But I have a story to tell. One I don’t like repeating, so I suck in a breath and let it spill.
“A week after my team and I won this, I retired from competitive action. The parties when a team wins are endless and insane and they span from coast to coast. I was living in New York at the time but I came to Chicago for one of my teammates’ parties.” I stop to swallow as the bitter memories wash over me. “He held it in a bar. Unfortunately, a group of fans from the losing team were also present and we…got into it a bit. Most of the time the banter between rivals is harmless. But this group…they were extremely sore losers, put it that way. Things got out of hand. Jack, the guy who threw the party, he was badly hurt. But one of the other guys ended up in a coma.”
She gasps. “Is he…did he?”
I shake my head. “He made a full recovery. But not all of us did. The cops rounded us up. Some were charged with being drunk and disorderly. Most got a slap on the wrist, fines or community service. I was charged with aggravated assault.”
Her eyes widen. “What? Why?”
I snort. “Because a ton of strings were pulled for the active team members. It wasn’t great optics for any of the contracted players to be jailed. But…”
“You were newly retired and therefore expendable.”