Page 110 of The Friend Scheme
“And don’t you dare drink and drive. If you get wasted, call an Uber, or me, and I’ll come pick you up. Anytime, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks. Well, see ya.”
“Have fun.”
I carry the beer outside, where the car I ordered is already waiting. The window slides down.
“Matt, right?” asks the driver.
I nod and get in the car.
Jason is waiting for me in the parking lot of the stadium.
He’s leaning against a fence. Beside him is a six-pack of beer, a baseball bat, a black mesh bag filled with baseballs, and a tee.
I want to take a snapshot of him. American boy, in his element. I know there’s a lot more than that going on with him, but that’s what he looks like right now. A corn-fed golden boy.
I thank the driver, then grab the beers and climb out.
“Hey,” he says. “You brought refreshments?”
I kick the door shut. “Luke gave ’em to me.”
“Nice.”
I point at the stuff. “We’re going to play baseball?”
“Not exactly. We’re just going to hit a few balls. It’ll be fun, trust me.”
“Those sound like famous last words.”
He laughs. “They sure do.”
We talk up to the front gate. The entire area is surrounded by a chain-link fence. It probably wouldn’t be that hard to climb over, so I wonder if that’s what he’s got in mind. But he pulls a key from his pocket and opens up the padlock. He pushes on the gate, and it swings open, the metal screeching.
“You have a key?” I ask.
“Yeah, man.”
“How?”
“Coach gave it to me. He wanted me to practice here whenever I have free time.”
“You come here?”
“I do, yeah.”
“By yourself?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Isn’t that lonely?”
He shrugs. “Tonight it’s not.”
We reach the diamond, and he puts the tee down. It’s nearly a full moon, so the stadium is pretty bright, even though the spotlights are dark. The stars glow. It feels kind of epic for the two of us to be alone in such a massive space.
I hand Jason a beer, and then I take one. We crack them open.
