I got concerned when I saw he wasn’t moving. Then his body went into survival mode, and he took in a deep breath. You could see the relief on the trainers’ faces. I walked over and looked over their shoulders as his eyes fluttered open.
“Crap!” he said as he touched his chest.
I knew exactly how he felt.
“That might have left a mark,” I commented.
He gave me a ‘go to hell’ look. I was sure he would be okay, so I trotted back to first.
Pekin hadn’t had anyone warming up in the bullpen, so the umpire gave them time to get a pitcher ready.
◊◊◊
The game went according to plan. We were aggressive when Pekin inserted their replacement pitcher. He wasn’t nearly as good as their original starter, nor were the next two they trotted out. After Pekin batted in the top of the fifth, they called the game with us leading 13–0.
As we finished up, Tim and Wolf stopped me.
“We want to go to Monical’s to celebrate. What do you say?” Wolf asked.
“Let me do my autograph signing, and I’ll meet you there.”
The good thing about a home game was our crowd knew the postgame drill. Everyone who wanted an autograph began to line up. It looked like I would be there for a while, so I jumped in and got started.
Lexi and Tami joined me on the field with Manaia. He had a box of pre-signed baseball cards; I had new ones this year. The three of them handed the cards out to the people who just wanted a souvenir.
My dad came to the fence.
“Hey, we’re all going to Monical’s afterward,” I shared with him.
“I just came over to tell you we reserved the banquet room there. We’ll see you in a few.”
With my three helpers, we cleared the crowd, and I left to go take a shower.
Once I was dressed, I found Moose and Coach Haskins waiting for me.
“We wanted to share something with you before you take off,” Moose said.
They both had their poker faces on, so I assumed this wasn’t anything terrible. If it had been, Moose’s face would have let me know; he didn’t usually hide his displeasure very well. I did a Dawson and stared at them.
“When the season ends, we’re both retiring,” Moose said.
I didn’t know what to say.
“That means we want to go out by winning state,” Coach Haskins explained.
“Good,” I said. “We all want the same thing. I say we make it happen.”
It was funny to watch their reaction as I hugged them both.
“I can’t thank you two enough,” I said.
“Yeah, well … you’re welcome,” Coach Haskins said.
“Now, go have fun …” Moose stated.
“… just not too much fun,” I responded, mimicking Moose’s voice.
“Get out of here,” Moose grumped.
◊◊◊
Monical’s was packed with well-wishers, the team, and their families. Monical’s wasn’t prepared for our onslaught because it wasn’t yet dinnertime when their full crew came in, so they were shorthanded. I caught the manager’s eye.
“How about you make an assortment of pitchers of soda, and I’ll send some guys up to take it back to the banquet room. Take care of the front of the house first, then come see me about our order,” I suggested.
When I got to the back, I sent Phil, Roc, and Yuri to get the drinks. I figured that when they were seniors, they could put the younger guys to work.
I whistled to get everyone’s attention. The conversation stopped, and all eyes turned to me.
“Seniors, we need to show our appreciation and go talk to all our fans.”
“Oh, crap. He wants us to go from table to table like he always does,” Ty complained.
“Did you know that I usually get a piece of pizza from each table I stop to talk to?” I asked, to sweeten the deal.
“What are we waiting for?” Wolf asked.
I didn’t appreciate that they shoved me out of the way so they could get started.
Dad came up next to me, and we watched as the guys started talking to people. Honestly, they already knew most of them because they were our neighbors. A lot of them were our schoolmates and their families.
“This is a good test run for them doing meet-and-greets,” Dad said, referring to the crowd.
“Want to go with me?” I asked.
“No, you’ve got this now,” he said and left me to it.
◊◊◊
Tami spent her time reacquainting herself with her former classmates. I found Lexi sitting in a corner, taking it all in.
“This a little different from what you remember?” I asked.
She chuckled.
“Honestly, my classmates would conclude they’d landed in the middle of Hicksville. I’ve seen more pickup trucks this weekend than probably my whole life in LA. And the way people dress here … my classmates would be appalled that everyone doesn’t have on the latest designer clothes and at the total lack of makeup.
“I’m not sure my classmates have ever experienced the ‘real world,’” Lexi shared after considering it for a moment.
“Last year, when I traveled to LA, Halle James packed my bags for me. She made sure I didn’t take my jeans and t-shirts for fear I wouldn’t dress nice enough to be seen with her,” I admitted.
“Trust me. LA girls don’t care what you’re wearing,” Lexi said, giving me a leer.
As much as I wanted to see where that was going, I spotted Destiny walking up to us.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she said hesitantly.
Lexi and I just looked at her.
“Uhm … I was wondering if you could tell me about Damion,” she finally got out.
“Who’s Damion?” Lexi asked.
“The guy I was talking to from Wesleyan.”
“The tall, good-looking black man?” Lexi asked.
“He makes me lose my mind,” Destiny confessed as she blushed at the memory. “All I can think about is doing … uhm.”
Destiny stopped her babbling when she saw the amused looks on both our faces.
“Never mind,” she said, then twirled around and ran smack into Phil.
He was carrying a glass of soda, which drenched them both.
“What the …” Phil complained.
Destiny turned bright red, pushed Phil out of the way, and stormed off.
“What did I do?” Phil asked.
“Guys have been asking that question as long as there have been guys,” I said to give my sage advice.
He mumbled something and turned to leave.
“I heard that!” I called after him.
Lexi chuckled when Phil blushed. That line had been used on me all my life, and I strongly suspected my mom didn’t really hear what I mumbled. As a kid, I was convinced that she did.
“Kids these days,” I grumped.
“You’re going to be a great dad,” Lexi predicted.
“My little brother is good practice,” I agreed. “Now, where were we before Destiny rudely interrupted us?”
“Talking about how badly you dress.”
“I don’t think that’s exactly right. I remember it differently,” I teased.
“Just imagine how much more appealing you would be if you just dressed the part,” Lexi shot back.
“Thank you,” Mom said. Maybe she really did have super hearing. “When he was a freshman, he took much better care in how he dressed. He just doesn’t put in the effort he once did.” Then she turned to me. “I was talking to Greg, and he said you might be a lost cause. He worries because he says that since Brook dumped you, you’ve let yourself go.”
My mom was stirring the pot.
“There’s a good chance you had your last conversation with Greg. I hope you said goodbye. His life is about to end.”
“David, your brother just worries about you,” Mom said.
“I really like your mom,” Lexi said when she saw how my mom had twisted me into knots.
“Hang around long enough, and she’ll do the same to you,” I warned Lexi. “I have stuff to do.”
I got up to leave.
“Is he always so sensitive?” Lexi asked my mom.