Page 32 of The Battery
Those words wanted to break me.Iwanted to break. But I held on. “How you holdin’ up, old man?”
“Oh, just peachy,” he said and turned off his tablet. “Feeling up for a walk?”
I looked out the window. It was a beautiful July morning. The temperature hadn’t jumped too high yet, though I didn’t think he’d mind that. “Absolutely. Let’s go.”
“Good. Now, I ain’t up for talkin’ too much, so you’re gonna have to do that.”
“Oh yeah? Because I’m such a chatty guy, right?”
I put his tablet on the nightstand and got the walker ready. He said, “You know, you and your brother used to gab all night. Your dad used to laugh about it. Said you guys never shut up.”
“Archie always started it,” I said as I pulled aside his covers and helped slide his feet into indoor/outdoor slippers. “He couldget a wall to talk back to him, I swear.” Uncle Andy stood and got a good grip on the handles of the walker.
“Yeah, he got that from your mother.” He stretched and jiggled his legs. “Okay, kiddo, let’s go.” As I led him toward the door, he said, “So. Tell me about thisteammateMaribel says is over all the time…”
*
The knuckleball punched my glove with a satisfyingsmack. I dropped the ball, adjusted my stance, and moved closer to the pretend plate we had designated by a square of nine baseballs. Cody already had another ball in his hand and threw a near exact replica of the first. The ball sailed and struck the same spot with another rewardingsmack.
Cody’s relentless and repeatedly accurate throwing kept my focus sharpened. Too many times I let my mind wander as I thought about life without my uncle. I’d be the only family member left. The solo Papadopoulos who carried a legacy that should have been shared with scores of relatives.
Just me, I thought.Just me.
Cody got in another perfect throw. I dropped the ball, held up my hand for him to halt. He was already dipping his hand into the bucket beside him. I stood and loosened up my knees. “How’s the arm?”
“Good,” he shouted back at me.
I spotted the lie immediately. “Let’s take a break.”
“Aw, c’mon, Leo, I was just starting to hit my stride.”
I pulled off my mitt and walked toward him. “We can only do these in short bursts. The whole point is to end with consistency, not failure.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. I got at least another ten minutes in me. I mean, I could probably shorten to five… hey,” Cody said, then tapped my chest with his glove. “What’s up? Everything okay? Yourbroodingis deeper than usual.”
“I don’t want you to overdo it,” I said, blatantly ignoring his question regarding my well-being. “I’m calling it. You should be resting today anyway. Why don’t you go drop the shoulder in the hot tub for a while.”
He had grown adept at rolling with my avoidance tactics. If he was disappointed I wouldn’t budge, it didn’t show. Ever since his breakthrough, a perpetual happiness emanated from the man. I would call it infectious if I allowed myself to care.
“Yessir,” he said and lifted the bucket of balls. “Still hush-hush on this thing between us, right?”
“What?” I barked as a stab of fear hit me.
“The knuckleball practice, Leo. Jeez.”
“Yes. The pitching staff would have a conniption if they knew.”
Cody jiggled the bucket of balls. “Perfect. Hey, what are you up to tonight?”
“Resting up. Harrisburg is gonna be tough.”
“Wanna come over tonight?” I froze at the question. To date, everything had been by my invitation. My discretion. “Freddie is outta town at his girlfriend’s. He’s got some equipment in the backyard. We can maybe practice a little more? Thought it’d be nice to switch things up.”
I felt a trap. Not sure why, but something seemed off about this invitation. I didn’t like that he took the initiative here. “I dunno,” I said.
“C’mon,” he insisted. “It’ll be good. I mean, no pool or hot tub. So I understand why…”
Silence. In the distance, the crack of a batter at practice. We both turned our heads to track a ball to left field instead of where we were, at center.
