"We’ll get ice cream.We’ll talk about tonight’s game and the game next week.Ma will hug me and tell me she’ll be down for my laundry on Monday, because she picks it up on the Monday after home games, but not until the Tuesday after away games.She tells me this every week.Every.Single.Week."
"That’s just like the other times."
I nod."Yup.Now let me go get showered and changed.You can wait in the lounge where you went before the game.I won’t be long."I lean in and give her a quick kiss on the forehead, like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
I jog back down the stairs, hop the rail, and sprint to the tunnel that takes me to our locker room.Normally, I take my time in the shower, but tonight I don’t want to keep Rachel waiting.
Rachel.
Her reaction to finding out we’re still seeing my family was interesting.I can’t get the expression on her face out of my mind.She was honestly and truly bewildered.I’ll bet she has no idea what it means to be able to trust.
Sure, I’m still upset with my parents.I don’t agree with how they handled the situation at all.However, I can honestly say that whatever decisions they made for the three of us when we were growing up, they did out of love.I know without a shadow of a doubt that they will always be here for my brothers and me.
Hair still dripping, I make my way up to the WAG lounge.It’s got an actual name, but no one calls it anything butthe WAG lounge.Rachel’s in there with Ophelia, Hannah, and Carlos.Oh good, she didn’t have to wait alone.They’re all laughing and smiling, and they look like they’re having a good time.
My heart threatens to jump out of my chest when she turns that smile toward me.I’m tempted to do something foolish like bow and extend my hand, saying something corny like, "Are you ready, my lady?Your chariot awaits."Instead, I shove my hands in my pockets and give a quick head jerk toward the exit."You ready?"
Rachel stands up, and she’s quickly enveloped in a tight hug by Ophelia and then Carlos.Hannah hangs back and gives her a little wave.Rachel walks up to me and nods."I’m ready."She glances back over her shoulder."Thanks again!I … I had fun!"
I don’t think Rachel has fun very often, so I hope the rest of her squad realizes how huge it is for her to say that.
We walk out to my Trackhawk in silence.As we approach, I press the key fob in my pocket, the lights flashing as the vehicle unlocks.I open the passenger side for her to get in, closing her in before walking around to the driver’s side.Once I’m in the car, I start to plug the name of the ice cream shop into my GPS, but I freeze.
Shit.
My hand stays frozen in mid-air as the letters dance in my brain.Shit again.
"What’s wrong?"Rachel asks, concern filling her voice.
"I can’t remember the name of the place.We call it Tom and Jerry’s, but that’s not it.It’s somethinglikethat."I run my hand through my hair.I feel like I’m back in high school, trying to take the World History final, while names and dates swim through my head.I bang the steering wheel."Fuck!"
Rachel puts a very gentle hand on my arm."I’d tell you to calm down, but I know that helps about as much as tits on a bull.So let’s see what other ways we can figure this out.You could text your family," she suggests.
"Yeah, so they can laugh at me for not being able to remember the letters.I’m the one who called it Tom and Jerry’s in the first place.You know, like the cat and mouse cartoon?That’s how my brain processed it, and I can’t get it out of my head."
"Okay, so we won’t text them.We’ll figure out another way."
"It’s in Raynham.There can’t be too many ice cream places there."I pull up Google and type in, "ice cream Raynham, MA Tom," knowing for certain that Tom is in the name.There it is.Tom and Jimmy’s.Relief floods my body.
"Thanks for your help," I say as I shift the car into drive.
"You’re the one who figured it out.And listen, Tom and Jimmy’s is pretty damn close to Tom and Jerry’s.Plus, I don’t think it’s a dyslexic thing.Richie had a friend growing up whose name was Molly McKinney.My grandfather continually referred to her as Molly McButter.If I called him up right now and said that name, he’d automatically say McButter.Sometimes brains just do that."
"I don’t believe you.Call him right now."I totally believe her.I am curious to hear her interaction with her grandfather.I need to know more about her family."And put it on speaker."
Rachel glares at me for all of three seconds before retrieving her phone from her back pocket."Hey, Gramps, it’s Rachel."
"I know it’s you.What’s wrong?"His voice, dancing through the speaker of her phone, sounds gruff.This is a man you don’t want to cross.
"Nothing’s wrong.I, uh, I’m here with a, uh, friend, and I have a question for you."
"Who’s the friend?"
"TJ."
There’s a quick bark of laughter."Oh, the young man who left the message on the emergency line."
My face fills with heat, thinking of how desperate I felt in that moment, needing to know Rachel was okay.I’d one-hundred percent do it again.
