Page 5 of The Yips

My phone dinged again.

Madre: Sammy…

Me: Yes?

Madre: Everything okay with your arm?

Me: No physical issue at all.

She’d seen the game, too, and her first instinct was to ensure I was okay, not criticize me. Another reason I didn’t feel bad for blocking my father from contacting me. In an emergency, Monica would contact me. Lectures on a bad outing did not constitute a reason to make emergency contact.

Madre: Good. Just checking. I love you.

Me: Love you too.

Gramps met me at one of my favorite Italian restaurants. He was in town through tomorrow and then headed back to New Jersey. We planned to catch up again in another month when I played in New York. He had been disappointed that I chose Boston, but not because he wanted me to relive myfather’s legacy. He hoped that if I settled in New York, he’d be able to spend more time with me.

“I lost the chain,” I confessed as the waitress set our meals in front of us.

“What chain?” he asked in confusion as he tore off a piece of bread and used it to mop up the red sauce from his pasta dish.

“The lucky one. The one you gave me when I was twelve,” I answered, wondering why he didn’t immediately remember something so valuable.

“Hold up, Sammy. Do you think that had anything to do with tonight’s start?” He asked as he realized what chain was missing.

“Uh, I’ve never played like that before. Ever. I don’t know what to attribute it to.”

“You can attribute that to having a bad day. Plain and simple. You may have been blessed so far with mostly good days, Sam. But all ball players have bad games.”

“I don’t have bad days.” I ran my hands through my hair in frustration, unable to get the game's flashbacks out of my head.

“Cut the shit, you’re starting to sound like your father. If you want to be a robot, then yes, never having a bad day is possible. Every human on the planet has a shitty day, and it’s not because they lost some lucky charm. If I’d known you’d cling to that thing all these years later, I never would have given it to you. Next thing you know, you’ll start eating fried chicken before every start,” he said, referring to a former player who was superstitious and ate the same meal before each game.

Gramps swirled the red wine in his glass and held it to the light before sipping it. When I ordered a bourbon neat, his derision held me to only one drink that night. My fatherwas an alcoholic, something that Gramps had always attributed to the pressures of the game. I used to blame the brokenness in my dad on the booze, but I think he was broken before he started drinking, and he looked to it as a fix. Having a bourbon to lick my wounds hit a bit too close to home.

“You got five days to fix your head, forget what happened today, and show up fresh.”

“I think I know just the thing.” Luna could be just the right distraction to take my mind off of baseball.

“Whatever you do, don’t get her pregnant.” Gramps knew me well enough not to ask what my stress relief was; Luna and I had a year-long friendship with a benefits situation but had been friends for decades. If she were free, she’d be waiting outside my house for me.

When Gramps got up to use the restroom, I snuck in, paid the bill, and texted Luna.

Me: Luna – it’s Sam. New phone number. Free tonight?

Luna: Ooh, I can be. Your place?

Me: I’ll be back in 45 minutes.

Luna: See you then.

CHAPTER 7

Kelsey

Islept later than planned; the exhaustion of the night before set in hard, and I wouldn’t have time to drive for Uber before Kylie’s flight landed. Instead of going alone to the airport, I woke Dad and planned to send him home after I installed Crew’s car seat in my car. While clicking the strap into the latch, I found a chain with a horseshoe charm on it. Looks like one of my Uber rides left it behind. I hadn’t seen a report for a lost item, but I dropped it into the small zip pouch of my purse and finished installing the car seat.

I parked in the garage and planned to surprise Kylie by meeting her at the arrival terminal instead of circling in my car. I didn’t want Crew to be asleep in his car seat the first time she met him. I strapped on my baby carrier and situated him so he was facing out. He had become more interested in the outside world and loved interacting with the people we passed on the street or in stores. I hoped he greeted Kylie with one of his big, beautiful smiles.

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