Prelude (An Alec Winters Series, Book 1) Read online

  “Catalina was crying in the girls’ bathroom today. Pardon me, but that doesn’t sound as if she is very happy. Has anything happened at home to upset her?” Mrs. Anders, wanting sordid details, rephrased the initial question. “Is there family troubles?”

  Alec looked closely at his sister, wondering what could have happened to cause her to cry at school. His parents often argued loudly. Threats of divorce often punctuated their disagreements. Alec had always reassured Cat that Buck and Cassidy would never divorce. He had explained that divorce was taboo and forbidden in the Catholic Church. Still, perhaps she had overheard something that caused her to worry unnecessarily.

  Catalina looked down at her feet and didn’t add anything to the conversation. Alec bent down, looking closely at her angelic face, and asked, “Cat, did something happen at home to worry you?” She remained silent. “Did something happen at school today? Did someone hurt your feelings?” He gently rearranged strands of hair that partially hid her features. She only shrugged and continued to stare at her shoes. At a loss, Alec reassured the teacher, “I’m unaware of anything unusual or different in our home, especially something that would cause Cat’s unhappiness at school, but I will certainly talk to her in private, Mrs. Anders.”

  “We want all of our students to feel safe here,” Mrs. Anders continued. “Children do their best work when there is a safe environment at home and at school. If something is causing pain or confusion, we’d like to help. If you discover anything, anything at all, please let me know.” Her chastising voice and concerned gaze followed the tall, athletic male and his smaller young sister all the way to the sidewalk.

  Together, Alec and Cat walked towards the next major intersection to wait for the Carrollton Avenue trolley. Alec, towering over her, pointed at their shadows, “We look like Mutt and Jeff,” he teased. Even though the reference to the oldest, continuous running comic had always amused her before, Catalina didn’t acknowledge or laugh at the joke. Alec sighed deeply. “Other than crying in the bathroom, how was your day?” he asked, knowing he was the only one who would show any interest in Cat’s feeling, emotions, and activities.

  “It was all right,” she slowly responded before eagerly adding, “Art class was great. We painted today. Although I’d rather sketch, it was still fun. I always love art, but you know that.” Cat, a gifted artist, even at her age, had already forgotten about Mrs. Anders’ inquiry. She was once again cheerful. Still, Alec couldn’t let it slide.

  “Did someone hurt your feelings today or pick on you?” he asked. The excitement in her eyes died down as she looked up at her brother with a quizzical gaze, ignoring his question the same as she had refused to acknowledge the teacher’s concerns.

  “Do you really have to go back for practice, Alec?” Cat’s voice, a near whisper and barely audible, turned the attention back to him.

  “You know I do, Cat. First, football practice and then an evening shift at the grocery store. It’s the same schedule we’ve kept for the last several years and we’ll probably keep it until I graduate.”

  “Oh, I can’t bear the thought of you leaving, Alec,” Cat cried out as she threw thin arms around her brother’s waist in a spontaneous show of love and affection.

  “Then, don’t fret about it until it actually happens,” he teased as he softly patted her slender shoulders and then playfully mussed her shimmering hair.

  “Are you studying with Sabrina tonight?” she queried. The question was innocent but filled with worry and alarm. He knew she dreaded the time alone with their parents before she even voiced it, but he couldn’t assume the depths of her angst and despair.

  “I’ll be home around nine tonight. Promise,” Alec vowed.

  “But,” she pleaded, trying one more time. With a catch in her throat, she stammered, “But…but I hate to go home without you. You know how it is. Mama will be asleep on the couch. Daddy always gets home before you do. He’s always in a bad mood and drunk. He frightens me, Alec…he hurts me.” The last part of her protest was muffled because Catalina had both hands over her face to hide her unwarranted shame.

  “What did you say, Cat?”

  “Nothing, nothing at all!” she stormed as she stamped a foot in frustration. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” she sobbed. “Just, please, Alec…don’t make me go home alone.”

  “Is that why you were crying at school?” he asked in frustration. “Do you hate being at home so much that you were upset even before the day ended?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she angrily shouted. “You don’t get it! Nothing really matters anyway. Just forget about it, Alec. Nothing changes and it’s always the same. I hate my life! I hate mother and I hate daddy even more!”

  Overwhelmed by her emotional eruption, Alec wasn’t equipped to deal with either Catalina’s or his own spiraling feelings. Strange emotions instantly forced their way to the surface, but only a teenager himself, he was ill-equipped to handle them. He certainly understood the disillusionment that Cat felt toward their parents. He had felt it all too often himself. Although he commiserated with her about all of it, he wasn’t sure what to do about her outburst.

  He responded in the only way he knew how; he soothed and cajoled in an attempt to support his sister’s feelings, “Ah, boo; I’m sorry. I know it’s a dull routine, but there isn’t any reason for you to feel so dramatic about your life.”

  “Don’t talk down to me,” Cat warned.

  “I’ll always talk down to you…I’ll always be taller,” Alec joked. “All I’m trying to say is that it’s a pretty good life overall.” No response. “You know this is the way we have to do things, Cat. You’re a big girl now,” Alec tried to calm her. In response, Catalina snatched her hand from his and defiantly crossed her arms over her chest. She refused to say anything that would alleviate her brother’s concern. “Come on,” he worried as he reached to take her hand again. “I don’t have time to get into this right now. Coach will tear me a new one for being late to practice. We’ll talk about it when I get home tonight, all right?”

  “You’re always too busy,” she bitterly complained as she jerked her hand from his again and twisted away from him in anger.

  “Come on, Cat, we have to catch the streetcar. Even if you look like Mutt, you’ll soon be a teenager,” he teased, trying to brush the nagging worry aside. She didn’t laugh so he continued with even more impractical and inane suggestions, “Besides, the trolley drops you off directly in front of the house. Go upstairs and do your homework. Put on your headphones and get out your sketchpad. If they argue, turn the music up to drown them out,” he coaxed. “Stay in your room. Stay out of the way and avoid both of them. You can do it. Do you want anything in particular from the deli? I can bring food home when I get off work. How does a chocolate brownie sound, hmm?”

  Cat only nodded. She was angry and scared, but she knew that any further pleas were useless. She didn’t argue or beg anymore. It never did any good anyway. She knew her brother was popular and had a busy life. She didn’t want to interfere with it; she loved him too much to cause him pain. She looked up at Alec one last time. Her aquamarine eyes filled with tears and then overflowed down delicate, pale cheeks. Determined to be the ‘big girl’ her brother thought her to be, Cat hastily wiped away the liquid betrayal.

  Alec kissed the top of his sister’s white-blonde head before lifting her slight body onto the top step of the streetcar. A coin clattered through the fare mechanism and the door closed. He could still see her grief-stricken face as the trolley pulled away. The sadness she experienced tugged relentlessly at his heartstrings.

  She’ll be all right, he silently affirmed, forcing himself to believe it. The statement became a mantra as he jogged back to his school. The words, she’ll be all right, she’ll be all right, rhythmically kept time with the pounding of his feet on the pavement. Before the trolley made its final turn, he was in the gym ready to suit-up. Soon, the streetcar passed through the Garden District, dropped Cat off at their Carrollton Av
enue home, and then, headed downtown.

  Cat was out of sight, but not out of mind. Mrs. Anders words bothered Alec. Cat’s tear-streaked face haunted him too. Still, he recognized his own helplessness about the situation. He didn’t know what to do or what to say to alleviate her fears or the dread that seemed to bubble up in his stomach.

  Chapter 4

  By the time the forty-odd players ran out on the practice field, Sabrina was comfortably perched in the bleachers. She was reading a book, but looked up the moment the team exited the gym. Alec waved to her. With a flutter of butterflies in her stomach, she waved back. Sabrina, filled with admiration for her boyfriend’s athletic agility, kept her eyes focused on Alec during the practice game.

  Chaz occasionally glanced at Sabrina as she watched Alec but he didn’t say anything. He was comfortable sitting beside his second best friend and watching the action. Almost as tall as Alec, Chaz was on the slender side. When he was encouraged to join in some type of sports during junior high, Chaz had laughed, saying, “Look at these hands…they’re the hands of a surgeon. Why would I risk injury to my life’s goal for a little glory now?”

  “All right, Winters,” Coach Taylor called out as he loudly clapped his beefy hands together, “let’s see what you’ve got.” When that didn’t get the team’s full attention, he whistled shrilly. “Let’s go, let’s go! Get out on the field. Daylight is wasting. Hustle! Get those asses moving, girls!”

  After the hour-long scrimmage, Coach Taylor stood with his arm around Assistant Coach Baird’s neck. Pulling Baird’s head closer, Taylor hissed in his ear, “Didn’t I tell you that bastard has an arm!” he excitedly boasted.

  “Yeah, he’s got one helluva arm,” Baird nodded agreement. “I haven’t seen anyone any better, but you’ve been grooming him for a couple of years. He should have a good, strong arm.”

  “I haven’t given him any special treatment or training,” Taylor boisterously objected. “He’s a natural. I just taught him to focus.”

  “What I like best about young Winters is that no one can touch him,” Baird conceded. “He maneuvers himself without effort. He’s so athletic and nimble he could play any sport. He actually reminds me of Ali…‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ should be his new mantra. He seems unstoppable!”

  “Yep. He’s all of that and more,” Taylor proudly agreed.

  “Aren’t you worried about starting a junior? You’re going to stir-up a serious shit-storm with the senior players and their sideline parents. You know that, right?”

  Taylor ignored the question and any worries brought on by the team’s competitive nature. He’d already held off for a year and now the time was right. His prize quarterback would make it all worth any crap received from faculty, control-crazy parents, or the team. A wide grin spread over his jubilant face, “Yep, we’re going to have a winning season! I can feel it!”

  “It’s about damn time!” Baird agreed.

  In the meantime, Alec showered, changed clothes, and then hurried outside to find Sabrina. Chaz waited with her just outside the gym. Eager to spend time with each other, Alec and Sabrina slowly walked arm-in-arm to her well-maintained home on Carondelet Street. Chaz lived a few blocks down and he followed closely behind them. Alec looked over his shoulder at Chaz and waved him forward to join them.

  “Come on, Chaz. We’re all friends here,” Alec cajoled, encouraging him to keep up with them.

  Together, the three continued the rest of the way. After a lingering sweet goodbye kiss and a promise to return as soon as he could, Alec waved goodbye. Then he turned around and sprinted the entire distance to his part-time job at Lang’s Market and Deli. Chaz stood with Sabrina while she lovingly watched Alec’s retreat. He silently admired her exquisite beauty and her loyalty to his friend.

  “Alec’s a lucky guy, Sabrina. You really love him, don’t you?” he asked, but it was more of a statement. At her quizzical expression he informed, “It’s written all over your face.”

  “Is it really?” she asked with her cheeks blushing a little as she looked into Chaz’s hazel-green eyes. He ducked his head, slightly embarrassed. The movement caused his straight blond hair to fall forward hiding his chiseled features.

  “F’sho,” he chuckled, easily voicing the dialect of their home city in an attempt to cover the self-consciousness he suddenly felt.

  “Yes, I really do love him,” Sabrina softly admitted. “I’ve never felt more whole than when Alec is with me. I could get lost in his eyes…it’s as if an entire, unknown universe is there waiting to be explored.”

  “Still,” Chaz added. “We’re all really just babies compared to our parents and the educators around us. Do you think what you feel for him will remain true after he’s off to LSU?”

  “Yes, of course it will,” Sabrina defensively replied.

  “I’m just saying…Alec will be at college playing college football, surrounded by a slew of new college girls,” he emphasized each word slowly to make his point. “All those college hotties will be vying for his attention while we’ll still have one more year of high school. You’ve seen the way the girls crowd him each day. The girls at LSU will be prettier and more persistent.”

  “Of course I’ll still love him and I trust him,” she heatedly confirmed, deflecting Chaz’s comments. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re just trying to make me jealous, aren’t you?”

  “Uh, well, uh, no. I’m not trying to make you jealous and I’m not saying you won’t still love him,” Chaz stuttered as he crawfished away from the topic. From her reaction, he wished he had skirted it altogether. “I don’t know…it just seems that life changes for everyone after they reach the crowning apex of high school. Quite a few high school sweethearts drift apart and go their separate ways after graduation.”

  “Some make it,” Sabrina testily argued. “Look at Coach Grayson and his wife. They’re still in love.”

  “Yes, but they met in college, not high school,” Chaz set the record straight.

  “All right, Chaz. I’ll play along…Do you believe that you will still attend medical school after you graduate?” Sabrina implored. Without waiting for a response, she continued, “The desire to be a surgeon is something you feel now. Will it carry you through an undergraduate program at Tulane and then four additional years of medical school, not to mention those long years of residency? Will you still feel the same, Chaz?”

  “That’s different,” he hastily objected with a bit of irritation. “That’s a career choice, a life plan. It’s a goal that I’ve had for a very long time. You know that. It’s your plan too.”

  “That’s true, but is it really that different?” she chided. “It’s also true that everyone has dreams and plans for their lives that aren’t always realized. Something as simple as high school can get in our way…not to mention a thousand other things that can happen. However, I expect that I will always love Alec. I also believe that you and I will follow through with our medical career aspirations regardless of any unforeseen challenges.”

  “Brains and beauty,” Chaz grudgingly admired. “You have a way of cutting to the core of any topic, Sabrina.”

  When Alec was out of sight, Chaz followed Sabrina inside to her bedroom. There, they set out an armload of books and commenced to study together. This long-standing, mutually beneficial relationship was appropriate since Chaz and Sabrina took the same advanced classes and had the same goals for their future.

  Moreover, Chaz liked being at Sabrina’s home. There, her parents made him feel comfortable and welcome. It wasn’t the same for him at his own home. Both of his parents were doctors, and with their busy practices, he rarely saw them. Sadie, the live-in housekeeper and previous nanny, was the only family he had waiting for him each evening.

  Chapter 5

  They won the 1992 State Championship that year and the full and satisfying routine that filled Alec’s junior year continued throughout his final year of school. Hope of winning the 1993 State Championship was also a good b
et with Alec leading the team. Other than recruiters who attempted to steal him away from LSU, little changed during his senior year. Each game brought at least one of four recruiters from the top ten NCAA College Football teams to watch him play football and win. Most often, it was a recruiter from Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, or Florida State. On occasion, Oregon showed up. Each one was there to keep an eye on him and assess his talents.

  “It’s only smooth sailing now, Alec,” Coach Taylor assured him.

  It was true. Now, as a senior, Alec felt more confident than ever about his future. The talks with LSU were in the final stages and the scholarship package offered was better than he could’ve imagined. Coach Taylor had made sure Alec played a recruitable position and it had paid off handsomely. He’d have a full ride to the college of his choice. Moreover, Baton Rouge was only eighty miles away. It was certainly close enough to visit his family and Sabrina as often as he liked. For Alec, that was the critical selling point.

  On this particular evening, Alec once again walked Sabrina home. Chaz followed at a modest distance to allow them some privacy, but as usual, Alec waved him forward to join them. Chaz was always happy about being included, however, he was anxious to get on with their studies.

  “I’ll see you after work,” Alec promised as he tenderly kissed Sabrina goodbye.

  “Take your time,” she agreed. “Spend some extra time with Cat…she needs you Alec. You’re practically both mother and father to her. You should have dinner with your sister tonight.”