“To completely change the subject,” I said with a smile, “did you ever talk to Jill and get back together?”
“Not yet,” Phil admitted.
“I wonder what she wanted to talk to me about. Maybe I should give her a call.”
“Sometimes I hate you.”
That made me chuckle.
“So, you’re really okay?” Phil asked.
“I’m fine,” I said. We were done stretching. “Call Jill.”
He nodded and left to join the pitchers. As I headed toward the outfield, I spotted Devin Range of Range Sports talking to Moose and our trainers. Moose waved me over.
“Mr. Range has some equipment for the team,” Moose said.
“I heard a rumor that you’re getting drilled while batting.”
“Nine times so far. If it hadn’t been for your protective shirt, I would be out of action by now,” I said.
“We have something new we want you to try out. You remember that material I showed you for the gloves?” Devin asked.
I nodded. You could punch a brick wall, and your hand would be okay. I loved them.
“We made shorts and undershirts out of the stuff,” he said, handing me a duffle bag from a stack he had for the rest of the team.
I pulled the gear out of the bag to check it out. The shorts were similar to bicycle shorts in that they were formfitting and reached to your knees. They also had a pocket for a cup. They were made of material thicker than that of bicycle shorts, more like the wet suit I wore when surfing. The bag also held an elbow guard and a helmet with a chin guard.
“The helmet and elbow guard have a soft rubber shell with a hard-plastic interior that covers the same material that’s in your gloves and other gear. I’ve been told that you could be shot with a .22, and it would protect you,” Devin shared.
When he first showed me the gloves, he said the material had been designed originally for military flak jackets.
The helmet and elbow guard appeared to utilize the same type of technology as my football helmet. The soft rubber acted like a car bumper to slow the ball, while the hard plastic stopped it. They designed the padding to disperse the impact over a much wider area to protect your brain. The chin guard would protect me from getting hit in the face like a facemask would in football.
Most ballplayers didn’t use one because it might obstruct their view of a pitch. I saw the value, though, because I was being thrown at a lot. Getting a fastball in the face was one of the quickest ways to be put out of commission for the season.
“This is great,” I told Devin. “But why are you here? Sandy always mailed us gear to try out.”
“Cora wanted to visit her sister and mother. Plus, I couldn’t pass up my chance to see my nephew.”
Cora was Pam’s sister and married to Devin.
“Coby is about big enough for a four-wheeler,” I suggested.
Devin chuckled and left me to baseball. I would have to pay Pam to work on him. I was sure my mom would be okay with a four-wheeler. It wasn’t a motorcycle, after all.
◊◊◊
When I got home, Mom told me that Pam had picked up Coby, and he’d be staying the night with her. She also said I’d gotten a package.
Duke was watching Little David. I didn’t think twice about the irony of that. Of late, he might actually be a better babysitter than me if my having lost Coby in my apartment once was any indication. At least Duke would come to get someone if it looked like a little one was up to no good. My hound was the ultimate tattletale.
That allowed Peggy to do her homework at the kitchen table while Melanie cooked.
I opened my package. Inside, it had t-shirts for my J-drama,
I put the t-shirts on the table. Peggy grabbed one and ran her palm over the Japanese characters.
“What’s this shirt say?”
“It says girls are stupid. Throw rocks at them.”
“David,” Mom warned.
“I’ll take this one,” Peggy said.
“I want the pink one,” Melanie said.
Mom handed it to her and gave me a look that dared me to take it back. Not that I would anyway, because they’d sent me about twenty of them. I found a note that suggested I wear the t-shirts when I might run into the press. The letter told me that the t-shirts said ‘College First’ and had different tag lines like ‘First Kiss.’
I had the women all put their new shirts on, and I put one on myself. I took a selfie with them and sent it off to my castmates. Of course, they would ‘leak’ it to the various Japanese fan sites.
Melanie had me send the picture to her so she could forward it to her reporter friend in Chicago. Next, I texted it to Frank for him to work his magic with my social media.
“This promoting my show is exhausting,” I complained as I rubbed my thumb, sore from all the texting.
Haters are going to hate. No one had any sympathy for me.
◊◊◊ Friday March 17
After second period, I got called to the office. I was a bit confused when I found my brother there, looking distressed.
