Page 30 of Curveball

I sigh, as I often do when her name comes up. “She’s a handful, as always.”

He lets out a laugh. “I get a kick out of her.”

“You wouldn’t if she was your mother.”

“She was always there for you in her own special way. What about your father? I’ve never heard anything about him.”

“Honestly, Quincy, I’m not convinced she knows who it is. You saw how she was always sleeping around. I tried for years to pry information from her, but I’ve never once had any question answered.” I look down at my body. “I assume he was a big guy. That’s about all I know. I don’t even have a name.”

“You could do a little investigatory work. There are professionals who could probably get you all the answers.”

“That shit isn’t cheap. I can’t afford it.”

“I’ll pay for it.”

“No. I don’t want your money. Stop offering it. It makes me uncomfortable.”

“Half of mine is yours, wife.”

I smile. “You should have had me sign a prenup, Abbott. I could take your ass to the cleaners.”

He lets out a laugh. “But you won’t. Feel free though. I’d happily give it to you. It’s stupid how much they pay us.”

I nod. “Consider yourself lucky.”

“I do. I should send Arizona money.”

“Ask her first. She’s a prideful person. She might not want a handout.”

“We’ll see about that.” He nods toward the television. “Let’s watch a movie.”

“How about T—"

“Don’t even think about sayingTop Gun. Anything else. I have nightmares about that movie. You and Arizona must have watched it ten thousand times as kids.”

I giggle. “When he makes a fool of himself singing ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling,’ it’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” I clutch my heart. “He has a terrible voice but did it for her.”

He rolls his eyes. “Pick. Something. Else. Anything. Else. That scene gives me a nervous tic.”

“Fine, Mr. Bossy Pants.Field of Dreams?” I remember that was his favorite movie as a kid.

He enthusiastically nods. “Deal.”

I fiddle with the remote and turn on the sweet baseball movie.

At some point he turns to me. “Did you know that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are in this movie as extras? They were kids when it was filmed.”

“I didn’t know that. Is that one of your random, fun facts?”

He smiles. “It is. I brought our random fact thing to my team. One of the guys told us that one. I had no idea.”

“I learned a lot at your family dinners.”

“Tell me some of your favorites?”

“Hmm. Oh, I think it was Arizona who researched this fact. One in eighteen people have a third nipple. Every time I’m on a new team or start a new class, I look around and wonder which person there has a third nipple.” I giggle. “Arizona and Iused to make a game of it during classes we had together. Trying to guess who it was.”

He gives me a knowing smirk. “I do the same thing.”

---