Chapter 28
He looked at me as if I were a side dish he hadn’t ordered.
– The Big Town by Ring Lardner, American sports columnist & short story author
October had been a blur of activity, but November brought their move to Oasis and a slower pace.
Javi had never lived in a small town before.
Miami and Phoenix were metropolises. Pensacola had been smaller, but still big enough to be busy.
Oasis was different. Nothing was hurried.
Everything was quieter. And Javi loved the change.
Having to drive back into Phoenix and fight crazy traffic to pick his mother up from the airport had been his first trip back to the city in weeks.
It was exhausting. His mother had taken a few days off work to visit for the Thanksgiving holiday, and since his townhouse in Phoenix was larger than the rental, they’d decided to stay there.
Not only did the townhouse have three bedrooms, but it also had a large kitchen with double ovens, making it perfect for all the cooking she’d planned to do.
She had commandeered the kitchen as soon as she’d arrived, and Javi was sure she’d placed a grocery delivery order before her flight because a massive order had been dropped off within a couple of hours of her arriving.
Since then she’d been cooking all of Javi’s favorites, and he was not complaining.
His mother was a wonderful cook. Just tonight she’d made a huge pot of Carne con Papas for dinner—his favorite.
She’d made enough to feed a small army, but he knew that had been a purposeful decision by his mother to stock his freezer full of leftovers.
His mother had also been making items for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving lunch.
Earlier, she and Lola had made a pumpkin roll that Javi could not wait to try.
The rich smell of cinnamon and nutmeg had made him salivate.
His mother had nearly caught him sampling the cream-cheese-and-pecan icing before they’d rolled it.
Tomorrow they’d make the three-hour drive out to Oasis to celebrate Thanksgiving with Camdyn’s family.
He was dreading the drive, but it would be a good opportunity for Juana to meet Camdyn’s family.
And even though Cami’s mother would have an absolute feast prepared, his mamá would not hear of them arriving empty-handed.
Baking was her trade, and she had already made multiple items to take with them—mostly desserts, but she was making some classic Cuban dishes, too.
When she realized Javi had no slow cooker and no cooler, she’d sent him to the store to obtain them, and like the dutiful son he was, he’d fought the holiday traffic in the city to get her what she needed.
When he’d left, Camdyn and Lola had been watching a movie. Each evening they’d taken to curling up on the couch to watch something different, usually with subtitles, because Camdyn said it would help Lola with spelling. Javi wasn’t sure about that, but it couldn’t hurt so he went along with it.
As he was coming back in from his trip to the store he heard his mother call out, “Muchachas, ven y aprende.” He guessed that meant movie time was over.
In the kitchen he found his mother instructing Lola on a pie recipe, while Camdyn sat at the bar and wrote the directions in a notebook.
He wanted to laugh because his Camdyn had found a respectful way to avoid assisting his mother with cooking.
It was a brilliant idea. She appeared attentive and eager to learn, yet Javi knew she had no intention of ever using those recipes. But he or Lola could.
He sometimes had Lola help him when he cooked. Lola’s mother had taught her the basics, but he’d already learned that Lola had only ever helped prepare group meals. She didn’t know how to make anything in small quantities.
He sat the slow cooker box on the counter. “Mamá, this was the last one they had.”
Juana turned to him while drying her hands on a dishcloth. “That will be perfect, hijo. Did you get the cooler, too?”
“Si, and bags of ice. I’ll bring it in a few minutes.”
“Gracias,” she said as she pecked his cheek.
Thanksgiving lunch at Camdyn’s parents’ house had been a huge event.
Immediate family, extended family, and friends had gathered together to celebrate the holiday.
There had been more food than the crowd could eat, and everything Juana had cooked had survived the journey to Oasis.
Though the car ride had been excruciating.
Three adults, a child, and a puppy inside Javi’s truck, along with a large slow cooker that Javi had rigged to a portable battery, and a multitude of carrying containers made for a cramped trip.
Plus, there was the cooler in the bed of the truck.
Everything Juana had made received rave reviews.
Cami’s father had claimed, “Juana’s lechon asado is the best I’ve ever eaten.
” And the beautiful pumpkin roll had been decimated only minutes after it had been cut, but Javi had made sure he’d gotten him and Cami a piece.
He was enjoying the post-meal socializing and regretted that he’d have to leave soon.
Six hours of round trip driving on a holiday was not fun and he wasn’t looking forward to making the drive back to Phoenix this evening.
It had to be done though, because his mother was flying out of PHX tomorrow.
It had been a short visit, and he hoped that she’d be able to make the trip again soon.
Javi was sitting in the den talking with Cal and the plus-one he’d brought when Camdyn walked in. He’d left her chatting with her grandmother. She smiled and took a seat next to him. Immediately, almost reflexively, he leaned over to kiss her cheek.
As was normal for him and Cal, their conversation veered to baseball. They were both passionate about the sport, and Javi had been wanting to broach a topic with Cal that he’d recently discussed with Cami, so he steered the conversation that way.
“Cal, you know I’ve done a lot of research for my dissertation, and I’ve got an idea,” he announced.
“You haven’t decided to become a professor, have you?” asked Cal.
Javi laughed. “No, I’ve got an even crazier idea. I think I’d like to start an exhibition team. I’d like to run it by you and pick your brain.”
Cal’s mouth fell open.
“Let me explain,” said Javi. He talked for several minutes about his thoughts and he could tell he’d just blown Cal’s mind.
He could literally see the wheels turning in his slack-jawed friend’s head.
He didn’t want to overload him with info, so he kept it brief and waited for Cal to process the revelation.
Eventually, Cal spoke. “Where would you base this team, and do you have an idea for a name?”
Well, Javi hadn’t expected that to be the first question.
He’d been anticipating something about the collective bargaining agreement between the MLB and the players’ association, or how it would work with the FTC’s ban on non-competes, or some other ethical concern.
Instead, the dude had cut straight to the part Javi hadn’t dwelled on.
He’d done a little research, and he had some thoughts in mind, but nothing concrete yet.
Leaning forward in his chair, he clasped his hands and revealed his thoughts.
“I like the idea of basing it here, so I’d like to tie the name to this area.
Maybe something southwestern or that plays off Oasis. ”
Cal’s eyes widened, and he immediately protested. “There’s not much to draw people out this way.”
Initially, Javi had thought the same, but his research had surprised him.
“Sure there is. There’s a national park nearby, and you’re on Route 66.
That’s always going to be a draw. This area gets a lot of traffic.
It just needs something to keep the tourists stationary longer and not following the mother road on to the next stop.
Plus, half the games would be on the road.
It would also financially benefit us. It would be cheaper to purchase a large area of land here than in one of the bigger cities, and we’d be hours from the closest competitor. We’d monopolize fans in this area.”
Cal nodded, and Javi was sure the guy was thinking about the many baseball teams Arizona already had—multiple spring training and minor league teams in addition to the Diamondbacks.
But Oasis was hours from any of them. Cal turned towards his sister, and when Javi turned that way, he found Cami watching him.
Her beautiful face rarely revealed her thoughts, but he noticed subtle changes that others probably did not, like the twinkle of interest currently in her eyes.
“Cam, do you think this is possible for us? Could we really invest in and own something like this while still playing professionally?” asked Cal.
Camdyn nodded while responding to her brother. “I’ve been researching, and I think legally you could. Javi has so many good ideas. I’ve run some hypothetical situations past a friend who specializes in labor law, but I think it’d be wise to talk with entertainment and IP attorneys, too.”
Javi hadn’t known Cami had been researching, too. He’d been sharing his dreams with her, and she’d listened, but he hadn’t known she’d been researching for him. It meant the world to him that she was that supportive of his wild ideas.
He looked back at Cal. “So, what do you say, asere? Want in?”
Callahan’s wide grin answered before he did. “Yeah, I do.”
They spent over an hour discussing possible names for the team, and lots of really good options had been thrown out, but his Cami had made the suggestion he liked best. The Oasis Gila Monsters had a ring to it.
It sounded right. Javi could easily imagine the mascot, and he was already having ideas about ways to play off the word monster for marketing.
His dissertation research had taken him down many rabbit holes, and he planned to pull inspiration from everywhere—exhibition baseball, professional wrestling, roller derby, those ninja gladiator shows, and so many other places.
At some point during the conversation, Lola had come into the living room and was playing on the floor with her pup.
It was while he was watching them that he happened to glance up and catch the time on a decorative clock.
It was getting late. They needed to get going to get his mother back to Phoenix at a decent hour so she could get some sleep before her early morning flight.
“Lola, take Amigo out to potty. We’ve got to leave soon,” he announced as he stood. He turned to offer Cami a hand up, but she shook her head.
“I’m going to stay here. Gives you some one-on-one time, and I can help my mother with the cleanup. Lola can stay, too, if she wants,” she said.
That was a disappointing turn of events. He turned to Lola. “Do you want to go with us or stay here?”
“I want to go, but I don’t think Amigo liked that long ride. Could he stay with Cami?” she asked.
That was actually a relief. He’d pulled over twice on the way here to make sure the pup didn’t have any accidents in his truck.
“Of course, hand him to me,” said Cami.
Lola handed off her puppy after giving him exaggerated hugs and love. She was a cute kid.
“Alright, load up, chiquita,” he directed Lola before leaning down to kiss Cami goodbye. “Lola and I will be back tomorrow. Love you, hermosa.”