AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You were recording?”
“We always record practice. If it’s not recorded on field, it’s done from up in the box so we can catch anything really good to use later. Hey, maybe we can have him do a dance thing, film from another angle, and splice the videos together. I’m going to find Dennis, he’ll love that.”
Harrison leaves and I make my way through the locker room toward the back where the coach has set himself up in one of theside rooms. I can’t hear what they’re saying inside, but I can see the tops of their heads.
If it’s over early, he’ll be fine. He knew it was temporary, but still, having to go back to the sidelines with the rest of us would have to be hard for him. He looks so happy out there. So free. I don’t know why he never went back to it. But watching him out there it looks like it’s where he’s supposed to be.
I flick through the photos I took of his catch while I wait. As expected, most are blurry as fuck, but there’s one where he’s up in the air, arm stretched up, and the rubber duck I put on the chair back and the ball are the only things out of focus. It’s a great shot. It would make for an amazing blast on socials, but I’ll wait to post anything. I’d have to clear the image with the media manager, incase they want to do something like Harrison said with the video they got, and I’d want Brendan to okay it, too.
The door to the coach’s office clicks, and I look up, but Brendan isn’t coming out. Dennis is going in. How long are they going to be? My stomach grumbles, and I check my watch. I should order in and just wait for him back in the room. Besides, if we’re going toHypedtonight, I want to shower again and find something that isn’t covered in wrinkles to wear.
I’m completely clean and dressed when Brendan walks into the room. He drops his training bag on the bed and stares at me, expressionless, mouth slightly open.
“Are you okay?” I ask, and he smiles.
“They want me.”
“Huh?”
“They want me to join the team. Like for real.”
“Oh, cool, so you get to play out the rest of the tour. That’s awesome,” I say, and he’s shaking his head.
“Not just for the tour. They want me to join the Funky Monkeys permanently. They brought in the lawyers and offeredme a contract. Yarro just messaged this morning that I’m good to go back to hockey after this, but now…”
I don’t know what to say. I should be happy for him. Happy he has two amazing opportunities to choose from. Write for the sport he loves to watch or play the sport he loves to play, and yet, all my mind keeps repeating iswhat about me?He sinks onto the bed, his hands in his lap, the smile still on his lips but faltering.
“You couldn’t do both?” I ask, coming to kneel in front of him, all thoughts ofpoor meleaving my mind.
He shakes his head. “Keeping up both on this tour has been hard. I’ve only been meeting the minimum articles and have half the number of social media blasts as the rest of you, and there are only four teams in Banana Ball. You know how many teams are in the NHL, there’s no way.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know?”
“Okay, so if they offered you Banana Ball before Yarro messaged, if you thought there was no way back to writing about hockey, would you take it?”
“Yes, probably.”
“Okay, and if you were playing baseball and someone offered you a gig writing about hockey instead, would you leave the sport to write?”
“I did that once, sort of. I mean, not really.”
I rest my hands on his knees. “You never said why you stopped playing baseball.”
“Because it’s embarrassing.”
“More embarrassing than having your ass on display on three papers?”
He laughs and his whole body becomes lighter somehow.
“I was an idiot kid I guess. I didn’t take it seriously. Spent too much time at parties and with… girls. Started missing practiceand screwing up on the field, and finally, they cut me. Then I got kicked out of my dorm, and it was like the whole world was against me.”
“You nearly got kicked out of your dorm because you were not on the baseball team anymore?”
He shakes his head. “I may have filled the dorm room with tiny ducks. And a few medium-sized ones. Annnd one giant one.”
I laugh. “Look, you can’t go back and undo the past, but you have an opportunity here to choose what future you want. Whatever you decide, I’ll be right there with you.”
