“Patrick Gary.”
“Hi Patrick, my name is Jeremy Jameson. Coach Kilzer said I should reach out to you about helping with the youth league?” I take a swig of my water and post up at the bar in my kitchen.
“Oh, hey man!” he says, his tone of voice completely changing. “Yeah, thanks for giving me a call. I’m in a real bind, here, and would really appreciate some extra hands.”
“Well I would love to help. So how do I get started?”
“I’ll send you the details so you can forward them to your lawyer,” he says, and I cringe. I mean, we both know why I need to find a way to do community service, but I hate hearing it said out loud. “I’ll also include the practice schedule and curriculum. We do a two-hour weekly practice on Thursday evenings. You start with some physical activity, and tie in some evidence-based curriculum to help share with students why getting involved in athletics can help them long-term. It’s only about 20 minutes of each practice, so don’t worry that I’ll have you reading from a textbook,” he says with a laugh.
“And then you take them into a normal practice. Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know anyone who can help, would you? It’s really a program built to be done in pairs. The other person doesn’t even have to know anything about sports, they just have to be able to act as your assistant. Pass things out, keep track of players, handle the waivers and some of the gear.”
“I’m… well, I haven’t really shared with anyone that I have to do community service, so, I don’t think there’s really anyone…”
But I let my voice trail off.
Maybe there is someone.
Someone who doesn’t know anything about sports but would be great at keeping things organized.
“Actually, I might have someone.”
* * * * *
“Absolutely not.”
“Come on Charlie. I’ve never asked you to do me a favor before.”
“Jeremy, you have got to be joking. First of all, you asked me to pick you up from the police station after your DUI. If I were to categorize that request it would be in the favors category. Second, not only do I know nothing about basketball, I’m incredibly busy with my final semester of college. You remember college? It’s that thing you have to do in order to be a contributing member of society.”
I roll my eyes, thankful she can’t see me through the phone. She is equal parts adorable and exasperating.
“I went to college, Char, I remember.”
“So then, you’ll understand why I’m saying no.”
“Charlie. Please. I’m not ready to share with anyone else what happened, and you’re really the only person apart from my Coach and lawyer and agent who know about it.”
“So ask one ofthem.”
I laugh. “You’re crazy, you know that right?”
I know she’s cranky at me, but I can hear her smile over the phone when she says, “I’ve always known that.”
I let out a sigh.
“Look, Charlie. I wouldn’t be asking you if I had another option, okay?” Technically, it’s true. “It’s once a week, and if you can’t get things sorted out with work, you can just skip those practices or something. It’s only a 12-week program, so if you have to miss a few, it’s not a big deal.”
There’s silence on the other end.
“Aren’t you the one who just told me I need to start reaching out more and not pushing people away?”
She groans.
“Yeah, well, I meant mostly RJ when I said that. But I’ll sound like a hypocrite if I say no when you’re finally clawing your way out of whatever funk you’ve been in.”
“I’m not clawing my way out of anyth…”
“I’ll do it, Jeremy,” she says, interrupting me and putting a smile on my face. “Just… send me the details or whatever.”
