Page 106 of True Honey
“They didn’t need me,” I lied.
“Hmm,” she hummed, clearly questioning the legitimacy of my statement. She tapped her hand to the top of mine and I released her gently. “What actually happened?” She asked.
“I blew up on Dean.” I stepped back and closed my eyes, feeling her eyes on me helped to slow my racing heart. “There’s so much happening and he did something stupid… it might cost them everything.”
“Sounds exhausting,” she offered with a gentleness I wasn’texpecting.
“It is… I am.”
“How about a drive?” She suggested next and I opened my eyes to take her in.
“You know what… yeah.” I nodded. “Where’s Auggie?”
”In his room with Red,” she said, looking confused.
“Get him too, we can steal the fastback,” I declared, pushing a smile on my face for her. She stared at me for a second, skeptical but wandered away to get August moving. We were halfway to Pittsburgh when she finally questioned what the hell we were doing.
“Going to a Reds game,” I said, turning off the highway. August snorted at his mother's expression from the backseat.
“Are you serious? I said drive, Silas. Not a road trip,” Drew gasped as she took in the signs.
“Stadium is closed tomorrow, neither of us work and Harbor was too loud,” I said with a groan. The responsibilities that fester there are suffocating me, one at a time.I can’t breathe.“There was no reason we couldn’t.”
“None of us brought clothes Silas,” she reminded me.
“This is my selfish act for the day,” I said and that was all it took for her to understand.
She went quiet but her eyes spoke a hundred different concerned words. For the first time in months I felt bad for pulling her into all of this, regret stung like a hundred paper cuts. I opened my mouth to say something, to apologize maybe but she looked at August in the backseat and smiled. Warmth blistered at the edges of my frustrated thoughts, consuming the shadows in bright light.
It would be easy enough to go back to being a mess later, for now I was going to forget it all. I pulled us into the Pittsburgh stadium an hour later, and with only ten minutes to spare before first pitch. August was the first out of the car, his excitement was infectious. For a kid that had never shown interest in baseball he sure had started to care a lot more lately.
I bought him a Reds jersey against my better judgment and got Drew a cute white Pittsburgh hat that fit down over her head perfectly. I had to resist any sort of physical contact and even though August had a clue of what was happening. I wasn’t going to go against Drew’s wishes until she could find a way to have the conversation with him herself.
Until then, I sat next to her in the middle of a sea of pirate jerseys with my hand pressed against her thigh, hidden out of August’s sight and soaked in one evening of feelingnormal. No one here knew who I was, no one cared. The air smelled like hotdogs, peanuts and stale beer. Drew kept looking over at me as the game went on but never said anything about my mood.
“He’ll throw a cutter,” I said to August who was grinning ear to ear with a bundle of french fries between his teeth.
“How do you know?” He asked in grumbled English.
“Singer sinks into them sometimes to throw off the batter, he throws a lot of sliders and sinkers. Changing up his routine keeps people on their toes and usually results in an easy out,” I said, and watched the field.
Drew’s fingers tickled against my side in approval and I relaxed against the feeling of her as Singer threw the pitch and the ump called the out.
“You’re good at that,” August said, sipping on a drink bigger than his head.
“It’s my job,” I laughed.
“I thought you were a doctor,” he snipped.
“I am, but I’ve spent a lot of time watching baseball. Once you know how a person operates it’s not hard to figure out their next move.” I explained. “Players are creatures of habit, they’re always going to resort back to what they know.”
“I like stars better,” August grumbled. “Less complicated.”
“Yeah, you’re right, Kid.” I agreed.
Drew snorted at his nonchalant response and leaned on her elbow into my space as she watched the game. With August’s eyes on the game I used the opportunity to kiss her on the head and inhale her into my lungs momentarily. I wasn’t sure I could ever thank her for the day, she had no idea how much her willingness to just go meant today. She waited patiently through every inning and when the game was done I took us for dinner.
She argued when I suggested staying in a hotel overnight but she was vetoed by August who found out about the two water slides at the pool. Perched on the edge of the bed she flipped through the pay-per view movies mindlessly as he changed into a swimsuit we’d bought him on the way over. She gave him a list of rules and I waited patiently on the other side of the room but as soon as August was out the door, I curled around her and pressed my lips to her neck.
