Austin James: Playing For His Life (Entry 39)
The trunk to the Galaxie slammed with a heavy thud. The duffel bag and both suitcases fit easily, and, as Austin set a cooler with some drinks and snacks on the passenger seat, he realized the big inside of the Galaxie, on this very long trip, would be a bit lonely.
He wanted to get out early, ahead of a snowstorm said to be gaining on the area, and he hoped to spend the night in North Carolina. It was 500-plus miles, so he was sure he could do it. But he didn’t want to be exhausted when he got there and, frankly, he just wanted to get going.
Joseph and Kara were leaving today as well, a late morning flight. They wished him luck, Joseph locking Austin in a big bear hug. “Keep your head on right and you’ll be fine,” Joseph told him. Austin knew what he meant…it wasn’t a fear of Austin getting caught up in being a ballplayer, but that he didn’t want him getting too high or, more precisely, too low, with whatever happened in Florida.
His mother came close, but didn’t cry as Austin was sure she would. She didn’t want to let go of their hug, didn’t want to say goodbye, so she just held him. “We’re just a call away, always,” she said softly. “I know, Mom.” he replied, squeezing her in return before she let him loose.
Philip didn’t know exactly what to say. He wanted to say something profound, but he didn’t want a drawn out goodbye. But he knew if he tried to act like he wasn’t feeling as he was, and if he didn’t say so, he’d regret it. They stood next to the car, Philip leaning on top of the hood as Austin shuffled his feet.
“I left some gas money in the glovebox,” Philip said. “It’s not much, but it should get you there.”
“Thanks,” Austin replied softly.
The two stood silently, the others watching them with a flurry of mixed emotions, sad knowing how hard their goodbye was, but finding humor in the two men desperately wanting to have a full-blown man-cry but not wanting to be the first to initiate it. So instead they stood there, awkwardly, a feeling that, until recent months, they never experienced with each other.
As he often did, Philip caught himself in his behavior and determined to right the ship. He put his hand on the back of Austin’s neck, massaging it firmly. “You’re gonna do great, Dukes,” he said. “I’m sure of it.”
“You know what, Dad,” Austin replied. “So am I. It’s the only way I can pay you back.”
Philip laughed unintentionally. “You surely don’t need to pay me back for anything,” he said.
“You’re why I’m here, Dad. Why I have this opportunity.”
“Well, your mother had something to do with it too,” Philip replied, eliciting a chuckle and blush from his youngest son.
“You know what I mean.”
“I do, son,” Philip said. “But YOU are why you’re here. And YOU are why you’ll go wherever you end up.”
The two looked at each other for the first time in the discussion.
“Through your life, Austin, we will always be behind you or beside you, to catch you if you slip or walk with you into whatever awaits,” his father said. “But we will never, EVER, walk ahead of you. You don’t need us to, and I can’t remember a time when you did.”
Austin hugged his father tight, having welled up sufficiently now. Philip reciprocated both the hug and the tears.
“I love you, Dad,” Austin said, muffled by his father’s shoulder.
“I love you, too, son,” Philip replied. “And I completely stole that ‘walk behind you’ line from your mother.”
The two laughed heartily as Margaret, Joseph and Kara came closer again for one last group hug.
“I’ll call when I stop tonight,” Austin said, walking around the Galaxie and opening the driver’s side door.
He got in, adjusted the mirrors and started the car. With a smile, a wave and a deep, deep sigh, he was ready…and he was gone.
Austin James: Playing For His Life (Baseball
Fiction) 