Page 134 of Easy Out

Our names haunted us in a way.

We didn’t want that for our kids.

We didn’t want them to have a name they felt obligated to live up to like Hart.

Or a name that reminded them of the past like mine.

Every day of each pregnancy we dropped names we liked into a jar. After the child was born, we drew two pieces of paper at random in the hospital.

It worked like a charm. We’ve loved every name. Even Xavier Wyatt Hart. I don’t know how Wyatt managed to pull that off. He must have dropped his name in the jar every time he was in town. Little sneak.

The sideline reporter starts speaking, quieting the crowd. She’s explaining why all the kids are on the field and introduces Hart. Sylvie grabs my hand when the camera focuses back on my husband.

“You and your wife do a lot for the local community. Tell us how it all started.”

“For those of you who don’t know, I met my wife in college. We were partnered together on an assignment in one of our journalism classes.” My dad bumps his shoulder with mine. “We spent weeks asking each other questions and getting to know each other just to turn it into an article worthy of a good grade.

“My article told the story of a woman with a big heart and more strength in her pinky than I have swinging a bat.” That makes the crowd roar with laughter.

“My wife, Lauren, fights hard for what she believes in and for the people she loves.” I glance at Manny. We exchange knowing smiles. God, I love that kid. “She loves so many people we decided to start the Hand & Hart Foundation.

“Together along with the help of all of these people.” Hart gestures toward a few players from the Alabama Blazers Football Team and Charlie. “We are developing one of the biggest outreach programs in the state.”

Hart continues to share what the Hand & Hart Foundation is doing for youth sports. That’s our focus today. We do a lot of other things including helping existing shelters and food banks. This year we are opening our first recreational center.

We started small. I went back to Royal Oaks first. We repaired trailers, upgraded furniture, found residents jobs, and childcare. We filled every need we could until our resources ran out.

Hart casually told a teammate what we were doing. Next thing he knew, there was a check in his hand. Enough money to fill all the food banks in the county. Word spread and the donations kept pouring in. The whole Mavericks organization supported our efforts. We started doing small charity events with the help of their PR people.

It wasn’t until after Francisco was born that we started our foundation. I quit working and poured everything into Hand & Hart full time.

Hart gave me my dream.

He gave me my family.

He gave me him.

His handsome face flashes on the jumbotron. His eyes are animated as he speaks about the kids we are helping.

I glance around the stadium. Over forty thousand people hang on his every word. Some women have tears in their eyes.

The Easy Out.

That was the title of my paper I wrote on Hart all those years ago. He told me about the term in one of my many baseball lessons. Players use it when they think a batter isn’t going to do well or maybe a base runner is slow and will be easy to tag.

Hart explained that you could never underestimate the easy out. They’ll always surprise you.

In my article, I wrote about man who may not say much but would go above and beyond protecting the people he loves.

I wrote about a man who shouldn’t be underestimated.

I wrote about a baseball player who was meant for more.

In a way, Hart has always been my easy out. I thought I would get my grade and walk away from him.

He surprised me at every turn.

“Mamá. Mamá. Mamá. Look we on the teeveeeee!” Cisco is waving excitedly at himself and the crowd. The crowd who are in hysterics watching Xavier make duck lip and scary monster faces at the camera.

---