Chapter 14: Trouble with the Curve

I allowed myself to sleep in the next morning and skip the early run, instead opting to work out my core and my legs for thirty minutes. I wanted to be fresh for batting practice this afternoon in Oxford. After indulging in a nice long shower, I headed for the kitchen to make breakfast for me and Mom. She hadn't left a note the night before, so I started the coffee, cut up an apple, a banana and an orange and pulled out the yogurt for Mom. By the time the coffee was ready, my two eggs and turkey bacon were ready as well. With the serving tray loaded, I headed upstairs for delivery.

After the third knock, Mom told me it was safe to come in. She wasn't much of a morning person, so her demeanor this early was not entirely friendly, but the smell of coffee helped. I set the tray in front of her and joined her for breakfast.

"What time are we leaving today?"

"I told Christy we would pick her up just after twelve and grab a bite before heading out. Did you get tickets to the game?"

"You don't want to try and pick up tickets from a scalper?"

"We can, but it's a Saturday game against the Dodgers. That could be a tough ticket with the Reds playing well."

"You're in luck, then. Jim Diamond, the station manager has a luxury box. He's out of town this weekend, so he gave me his passes."

"That's awesome!"

"I knew you'd like that. So ... we have a couple of other things to talk about."

I nodded my head.

"There's something going on that you haven't been telling me about and I don't think it involves Christy, does it?"

I shook my head, maintaining my silence.

"Does Christy know?"

"No."

"Is the baby yours?"

I just about spit my food all over her. She would have no one to blame but herself for that. As it was, I started choking on my eggs and had to take a couple big gulps of coffee to recover.

"Geez, Mom, be serious. No one is pregnant with your grandchild yet."

"Asshole. I'm not old enough to be a grandmother yet. Don't you dare do that to me!"

"You started it."

"And I'll keep going until you start talking. I'm not interested in playing twenty questions. This has been bothering me and I'd like to know what you're hiding from me."

I lifted my hands in mock surrender. "I'm sorry about that. But until I could figure out how to let you know what was happening without telling you who was involved, I didn't feel comfortable saying anything."

"So, have you figured it out?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Mom got rid of the breakfast tray and leaned back against the headboard with her arms folded. "I'm all ears."

"Okay, but just so we are clear, I'm not naming names."

"That's fine."

"Okay, well, there is this girl that I know from high school who is really going through a tough time right now. She asked me to be there for her and just listen, which I kinda think I did badly. She was over her a couple nights this week crying her eyes out. It broke my heart to hear what she's going through."

"Can you elaborate a little?"

"Very little, I think. It involved an issue with her now ex-boyfriend and a medical issue she was having. He was a jerk about it and ended up dumping her. She pretty much thought her future was set until that happened."

"Why did she come to you?"

"I'm not really sure. We have some common friends and she said she heard the way I interacted with them and thought I was trustworthy."

"Wow. Phil Marlow, psychologist. Who knew?"

"Well, we'll see how long she wants to talk to me. I feel like I'm giving her bad advice."

"Just listen to her, Phil. She probably needs that more than anything else right now. You're surprisingly good at that."

"Hmmm, what did you say? I wasn't paying attention."

"And then you do that shit. I don't know why I claim you as my own."

"Taxes, I think. Oh, and lawn maintenance. And spider patrol."

"Anything romantic or sexual going on with this girl?"

"No. I'd feel like a real jerk trying to take advantage of her while she's in that state."

"For good reason. Is she pretty?"

"Oh yeah, but she's not for me."

"Why do you say that? Don't you like her?"

"Before she started talking to me, I'm not sure that I did. But seeing her this way is changing my opinion. It's just ... we don't walk in the same circles. What she wants out of life isn't something I find attractive."

"Well, I'm proud of you. It sounds like she is putting a lot of faith in you and you seem to be rewarding her for that faith. Is she going to continue visiting?"

"Not sure. Honestly, with your work schedule changing, it's going to be tough to find some privacy. The next time she comes over, we may use the treehouse. I replaced a couple of floor boards, so it should be safe enough."

"I promise I won't intrude. You can use the pool house, if you would like, until the treehouse is done. Just make sure you clean up after yourself. If you need the house and need me to go away for a little while, I could always go visit Misty."

"Let's see how things go."

"Thanks for letting me know what's going on, Phil. I think you handled that delicate situation well."

I gave her a smile and took a sip of my coffee.

"Now, about that air freshener. Do you want to talk about that or the pair of women's underwear hiding in plain sight next to your bed?"

I felt about two inches tall. What a dumbass!

"Is there a third option?"

"Sure. You can tell me your version of the events that took place at the game last night."

"This conversation is going downhill in a hurry. Can you pick one and allow me to defer the other two?"

"That's fine. But that leaves me free to torture you all day about the two you defer."

"Okay, but not in front of Christy."

"I make no promises."

"Someday, you're going to need me to change your diapers. Just keep that in mind as we move along through the day."

"Tell me about the fight."

"Mike, Sparks and I went down to the concession stand for snacks at halftime. I saw Sammie standing in line and went to say hello."

"How does she look?"

"From the view I had, fantastic. She's taller, I think. But when she turned around to talk to me ... I don't know ... she just seemed like she wasn't really herself."

"Maria's worried about her boyfriend. Thinks he may have gang ties or something like that."

"Well, I didn't know about the boyfriend until I said 'Hi'. Then he turned around and told me to leave Sammie alone. He was disparaging Maria and the fact that she works for us. When I defended her and said that she and Sammie were family to us, he tried to push me to the ground."

"What did you do?"

"Used his aggressiveness against him and put him on the ground. He got up swinging and that's how I got this." I pointed to the area above my left ear.

Mom examined the area for a couple of seconds. "Sorry, I don't see anything now. Does this hurt?"

She poked her finger into the middle of the bruise.

"OWW! Damn that hurts!"

She smirked. "Well, don't get hit and it won't. I don't think it's too bad."

"Just wait until you get a bruise."

"So, Misty says that Tom broke things up."

"Yeah. I think it was about to get pretty ugly. Even after the fight, I didn't see any security staff nearby."

"What did Sammie say?"

"Nothing. Not a thing. She looked like she really hated me."

"She doesn't hate you, she's just going through some changes herself."

"Well, it looks like those changes don't include me. I've reached out to her twice now and have been shut down. I'm not trying again."

"Grow up, Phil. If Sammie needed you, I know you would be there for her."

"Maybe, but that doesn't make it a friendship."

"Thanks for breakfast. I'm going to grab a shower and get ready. Just casual clothes today, right?"

"You might bring something warmer for later, depending on how late the game lets out. I know you tend to get cold quickly. Otherwise, you should be fine."

"Okay, get out of here and I'll get moving."

I was on my way to knock on Christy's front door when she came bouncing out to greet me. She jumped into my arms, wrapped her legs around me and laid a smoking kiss on me. We walked to the car holding hands. Being somewhat of a gentleman, I helped her into the front seat of the car while I climbed into the back. After the kiss with Christy, I was in possession of a rather stout boner, which apparently had not escaped my mom's or Christy's notice. They both had smirks on their faces.

This could be a very long day.

I introduced Christy to Mom and vice versa. Christy was very complimentary towards mom, telling her how pretty she was and the pictures in our living room were beautiful.

"Christy, what kind of perfume do you wear?"

As soon as she got the question out, I groaned and slumped against the back seat.

"Chanel #5 has been my favorite for awhile now. Why do you ask?"

"Well, when I got home last night, the living room was rather fragrant. I have to tell you, it did not resemble Chanel #5."

Christy turned beet red, her mouth frozen open. It was time to step up and save her.

"It's okay, Christy. Mom isn't picking on you, she's giving me a hard time. Mom, I told you that was air freshener."

"I'm aware of what you told me. I'm telling you there was something else as well."

Christy was quickly looking back and forth between me and Mom. Mom had that classic smirk on her face. She was pretty happy with herself. Christy, on the other hand, looked completely shocked.

"What do you think it was, Mom?"

"If I knew what it was, honey, I wouldn't be asking, now would I?" Her smile was getting bigger. She was really enjoying this.

Christy is no fragile flower, although she has a bit of a pixie look about her. She was thrown off guard by Mom's frontal attack, but for every second that passed, she was formulating her counterattack. I had no idea.

"Ms. Marlow, I apologize. Phil, I told you to burn incense. Air freshener doesn't get rid of the smell of sex!"

Mom, of course, was equal to the task. "Phil, you know we have some lovely candles and I'm sure we have incense sticks in the kitchen. Why didn't you use either of them?"

This was going to be a LONG day.

By the time we arrived in Oxford, Mom and Christy acted like they had known each other for years. They bonded while they continued their ruthless assault on me, but I learned a few things. Christy is certainly not as shy as she initially seemed. She could hold her own with mom, but wasn't confrontational. They were clearly enjoying each other's company. It was also apparent to me that Christy was no virgin. She never offered up that admission, but her actions last night and the comfort in which she talked about them today made it pretty apparent that she and Jim, her previous boyfriend, had been intimate. It shouldn't have bothered me, but it did make me a little jealous. I had hoped that we would cross that barrier together, but that didn't make me want Christy any less. I considered my jealousy to be the product of my inexperience and tried to work my way past it. Some of this was tied to anger issues I had a few years ago. The difference now was that I could recognize the signs a little faster and, hopefully, deal with it a little better.

In our brief conversation the other night, Doug Jenkins had asked that I meet him in Oxford, if we could make it. Oxford is not necessarily a large town, but it is the home for Miami University. We weren't going there, however. Instead, we traveled just to the south of town to the local high school. When we pulled into the parking lot, Doug and a guy who looked to be in his mid 40s were there waiting. Doug greeted me with a smile and a handshake.

"Good to see you, Phil. I'd like to introduce Boyd Jenkins. He's my son and the baseball coach here at Talawanda High."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Jenkins."

"Boyd is fine, Phil. Nice to meet you, too. Who do you have with you?"

"This is my mom, Sharon and my friend, Christy Johnson."

"Girlfriend." Christy corrected as she shook Boyd's hand.

"Boyd," my mom began, "can you tell us why we are here?"

"You'll need to ask my dad about that, Sharon. I was recruited for this trip just like you were, undoubtedly."

"Ms. Jenkins, I was a baseball scout for quite a few years. I've had some success and some failures. When I met Phil at the batting cages recently, I guess my old instincts got the best of me and I just couldn't help myself. I think I saw something in your son, so I asked Boyd if he would be willing to work with Phil today to find out if he sees what I see or if I should just quit while I'm behind."

My mom smiled at Doug. "Thanks, Doug. What are we doing today?"

This time, Boyd answered. "We're going to have Phil take some fielding, wherever he feels comfortable and then have him take some batting practice. I throw to my guys, so I have some experience there. I don't think I'll hit him, but we'll give him a helmet just the same."

"Is there anything we can do?"

Doug and Boyd looked at Christy and my mom, who were both dressed casually. Both of them were in great shape, so they could do a little moving around.

"Sure, we'll put you to work. You can shag some flies and be a gofer for us. Do either of you need a glove?"

"Not me!" Christy offered, holding up her obviously well-worn glove.

"Okay, let's get started. Phil, you look to be in pretty good shape, why don't you warm up a bit first and then head out to the field? What position do you want to try?"