Austin James: Playing for His Life (Entry 41)
He crossed the North Carolina border at about midnight and stopped at
the first hotel he found. He had considered sleeping in the Galaxie,
which was certainly big enough, but decided he’d use some of the overly
generous contribution from his folks to get himself a good night’s rest.
He called home from the room as he promised he would. His mother answered a blend of excitement and exhaustion.
“You made it down ok?” she asked.
“Yup. The snow made it tough until South Jersey, but then it cleared up. Aside from D.C., I breezed the rest of the way.”
“Joseph and Kara made it home fine,” his mother replied. “They called a few hours ago. He is so proud of you, Austin.”
“I know,” Austin replied. “And I’m proud of him. I hope he knows that. Successful, getting married. He’s doing so well.”
“Your father heard you two on the couch the other night,” his mother said.
Austin laughed for no particular reason. “He didn’t need to apologize
to me for how he felt. Hell, I feel guilty for getting this chance that
he never got. So much of my playing was from idolizing him.”
Austin thanked his mom for the money. “You and Dad didn’t have to do that,” he said softly.
“We know. And we wouldn’t if we couldn’t,” she said, an obvious lie
Austin was not about to call her on. “Let me wake your father.”
“No, mom, it’s OK,” Austin said. “If he’s sleeping, let him sleep.”
“He’ll be livid if I don’t get him up to talk to you,” she said.
Austin was quiet.
“What’s wrong, Austin?” she asked.
“Being away is going to be hard,” he replied. “You and dad, my friends. I have no ties where I’m going.”
“You’ll be making new ones,” his mother said encouragingly. “Your
teammates…you’ll be a ballplayer…girls will fall all over you.”
“Girls…” Austin said, trailing off into a pause.
“You didn’t say goodbye did you,” she said knowingly.
Austin smiled across the line, his mother could still read him like a book.
“How could I? I’m the one who cut the tie.”
“You felt like you needed to.”
“I don’t know what I thought. All I know is this won’t be high school. You and dad won’t be there to watch me.’
“And neither will she, right.”
“Just saw someone who reminded me of her today, reminded me how I
acted.” Austin shook his head at the thought. “And it reminded me how
immature I still am in so many ways.”
“Oh hush,” his mother said. “If we measured maturity by the handling of
matters of the heart everyone would be immature. If this is about your
father and I, we’re here. If this is about Angie, call her and tell her
how you feel. But if this is about you, then you need to believe in
yourself and in what got you where you are. And whether me, your
father, Joseph or Angie say ‘we believe in you’ a million times doesn’t
mean anything if YOU don’t believe in you.”
Austin sighed deeply. “I’m just a bit scared.”
“Good,” she said. “Then you’re just a lot human.”
“I need to sleep. I’m gonna make it the rest of the way tomorrow. I’ll call to check in with dad before I leave.”
“We love you, A.J.,” his mother said sweetly.
“I love you too, Mom. And thanks.”
As he hung up he thought of how his mother was never jealous of his
bond with his father. She encouraged it, and she never felt slighted.
She just said the right things, did the right things, all the time,
every time. She knew him better than he knew himself, a cliche to end
all cliches but completely fitting.
She was simply amazing. And, as usual, she was right. This wasn’t about
his parents, it wasn’t about Angie. It was about him. But Austin was
always great at clearing up other people’s problems, giving them
advice. He could analyze an external situation to its core and map the
path to clarity.
Right now, the only map he had was to Florida. And that would have to do.
Austin James: Playing For His Life (Baseball
Fiction) 