Chapter 8
Chapter eight
RBI
Derby
I had two days off before I headed out for a double header in Pittsburg.
It’d been a week since I’d seen Godwin. I drove up early and went to Momma’s house.
I wanted her help sorting through the spaghetti thoughts roiling through my brain.
Godwin had me second guessing myself, and I didn’t like that shit at all.
She greeted me with a big hug and ushered me into her tiny living room. I couldn’t wait for her to move into the new house. Four of these living rooms would fit in her new one.
“What’s that smile for?” she asked.
“I’m happy you won’t be here much longer. Do you want me to have someone help you pack and move?”
“You’re buying me all new furniture and fixins. I think I can handle what’s left. I’m not ancient.” She rolled her eyes, much the same way I tended to do. It was probably where I got it from. I sat on the old couch beside her and hugged her again.
She hugged back for a second, then shoved me away. “Okay. Enough of that. What’s going on with you?” My momma always knew when my head wasn’t screwed on straight. She could see my struggle easier than anyone.
“It’s Godwin. I don’t know what to do. He shared some seriously personal shit with me, then kind of kicked me to the curb. Or it felt that way. I know he’s having second thoughts about us, and I want him to go back to the first thoughts.”
Momma exhaled and made a raspberry noise, mocking me. “You can’t control other people. Only yourself.”
“That doesn’t help.”
She thunked me upside the head.
“Ow! Sorry, Momma.”
“You should be.” She settled back on the couch. “I don’t think you need my help with this. You know what to do.”
I stared at her blankly as if I had no idea what she was talking about, but mostly that was for effect. I had a good idea of what she was about to say.
“Tell him how you feel. That’s all you can do. The rest is up to him, and you have to live with that.”
Yep. Exactly what I thought she’d say. Maybe I needed to hear it, even though I already knew.
I leaned toward her and put my head on her shoulder.
She reached up and patted my head. “I know, Momma. But when I tell him, he might say he doesn’t want me.
Doesn’t want a relationship. That’s gonna hurt. ”
“You’re crying about it before it’s happened, Derby.” She pulled me close and hugged me. “Stop being so dramatic.”
I laughed, but being dramatic was in my blood.
Not only because I took after her, but hell, she named me after a character from Slaughterhouse-Five.
She said she liked the name. It was actually the last name, Edgar Derby.
That character died for something pretty stupid in the end.
Maybe that was my ultimate reminder not to do anything stupid, but it hadn’t helped for most of my life.
Momma was right, though. So I got a quick bite to eat and cleaned up, then headed over to Godwin’s office. I parked and rushed inside before I got nervous and backed out of what I wanted to do. “I’m looking for Godwin.”
“Oh, sorry. He’s not here.” Nancy sat down behind her desk and tapped on her tablet. “Looks like he’s out at a job site. Not yours. Your house is done, right?”
I felt my shoulders sag. I had been all geared up, and he wasn’t even there. “Yep. Momma moves in next week. I wanted to catch up with Godwin to surprise him.”
Nancy smiled knowingly and looked back at her tablet. She tapped it a few times, then scrounged for a sheet of paper. “Here’s the address. I’m sure he’ll be there for a bit.” She handed over the scrap of paper, and I immediately plugged the address into my phone.
“Perfect. Thanks.” I shook the phone at her and ran out.
The app on the phone gave me directions, and in about ten minutes, I pulled up.
A lot of guys in hardhats and orange vests were roaming around, looking official.
I had on hiking boots and khaki shorts with a t-shirt.
I didn’t care if I looked out of place. I jumped out of the rental car and hiked out toward the area where most of the men were gathered.
Godwin spotted me before I saw him. “Derby. Wow. What’re you doing here?” He seemed surprised, but was that a good surprise or a bad one? I couldn’t read him.
“Looking for you.” I didn’t know if he would want me to kiss him in front of these men or not.
Part of me worried that someone would say something, but I needed him.
It’d been too long since I’d been with him.
Hell, one day was too long. So when he rushed over, I jumped at him, hugging him tight, then planted a smack on his lips.
I heard the men asking who I was, and one of them caught on. “Is that Derby Ward? The baseball player?”
“What player?” someone else asked.
“You know, pitches for the Mystics.”
I didn’t need people gossiping, but what was done was done.
I leaned closer to Godwin before he could respond.
“Think we can get out of here?” I didn’t want to be the subject of that type of conversation when I had no idea how the MLB would react.
Besides that, I wanted to spend my time with him by ourselves.
“I have two days.” I hoped he’d join me.
Godwin’s eyes went wide, golden flecks shining in the sun.
I’d surprised him for sure. But what would he do with that?
I waited a heartbeat, then two. I stood there, staring at him, less than an arms length a part, with my breath held and my chest tight.
Then he pulled himself together and smiled brightly.
“Yeah, okay. Hang on.” He jogged back over to the men and spoke with them, or rather to one of them in particular.
They shook hands, and he waved at the others before stalking back to me.
“Come on, you.” He took my arm to escort me back to the vehicles. “Want to go to my place?”
“No. Uh, I’m starving. And since you’ve been so good about trying new things, I want to take you somewhere.”
“More sushi?”
“No. You’ll see. I bet you’ll love this. Follow me?”
He kissed me again. This time with his whole mouth.
I chased his tongue with mine, giving back as good as I got.
He broke away first. “Anything with you is going to be great. Lead the way.” He gestured to my SUV.
I’d been keeping it at Momma’s and it beat the hell out of renting everytime I was in town.
I smiled as I made my way over to it. I did know the perfect place, and it wasn’t far from his job site.
I drove around the corner to the main road and then turned onto Wheeler Avenue.
I made another right a little up the road, then pulled into Dakoda and Honey’s Donations Only Restaurant.
It was a cool place serving downhome southern cooking.
There were no prices on the menu, you paid whatever you felt you could, and if you couldn’t, you could help around the restaurant to pay for the meal. I parked and got out of the car.
Godwin was right behind me, smiling brightly. “I love this place.”
“You’ve eaten here?”
Godwin nodded. “It’s hard to cook for one, so I eat out a lot, and this place...” He nodded to the front door. “It’s worth it.”
“It is. Come on.” I walked to the front door, and Godwin opened it for me.
“I thought you were a health nut?” he asked as we went in.
“Eh...I eat healthy for sure. But every now and then, you have to splurge. And this is the best possible splurge. Home cooking. The only other place I get fed like this is at Momma’s.”
We were seated quickly and ordered just as fast. We both wanted the chicken fried steak with corn salad and collard greens. When the server walked away, I said. “Nothing healthier than collards.” I winked at Godwin, and he smirked.
“I can’t argue with that. Except, if my memory serves me correctly, they usually fry that up a bit. With bacon.”
“Uh, yeah. So?”
“You wouldn’t eat bacon at my house.”
I kicked him under the table. “You didn’t offer any. I love bacon.”
“Good. Bacon sandwiches for breakfast.”
“Am I staying over?”
“Hell yeah. You came all this way.”
“Good.” I licked my lips hungrily, and the food hadn’t even been served yet.
The meal was delicious, and I donated a hundred bucks for mine.
Godwin insisted on donating as well, but I didn’t know how much he spent.
The owners came out and thanked us before we left, though.
It wasn’t the first time I’d dropped a hundred there.
It was a great way to give back to the community.
After we ate, I asked him to walk with me around Jenner’s Park. It was nice out, and I needed my food to settle, plus it was only around the corner. We drove over in his SUV, mine at the restaurant. Godwin linked his arm with mine as we walked. “That was a nice donation.”
“I like to give back. It helps people. Growing up, we could have used a place like that.”
Godwin nodded thoughtfully. “It’s weird that we both grew up here but never knew each other.”
“I was from the wrong side of town.”
“Still. It’s a small town.”
I scowled at him. “Did you know anyone from the East side?”
He pursed his lips together. “Guess not. I still don’t. I think. Except you.”
“Thought so.”
“What’s that mean?” He pulled away a bit, but I tugged him back. I didn’t mean to start an argument.
“It’s okay. It just is. You know? The people on the East side are poor. They stay on the East side. They can’t afford anywhere else. People who live in affluent areas stick to that. Mostly. In places like Dakoda’s, it’s different, but there aren’t many places like that.”
Godwin wrapped his arm around me, pulling me tight. “I don’t have many friends. I know clients and Nancy, who works for me. Contractors I hire. Beau and the guys that work for him. They’re not friends. And they’re not you.”
I put my head on his shoulder. “I feel you, big guy. I don’t know people, either. Not really. Momma and a few friends of the family. I mean, they aren’t my friends. They’re hers. The guys on the team. Like you said. Not friends.”
Godwin kissed the side of my head and hummed.
“You do that a lot.”
“What? Kiss your head?”
“Yes. Why?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know. I like it. Do you? I can stop.”
“No. Don’t ever stop.” I meant a lot more than kissing my head.