Chapter 5 - The Locker Room Ultimatum
Mason looked back and forth between me and David, his breathing shallow and rapid.
"Arrested?" Mason repeated, the color completely draining from his face.
"It's a lie, Mason, he paid lawyers to fabricate a charge to get custody of you," I begged, taking a step toward him.
David stepped smoothly between us, acting as the protective shield.
"Leo, don't traumatize the boy further," David said softly.
"You forged Sarah's signature to keep the child support money the state was sending."
"There was no child support!" I roared, losing my temper entirely.
"You didn't leave a single dime, you coward!"
Mason flinched at my yelling, taking a small step backward into the locker room.
That tiny step backward broke my heart into a thousand pieces.
He was looking at me not as a father, but as a stranger.
"Mason, I have given you everything I have for fourteen years," I said, my voice cracking.
"Look at him," David sneered, gesturing toward my oil-stained boots and cheap flannel shirt.
"He wants to drag you down into his life of poverty, Mason."
"I am offering you a guaranteed spot on a top-tier college team and a future where you never have to worry about money again."
Mason looked down at his cleats, his shoulders slumped under the crushing weight of the moment.
The referee's warning whistle blew loudly from the tunnel, signaling three minutes until the second half.
"I just want to play soccer," Mason whispered, his voice trembling.
"And you will, son," David assured him warmly.
"The coach already agreed to put you back in the game if you sign this."
David pulled a single sheet of paper from his pocket and handed a pen to Mason.
It was an intent-to-reside form, legally declaring Mason's wish to move to Chicago with his biological father.
"If you sign that, I lose you," I choked out, tears finally spilling over my eyelids.
Mason looked at me, his eyes shining with unshed tears.
"Dad, if I don't play this half, I lose my only shot at a scholarship," Mason said, his voice breaking.
"You told me we couldn't afford college."
"I'll work a third shift," I promised desperately. "I'll take out loans, I'll do whatever it takes."
"It's too late for that, Leo," David interrupted.
"Sign it, Mason, and go win your championship."
Mason took the pen with a trembling hand and pressed it against the paper against the concrete wall.
He didn't look at me as he signed his name across the bottom line.
David snatched the paper triumphantly, folding it neatly into his pocket.
"Good boy," David smiled. "Now get out there and show them what a real Carter can do."
Mason turned and jogged heavily down the tunnel toward the field, leaving me alone with the man who had just stolen my entire world.
David turned to me, his smile dropping into a vicious sneer.
May you like
"The police are waiting at the front gates, Leo," David whispered.
"Run."
