I didn't think I was gonna do the whole pregnancy thing either, but I figured it would make for some good drama later on.
