Chapter 67
“Ihave a thing I need to do,” Rhys said. “You are all welcome to stay and watch practice, though.”
Mel glanced over to where one of the other players helped Denny out of the catcher gear. They could swear they could see Denny’s heart eyes from here. “I don’t think Denny will have a problem with that.” They glanced at Sonia. “You okay?”
She held a book up without taking her eyes from the page she was reading. Mel’s lips twitched. “I think we’ll be okay,” they told Rhys. “How long do you think you’ll be?”
He grimaced, and they wondered what it was he needed to do. “An hour, maybe. I don’t know. Our team shrink wants me to consult with this guy because he thinks I have ADHD.”
“You mean you’ve never been diagnosed?” Mel asked. “It was pretty obvious to me from the first time I met you. Although after what you told me about the families you were with, I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“They weren’t all bad,” Rhys said.
“Even decent parents might not see what their kids need.” They glanced at Denny and down to Sonia.
Their parents weren’t bad, but they thought they knew best. Even if it ended up harming their kids in the long run.
Mel patted his arm. “Go do what you need to. We’ll be fine.
I’m not sure I’d be able to drag Denny away right now. ”
Rhys kissed their cheek then froze for a moment. He seemed to shake off whatever caught him and headed into the clubhouse.
“You really like him, don’t you?” Sonia asked.
“I thought you were reading.” She hadn’t looked up from her book, but Mel should know that didn’t mean she wasn’t paying attention.
“I am. That doesn’t mean I can’t do two things at once. Especially when one of them is so obvious.”
Mel sank down into the seat next to Sonia. “Do you have a problem with that? I know you didn’t care for my last girlfriend.”
Sonia had never said anything against Stephanie, but it had been obvious neither her nor Denny clicked with the woman. Sonia’s grimace nearly made Mel laugh.
“She didn’t like us,” Sonia said. “She put up with us to get in your pants. She never really enjoyed spending time with us. If we wanted that, we could have just stayed at home.”
So, that was why their siblings stopped asking to come over, until Stephanie ended up breaking up with Mel. “I’m sorry to have put you through that.” They hoped they weren’t going to do that again.
Sonia actually looked angry. “That’s not what I was saying. Just…he likes you. He isn’t only being nice to us to get to you. We can tell the difference. Not everything you do has to be about us, Mel. No matter what mom thinks.”
Mel wasn’t sure what to say. Before they could decide, Denny came over and plopped down beside them. “That was amazing.” Their grin still stretched from ear to ear. “I can’t believe I got to practice with real live baseball players. They were all so nice to me, too.”
“Why wouldn’t they be?” Mel asked.
Denny rolled their eyes. “To them I’m just a kid. Who won’t ever have a chance at playing at their level.”
“Says who? They were all a kid like you at one time.”
“They were never considered a girl, though.”
“Caleb was. He’s here. He’s even played with their Major league team. No one’s stopping him.”
“That’s different.” Mel opened their mouth to argue, but Denny continued on. “He is a man. Even if he had to fight to be able to use that label, he still wanted it. I don’t want all that. I just want to be me, and I want to play ball. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do both of those things.”
Mel didn’t know what to say to that, either. Sure things were changing, but not that fast. There were people who kept forcing that progress back a few steps. They didn’t know if they’d ever get there for good. Change definitely had to happen.
“You should be able to,” Mel said. “Right now, though, how about you enjoy being a teenager. And explain to me what’s going on out there.”
Denny rolled their eyes, again, but there was a smile on their face. “Why isn’t Rhys out here explaining that? Where did he go?”
“He had to meet with someone about the fact he probably has ADHD like us, and just like our parents no one got him the help he needed when he was younger.” Sonia turned a page so fast she almost ripped it. “Because apparently he just had to try harder too. Like that ever works.”
Denny kicked their feet up on the seat in front of them. “I mean, he still turned out pretty great. Maybe there’s some hope for us.”
Mel gave Denny a quick hug and squeezed Sonia’s knee. “There’s always hope. I haven’t given up on Mom and Dad yet.” Until Mel got through to them, they’d do what they could to make things easier for their siblings.
Maybe they could help Rhys as well. If he would let them.
Mel had no clue what was going on out on the field. Some of the players were swinging bats. Others were throwing balls, but they weren’t set up like a usual game.
They watched as Rhys’s friend, Alfie if they remembered correctly, went to field a ball then winced. The coach called him over, but they were too far away for Mel to hear any of what either of the men said.
Alfie’s shoulders slumped, and he headed toward the dugout. Next to Mel, Denny started waving their arms. “What are you doing?” Mel asked them.
Denny didn’t answer, just kept up their gestures until Alfie walked around the edge of the dugout and up the steps to lean against the railing in front of their seats.
“Is there something I can help you with?” he asked.
Mel felt the tension drain out of Denny at his question.
“I thought you’d speak to us in Spanish.
Some people believe just because our last name is Garcia, we should be fluent.
Our parents didn’t want us to learn. Dad’s mom came here when she was pregnant and wanted him to assimilate.
Mom’s parents praised him for acting so white, as if that’s such a good thing. ”
“Denny.” Mel nearly groaned. “I’m sure he doesn’t want to know our whole family history.”
“Right, sorry,” Denny said, a slight flush to their cheeks. “Words just dump out of my mouth sometimes. I should work on that.”
“There is no need,” Alfie said. “You should not have to change yourself to be palatable for other people. I did make that mistake when Nik joined our team last year. His situation was not quite the same, but he was also disconnected from that part of his heritage. Is that what you wished to discuss with me?”
Denny shook their head. “Sorry, I got distracted. You’re Rhys’s best friend, right? That’s what they say on social media.”
Alfie cleared his throat but it didn’t help ease the thickness in his voice when he said, “Sí. We are good friends. He deemed it so from the moment we were both traded here, only days apart.”
Mel couldn’t help but snort. “Sounds like something he’d do.”
Alfie didn’t glance over at them, but something shifted in his stance. They didn’t know him well enough to be sure of that. They could have just imagined it.
“Then, why were you avoiding him all day today?” Denny demanded. “If he’s your friend shouldn’t you want to spend time with him?”
Alfie didn’t respond right away, and Mel thought his cheeks darkened. They hoped he wasn’t angry at Denny for the question. Mel couldn’t help but wonder the same. Except Rhys told them Alfie hadn’t been talking to him even before today. That something happened, and then Alfie shut him out.
“Denny,” Mel said, “that’s really not our business. Sometimes friends have disagreements and misunderstandings. Even if they should talk to their friends—“ They looked at Alfie then and caught his wince—“and not allow them to think they’ve screwed up a friendship, it’s not always as easy as that.”
Alfie glanced away, but Mel thought maybe they’d gotten their point across. For Rhys’s sake, they certainly hoped so.