Page 13 of An Overdue Match
Tai didn’t answer. The question seemed rhetorical, and he figured Darla was going to share either way. That she needed to.
“This”—she waved her hand to indicate the artwork he was applying to her head. “It may look like I’m brave, but inside I’m really scared.”
Tai lowered the henna bag and walked around to face Darla once again. Her chin wobbled in a show of vulnerability. He picked up her hand and ran a thumb along her knuckles. “Bravery isn’t the absence of fear.”
“No?” Her eyes watered. “What is it then?”
He squeezed her fingers. “Bravery is just the voice telling fear he can’t win today.”
Darla took in a deep breath and nodded once, resolution hardening the set of her jaw. “Not today.”
Tai let go of her hand but didn’t resume the tattoo. It wasn’t his place, but ... “Miss Darla, do you have someone going with you to chemo? If not, I could—”
Darla shook her head as she managed a trembling smile.“Oh, honey, does this town have you pegged wrong. You don’t have a single bad bone in your body.”
“I don’t know about that.” He winked at her, cloaking himself in the outward appearance of how he knew many still saw him. The shadow of teenage rebellion and poor decisions was long.
“Mm-hmm.” She looked unconvinced. “But don’t worry about me. My sweet husband will be by my side.”
“Good.”
He finished the tattoo, then let it dry for thirty minutes. To get the best color, he mixed lemon juice and sugar and applied it to the design with a cotton ball, wrapping Darla’s head with plastic wrap to keep the henna paste safe as she let it set into her skin.
“Keep this on until tomorrow. The paste will flake off after you remove the wrap. If the color isn’t what you expected right away, don’t worry. It takes a little while for the dye to darken in color on your skin. Keep away from water and soap for at least twenty-four hours, and if you need to use a moisturizer, then coconut oil or olive oil will work better for the longevity of your tattoo than conventional moisturizers or creams.”
Darla stood. “Thank you so much. You don’t know what this means to me.” She gave him a hug, then picked up her discarded wig.
Seeing the long strands of synthetic hair immediately made Tai think of a certain librarian. What exactly was Evangeline Kelly’s story?
7
“Stavors likes to swing left, so get ready, Davis.” Burke, Tai’s teammate, warned as a man with the build of a steam train stepped up to home plate, a metal bat resting on his shoulder.
Tai bent at the knees, his fingers flexing in his leather glove. The sun warmed his back, and the scent of fresh-cut grass attested to the beginning of spring, as did the hints of blue along the fence line where the landscapers missed Weedwacking the first crocuses of the year.
Dalton Matthews wound up on the mound, brought his arm behind his head, then let the ball fly from his hand like David’s stone from a slingshot. Hopefully his fastball would make the Goliath of a batter fall after three strikes.
Stavors swung.
Crack!
The ball lifted into the sky like a rocket. To the left, just as Burke predicted. Tai squinted, thankful the sun was behind him, and calculated the trajectory.
“I got it!” he called as he sprinted backward, afraid that the left fielder would collide with him and they’d lose an easy play. He brought his glove up, cradled his other hand behind the worn leather, and closed his glove around the catch.
His teammates whooped as they jogged to the dugout. That made the third out. They were now heading into the ninth and last inning. It would be nice if they could add a few more runs to the scoreboard, but as long as they didn’t allow the other team any, they’d still win the game.
A couple of his teammates slapped him on the back as they passed him to take a seat at the long bench under the lean-to that served as the dugout. He grabbed his water bottle and squirted a long spray into his mouth.
“Okay, Burke, you’re up first. Matthews, you’re on deck.” Pepé was the team’s unofficial manager, coach, and captain. Really, he was the one who filled out the paperwork and submitted it to the county. Plus, he really liked a clipboard.
A sharp whistle came from the bleachers as Burke walked out onto the field. His wife never missed a game and had the enthusiasm of a Little League mom.
Tai scanned the risers behind home plate. Sure enough, a petite woman decked out in their team colors stood from the top, waving a pair of pom-poms in the air. A familiar bent head caught his attention. If Tai hadn’t recognized her by the hair that had captivated his curiosity more than he cared to admit, then the T-shirt sporting a Brachiosaurus carrying a huge tower of books the height of its long neck would pinpoint her identity in a second.
What was Evangeline doing at the game?
A stack of papers rested on top of her thighs, and in one of her hands were three highlighters of different colors. She riffled through the papers, pulling one out and setting it on top. With her teeth, she uncapped one of the highlighters, then made some marks on the paper.
