Tori had snitched on me to her A.D.
“But I’m not sure why I’m meeting with Ms. Gaskin here,” I decided to amend.
Jones nodded, granting her permission to sic me. Locked and loaded, she didn’t hesitate.
Trisha turned to me on a hiked breath and let it go. “Your first tutoring session with her, how do you say it went?”
“It didn’t.” My brows hiked and I tilted my head.
“Why?”
“Because she stormed out of the room, refusing to be tutored.”
“Did you say anything to make her feel uncomfortable?”
“Did she say I did?”
So quickly, Trisha needed a deep breath. She peered over to Jones for assistance. “Can he answer my question?”
Jones’ chin lifted, appearing to be considering his position. I was too anxious for the verdict.
I shifted to face her. “If I’m going to be called into my A.D.’s office over a complaint, I have every right to know what the allegations are.”
“No one’s talking allegations, Spence,” Jones tried assuring me.
“This feels hugely litigating, sir,” I countered him.
“Ash—” Trisha tried again.
“What did she say I did?” I demanded, voice controlled, but firm.
Trisha’s eyes fell, chin lifted as she swallowed. I gave her a moment to come with her shit. “She didn’t. Tori came to my office yesterday saying she no longer wanted to be tutored by you, and I was able to piece together a foul exchange.”
“On whose part?”
Her eyes rolled across the office. “Listen, Ashton, I know you’re the—” She used air quotes. “big man on campus—”
“Nah. A straight A student, academic aid volunteer, and then the starting quarterback of the BSU Panthers.” I interjected. “And not to mention, Wanda Lee’s son. If you’re gonna check me over my behavior with a woman, be clear on your objective and evidence.”
“Please don’t take that tone with me, Ashton Spencer.”
“I believe you set the tone by going to my A.D. instead of requesting to speak to Tori and me alone to sort out whatever differences you may feel we have.”
Trisha, once again, looked to her boss for assistance. Jones nodded with a tilted head, gesturing validity to my point.
“I didn’t do that because…” She hesitated then shook her head. “I couldn’t do it because Tori didn’t lodge a complaint.”
“So why are we here?” I asked.
Jones sat back in his chair, pushing his frames closer to his face.
“As her point person here, I’m not only responsible for Tori’s trainings and scheduling her fights and arrangements, but I’m also a liaison and advocate for her. I’ve been feeling like the only one on her welcoming committee. My assistant and I have observed how you and your friends tease and taunt her. You’ve been doing it since she arrived. And now she’s saying she doesn’t want the tutoring.”
“Which is fine.” My plate is full this semester as it is...
“If she doesn’t get tutored, she doesn’t maintain her academic obligations to the university, which means she’ll be dropped from the program. Is it too much to ask for simple kindness from the straight-A, star quarterback of the school?”
“Again, it wasn’t me who decided to end the tutoring.” I pressed my fingertips into my chest. “I haven’t said I wasn’t doing it. Clearly, she did.”
“Why should she want to if all you’re going to do is make her feel uncomfortable?”
I hated when she stated it as though I’d done some nefarious act of proportions.
Sitting back, I rested my elbow on the arm of my chair and leaned into my fingers. “What did I do wrong two nights ago other than question her respect for my time when she showed over twenty minutes late for a thirty-minute session?”
Trisha sat up splaying her fingers and counted off. “You’ve referenced her as tomboy, you and your friends snatched off her hat, playing hot potato with it—”
“Jesus!” Jones whispered hard, sitting in his seat.
I tried killing that. “Now, I didn’t participate in that—”
“And you bark after her, calling her a dog!” Trisha came with the hammer.
“Now, Ashton!” Jones sat up in his seat. I shrank in mine. “Tell me you didn’t treat a young woman that way.”
I let out a deep breath. Yes, I’d done that, but Trisha had it all wrong. I was no bad guy. Tori should have showed on time.
“All I’m saying here, Ashton,” Trisha spoke again when I’d gone so long unusually speechless. “is that Tori may not be glitzy, girlie, and come from generational wealth like so many in your crew, but she does belong here. She brings a special skill set Blakewood would like to highlight in U.S. collegiate athletics. We have the resources; she has the unique skill. She’s poor, Black, and female: I get that makes her unpopular, but it shouldn’t make her a target for being bullied.”
My eyes popped wide. Bullied.
Wow…
We were throwing that word around now.
Cool.
Nah. Fuck that!
It was obvious to me Jones had my back by walking me into the lion’s den. But Trisha flipped it and now, I was in some shit with the top dog of my program.
“I’m at a loss for words, Ashton. Truly.” Jones’ voice was of that typical patriarchal disappointment, and damn was it effective. “Gaskin, give me a moment alone with Mr. Spencer, so we can discuss his recourse in this matter.”
Stiffly, Trisha stood from her chair and clomped out of the office, leaving us alone.
Jones’ and my eyes met each other at the same time.
I took the lead. “In my defense, I only barked twice—and, again, I did not touch that girl’s hat!”
He raised a hand, silencing my claims. Then his index finger shot out like a gun. “You mark my words: in the next ten years, it will be the year of the woman. And I mean for the things you’ve not committed at all, but should be aware of. All of the immoral dismissiveness, sexual harassment, innuendos, and discrimination. A shock wave will be sent through the ‘old boys club.’ The slightest ‘lazy’ move of the hand or slip of a word will land a man jobless and wrapped up in litigation, awaiting monetary deductions. It will be a game changer, son. Even what I just did, dismissing a complainant without allowing her to see my course of action, will be no more.”
“But I’m not like that, Jones. You know me!”
“I do! Which is why I’m going to propose something that will hurt me just as much as it hurts you.”
I rolled my eyes, arms swiping the air then landing back on my thighs. “Here we go with the preamble to an ass whooping.”
“Maybe, but we got to make this right, son! You’ve been the cleanest QB I’ve had in years, even all the coaches say it. I’ll be damned if I’m going to have a millennial woman like Gaskin bring disgrace in my camp this year. So, whatever predisposed feelings you may have in the moment, you’re gonna have to swallow them shits, and real good and fast.” His southern drawl piqued. With flared nostrils, I looked him square in the eyes and waited for my sentence—the damn verdict had already been read.