Page 21 of True Honey
August stared up at me and for the first time in weeks I saw myself in him. Beneath all the anger and frustration, the resentment, there was a hidden compartment of sadness, grief and a desperate need for love.
“I wouldn’t be happy there, Mom. Please don’t send me back, don’t…” He said and his words were strangled with his unchecked emotions.
I let out my own shaky breath, brushing his wet hair back from his face and pulled him in tight for a hug. I stared at the wall, my heart in my throat, trying to find a solution that didn't involve selling my soul. "Okay, okay," I rasped, squeezing him a tad tighter, "I won't."
SHORE
“Let me see,” I demanded, kneeling beside Josh. His elbow was sore, limiting his range of motion when he pitched.
He grumbled something under his breath and I snapped at him again, “I’m not asking, let me see.”
Arlo watched cautiously, one eye on us on the bench and the other on the field where Cael took the first swing of the last inning. We needed Josh, every game depended on him being out on the mound but as he pulled the compression sleeve back from his wrist and chucked it aside I realized he’d been letting us push him too hard.
“Fuck sakes,” I whispered.
The muscle in his arm had swollen, and there was a nasty bruise that faded out over his skin around his elbow up into the ditch of his arm on the top side. He’d been trying to deal with it on his own.
“Josh,” I growled. His eyes were focused on the field as Cael made contact with the ball and it was crushed into the outfield well past the barriers and into the stands behind it. “You shouldn’t be playing every fucking game. He shouldn’t be doing this!” My anger turned on Nicholas.
“That’s what we needed,” he said, completely ignoring my concerned rage.
“What we need…” I pressed on his bruise and watched his eyes go dark with pain. His jaw ticked as he turned to look back at me finally. “…Is a healthy pitcher and this is not it. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Because it’s fine. I can get through the next three games, and if we win this series, we get a bye week. You can fuss over it then.” Josh reached for the sleeve again but I stopped him.
“Three more games? You’ve maybe got half an inning left before this turns into something permanent,” I warned.
“Drop the big brother bullshit,” he scoffed and pushed my hand away.
“This is ‘I’m a doctor and you’re not’,bullshit.” I growled.
Dean was hovering and laughed at the joke making us both turn to scowl at him causing him to go dead silent. “Sometimes I forget you’re brothers and then you do that…” He backed away slowly leaving space for Coach to come in.
“Give me the options,” he said as he pulled off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “Mitchell, deck!” He hollered before I could say anything.
“He needs a break,” I said, as Ella shuffled closer to hear the conversation. “If he keeps playing beyond today, he’s going to seriously hurt himself and he’ll be done for the season. You’re working him too hard!” I snapped at Nick who was speaking in hushed tones with Reyes.
“Piece of shit,” I grumbled under my breath and Ella gave me a soft tap on the shoulder.
“Let me tape it, talk to Coach,” she offered and I pushed off my knees to give her space to work.
I stepped to the edge of the dugout with him where Arlo stood and Nick joined the conversation. “Did you know it was that bad?” I probed.
“I had no clue,” Nick said, “he barely talks and when he does it's about baseball.”
“His pitching elbowisbaseball!” I snapped, trying to curb my anger. Out here Josh was just another player. And he wasn’t wrong, Josh would have rather battled through every game than tell me that he was sore and that drove me up the wall for an entirely different reason. I looked over at him, eyes on the game while Ella carefully taped the muscle for some support.
Luckily this game was over, with Cael’s grand slam we were up by three and last to bat. But it only put us up by two in the series, meaning we needed two more wins out of the three we had to play.
“You’re going to have to prep Reyes. There’s no way that Josh plays in these next few games.” I looked away from my brother and scowled.
“He’s going to fight it. Hard,” Nick warned.
“You're the head pitching coach, don’t be a pussy,” Arlo snapped, his glare sharp. Nick groaned.
“I don’t have to put up with this bullshit you know. This fucked up power dynamic, I have a hundred job offers in other cities.” Nick’s hand shook around the clipboard.
“They’d be lucky to have you,” Arlo said, stepping forward, his anger getting the best of him. Coach pressed a hand to Arlo’s chest with an icy glare, and Arlo’s rage fizzled beneath the surface. They’d been at each other’s throats more often lately, and I couldn’t figure out why.. Maybe it was because I was failing to be a buffer between them but I just didn’t have the time to manage their discontent.
