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“Is this your version of talking smack?” You can take the guy out of the Navy, but not the Navy out of the guy. I get it, but…
“Hate to break it to you, but you can’t stop looking at her.”
“What’re you talking about?” She’s with my dog. “She doesn’t know anyone here. I’m just making sure she’s comfortable.” She holds her hands up, clapping and whistling. A kid scored a goal. She’s wearing sunglasses and one of my baseball hats. She’s pretty fucking adorable.
He smirks like a jackass.
“She’s my best friend’s little sister.”
“Pretty sure the little sister thing is null and void when she’s over twenty-five. Oh, and he’s dead.”
I grimace from the slap of the words.
“Sorry. That was harsh. But you know what I mean.”
We both stand there, arms crossed. One man yells about a bad call. He’s yelling at a volunteer ref at a three and easy game.
“You’re positive he’s dead, right?”
I get why Trevor’s asking. One sister has a go-bag complete with credible, expensive alternative identification, and one sister is missing. “If he survived that explosion, we would’ve heard from him. It’s been two years.”
Trevor nods. “That’s my conclusion. Which means it’s all about the missing sister. We’ll figure it out.”
We will. We’ll track her down.
Felix jogs down the sidelines.
“Where’s he going?” I ask Trevor.
“Maria says he’s become lactose intolerant, but he refuses to adjust his eating habits. When we got here, he was in the restroom.”
To the side of the field, near the playground, there’s a public restroom facility, and I watch Felix hightail it into the building.
“Guess it’s good Maria’s videoing the game, huh?”
The parents erupt into cheers, clapping and yelling. It’s not clear at all who won. Everyone’s happy. Both teams line up to get snacks.
“Well, I’m coaching on a different field. See you later on field nine.”
He catches Stella by the side, lifts her, and lays a sloppy kiss against her lips. She laughs. The two of them are good together. No kids other than his stepson. I wonder what the story is there, but I’ll never ask. Not my business. Kids or no kids, one thing’s indisputable. Trevor’s one happy guy.
Our team’s parents fold chairs while another set of parents unfold them, taking over the grassy spots along the white chalked line.
I meander over to the ladies. Ryan took off with Trevor. I guess they coach the same team. So, it’s all the ladies plus me and Felix until lunch.
“Can I carry anything for you ladies?” I’ve still got the two folding chairs I brought.
It’s Alex who sidles over to me. “Can you carry the other handle on this cooler?”
“Sure thing.”
“I’m gonna put it in the trunk. We’ll have it at the playground.”
Felix bulldozes his way to his kid and tosses his son around in the air like he’s a ball. The kid laughs hard, knees bent, arms flailing. Maria tugs on Felix’s arm, admonishing him to be careful.
Alex and I follow the crew, walking a little slower. “Sage told us all about her sister.”
“Is that right?”
