Page 52 of Home Field Advantage
Mitch
Good luck tonight, Coach.
Tyler
Oh, that’s right. He’s coaching the kids tonight. Fuck yeah.
Tyler
Don’t show them my text. It has a curse word.
No shit.
Tyler
Don’t say that in front of them.
Mitch
Ty, respectfully, shut the fuck up. Hope you have a great practice, Dallas.
Tyler
Anyway, don’t forget to keep us updated.
Thank you, guys. Heading in now.
“I’m so glad you asked me to tag along.”
“Tucker, you invited yourself.” I scoff.
“But if I didn’t, you’d still want me here. For moral support and all.”
Sage tugs at my arm. “What’s moral support?”
“It’s—”
“Encouragement,” Tucker chimes in. “In case your dad needs a reminder that he’s the best.”
“Oh, I can do that!” Sage jumps up and down. “I got all the moral support.”
We all laugh as we enter the doors of the elementary school gym. The town was eager to get this started after I offered, and told us we could use the gym for some indoor practices after school while we wait for the weather to warm up. Everyone was just as adamant as Nan and Tucker about practicing in the cold, and they all claimed to be used to it. I’m not, though.
Since it’s the first practice, I thought inside would be best anyway for some basic introductions, a little game of catch, and learn how to swing a bat.
I don’t know a thing about the athletic abilities of these kids.
What the hell am I even doing here?
Taking in the space, it’s much larger than I expected for an elementary school. The entire area is about two basketball courts wide, with bleachers retracted against every wall. I try to suppress my laugh when I see a massive bulldog painted on one of the walls with the wordsBluestone Lakes Bulldogswritten under it. I never would have expected the school to have a bulldog as a mascot. Then again, I don’t know what I expected.
My thoughts trail to Poppy—the way they always do lately. The last time I was inside this school, it was for a meeting where I found out she was my daughter’s teacher.
Is she still here or has she left for the day?
A small part of me hopes I run into her because I haven’t seen her since the last grocery trip I took with Sage.
Scratch that, a huge part of me hopes I do.
