by TJ Penn
Tonight’s game is going to be a nail biter. I couldn’t help but slip out to see Bailey. She is my calm in the storm. She grounds me when I can't find my own feet. Greg catches me sneaking back in. “Feel better now that you have seen her?”
With a shrug of my shoulders, I look down at the floor. I decide to answer him after I reach my locker, hoping he won’t actually hear me. “Yeah, she was good. I knew she would be, but I still worry about her.”
Smiling, he walks over to my locker where I have started getting ready. “Look, you both have been through hell and back. If you didn't worry about her, something would be wrong with you. So chill, and get ready to play tonight.”
Overall, tonight has been one hell of a game. The score is tied with only a couple of minutes’ left. I am on the field with the rest of the offense. We are losing by one field goal. We just need to run the clock down, so that after we score, they don’t have time to run the ball back.
“Look, we are going to get that time off the board. Make the first down, but don’t run it in. We have to keep control of the ball. We need this win for all of us.”
We work as a team to take those minutes off. We are down to the ten yard line, with only seconds remaining. “Ok guys, this is it. We have done a damn good job so far; now let’s finish it! It’s time for our switch play.”
With that, we break, and all our hopes are on this one play going right. At the snap, all eyes are on me, just like the play is set up. No one even notices the receiver that actually has the ball.
As he crosses over into the end zone, everyone else is catching on to what is happening. As the last second ticks off the scoreboard we celebrate our win. No, it isn’t a Super Bowl win, but to us it feels like one. We have accomplished what no one thought we could. This team officially has a winning season!
In the locker room, after all the celebration is over and we have changed into our street clothes, we go back over our game plan for handling Ronda. The main thing is to make sure no one has had a change of heart, because this is a big reasonability. With all of us in agreement and our lawyer in tow, we make our way up to the owner's box.
She is still in there, with help from the guards. Bailey meets us outside the gate. After all the hell Ronda has cost her, I want her to be there to see her down fall.
When we walk in the place, it looks like a tornado has gone through. Chairs and tables are overturned, and food trays are thrown on the floor. There in the middle of the room stands the woman we are looking for. She looks as bad as the room does. Guess our winning did put a small wrinkle in her plans.
“What do you idiots want? God, you can’t even lose right when you need to.” Her eyes are a blazing fury.
“Look, we have a proposal for you. We had our lawyer look over Bill’s will again. There is a loophole that he could only tell the team if they asked. Even with a winning season, a member, or members, of the team are allowed to buy the team from you. So, that’s what we came here prepared to do. All of us in this room want to purchase the team. We did our homework to know what it is worth. The check is already made out to you. All you have to do is sign the papers. Then we can all go our own way, and each of us will have what we want. What do you say?”
“So, you little shits are the reason all of my money has been frozen.” That’s when the lawyer takes center stage.
“Ma’am, the money you are calling yours is actually the team’s money, and you are not allowed to use it for personal reasons. So, if you will take my advice, I suggest you take the team’s offer. I told them they needed to take out the money you used for personal reasons. They were generous and didn’t.”
When her eyes land on Bailey, we can see the fire in her eyes. “This is all your fault, your stupid little bitch. You couldn’t do one simple thing right.”
I’m proud of Bailey. Even with the hate filled words aimed at her, she stands tall by my side. Ronda finally holds out her hand for the contract and signs the team over to us. After handing over the papers, she holds out her hand for the check.
“Wait, we have to get it checked over first. Sorry, if I don’t trust you.” I hand the newly signed papers to our lawyer to look over. Once he gives the okay, I happily hand over the money. “It was nice doing business with you. Now get out of our box.”
As we all leave the stadium, I can’t help but take one last look at where I am. Nothing in life will ever be easy, but one thing I have learned is that if something is worth keeping, it is going to cause you heartache and grief. But, in the end, it is worth all that and more. With Bailey’s hand in mine, I know that no matter where the future take us, we will face it together.
THE END
(FOR NOW!)
This work is copyrighted by Tara Pennington.
SUDDEN HOPE
By Daniele Lanzarotta
© 2015 Daniele Lanzarotta
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Chapter One Sneak Preview
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Alec
We were so close when we were little. I remember walking her to class on her first day of kindergarten. Her parents couldn’t get out of work and asked me if I could show her where to go. I felt so proud of myself for having such an important job. I was in second grade then. She had her long brown hair in a braid, and her blue eyes showed just how scared she was. I sat next to her on the bus, and once we got to school, I grabbed her hand and took her to class. When school was over, I was there waiting to make sure she got on the right bus back home. I knew her teacher was there to help, but I felt I had to watch out for her.
I walked her to class every day that week, until that Friday, when I broke her heart. She never looked at me the same way again. I was sure she never would.
TEN YEARS LATER
I rummage through my room looking for my Braves shirt.
“MOM?”
“Yeah?” she yells from downstairs.
“Where is my Braves shirt?”
There is an awkward silence, as always. It’s been almost two years since I’ve been sick and nothing has changed.
“MOM?”
“Yes. Sorry. It’s in the washer.”
“Of course!” I mumble.
I walk to my dresser and start to look for something else to wear. I’m about to slide the top-drawer open when I hear the sound of Skylar’s voice, and for that brief moment, it’s like the whole entire world stops.
Sky is my neighbor—has been since we were little, and her bedroom window is right across from mine. She can sing the hell out of just about any song. And her voice—her voice is sweet but there is this insane power behind it. It’s just… Wow.
I close my eyes and my mind takes me back to the day I met her. I remember running outside to meet the new neighbors and being excited that they had a kid close to my age. I knew we would be best friends then, and we were inseparable until she started school. Now we don’t say a word to one another. I just give her space by leaving her alone. In fact, she seems to enjoy the peace and quiet of being away from everyone… Well, everyone except for two of her friends from school.
But when she is singing, it’s like she is a different person. Every day after dinner, she goes to her room, opens the window, turns the radio up loud, and sings her heart out. It’s like she goes back to being the girl I used to know.
Okay, I’m starting to sound like a creepy stalker.
I shrug it off, grab the first shirt I see, and head out to play baseball with Kyle and the other guys.
***
I park my truck in the school’s parking lot and head over to the baseball field. Everyone is here, including the coach, which surprises me. Once a week, before the start of baseball season, all of the guys like to get together to play ball, just for fun. The coach is never at these things.
Some of the guys are sitting around and others are lying down on the grass.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Kyle, who was lying down, sits up. “Intervention time, Bro,” he laughs.
“We want you to play with us this season.”
I look down and shake my head. “I haven’t played since middle school.”
“So? You may not have been playing seriously, but you play with us from time to time. You’re good. We know it. The coach knows it. You’ve been around for every practice over the past few years, even though you didn’t want to join the team. Come on, man. This is our senior year! You should be playing.”
I shake my head. “No way.”
“Give us one good reason why you don’t want to do this and we’ll leave you alone.”
I sigh. I wish I could give my reason without sounding weak. Truth is, I don’t want to get my hopes up. I’m afraid that as soon as I agree to this, I’ll get sick again and have to stop playing. I’m afraid that I’ll get my hopes up of playing in college, and then have to drop everything. This is my reality. The shadow of this disease will haunt me forever.
This is the reason I told my parents I’m against getting any more of the regular checkups. Honestly, if I do get sick again, I would rather not know. I can’t deal with that again.
“I’m not as ready to play as everyone else. If I was a random person trying out, I would never make it.”
“Prove it,” Grayson yells from the back.
“Prove what?”
“That you aren’t good enough.”
Kyle laughs. “Dude! He could just pretend to suck so we leave him alone.”
Everyone laughs.
Grayson stands up and walks up to me. “Seriously. Try out. Right here. Right now. If the coach says you aren’t ready, we’ll leave you alone. But be a man and give this a real try. If you are as good as we know you are, then I guess you get one more chance to come up with a real excuse as to why you don’t want to do this.”
We look over at the coach who is watching us quietly. He gives a short nod. “It’s up to you.”
“Fine!” I finally give in.
We all get in our positions. I can’t lie. It feels damn good to hold on to the baseball bat. Kyle is the pitcher and I know he won’t take it easy on me, even if he wants me on the team. He doesn’t play around when it comes to baseball.
Kyle pitches the ball and, even if I tried, I couldn’t have missed it. It’s instinct. I hit the ball and freeze when I feel my wrist snap. I hold my breath in. I should be running, but I drop the bat and all I can do is stare at my wrist. I don’t even feel pain… only fear—Fear that the day I dreaded the most, is here.
Kyle knows what happened, and what’s on my mind, without me having to say a word.
“Hey!” he calls out. “This could’ve happened to anyone. Let’s just go get it checked out, alright?”
I nod.
The guys are standing around, some looking confused.
The coach grabs his keys. “I’ll drive.”
