Chapter 35
RAKE
“So what’s the word, man?” Jonas asks after the waiter takes our order for burgers and beers.
He has about fifteen minutes before he has to head home to relieve the nanny.
I look at him and Tyler, my best buddies on the team. I wonder what it would be like to no longer play with them, to no longer see them every day, at least during the season.
To no longer be the victim of Tyler’s practical jokes, and to no longer hear about Jonas’s kid taking her first steps, or the older one finally going potty on the toilet.
It’s funny. When I think about leaving the team, these are the things I think I’ll miss the most. Not winning games or the adulation of the fans, even though I do love that, but the little things that make life real.
The little victories and setbacks your friends help you through, and you help with in return.
“I’m told I’ve created a mess, made things even worse for myself, and… that I might be traded. Lovely, huh?”
“Fuck me. That’s harsh,” Tyler says.
“I don’t know. Maybe it would be good to start over. I’d have to leave San Francisco, though.”
Okay, it’s not just my buddies I’ll miss if I’m kicked off the Aftershocks. What would really fucking kill me is not seeing Petal. Sure, we could do the long-distance thing if she was open to it, but we know how well that usually works out.
“What did BJ say? Does he think it’s a good idea?” Jonas asks.
“He says management has asked me to ‘come up with a plan,’ whatever that means. BJ actually said it might be a good idea to go along with a trade. I think he’s getting tired of my ass.”
“Well, he’s gotten rich off your ass, so I doubt he’s going anywhere,” Tyler says.
“So… what’s up with your bride?” Jonas asks, taking a giant bite out of his burger. Poor guy, always wolfing down his food.
“She’s… amazing. It’s so fucking weird. Here, she won me at some stupid auction Vince pressured me into, and she’s turned out to be awesome. Down to earth, smart, sexy.”
“Don’t forget good-looking,” Tyler says.
I cuff him on the shoulder for that. “I… wasn’t expecting anything like this. We haven’t discussed the future. We need to, though. I’m… I’m into her.”
“Does she feel the same way?” Jonas asks, wiping his mouth with a napkin and gathering his things to hit the road.
“I don’t really know. We’re still getting to know each other. We’ve had some great… intimate times. You know. I don’t think you can fake the kind of passion that was there.”
Jonas stands. “Dude. Looks like our boy has got it going on for a woman. No more man-whoring around, huh? You’re turning into a one-woman-man.”
I shrug. “I may be. But, you know, she has to be down with it too. And I don’t know whether she is. She’s still working that bookstore job, which she loves, so she stays in Sonoma a couple nights a week.”
“Sounds like the perfect relationship to me,” Jonas laughs. “You get time off from each other. More couples should try that.”
A sadness crosses his face, something that’s easy to miss if you don’t know him as well as I do.
I know his glib remark about couples and their time apart hit him funny, like things sometimes do. It hasn’t been easy for him, losing the love of his life, and having to raise two kids on his own.
“I’m out of here. See you guys tomorrow,” he says, fist bumping us.
Tyler and I eat in silence for a minute, until the waitress returns with fresh beers. “Some ladies at the bar sent over these drinks.”
Tyler immediately cranes his neck to see if he can figure out who sent the drinks, and before she leaves, he taps the waitress. “Who was it?”
She gestures with her head. “See the two ladies at the end?”
There they are, looking at us over their shoulders, laughing and nudging each other.
There was a time when I’d be up and talking to women like that so fast, they wouldn’t know what hit them.
But now, I sink down in my seat, not looking their way. I don’t want to encourage them. And I don’t need a free beer, even though their gesture is nice.
“Jesus, you see those girls?” Tyler asks, staring.
“Go talk to them, man. I gotta head out anyway.”
He looks at me, frowning. He likes to have a wing man, and I normally am all over helping him. But I’m not feeling it tonight.
“C’mon, Rake. You love this shit.” Then his eyes widen. “Oh. Okay. I see how it is. You’re smitten, dude.”
I look down at my fresh beer. Women do stuff like this, sending over drinks and such. There is a certain type that loves meeting athletes, and they aren’t shy about making their intentions known.
“I’m happy for you,” Tyler says. “I really am. Don’t worry about those women, you don’t owe them.
In fact, all the more for me,” he laughs.
“Petal is a good girl. I was blown away with how she handled herself at the owners’ party.
She just held her head up like no one had just trashed the two of you.
I know the rest of the gang were really impressed. She’s the real thing. A cool chick.”
He’s right. She is a cool chick. She’s real, not a single pretense in her. She grew up with all sorts of privilege and yet is one of the most unassuming people I’ve ever known.
“I’m enjoying my time with her. And I want more,” I tell Tyler before he goes over to talk to the beer ladies. “Thanks, man.”
He slaps me on the back and throws some money on the table for the bill. “I’m here for you, man. I know I’m a pain in the ass and can be a dick at times, but you know I’d do anything for you.”
He saunters off to try his luck, and I head out into the night. Big day tomorrow. Dad is coming to town. Things are never easy with my father, and I have a feeling they are about to get harder.