Page 62 of The Battery
“You comin’, Spartan?” one of the EMTs asked. I got in. They hit the sirens and lights, and off we went.
*
The stillness of a mostly empty waiting room felt at odds with the mounting terror in my chest. I had the willpower of a Titan, but even this put me to the test. I sat in one of the oversizedchairs in a bizarre, kaleidoscopic pattern of black, turquoise, and magenta. I alternated bouncing my left knee, then the right while my hands white-knuckled my thighs. I could smell my own stink, still wearing my uniform covered in dirt and sweat. I didn’t even have my phone.
No one came out to give me an update. Twice I went to the front desk to ask, to which the attendant politely asked me to be patient. I passed the time by watching reruns of an old sit-com on the television mounted in the corner. Or reading two-year-old magazines. Or finishing a crossword puzzle someone had left behind.
I was the king of compartmentalizing. Separating one emotion from another. And yet, there I sat, a jumbled mess, not knowing which direction to think.
So, imagine my surprise when two women slow walked into the waiting room clutching each other. One short, the other shorter, both in stretch jeans. One wore a blue blouse, the other a white t-shirt. After the one in blue spoke with the attendant, the lady in white did a double take. She elbowed the other lady in blue, whose head snapped toward me. Like she-wolves targeting their prey, the ladies crossed the waiting room and split apart to sit on either side of me.
“You’re Cody’s teammate? You’re that transfer kid, right?” the one in blue asked. I must have given her a look, because she added, “I’m Ronda.”
“Carrie,” said the one in white.
“We’re Cody’s moms.”
At that, my brow lifted. I had no idea…
More movement. Another woman entered the waiting room. She spotted Ronda and Carrie and came over.
“That’s Becky,” Ronda said.
Becky, in a long skirt and long-sleeved shirt, waved at me and sat beside Carrie. “Hello. I’m Cody’s mom. You must be oneof his teammates,” she said as she pointedly looked me up and down. “I think I saw you on the replays.”
I blinked. Three… mothers?What?
“Becky,” Ronda said, “Sherrie said she’ll be here in two more hours. We just texted her that we arrived.”
Becky nodded. “I talked to Yolanda on the way in. She’s coming with her husband. They should be here in an hour.”
Carrie had been on her phone this whole time. She lowered it and looked at me. “Is your name Leo?”
“Yes,” I said after a delayed minute of confusion. Were Sherrie and Yolanda…othermoms?
“Oh,” Ronda said enthusiastically. “Youdolook like his type.”
My mouth dropped open. Becky, who had been seated next to Carrie, reached over and slapped my knee. “Shush, Ronda. Leo, don’t worry. We’ve all raised enough shy kids in our day to fill a book. Mom code. We don’t tell.”
I continued to stare in disbelief and wonder. Who the hell were these women?
“You must have come in with Cody,” Becky continued. “So, what do we know so far?”
As if on cue, a petite woman wearing sky blue scrubs walked into the waiting room. “Leo?”
The three women stood before I did and crowded the nurse. “We’re his moms,” one of them said.
“Well, foster moms,” another corrected.
“Same difference,” a third said. Their backs were to me, I hadn’t quite learned their voices yet.
Foster.I was starting to piece things together…
And felt a stab of more regret. I had no idea Cody had a foster family. Families, rather. I had dominated our conversations with my resilient silence, as if blockading my own past did the same for his.
Everything needs to change, I realized as I stood and towered behind the three women.
“We’re all here together,” I said and put my arms out to rest my hands on their shoulders. “Two more on the way. What do we know so far?”
