Second Chance (6 page)

“Hi Mom, it’s me
.
I’m sitting outside drinking coffee and thinking of Amanda
.
I hope you’re
feeling
all right today
.
I love you.” 

I call my dad and leave the same message on his cell phone
.
I’m relieved they don’t answer
.
I don’t want to hear that bittersweet edge in their voice
, like they’re happy to hear from me, but we all
know who they would give every ounce of their blood
to hear from one last time
.

I snap the phone shut
as Lenny sits next to me on the curb
.

“You want to talk about it?” she asks.

I shake my head
.
She
pulls out a lighter and sparks her cigarette
, but once
she exhales I can tell it’s a joint
.
She hands it to me and smiles
.

“To Amanda,” she says
.

I look at the joint
in her finger
s and i
t’s tempting
.
I can see Miles’ disapproving face, reminding me I have a game today
.
But
I could use a distraction
.
O
n a day like today, it’s more medicinal than recreational
.
I’m willing to sacrifice a little lung tissue to settle my mind
.
I can spare a few brains cells
—I
think too much as it is
.
I
grab the joint,
take a long drag and pass it back
.
I mentally give myself a
hard slap on the side of the head
because my split second decisions tend to lean on the stupid side.

“You just missed your
fan club
,” Lenny informs me
.
She tells
me
A
mber
McAssEasy
and
Valerie
Slimslutty
(nick
names she
coined
for
volleyball players that have chased me in the past) came in
this morning
asking
about me
.
She tells me they want
the 411 on
who I’m dating
.
She tells me she’s sick of being the
public
portal into m
y dating life, or lack thereof.

I smile and tell her
if it helps,
to
go ahead and
validate
one of the ongoing rumors
circulating
about me
.
 

Lenny
laughs and
starts to list
all
the
theories
on
campus
e
xplain
ing
my single status (
mostly
originating from volleyball team
gossip
)
.
Ever since I made the mistake of kissing Amber
McCafrey
at a party last year, but pass
ed
up the chance
to
sleep with her,
I’ve been accused of many things
.

“Let me see,” Lenny says
and leans back on her palms
.
“
What’s the latest theory?
”

I
take another hit instead of answering her
.

“
First,
there’s the gay rumor,
”
she
says
.

I nod
because
I’ve heard that
one numerous times
.
Lenny knows
the
long and exhausting Dylan
s
aga
, so I don’t have to explain that one
.

“There’s
also
the one about you having a tiny penis.”

Like anyone on this campus would know
.
“I
t’s not
about size, it’s about stamina,” I say
.

“I’ve heard you’re a virgin
,
and you’re saving yourself
,”
she
continues, as if I’m enjoying this particular conversation
.
“
Oh, and supposedly you have an erectile dysfunction.
”
 

I take an unnecessarily long
drag
and choke ou
t the smoke
.
When I get my voice
back, I shake my head
.
“
You know what, Lenny
?
You really know how to cheer a guy up.
”

She
stubs the joint out
on the curb
.
W
hen I stand up
,
the
full affect of the
pot
hits me
.
I wobble on my feet a little until I catch a tree trunk for balance.

“Wow,” I say
.
“That’s
pretty
potent.”  I
rub
the back of my neck and
confess I have
to be at the ball park in an hour
.
Lenny blinks
up
at me
,
then she
falls
back on the grass and we both bust up laughing
.

I walk back to the house
,
and
I’m slowly climbing up the steps of the front porch
when
my
cell
phone
rings
.
I
t’s Coach Clark
.
It’s not uncommon for him to call us on game days for a private pep talk, but I’m not
pitching
today
so I start to wonder
.

“Hello?”

“
Gray,
”
his loud voice rumbles over the phone
.
I pull the phone away from my ear
.
Do coaches ever stop shouting?

“H
ow’s your arm feeling?”
he barks
.

It feels wonderful, like it’s floating, actually
.

“Fine,” I say.

“Good
.
I
just wanted to give you a head
s up
.
Pat’s got some st
omach virus so it lo
oks like you’ll be
starting
today
.
Hopefully he’ll be back for tomorrow’s game.
”

I have cotton mouth from the pot
,
and I’m high
,
and it almost sounds funny to hear this, like
this is Lenny
messing with
me
.
I
g
lance at the caller ID
again,
just to
make sure,
but
Coach’s
name
is spelled out on my screen
,
loud and clear
.
I can feel my heart
start to hammer
.
I adjust the rim of my hat
and clear my throat.

“What kind of
a
virus?” I ask. Tell me this isn’t happening
.
Can’t he just take some
Pepto
Bismo
l
and suck it up
?

“It came on pretty fast
.
Poor kid c
an’
t make it out of the bathroom.
”

“What about Ri
chie?”

“
No,
I don’t think he’s ready
.
His shoulder’s still tight
.
I
want somebody consistent out there
.
What do you
think?”