More Than This by McLean, Jay (free ebook reader .TXT) 📕

in children and family law. He takes on all these jobs, like pro bono and shit. He normally works with like, disadvantage kids, or kids that are beaten or neglected. He’s kind of their voice when they don’t have one, you know?” I look at her. “I know what you’re thinking, he’s like this huge, tough guy, right? It doesn’t seem like something he does, but when he gets in the court room, he has the same reaction. He’s intimidating. When he speaks, people listen.

“Anyway, there’s really no money in it for him, in that field, not here anyway. I was too young to really grasp it but I think that his job in Australia was doing the same thing. Only, he was in charge of all these like, junior lawyers who were just starting out and were interested in doing the same thing. The company he worked for got huge financial backing from donations and I think even some from the government. The junior lawyers were mainly volunteers who did it for the love of it, so Dad apparently got paid quite well just to oversee and make sure none of the juniors were breaking any laws.

“That’s awesome, Jake. He sounds like a good guy.”

“He is,” I agree. “Anyway… my dad was always a baseball fan, so when we got there he looked for a baseball team for me to join. If you didn’t know, baseball isn’t really a big thing there. They have like rugby, and cricket, and something called AFL. It’s just another code of football. I actually got into that a bit, but it’s like a full contact sport, no padding, and it’s really rough play. After a few years I was starting to get pretty good at baseball and my dad and coaches noticed. They didn’t really want me getting injured so I had to choose one or the other, I chose baseball.

“When I was about fourteen or so, dad thought that maybe I might be good enough to get into a decent college here, but it was kind of hard to compare my talent there, because there really wasn’t any. So he sent me back for like six months to live with my aunt and uncle up the road, and made a bunch of appointments with specialized coaches and talent scouts and stuff.

“When the information got relayed back to Dad that I might even be good enough to go pro one day, they packed up everything and moved back here. I guess I adapted the Australian accent and it’s stuck. Julie was actually born there, she was four when we moved back here so she doesn’t have an accent either. You think mines thick but it’s only half assed compared to the real thing. You should hear some of my mates when they call on Skype, even I have a hard time understanding them.”

She’s been listening so intently, I can hear the cogs in her brain turning. “So what happened to your dad’s job?” she asks.

“He left it behind. He’s back to doing what he was doing, not as much money,” I shrug. “They kind of gave up everything so I could make it, it’s hard not to appreciate that.”

“But you didn’t go pro straight out of high school? Are they disappointed?”

“Not at all, I mean, I could have gone pro if I wanted. The offers are there, but it was always my decision. I want to get a college education. I mean, who knows what the Majors has in store for me. I could play two pro games and then injure my arm and it would be over. I have to be smart about it, you know?”

“Shit, Jake.” She’s looking at me wide-eyed, “Your mom wasn’t kidding, you kind of are a big deal.”

“Shut up,” I laugh.

After a few minutes the patio door slides open and Julie comes out. She looks at Kayla, and smiles shyly.

“What’s up Ju-ju? Did you have a good time at Cindy's?” I raise my hand for a high five.

She returns it, “Yeah, I did.”

“Hey, Mikayla,” she starts, “I’m really sorry, about Emily and your parents, and about what I said. I didn’t know…”

“Oh, sweetie.” Kayla moves to sit up in front of her, out of my arms, “Don’t worry about it okay? It’s fine,” she assures her.

Julie nods her head slowly, then hands Kayla a little wooden box.

“What’s this?” Kayla says, as she grabs the box and opens it.

“When I got to Cindy's house, I told her about Emily and Mr. and Mrs. Jones. We umm… we rang around the other girls from dance class and we decided to make these cards, for you. Cindy’s mom drove us around and we collected them from everyone, I chose the box. The cards… I know it’s not much… but we all wrote stuff we liked about Emily, and stuff that we remember about her, she always made us laugh. We just thought you might like it, that’s all.”

Kayla’s holding the cards in her hand, tears are endlessly flowing from her eyes. She places the box carefully on the seat next to her, gets off to squat down in front of Julie and gives her a gigantic hug. Kayla starts sobbing, and Julie begins to cry too. Kayla pulls back, holding Julie's face in her hands and wiping her tears with her thumbs. She looks from Julie, to me, then back to Julie.

“You, have just given me the greatest gift in the history of the world,” she says to Julie through her tears. “Emily was so lucky to know you, and I’m even luckier, because now I get to know you too.”

“So we can be friends?” Julie asks with a hopefulness to her voice. “You’re staying here for a while right? We can hang out and do girl stuff? I always wanted a big sister!”

Kayla looks at me and I know my smile is huge, I can’t help it. She turns back to Julie, “Of course, sweetheart.”

Chapter 13