Page 112 of Nuts

“Snake! Snake! Snake!”

My heart swelled with pride.

I tilted my head to toward the sky, closed my eyes, and exhaled.

Hear that, dad?

That’s something you’ve earned.

Respect.

Chapter Forty

P-Nut

My brother’s betrayal didn’t bring me to tears. Cutting off my toes and losing a potential professional baseball career didn’t either. In fact, nothing had since I was about ten.

Joey’s speech and the crowd chanting welled my eyes with tears, though. I somehow managed to keep them from rolling down my cheeks, but that didn’t lessen my emotion. On that afternoon, I learned to respect her with a greater degree of admiration.

She wasn’t a strong woman.

She was simply strong.

I believed I trusted Joey prior to the poker run. After it was over, I had no doubt.

I stepped from the bathroom into the bedroom. Dressed in shorts and a loose-fitting tee, Joey was sprawled out on the bed with her arms spread wide. Upon hearing me, she tilted her head toward me. “I’m exhausted.”

I sat on the corner of the bed. “Makes two of us.”

“Can we go to bed early?”

“As soon as we’re done talking.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. Just have something I want to tell you.”

“But it’s not bad, right?”

“Depends on how you want to perceive it, I suppose.”

“Okay.”

“I haven’t told this story to anyone. Not Smokey, Crip, nobody. You’ll be the first.”

She sat up. “I’ll keep it a secret.”

I knew she would, that’s the only reason I could tell her. I clenched my fist and held it over the center of the bed.

She pounded it.

I gazed down at the floor and began. “When I was fourteen, I had a girlfriend. We were both freshman. We saw each during my freshman year and sophomore year whenever we could. We were young, and I couldn’t drive yet, but we were as close to inseparable as we could be. Had big plans, too. We were going to get married and have a house full of kids. My junior year, I started driving. We went everywhere together. Our plans grew bigger. I was going to be in the major leagues, and we were going to live in a house that looked over the ocean in the off season.”

I drew a long breath, held it for a moment, and then exhaled. “Then, the accident happened. She never said anything, but something changed. I could sense it. we stopped seeing each other every day, and the next thing I knew, we weren’t going out on the weekends. She claimed she loved me, but I didn’t see it. I trusted her, so I figured I’d give it time.”

I glanced at Joey. Her hands were covering her mouth and her eyes were puffy. She must have heard the emotion in the tone of my voice. Telling her wasn’t easy, but it was necessary. I pursed my lips and raised my index finger.

She gave a nod. “Go ahead.”