my family. He told me he wanted an intimate occasion. What I didn’t
know was that he was ashamed my dad couldn’t pay for a big multi-thousand
dollar, jaw-dropping affair. What did that man ever see in me, I wondered. So
in a way this was my first wedding, and sometimes when I thought about Barry
and all that went wrong, I became apprehensive at the thought of marrying
again. Did Leo get the same feelings? Since he’d known me, I had been a suspect
in a murder case, had to be rescued from a fire, been shot at by a crazed
cowboy, and my favorite, had been followed around by a ghost with a head cold.
“Zach, keep your
eye on the ball,” Leo coached. Zach threw the ball up and blindly swung at it
again. How could I say it? Zach was “baseball challenged.” He loved playing the
game but found it hard to hit the ball. Last year he struck out almost every
time except for a couple of grounders. The boys on the team called him the
king, and I thought it was a compliment. What I didn’t know was that it stood
for “strikeout king.”
I glanced back
over the water and watched the wind pick up, causing small ripples on the
surface. It was so peaceful, except for an alligator here and there. I could
see the outline of the wedding tent the Fischers had put up. Being this close
to the ballpark, I was suddenly glad we weren’t getting married during baseball
season.
I could hear it
now: “Do you, John, take Marsha – He’s out!” Hopefully the sound system
wouldn’t carry too far.
Zach came
running back up to us in the stands. I quickly pulled a juice box out of my
bag, took the cellophane off the straw, stuck it in the hole and handed it to
him.
“Wow, did you
even look at the juice box?” Leo said. “You’re a robot.”
“You get to be
that way after the first thousand or so.”
“Something I
missed out on with Tyler. When we found out about my sister and I decided I
wanted to take care of him, I never knew what a job it would be. It was pretty
rough at first, but I think we’re doing okay now.”
“I think you’re
doing great,” I told him.
“Well, you
aren’t with us all the time. At first, Tyler would cry for his mom. Especially
at night. I tried to help him through it, but I would never be his mother.”
I ran my fingers
through Leo’s hair. “You did fine. You did what all parents do. Maybe you
weren’t perfect, but you were there and you were trying. That’s all you can
do.” He reached up and captured my hand and held it as he watched the boys.
Both our boys
were poised on the edge of all things puberty, and sometimes the thought
terrified me. What day would the monster hormones hit and turn our little ball
players into grumpy, unresponsive teenagers? It couldn’t be all that bad.
Teenagers drove, and that would take some time pressures off. Of course, Leo
and I would have to risk our necks teaching them, and then there’s the question
of buying cars and paying for insurance.
Sometimes it’s
best to stay in the present, I thought, as I looked back out on the water.
Butch came back up with his ball, and this time I threw it toward the trees
where it bounced near the bayou. Butch went running into the trees to retrieve
it. Hopefully I wouldn’t be picking things out of his fur later. The wind was
picking up some, and I felt it creeping into my ears. The water was starting to
ripple up into small whitecaps as it rhythmically lapped at the muddy shore. I
followed the wave, and then what looked like the head of an animal popped up
through the moving water. Was Butch in the water out there? I grabbed Leo’s arm
and pulled his focus from the boys.
“I think Butch
went into the water,” I said. “I don’t know how well he can swim out there.”
Both Leo and I
jumped up from the bleachers and ran down by the shore. “Butch!” I called out.
I tried whistling to him, hoping he could hear that better from a distance.
“Here, boy!” The boys both stopped pounding balls against the chain
know was that he was ashamed my dad couldn’t pay for a big multi-thousand
dollar, jaw-dropping affair. What did that man ever see in me, I wondered. So
in a way this was my first wedding, and sometimes when I thought about Barry
and all that went wrong, I became apprehensive at the thought of marrying
again. Did Leo get the same feelings? Since he’d known me, I had been a suspect
in a murder case, had to be rescued from a fire, been shot at by a crazed
cowboy, and my favorite, had been followed around by a ghost with a head cold.
“Zach, keep your
eye on the ball,” Leo coached. Zach threw the ball up and blindly swung at it
again. How could I say it? Zach was “baseball challenged.” He loved playing the
game but found it hard to hit the ball. Last year he struck out almost every
time except for a couple of grounders. The boys on the team called him the
king, and I thought it was a compliment. What I didn’t know was that it stood
for “strikeout king.”
I glanced back
over the water and watched the wind pick up, causing small ripples on the
surface. It was so peaceful, except for an alligator here and there. I could
see the outline of the wedding tent the Fischers had put up. Being this close
to the ballpark, I was suddenly glad we weren’t getting married during baseball
season.
I could hear it
now: “Do you, John, take Marsha – He’s out!” Hopefully the sound system
wouldn’t carry too far.
Zach came
running back up to us in the stands. I quickly pulled a juice box out of my
bag, took the cellophane off the straw, stuck it in the hole and handed it to
him.
“Wow, did you
even look at the juice box?” Leo said. “You’re a robot.”
“You get to be
that way after the first thousand or so.”
“Something I
missed out on with Tyler. When we found out about my sister and I decided I
wanted to take care of him, I never knew what a job it would be. It was pretty
rough at first, but I think we’re doing okay now.”
“I think you’re
doing great,” I told him.
“Well, you
aren’t with us all the time. At first, Tyler would cry for his mom. Especially
at night. I tried to help him through it, but I would never be his mother.”
I ran my fingers
through Leo’s hair. “You did fine. You did what all parents do. Maybe you
weren’t perfect, but you were there and you were trying. That’s all you can
do.” He reached up and captured my hand and held it as he watched the boys.
Both our boys
were poised on the edge of all things puberty, and sometimes the thought
terrified me. What day would the monster hormones hit and turn our little ball
players into grumpy, unresponsive teenagers? It couldn’t be all that bad.
Teenagers drove, and that would take some time pressures off. Of course, Leo
and I would have to risk our necks teaching them, and then there’s the question
of buying cars and paying for insurance.
Sometimes it’s
best to stay in the present, I thought, as I looked back out on the water.
Butch came back up with his ball, and this time I threw it toward the trees
where it bounced near the bayou. Butch went running into the trees to retrieve
it. Hopefully I wouldn’t be picking things out of his fur later. The wind was
picking up some, and I felt it creeping into my ears. The water was starting to
ripple up into small whitecaps as it rhythmically lapped at the muddy shore. I
followed the wave, and then what looked like the head of an animal popped up
through the moving water. Was Butch in the water out there? I grabbed Leo’s arm
and pulled his focus from the boys.
“I think Butch
went into the water,” I said. “I don’t know how well he can swim out there.”
Both Leo and I
jumped up from the bleachers and ran down by the shore. “Butch!” I called out.
I tried whistling to him, hoping he could hear that better from a distance.
“Here, boy!” The boys both stopped pounding balls against the chain
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