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“When you get out, we’ll be waiting right here,” said Tyler. “So you can take us out for drinks to celebrate.”
“And just so there’s no misconception,” winked Axel, “you’re buying.”
Zane nodded and gathered his things. His cheeks were flush. His eyes glowed with an inner, competitive fire that had been missing for some time now. It occurred to me that I’d known him a long time, and very intimately at that.
But I’d never seen him so happy.
~ 50 ~
ARIANA
“You sure you’re okay with me not playing on the team anymore?” Zane asked, one last time.
“Are you kidding?” asked Axel. “You know you’re on the River Kings, right?”
“Of course,” said Zane. “Even so… It’ll be the end of an era.”
Tyler sat at the bar, using the swizzle stick to swirl the ice around in his empty glass. He looked introspective.
“Sure will,” he lamented. “But we’re not kids anymore. We can’t play in the sandbox forever.”
His somber expression of pride for his friend had me all choked up. Not since childhood had I seen him so happy, yet at the same time, so very sad.
“Everything ends eventually,” Axel sighed. He held up his beer. “We had a good run, though.”
“The best run,” I toasted him.
“Remember John Cardillo?” Tyler suddenly asked.
The others looked skeptical. “The kid who always skateboarded?”
“Yeah, him. He and his friends used to hang out on the side of the 7-11 all the time, drinking Slurpees and skating tricks in the lot. All throughout our childhood. Without fail.”
“They were there every time I went,” Zane agreed.
“Right? But then one by one, they suddenly weren’t,” said Tyler. “There were five of them, then four, then three, then two. And then one day I ran into John and he was all by himself. This was after high school. And he was still there, leaning against that wall. Still waiting for his friends, like he had for years and years.”
“Fuck, that’s depressing,” said Axel.
“Right?” Tyler agreed. “And on that day, I remember talking to him, asking him if the others were coming down to meet him. And he turned to me with this strange look in his eye. Like he hadn’t realized what he was still doing against the wall.”
Tyler was lost in the memory. Reverently, he shook his head.
“And then John shrugged,” Tyler continued. “He looked at me and said ‘I guess not,’ and that was it. He just tucked his skateboard under his arm and he walked off. And after that day, no matter how many times I went back, I never saw him again.”
Axel, stunned by the profundity of the story, sat there with his mouth open. I had to admit, I felt the same way.
“The point is, nothing lasts forever,” said Tyler. “It’s better to walk away like this, together as a team, than to be the last guy standing outside, leaning against that wall.”
Silence descended for a moment, drowning out the din of the crowd. Zane raised the pint of beer he was drinking.
“That’s goddamn beautiful, bro.”
Axel laughed. “Right? I almost cried.”
“It still doesn’t mean I’m gonna miss you when I’m away in New York,” said Zane.
The three of us looked at him together, as one. He shrugged.
