The Prospect by Eliot Parker (e novels to read online txt) 📕

upset.”
“I am going to be just fine sweetheart. I am going to be JUST fine.”


XV

Chaz Martinez, Harry Deitzler, Ryan Head, and Shane Triplet loved one thing about Ruth’s Diner more than anything else. Since the season started, every Saturday afternoon was dedicated as double cheeseburger day for the three teammates and friends, and Ruth’s made the best double cheeseburgers in town. The planned outing worked for the diner as well. Jack Busby always believed that the customers loved seeing the players in there. At least it gave the folks sitting at the counter something to talk about.
The three always sat at the first table by the door. Even though there were always people walking by and the outside heat often crept near their table, the booth was big enough to handle all the empty plates of food.
“Ladies, it looks like my burger was stacked the highest and eaten the quickest, so that will be a pack of cigarettes on you, Trip,” smirked Chaz as smidges of mayonnaise covered the corners of his mouth.
“Funny how when you start the countdown from 5, your cheeseburger is half-way stuffed in your mouth before you reach 2.” Shane tossed a crumpled napkin at Chaz, landing against the base of his neck.”
“I, I, I….do not think that I will e…ever win,” stuttered Ryan as he jockeyed for elbow room sitting next to Shane. “You guys can j…j…just eat more, I guess.”
“Listen,” Shane interjected, “when we started this game back in March, Chaz here could not compete because all he wanted was cheese and mayonnaise on his cheeseburgers. So I had to change the rules and require the winner to have a stacked cheeseburger. With less in between the bun, it is easier to wolf down one in no time flat.”
“As I have proven, Shane, I can still eat mine first. You should have kept the rules from the beginning.” Harry chuckled and exchanged a “high-five” with Chaz. Shane took a gulp of Mountain Dew from his glass mug.
“B..b…I could use some more onion rings. I will be b…back.” Ryan slid out of the table and Shane snickered as he left.
“He eats any more of those things and his dick is going to start stinking like an onion,” predicted Chaz as he finally wiped the mayonnaise away with his napkin.”
“Too late for that. You have not been sitting next to him. He already smells like one.” Harry waved his hand, waffling an imaginary stench of onion in Chaz’s face.
Ryan reappeared and was escorted by Joann Triplet. She had her arm draped over Harry’s shoulder and he was carrying a large plate that was packed with onion rings.”
“Now fellas, all you have to do is ask for something and I can get if for ya. You do not have to make Ryan come up and get.” Joann was feverishly chomping on some gum and her red hair was pulled tightly back into a small bun on the top of her head. She looked tired, but her demeanor was very different from the last time Shane saw her. The pitcher never brought up that night to his mother because she more than likely would not remember it and he did not want to further upset her.
“Thanks, mama.” Shane was grateful that his mom was back to her normal self, for now, and Joann bent down and gave her sun a soft kiss on the forehead and rubbed his blond hair, which was wet and parted to the side but was now scattered in disorganized clumps on the top of his head. Joann walked away, not forgetting to wink at the table before she left.
“It is good to see her doing better, Shane,” Chaz said. “From what you told me about the other night, man, she was really cracked.”
Harry took the plate of onion rings and slammed it in front of Chaz. Startled, he quit talking, as did everyone else in the diner, although only for a couple of seconds. The incident achieved its desired effect, however.
“No, no, that is okay,” Shane said. “Frank and Phil pitched in and they know she is suffering. They know mama well. So it is okay to mention it. Mama is going to have this problem for the rest of her life and there is nothing anyone can do except keep an eye on her and make sure she takes her medicine.”
Chaz ate an onion ring and spoke with onion juice dripping from his lips. “I am sorry man, I did not mean to sound insensitive. I guess it is hard for me to imagine what you go through and why someone who is sick does not want to take her medication.”
Shane already had a prepared answer ready for Chaz’s thoughts. “Because, to her, she is not sick. Mama cannot even remember what happens or what she says when she does not take her medicine. That is why I do not mention incidents to her because it may cause her condition to worsen, I just do not know. I’m no shrink”
“W…we are here for you Shane. H…h…h…how did she do after what happened with Mr. Rodney and Mr. Miller?” Ryan asked, obviously concerned.
Shane hesitated at first to tell his friends about what happened after the Loggers came back from Lakewood, New Jersey, but he needed to share it with someone. Frank had informed Shane of the situation with the screams and everything else involving Joann after practice on Thursday. Shocked and upset, Shane thanked Frank and Phil separately for their help.
Shane also deducted that it was Frank and Phil who cleaned up the house and in return for their generosity; he gave both men a signed baseball from the Sheaville Loggers. Harry and Chaz found out about what had happened when they questioned Shane about who the baseball was for, since they too had to sign it.
Shifting his eyes around the room, Shane hesitated before he spoke. It was important that Joann was nowhere close to their table. Chaz was licking the remnants of dried onion crumbs from his finger, not bothering to use a napkin, while Harry sat against the chair backing with the palm of his hand covering his mouth waiting for a response.
“She did okay. When I got home, we had a talk, and she agreed to take her medicine from now on.” Shane stopped speaking and stared down at the white plate sprinkled with bits of lettuce and tomato, which were once the pieces of a gigantic double cheeseburger. As if he had repeated these words before Shane concluded, “she will take her medicine all the time now, I just know it.”
“T..t..that’s good,” chirped Ryan. Ryan scooted his seat to the right because Chaz was re-positioning himself in the chair next to him and stepping on toes. Shane, watching the two jostle for positioning across from him shook his head and smiled.
In between bites of onion rings and slurps of Dr. Pepper, Chaz reentered the conversation. “Olivia tells me she came to see you yesterday.”
Harry’s head shot to the left and then swung back facing Shane. His forehead was wrinkled and he blinked hard twice.
Shane wished that Chaz had said nothing. Rather, Shane wished that Olivia had said nothing to Chaz. It must be a part of her personality, Shane reasoned. He was still quite proud of himself for drawing a disparaging look from the girl when he psychoanalyzed her. But since Chaz lived with Olivia, certain topics were commonplace, and now added to that list apparently included battle royals between Shane Triplet and Olivia Mitchell.
“Don’t jerk yourself, Trip. Personally, I think that you were too easy on her based on some of the things she said,” Chaz hinted.
“Wha..w…what things are those?” questioned Ryan.
“She told you what we talked about? Man, she would sell the devil her soul,” recanted Harry, still surprised that Olivia would share specifics about the encounter at Shane’s house.
“I...it’s not nice to talk about s..s…someone when they are not hear to defend themselves,” noted Ryan, although nobody at the table was really listening to him.
Chaz attempted an explanation for the girl’s actions. “Olivia can do some childish things, mainly because she likes to get you hard, which can be quite amusing I might add.”
“I will remember that the next time you are in the batting cage and I am throwing,” Shane replied, devilishly.
Chaz’s mind was now racing with thoughts of females. “All this talk about women just makes me more excited for some of that fine…”
“P…please don’t say it,” Ryan requested.
“Man, you two are so uptight. I think it’s because that none of you are getting any or have ever gotten any. If you did, then maybe you would not be so uncomfortable with talking about sex.” Chaz looked in the direction of Ryan. “That’s right-sex, sex, sex. It is perfectly normal for someone to talk about sex, want to have sex, and want to have it all the time. I do and I am proud of it.”
When Chaz concluded, Shane had left the booth and raced outside the diner to smoke a cigarette. Plumes of smoke rose around him and Harry sneakily got up from the table and made a race to the bathroom.
Chaz wiped his mouth with his sleeve and swiped his greasy fingers against his white cotton shorts, causing spots of grease to soak into the material. When he came back through the doorway, Shane was putting out the cigarette against the sidewalk and throwing the butt away in the ashtray next to the door. “I hope that you are finished,” he said.
Chaz did not reply. Instead, he looked up and down Maple Street. The sunlight had lit up the entire town and the sunrays felt warm and refreshing against his skin. The air was becoming more humid, judging by the beads of sweat meticulously forming on his upper lip. Despite the moisture in the air, the residents of Sheaville were going about their business, conducting another day in the most professional and personal manner possible.
“Shane, you heard about the keg party after the game tomorrow night. I expect you to be there.” Chaz was still watching the street and from the corner of his eye, he noticed that Shane was flipping through the sports page of the Charleston Gazette.
“Reds won yesterday,” Shane answered. “That’s six of their last seven. I think they can win the division, as long as the pitching holds up. Rijo got hurt the other night though, Joe was not sure how serious the injury was.”
Chaz grunted. “You talk about Rijo and Joe Nuxhall like you know both of them personally.”
“Someday, maybe I will. By the way, I will be at the party. Are we still meeting at the old sawmill clearing?”
“Eleven o’clock sharp,” Chaz said poignantly.
“See if you can talk Ryan into going Shane. I have tried, but he just does not want to go.”
“Ah, you know how Ryan is,” Shane said dismissingly, while he discarded the sports section into an adjacent trashcan. “He is not much for loudness and libations.”
Chaz patted his teammate on the back. “I know two fellas who are though.”
Shane smiled, unsure whether to be proud or ashamed of agreeing with Chaz. Sometimes, siding with him created more problems then it was worth.
“All right, Martinez. I am going to go tell mama goodbye. Say, who else is coming. I have not heard that yet.
“Well….it’s gonna be you, and me, Ryan, maybe Pat, hopefully Harry and Biggie.”
At the mention of Biggie Rowan’s name, Shane felt his double cheeseburger rising up from the bowels of his freshly bloated stomach.

XVI.

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