“It’s funny. I barely remember anything about that Saturday round because it was such an insignificant part of that Saturday.”
“What do you mean, Travis?” Ava asked.
“Well, I was doing the press conference after the round, just answering stupid questions and trying not to mess up, when my phone started vibrating. I looked down, and it said Lexi was calling. I couldn’t believe it. I asked for a moment and answered, trying to hide my voice from the microphone on the table.”
“Hey, Travis. It’s the love of your life. Do you remember me?”
“Hi,” I said, shocked. Lexi sounded really wasted. “How ya doing? Is everything ok?”
“Well, as a matter of fact, no. Things are not ok. The police are here, and you need to come pick up the girls.”
“I quickly ended the press conference, claiming a little family emergency, and rushed out of the tent. Raleigh and Mac were there waiting at the exit, wondering what was going on.”
“Lexi, are the girls ok?” I asked.
“They’re fine. Well, not fine. Here, talk to the nice police officer.”
“Officer Alejandro Villegas got on the phone and explained that they had responded to a 911 call from Lexi’s house. The nanny had called the police to say that Lexi had burned both Charlotte and Shelby with a cigarette, on the back of their hands. The nanny explained that Lexi had gotten mad at the golf tournament on television and intentionally burned the girls, that she was abusive to the girls and that the girls wanted to live with their father. The problem for the police was Lexi denied burning the girls and said the girls had burned themselves. The nanny never saw Lexi burn the girls, so not having a witness, the police asked that the girls be placed in my care while they investigated further into the matter. So Lexi was calling me to come pick up the girls so they wouldn’t be placed in protective custody.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can, Officer Villegas. I’m a golfer, and I’m in a—.”
“I know who you are, sir, and I understand. You get here as soon as you can. We’ll be here with the girls until you show up. I hear that you’re in the last group tomorrow. Second place. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll be there as soon as possible. I’m leaving the golf course right now.”
“There are no words to describe my emotions at that moment. Joy. Relief. Regret. Anger. Gratitude. You name it. I headed for my car.”
“Mac, I have to go pick up the girls. Can you give Raleigh a ride back to his car at Memorial Park?”
“What?” he asked, trying to keep up with me as I jogged now. “How do you get the girls?”
“I get custody of them tonight. I don’t know for how long. Can we sleep at your apartment?”
“Of course! I can’t believe it. I’ve never met them. Hey, I got sleeping bags. You guys can camp out in the living room. I’ll set it all up. Is camping ok? I got some cool ideas.”
“Camping is great,” I said, having no idea what he was talking about at all. “Raleigh, do you mind going home with Mac? He’ll drop you off at your car. Thank you again for your help today.”
“No problem,” Raleigh said, still lugging my clubs on his back. “Have fun tonight, and I’ll drive myself tomorrow, it’s no problem. Something tells me it’s going to be a special day.”
“It already is,” I said, and sped out of the parking lot.
Chapter 23
The Transfer
“Blue and red lights bounced off of the house as I drove into Lexi’s driveway. Three cop cars filled the circular drive, and two police officers stood by the open front door. I didn’t notice the ambulance until after I parked, and it did make me nervous. I greeted the cops and asked where I should go. A female officer led me into the living room where my girls’ hands were being tended to by a paramedic.
“They’re going to be ok,” the paramedic said, as the girls ran to hug me. “Shelby has a first-degree burn, but Charlotte does have a second-degree burn, close to third. Her burn may leave a scar, but not a horrible one. They’re both gonna be fine.”
“I missed you so much,” I said, hugging them back. “Both of you. I’m glad you’re ok.”
“We saw you play golf on TV,” Charlotte said, beaming. “You were great.”
There was this slow clapping behind me, so I turned, and there was Lexi, stumbling a little as she crossed the room, looking like she’d just come back from hell.
“Our hero has arrived. All hail Travis! He can hit a ball with a stick, so we love him, and we don’t even know why. Maybe it’s because we’re all stupid.”
“I had never seen her like this. Disheveled hair, bloodshot eyes, and a crest-fallen smile, she was an ugly drunk woman who looked totally lost.”
“Are you done with the girls?” I asked the paramedic.
“Yes, all done. Charlotte will need her gauze changed every twelve hours for the next ten days, along with applying a burn ointment. I can give both to you.”
“Thank you, sir, for everything,” I said, then turned to the girls. “Hey, why don’t y’all go wait in your rooms? I’ll be up there in a while. I need to talk to Mommy and the police.”
“I can wait with them,” a young woman said. “Hi, I’m Jenny, the nanny. I’ve packed a couple of bags for the girls, for when they go home with you. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir, finally. The girls have missed you, and they love you a lot. They talk about you all the time.”
“Oh, shut up, you whore!” Lexi yelled. “You’ve never understood anything. You’ve been against me from the start!”
“I quit, you bitch,” Jenny said, then headed up the stairs with the girls.
“I talked to Officer Villegas and insisted on no charges for Lexi, claiming she was just drunk and unhappy, that I could get her under control. They agreed to my request, but insisted on staying until Lexi calmed down. I said no problem. So Lexi and I headed outside for a talk.”
“You ok?” I asked.
“No, Travis, I am not ok. The police are in my living room.”
“And they won’t leave until you calm down. The police officers think you’re going to hurt yourself, or somebody else again.”
“Hey, I never touched Charlotte. She burned herself.”
“Come on, Lexi, stop it.”
Lexi sighed, then said, “We were watching you play golf on TV, and the girls were getting rowdy. I told them to shut up, or I was going to turn it off. You made a putt, and Shelby went crazy. I told the little bastard ‘That was it!’ and reached for the remote. Shelby put her hand on the remote and said, ‘No. We’re going to watch Daddy.’ Well, nobody talks to me like that in my house, so I gently touched the back of her hand with my cigarette. I mean tapped it. She cried and ran upstairs to Jenny. I looked at Charlotte, and she’s just staring at me like she’s Charles Manson or something. I put my cigarette in the ashtray and asked what her problem was. Charlotte walked over, picked up my cigarette and burned the back of her hand, didn’t cry at all and barely flinched. The little bitch just smiled at me. Then she started fake crying and ran upstairs to Jenny. The next thing I know, cops were everywhere, and Charlotte told them that I had burned both of their hands. So I called you.”
“Charlotte burned herself?” Ava asked. “Was that true?”
“It was,” Travis said, finishing his drink. “I guess she couldn’t take it anymore and figured a way out. Her burn was pretty bad. She must’ve held that cigarette down for a few seconds. It took years for that scar to fade finally.
“I got Lexi to calm down. The police were satisfied, so they left. I told Lexi that I would come by the next morning, to check on her before my round, then I drove off with the girls.”
Chapter 24
The Joy
“Dinner is served,” Mac said, placing an enormous tray on an adjacent table. “I made an assortment of things.”
�
�Oh, Mac, this is too much,” Ava said, looking at the two full dinner plates in front of her. Then Mac put down two more. The two appetizer plates were filled with calamari, fried zucchini, stuffed mushrooms, spinach artichoke dip, homemade bread, and a three-cheese antipasto with cured meats, fruit, and crackers. The two main course plates had three kinds of pasta, assorted marinated vegetables, steak, chicken, and Italian sausages. “It looks and smells amazing.”
“Can I get some ketchup?” Travis asked sarcastically, studying his four plates.
“Philistine,” Mac shot back at him. “I’ll get you a couple of Jacks, and for you, my beautiful lady, I will make you my famous Bellini.”
“Oh, my gosh,” Ava said, sampling each plate. “I can die now.”
“I just hope we get dessert,” Travis said, attacking his plates.
Mac came back with the drinks and sat down again. Travis and Ava tried to listen to Mac as he talked about each dish, but mostly, they just devoured the feast.
“So where are you guys in the story now?” Mac asked.
“The first night at your apartment with the girls,” Travis said, accidentally dropping a sausage.
“No way,” Mac said. “That was a great night. Hey, you’re eating. Can I tell it?”
“Be my guest.”
“Cool. Travis goes to pick up the girls, so I raced home to get my apartment ready for them. Thank God Travis took forever to get back. I got it looking amazing. I finished with everything, started cooking in the kitchen, when, out of nowhere, they walked through the front door.
“The girls were blown away. I had moved all the furniture out the living room so I could pitch my camping tent, inside the apartment, with three cots inside the tent, topped with sleeping bags. At the front of the tent, I had four lawn chairs surrounding a fake fire. I got three or four logs and put them on top of some red Christmas tree lights, so it glowed. The fire ended up looking pretty cool if I do say so myself. I brought in my potted plants, like ferns, philodendrons and Ficus trees, so my living room was transformed into a tropical jungle/safari type thing.”
“It was cool,” Travis said, in between bites. “The girls were in heaven. They forgot about me and started playing with Mac. I went to take a shower, and when I got back, they were all sitting around the fake fire, wearing Indian war paint on their faces, even Mac, eating hot dogs, Mac and cheese, and s’mores. He had known them for thirty minutes, and they already loved him more than me.”
“We went to make hot chocolate in the kitchen,” Mac continued, “when I look at the tent and Travis was already asleep. So we finished our cocoa, then I pushed the cots together on either side of Travis so that the girls could sleep next to him in their sleeping bags. I didn’t make them bathe or brush their teeth, so they loved me.”
“I woke up the next morning around 6:30 am,” Travis interrupts, “alone in the tent, so I looked in the kitchen, and the girls were cooking with Mac. They were eating pancakes with strawberries, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream. Poor little Shelby’s face was covered with old war paint, chocolate and whip cream.”
“Travis looked at us and asked, ‘Did y’all even go to bed?’” Mac said, laughing now. “It was awesome. The girls finished eating, then Travis made them bathe and change clothes. Travis changed for the tournament and headed for the door.”
“Are y’all going to be ok?” Travis asked.
“Yeah, they’ll be fine,” Mac said, hugging the girls. “We are going to put on some war paint and attack the settlers in the park. Then we’re going to come back here, make homemade ice cream and watch you win the golf tournament.”
“Can you feed them a couple of vegetables, please?”
“Vegetables?” Mac asked, looking at the girls. “Do we want vegetables?”
“No!” all three yelled.
“Fine. Well at least hug your Dad.”
“They ran over and hugged him,” Mac said. “Charlotte whispered something in Travis’s ear. What was it?”
“She asked me to come home quick,” Travis said. “It’s funny. They didn’t care about me winning the golf tournament, and neither did I anymore. My whole reason for playing was gone. I had my girls now. I just wanted to stay home and play with them. But I had to leave, and I did.
“So I drive off to check on Lexi.”
Chapter 25
You’re Welcome
“I parked in Lexi’s driveway and went to knock on the front door, but it opened before I could reach it. There stood Lexi in the doorway, perfect hair and make-up, a knowing smile, wearing a skimpy, gold silk teddy, with a matching gold silk robe that barely clung to her shoulders.”
“Howdy, slugger. Ready for your big day?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be. You look like you’re feeling better.”
“I feel perfect. I’d feel even more perfect if that police officer wasn’t parked in front of my house.”
“Well, that’s for me. I asked Officer Villegas to meet me here this morning so no one wouldn’t misinterpret my little check on you.”
“You’re scared of me,” Lexi laughed, as her robe gently slid off her body and onto the floor. “How adorable. I saw Mac with you on television yesterday. How’s he doing?”
“He’s fine. Well, wish me luck.”
“Oh, Travis, you don’t need luck,” she said, inching toward me. “You’re not a child anymore. I’ve made you a man.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, really,” Lexi said, placing her hands lightly on his hips. “You were talented when I first met you, but you had no focus. No drive. No meaning. You did things because you liked them. Now you do things because you cherish them. I gave that to you, and you’ve never even said thank you once. And you know why? Because you don’t want to admit that I’ve given you everything that now matters to you in your life.”
“And what is that, Lexi?”
“Power and love,” she said, her hands on his chest now. “You can do anything and dominate now, and it’s because you have power. The power that comes through sacrifice, through discipline, and through regret. My Travis is unflappable and unstoppable, and you’re welcome.
“Oh, and love, yes, love. I made you understand what true love is. I made you a loving father, even to another man’s bastard. I forced you to love me, even when there was no love for you in return. And how do you repay me? By choosing to use your newfound understanding of power and love to play a child’s game. You might as well spit in my face. You’re the great love of my life, Travis, but you make me want to take it all away from you. Maybe I’ll let you play today, but never again.”
“I thank you for my children, but I can’t deal with this anymore. I tried to make us work, and you gave me nothing in return.”
“I gave you power,” she said, gently clutching his face.
“Maybe, in your mind,” Travis said, pushing her hands away and taking a step back, “but I didn’t want it. And you never gave me love.”
“Oh, Travis,” she said, laughing again. “You have no idea what love is. It’s a tool, my love. A weakness. If you ever really saw love, you’d miss it. Love isn’t forever, Travis. Love is just a toy a child opens on Christmas morning, that breaks by noon.” She laughed passionately at the sky, then composed herself. “I guess I’m not finished with you yet, am I? You don’t understand that I’m allowing you to play in this silly tournament today, that I could end all this nonsense, right now. That I probably should, but I love you too damn much.”
“Goodbye, Lexi,” I said, walking away.
“Have fun.”
“Goodbye.”
“She yelled some other stuff as I left, but I didn’t want to listen anymore. I had the girls, they were safe, and that was all that mattered to me. I headed to Officer Villegas’ car and thanked him for coming by this morning. He asked how Lexi was and I said she seemed ok, definitely better tha
n last night.
“So we both drove away.”
Chapter 26
The Final Round
“Sunday at The Houston Open. The Final Round, in second place, four shots back. I got there a couple of hours early. Man, I felt great. All the fatigue from yesterday was gone, and I couldn’t wait to tee off. I headed for the putting green and Raleigh was already there, waiting for me.
“Morning, Raleigh. Good to see you, my friend. How was the parking?”
“No problem. I got here two hours ago. I haven’t been this excited about anything in a long while.”
“Your advice for yesterday was spot on. Any thoughts for today?”
“Today is our day,” Raleigh said. “Jim Ambrose had a great day yesterday, but it’s tough to have back to back low rounds, even if you’re number two in the world. We should just play solid golf, let him blow up, and then we can mow him down. How’s that sound?”
“That sounds awesome,” Travis said, tapping knuckles with his caddy. “From your mouth to God’s ears.”
“I putted a little, but had so much nervous energy, I decided to head straight to the range and pound some balls. My ball striking was great. The contact was clean. But my adrenaline was flowing uncontrollably, so I was having a little problem with my distance control. I got excited with a nine iron and hit one ball to the 190-yard marker. But I slowed my mind down and the control came back. I developed a good rhythm. However, I resolved myself to the fact that adrenaline was going to be a big issue for me today. I went to putt a few again, and my speed was perfect. The putter felt great.
“We head to the first tee and surrounding almost the whole tee box were all my Memorial Park buddies, about fifty of them, all wearing t-shirts that said ‘Travis Hatfield’s Muni-Mob.’ I slapped all their hands and thanked them. Raleigh loved it.
Disappearing like the Wind Page 10
