Scarred (8 page)

Chapter Six: Victory Lap

Ben was just as excited as the kids were. The game was a good one, his kids had taken everything he taught them thus far and used it to bring home a victory for their team. He always felt so proud of them anyway, just because they always tried their best. But with this win, the usual pride was superseded by jubilance. It didn’t make everything that happened to him worthwhile, but he certainly was grateful that he was the one to help start it all. For a newer team, this was more than could be expected.

He loaded up the bus after a few photos were taken by the newspaper of the team including himself and Jimbo, the assistant coach. Afterwards, he gave a quick interview for the article. Benjamin was starving as he hadn’t had the chance to eat more than gum in the last four hours, and he would bet most of his boys felt the exact same way. The pizzeria was on the other side of the county line and closer to home, it was the same place that he would normally take them to after any other game and tonight was no exception.

Peter kept his restaurant open after hours for this victory, as promised. Usually, Peter’s Pizza closed at eight, but Pete and he were good friends, plus his son was on the team. So when they came over the threshold, it was no surprise that there were several pies hot, fresh and waiting.

“Hey, Ben!” Peter called out from the kitchen when the front door opened. “Just give me a minute. I’ve got a surprise for you!”

“I think the decorations were enough, Pete. Looks like you went all out as is.”

“Well, I have faith in you guys, so I didn’t think the decorations would go amiss.”

They didn’t. The space was full of fun items. There were cloths with baseballs and bats on each of the tables, along with confetti. There was a huge banner over the menu wall with the words, “Congrats on the victory!” Not to mention the clusters of balloons with small foil covered weights to keep the helium-filled rubber from pinging off the ceiling.

When the children were all inside, complete with parents, Ben helped everyone get in line, and he served them. He could smell Pete cooking more pizza, and as quickly as the pies disappeared, that was a good thing. His assistant coach, Jimbo junior, served drinks at another table. Quickly, the team and accompaniments were all served, save himself, Jimbo, and Amelia.

She waited patiently for everyone else to have their share before she picked up a plate.

“If you don’t mind, wait for me. I’m just going to go and wash up first.” Ben escorted her to the last empty table and brought her a cup of iced tea. Pete made his the same way most Chinese restaurants did, with really sweet tea mixed with lemonade drink mix packets. He knew she liked the southern version of tea as she drank the beverage at home. He had delivered too many boxes of black pekoe tea to her door in the last months to know she drank the stuff on a daily basis.

“Okay, I think I can wait. Jenny fed me more food in two hours than I eat in an entire day. So it’s safe to say that I am far from hungry.”

“Yeah, as tiny a thing as Jenny is, she sure can eat. I think she has the soul of a fat person, but her body won’t let her gain the weight.” He whispered conspiratorially, leaned over the table to catch a whiff of her scent.

But he noticed she took a deep breath, he hoped the cologne hadn’t worn off, and left him smelling of field and sweat. Her face said his smell was pleasing, or he hoped the smile meant that. It could just as well mean she loved the smell of melted cheese, tomato sauce and bread.  But he wasn’t going to think that way, not unless he had good reason to.

He washed his hands and splashed his face with water at lightning speed. There was a lovely lady waiting for him, and he didn’t want to waste time in the John while she sat at a table with cooling food. That would not do, especially since he wanted to make a good first impression.

But the semi-private table was occupied when he came back out. Jenny was there with Conan, and both were talking Amelia’s ears off. He could see the glazed look in her eyes that said she was lost with her attempts to keep up with the current conversation.

Dammit, I was hoping to keep her all to myself.

If that was the case, then you wouldn’t have brought her to the game.

But he knew she had to be just as starved for companionship as he was, she was just better at hiding it. So he sat down and swallowed the disappointment that rose as he realized he was going to have to share her. For a little while at least. Although, the ride back was all his.

“I thought you’re allergic to tomatoes?” Amelia asked with the gooey triangle half-way towards her mouth.

“Yes, he is.” Jenny chuckled. “I remember in… what was that? Second or third grade, Ben? When your face swelled up after we did a lunch swap. I had a turkey club with tomato and lettuce, and he had PB and J on cinnamon raisin bread. I loved that bread when I was a kid, heck, I love it now.”

Ben chuckled. “Yeah, it was second grade. We were in Mrs. Spenser’s class then.”

Jenny hooped out loud with laughter. “Ooh, it sure was.”

“But to answer your question Amelia, Peter has a Benjamin special. If the wall wasn’t covered with the banner, you’d see it on the menu. He created a pizza just for me, no tomato sauce, with beet paste and spices instead. Sounds crazy, but it almost tastes the same. That’s what others have told me anyway.”

Amelia laughed and he watched he bow her head for a moment. Then she took a bite of the baked dough and he watched the cheese enviously as the molten mozzarella dangled precariously from her lips, still attached to the dough.  
     

She made the meal look more than appealing, and he finally picked up the wedge of pizza to take his first bite.

Before he finished the folded slice, there was a lot of commotion coming from the kids at the nearby table. When he looked over, there was a large cake that almost seemed to walk out on its own.

“Congratulations Underdogs!” Peter called out.

“Yay! Cake!” Conan cried out.

As soon as the word cake was said, there were more calls from the peanut gallery of children. Even some of the parents looked tantalized by the huge decorated sheet cake Peter carried to the table.

“I want some!”

“Me too!”

“Yay!”

“Mommy can I have some? Please?”

Ben chuckled. Kids were so easy to please. Adults on the other hand? Grown-ups were an entirely different animal. When did he lose that ability to take pleasure in the simple things? He thought on it for a moment, but couldn’t pinpoint the moment that he lost his natural verve for life. He just knew that sometime between the freshman year in college and the pro-circuit a handful of years later, he was another man entirely. And he wasn’t sure if he liked the newer version at this point.

But the cake was served in short order. Peter sliced it up and onto plates for the bouncing children before he could blink twice.

“I just want to say, good job!” Peter was all smiles and joviality. The other man's mood mirrored that of the room precisely. 

The cake was practically demolished when all was said and done. There was just enough left to fit in a takeout box and Peter was kind enough to give the packages to Benjamin, though Ben offed the box to Amelia for safe keeping. He gave several high fives and a few hugs, shook a few beaming parents hands. The children all climbed into their parent’s cars to go home after the late night. Well almost all. Jenny was going to have a massive sleep over at her place and about ten of the boys would be at her place.

“Hey, Amelia, give me a sec before you go!” Jenny called out and he watched her herd the menagerie of youths into her van.

Ben clasped hands with Peter, who smiled then handed him a cup of tea to go. “Thanks for taking care of us. Just make sure to send me a bill tomorrow. You can email or fax into the office like usual.”

“No worries, Benjamin, this one is on me.”

“There was a lot of pizza eaten tonight. You better send me a bill. It can be your treat when we bring home the state championship. By the way, how did you know we won?” Peter’s son was on the team as well, but his wife was sick and didn’t come. So he had no idea when the man would have gotten the knowledge.

Peter laughed. “Well, I had two banners made and when Tommy got on the bus he sent me a text message.”

Ben snickered. “That child is too young for a cell phone.”

“Yeah, wait until you have a kid. You’d be lucky if by the time they turn three if you haven’t given them one, just to keep them off yours.”

Ben looked out the door where he saw Amelia stand beside of the bus doors, her posture slouched as if she were tired or achy. When Jenny was done ensuring all of her wards for the night were buckled in, she walked towards Amelia. She stiffened, then stood stock still as if a deer caught in the glare of head lights at Jenny’s approach. When the two women were within earshot, Ben saw Jenny pull Amelia into a hug that Amelia didn’t quite respond wholeheartedly to. But Jenny didn’t seem to notice.

He walked out and heard Peter lock the doors behind him.

Jenny beamed as usual and the minute woman’s naturally sunny disposition meant that she would never meet a stranger. “Amelia, I just wanted to give you my number. I’m always home, so if you want to we could have a chat and maybe a girl’s night.” Ben couldn’t stop the smile that crept onto his lips for any reason. Amelia must have felt the same as he watched her pull out a cell phone that he didn’t even know that she owned and dialed Jenny’s phone.

“Alright and thanks for snacking with me.” The two women hugged again and Ben herded Amelia quickly into the privacy of the bus

He was going to make sure he had the number to the cell by the end of the night. He kissed her hand, nothing else, even though he really wanted much more than that. He pulled the bus away from Peter’s Pizza and into the darkness.

Ben handed Amelia his car keys before he stopped in front of his Durango to let her off.

“Go ahead and get in, I’m just going to park and I’ll be over in just a few minutes.” Ben did exactly as promised and he jogged back to the truck five minutes later. The SUV was already warmed up and ready to drive.

“Did you enjoy the game?” He asked, on the way out of the empty lot.

She smiled, this grin was a real one compared to the faux ones he’d gotten earlier in the day. “Actually, I did. Thanks for taking me.”

This time the ride was so much faster. It seemed as if he had just pulled away, and then he was back at her house. Amelia made a motion to open the door herself, but Ben cleared his throat once and she stopped immediately. He opened her door and took her hand to escort her to the door.

“Thank you for coming with me, Amelia.” He said, just as she opened her mouth.

“Would you like to come in for a drink, Ben?” She laughed slightly, the sound sweet on the night air. “Oh sorry.” She blurted out. “You’re welcome.”

“And yes, I would love a drink with you. Just let me grab my keys from the...” He was so stupefied by the fact that she finally asked him inside that he lost his train of thought altogether.

“Gotcha.”   She smiled and unlocked her door as he turned away, with a huge grin on his face and an unusual flurry in his chest.

When he walked back inside, Amelia was in the kitchen. She was bent over at the waist as she rummaged the overstocked fridge. But she must have gone into the pantry first, as the small door was open wide at the side of the cabinets closest to her. He had no idea what she did with all of the food that she’d brought before, and now he knew. She would do any country kitchen proud with the mass of filled mason jars spanning the entirety of the closet. There was row upon row of canned goods, and barely room for anything else. There was pickled this or that, jellies, preserves and all manner of vegetables.

Amelia clanked bottles together. “Umm, do you want a beer?”

“I don’t usually drink and drive at all, there’s too much wildlife and not enough road for the both of us.”
                “Oh, I didn’t think about that. Is tea okay with you then?”

“Amelia, I didn’t come in for a drink. Just like you didn’t invite me in for one.”

She seemed perturbed at his honesty. “Now just a minute, buster!” Her response just confirmed it.

“Before you say anything Amelia, I am not saying that you meant to offer me anything more than your company. But as we feasted like two fat pigs in the sunny side of the trough less than an hour ago, I think that I can safely assume neither of us is thirsty.”

“B-but—" She stammered and the first thought he had was that he felt like the big, bad wolf. Like he was about to eat the tender juicy morsel that her quivering lips presented.

On second thought, he was.

“Actually, I lied. I am thirsty.”

Chapter Seven: Truth Is The Light

Amelia was half way to poleaxed by the time pizza was finished. In one evening, every mantra she lived by in the last few years was blown to shreds.

Don’t make friends, they will only leave you.

Don’t fall in love, you will only get hurt.

Don’t talk to strangers, they will only pity you.