Plunking Reggie Jackson by James Bennett

her ears before she said, “I think that’s an excellent idea.” The doctor’s demeanor showed that she was annoyed but in control. “Mr. Burke, what I’m trying to tell you is that you don’t even have a first opinion yet. The procedure I’ve outlined is simply to get you to that point. In two or three days, when the swelling is reduced, I suggest you take him to the sports medicine clinic in Champaign.”
    â€œNo offense, okay?”
    â€œNo offense at all.”
    The Darvocet pills Coley took smothered the pain, but they also put him in the fitful sleep that activated dreams. Some of the dreams were about Bree and some were about his brother, Patrick. They seemed to be rooted in actual events but embroidered with preposterous details.
    His mother came down the first morning to ask him how the ankle was.
    â€œIt hurts like hell. I’m going to take some more of those pain pills.”
    â€œDon’t overdo that,” she cautioned him. “Just take them if you have to.”
    â€œThey put me to sleep and they give me dreams. You don’t have to worry about the ankle, though. I’ll be okay.”
    His mother smiled without parting her lips. “I’m not about to worry about another sports injury, with all we’ve had in this house.”
    That had to be the truth. Coley remembered the time Patrick played a whole football game with his broken hand in a soft cast.
    â€œI’ve made up twelve of these,” his mother told him, holding up a Ziploc baggie full of ice cubes. “They’re in the freezer.”
    â€œAre you going to bring my breakfast down too?” Fat chance .
    â€œI think you know me better than that,” was the answer. “You need help, but you don’t need a servant.”
    Coley peeled back the Velcro strips that secured the plastic ankle splint so he could apply the ice cubes. “Thanks anyway, Ma. For the ice, I mean.”
    â€œDon’t call me Ma. Are you going to school today?”
    â€œNot today.”
    â€œHow about tomorrow?”
    â€œNot tomorrow, either.”
    â€œIs that your decision, or your father’s?”
    â€œHe doesn’t want me to take any chances. On the stairs, or whatever. I haven’t practiced much on the crutches yet. If it was up to me, I’d rather go to school.” Saying so, Coley thought of Bree. Maybe she could come over after school and help with the business of nursing him back to health.
    â€œIf it were up to you,” said his mother, repeating his own words but lacing them with innuendo. She took a seat on the edge of his bed and stared out the only window, which was just above ground level.
    â€œYeah. If it were up to me. I don’t want to get caught in the middle of this, Mother.”
    â€œBetter me than you, Coley? Is that what you’re trying to say?”
    â€œYou know that’s not what I mean either.”
    â€œThat’s the story of our family, isn’t it? Caught in the middle?”
    He knew what she was getting at. If she wasn’t caught in the middle, then he himself was. “Except for Dad,” he said.
    His mother looked at him. “He may be caught in the middle more than either one of us,” she said.
    â€œ Him ? How?”
    â€œBetween sons,” was her quick reply.
    â€œThat’s too much to think about. My head hurts.”
    His mother was wearing the white ruffled blouse and the beige pleated skirt. She had on her high-heeled shoes. Before she left the house, she would put on the gold blazer with her name tag, then go sell houses. She would make lots of money doing it, but Coley had to believe that if she stopped getting paid, she wouldn’t take much notice of the fact. She would probably go right on making appointments and showing houses.
    Maybe I should talk to her , he thought. Maybe I should talk to her more . “I’ve been having dreams,” he told her. “One of