I stood and watched as the ball soared over the fence and cleared the centerfield bleachers. I smiled when a bunch of middle school kids scrambled to find my ball as a souvenir.
Like I said, karma had it in for the St. Joe pitcher. I ended up hitting four home runs off of the kid as payback. I had to wonder why the coach left him in, but figured they must be saving their other pitchers for the tournament. When I came up the fifth time, he drilled me in the back.
I was a little pissed when they invoked the mercy rule after their at-bat in the fifth inning. At the time, we led 18–0. We had just sent a clear message to the teams we would play in this weekend’s tournament that we were the ones to beat.
◊◊◊
After I’d fulfilled my commitment to sign autographs, I hurried to take my shower so I could get home to meet the Oklahoma coaching staff. This time, they would come to our house first and then go to Tim and Wolf’s.
Cassidy picked me up wearing a big bandage over her eye where she’d gotten stitches.
“Come here,” I said and pulled Cassidy into a hug.
“Don’t be mad at Wolf.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I knew this day was coming with Pete. He’s been picking on Dare more over the past couple of weeks. I told Wolf and Tim that their job was to keep you out of it, no matter what,” Cassidy explained.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I asked.
“Because Pete planned to get you suspended.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“A little birdie told me,” Cassidy said and then laid her head on my chest. “I let him hit me first.”
“Why?”
“Fritz said your security couldn’t be seen starting a fight, but we could finish it.”
“Hey, hands off my boyfriend,” I heard behind us as Lisa came up, swaying her hips as she approached.
Cassidy pulled me tighter. I looked down, and she winked at me before she let me go.
“I’m coming home with you,” Lisa announced.
Well, okay, then. If my girlfriend wanted to come home with me, I guess that was what we were doing.
◊◊◊
We got home to find Coach Hope, Uncle John, and my dad had the grill out, cooking steaks and drinking beer with the Oklahoma coaching staff. It looked like Uncle John had brought half a cow to barbecue.
I gave them a quick wave before running up to my apartment to drop off my book bag while Cassidy and Lisa walked into the house. For some reason, I imagined I would get some reading in tonight. I found Angie sitting in my living room with the lights off, just staring off into space.
“Feeling antisocial?” I asked.
“We’re getting a divorce,” she said, ignoring my jab.
“Okay,” I said noncommittally.
“I’m going to finish out the semester, and then I’ll move away.”
“What about Kyle, Mac, and Nate?” I asked.
“They’ll stay with Greg. I’m too young to have a family,” she said.
“You know what? That’s nothing but selfish bullshit, and you know it. If anyone is too young, it’s me, and you don’t see me abandoning my kids,” I said with probably more heat than I should have.
“It’s easy for you because you have all this help,” she fired back.
“You don’t get it, do you? Even if I had to drop out of high school to raise my kids, I would. Don’t make excuses for yourself just because I’ve worked to make money that allows me to have the help.”
“You just got lucky. All the money you make should be given to mothers like me so our lives would be easier. You don’t deserve it,” Angie said.
“I see where this is going. You’re looking for another handout. Or, better yet, to steal from a charity organization instead of taking responsibility.”
“I’m sick of living in campus housing when I see you with a Malibu estate.”
“You decided you wanted to go to college. There’s a reason that college students are broke for the most part. They are enduring their time in college to get higher-paying jobs so they can have better lives down the road.
“If you don’t want to wait, then quit school and get a full-time job. If you want handouts, prepare to be broke and envious of the people who get off their butts and make something of themselves. You’ll be doing it for the rest of your life,” I said.
“But it’s not fair,” she said, on the verge of tears.
“Angie, there are always going to be people better off than you are. There’s a saying that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. What they don’t tell you is that it’s probably because their septic tank is leaking.”
She took a deep breath, so I asked what I knew to be true.
“This has nothing to do with you being envious of my lifestyle. What’s really going on?” I asked.
“You’re right. I guess I’m lashing out at everyone right now because I don’t want to admit it might be my fault. The truth is, I met someone, and Greg found out.”
That confirmed my worst fears.
“I hate to do this, but I have guests I need to get to,” I said, wanting to be anywhere but here.
“I understand,” she said and then looked up at me. “David, I’m sorry.”
I nodded and then ran down the stairs and out the back door as quickly as possible. This wasn’t something I wanted to be in the middle of.
◊◊◊
