PLAYING THE BASEBALL CARD by Wilson James
Devin is almost 14 years old. His mother died six years ago, and he helps look after his younger brother while their father works. Devin’s dad is a pitcher for a minor league baseball team, and is trying to make it into the major leagues.
Just when it seems that things are looking better, tragedy strikes again. Now, it’s all up to Devin. He has his own dreams, and he desperately cares about what’s left of his small family. Will he be able to make it work?
The story of Devin Robinson as the kid pitcher for the San Francisco Giants becomes well known, but what was never told is the story of Devin and Jordan’s early years. They have long since reached adult age, and they have decided that the time is now right to put the journey of the beginning part of their lives into print. This is a story for baseball fans and anyone else who wants to read about personal courage and determination.
OTHER FICTION TITLES by Wilson James
A Family Legacy: THE WATSON WORKS
PLAYING THE BASEBALL CARD
Fourth Smashwords Edition, March 2012
Copyright © 2010, 2012 by Wilson James
Cover Photo Credit: Sonya Etchison
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission, except that short passages may be reproduced for purposes of review.
For information, see author’s page at www.wilsonjamesauthor.blogspot.com
ISBN: 978- 1-4523-0062-7 (ebook)
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
WORK OF FICTION
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, public or private places, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
This story is dedicated to those who have found themselves forced into a role beyond their years, with the hope that they have been able to persevere.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
------------
CHAPTER
1
THE NEWS
Devin tried to pull himself awake as the phone rang on the table next to his bed. He glanced at the clock-radio as he picked up the handset. Six thirty, it read. Pretty early for a Saturday morning.
“Hello.” A young male voice, full of sleep, was the best he could muster.
“Devin,” an older male voice replied. “It’s Daryl. Sorry to wake you.”
Devin snapped awake. His father’s teammate did not phone this early unless there was news that could not be good.
Daryl continued without waiting for a reply. He knew what his best friend’s son must be thinking. The problem was, he thought, that the news was worse than anyone could imagine. “Devin, I am phoning because I wanted to let you know, in person.”
A long pause, and just the sound of breathing on the line coming from the west coast. Daryl looked around the Boston hotel room, wondering how he was supposed to pass on this information. He wondered how it was that he was now the person to make the one phone call that no one should ever have to make.
He and Tommy had been friends since their college days, when they played ball. He was there when Tommy met his wife to be, and he was there for the birth of Devin and the marriage which followed shortly afterwards. Tommy was only aged 20 at the time, but he was determined to work hard for his family, and he gave up the sport he loved to do it.
Daryl was fully aware of his late friend’s current situation. He knew, for example, that 13-year-old Devin and his younger brother, 11-year-old Jordan were almost certainly alone in the house.
He knew that, in spite of Tommy Robinson’s new-found fame as a major league pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, the Robinson’s were still hurting, financially and emotionally, from the death of Tommy’s wife more than six years ago. Tommy had been pitching for one of the Pirates AA farm teams at the time, and he had taken an unpaid break from Baseball to be with his family.
Tommy’s wife was sick for almost a year before she died, and the family gave up all of their hard-won possessions, including their home, to pay for the medical bills. His wife had encouraged Tommy to go back to baseball only a year before, and she supported the family with her work until she became ill with cancer.
Tommy was devastated when she died, and even more so when he realized that there was no family on either side to help him raise his two boys. He moved the boys into a trailer park, and went back to work.
Sitting on the bed in his Boston hotel room, Daryl realized that Devin was waiting for him to deliver the news that had prompted the early morning phone call, but again, Daryl’s mind was drawn back to the family’s early years.
CHAPTER
2
THE MINOR LEAGUES
For five years following his wife’s death, Tommy worked long hours in the baseball off-season to try and pay some of the still-outstanding medical bills, and give the family a cushion for the poorly paid baseball season.
Daryl recalled the day that Tommy described how Devin, then only seven-years-old, told him that his mother would want his Dad to go back to playing ball, and that he shouldn’t give up until he was ready. Tommy had related how Devin told him that he and Jordan would be just fine, and they would look after themselves whenever they had to.
With such encouragement from his boys, Tommy returned to baseball, starting off a single A team and then quickly moving back up to AA ball. Of course, it meant a lot of time on the road during the season.
What Tommy hadn’t known for the first two years was that when he went off on road trips and left the boys at home in Rochester, was that the boys did fend for themselves a lot.
Each time Tommy went away, he arranged for the boys to be looked after by friends, usually by staying with families in the area. Unknown to him, the families frequently reneged on their commitments at the last moment, or changed their plans after Tommy had left town. When that happened, Devin would gather up Jordan and head home.
Tommy couldn’t afford to pay anyone, so he was depending on the kindness of others, and quite often they were not so kind.
The first time this happened was on a Thursday night, in the middle of a seven-day stay. The family they were staying with decided to go away for the weekend, and were uncertain as to who to ship the boys to. Devin stepped in, and said that he would organize it. What he didn’t want was for them to phone his Dad, and have his Dad come home. The other thing he didn’t want was for them not to be welcomed back to this home in the future, and that might be the case if he and Jordan became a millstone around their neck.
Knowing that his Dad had tried absolutely everyone else for to look after the boys for this road trip, Devin decided that the best thing to do was for him and Jordan to just go home and look after themselves. They did it quite well, and when their Dad came home, they just told him that everything was fine.
On an increasing number of occasions in the next two years, Devin would tell his Dad that he had organized someone for them to stay with, and then he and Jordan would stay home and look after themselves.
Devin proved to be a mature caregiver for himself and Jordan, in spite of his own young age. Things were kept in good order at home, and Devin made sure that they ate well, had clean clothes, and stayed active. Devin even got hired to do a paper route that he and Jordan did together before school, each morning, to give them a little spending money.
The family would continue to grow and thrive, thanks to the guidance of Tommy, the hard work of Devin, and the cooperation of Jordan.
By the time Jordan had completed second grade and Devin third, the family had achieved a routine of sorts. Tommy worked in their hometown during the off season, and the boys looked after themselves during the spring and summer.
That June, with the school year over, the boys started to talk to their Dad about what they might do over the summer. Tommy had some ideas of his own. He had moved up to AAA ball, and would be playing in Buffalo, which meant a little more time commuting for home games, but he had a plan that would make the summer a good one.
To start with, Tommy started taking the boys to all of the home games. At first, he got the boys tickets for the regular seating, and a little cash for hot dogs and soda. It was after about the fifth home game that they attended that the manager suggested to Tommy that he could invite his boys to sit in the dugout, if they wanted.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t suggest that earlier,” the manager had said, “But it wasn’t until today that I realized that your kids were coming to all of the games.”
Tommy hadn’t talked much about his home life to anyone at the team, but it wasn’t a secret that he was a widower, and the manager was not unsympathetic to most of his players.
Tommy was grateful for the invitation, and the boys were excited and thrilled. It wasn’t long before all of the players made them feel welcome, trading high fives when the team got solid hits or good calls. Devin and Jordan became something like mascots, and even got to go out on the field during warm ups to do a little throwing of their own, as long as they didn’t get in the way. After a while, they found that some of the players would help them by giving them hints on their throwing skills, and letting them try a little batting practice from time to time.
They became a part of their father’s world, and a part of the team. For two young boys, those were heady days.
To give them something to do when he was away, he got each of the boys a bike. Second hand or not, it was great. The boys would frequently take an entire day, and pedal to one of the lakes in the area to swim or hike. Some days they would head off to one of the small towns nearby just for something to do. Of course, no one would knowingly let six and eight year old boys go off on their own like that, but there was no one to tell Tommy anything different than the news he heard from his boys.
Later in the summer, Tommy packed up the boys and their camping gear, and headed out on a combined camping and baseball road trip. They were gone for almost two weeks, following the team to four different cities. They continued their routine of watching the games from the dugouts, and had a great time.
Fall rolled around, and school started again, with Jordan in third grade and Devin in fourth. Two things of major import happened that school year. The first was that the boys joined the Cub Scouts right after Jordan’s birthday in December. After all, Jordan was supposed to be eight, the earliest age to join, and Devin was supposed to be nine. They had a fairly decent leader who managed to keep a troop of eighteen or twenty boys busy, and they had a good time in Scouts that year. Tommy even helped with the Scouts as often as he could, and worked tirelessly to assist in whatever fund-raising efforts were held during the off-season.
The second major incident came in the spring, as the time for spring training drew near. Tommy knew he had to go Florida, to the Pirates camp if he wanted a chance at the show, and certainly if he wanted to keep on the AAA roster. He would be gone longer than in previous years, and Devin had begun to tire of fending off bill collectors and telling stories that would keep the power on and the phone hooked up.
Tommy and Devin were reluctant to discuss what happened that day, but Jordan remembered the Saturday morning that he came downstairs to find his Dad and Devin in a discussion in the kitchen.
It had been two full baseball seasons that the boys had been looking after themselves, and Devin finally decided to come clean with his dad, not only to clear up the lie they had been living, but to organize the household better for all of them.
“Look, Dad,” Devin was saying, “I already plan our meals and grocery shopping, and run the house. I think that you should put my name on the bank account. I will set up a monthly budget, pay the bills, and let you know how much we should all be spending.” Devin had obviously already told Tommy about the boys looking after themselves, and it looked like they had both been crying. Jordan thought they must have been at it a while.
Dad started to talk about the fact that Devin was too young to look after the finances, and Jordan could see that Devin was losing patience.
“You have no idea how difficult it is to fend off the phone company, the PUD, make excuses for not paying rent on time, and go without enough food for the last few days before you come home, because we have no money to get milk or other things. You must be making enough now. Dad?” Devin was close to getting emotional, but he controlled himself in a manner beyond his years as he struggled to appeal to his father on a logical plane.
“Well I suppose I am, but you know those bills that had to be paid off....” Tommy’s voice trailed off. He could see that his son was making sense.
Jordan had sat quietly at the table, and they were so involved in their conversation, they barely took notice of him. He watched as his Dad agreed to everything that Devin had wanted. He got his name on the account, with check-writing privileges. True to his word, he planned and set out a budget before the day was out, and Tommy and Jordan were briefed on what they were allowed to spend.
Devin also found out that his Dad had been putting money away, and that the trailer that they lived in was at least half paid for. He hadn’t known that his Dad had been making extra payments on the loan. Jordan decided that it was nice to know that they weren’t as poor as he thought, and he realized that between his Dad and Devin, the family finances were in good hands.
What really happened that day, though, was that Devin grew up, a whole lot. He had stood his ground, and had accepted even more responsibility for keeping the family running. For a boy just eight years old, it was amazing. On objective observer would have immediately been able to see that Devin was the glue that kept the family together.
Jordan had to marvel at his self-assurance, and he told him that on Sunday evening after their Dad had left for Florida.
“Well, Jordan, it’s not as if I have a choice,” he said looking Jordan in the face. “I just know I have to do it, or it won’t happen.”
“I know, Devin,” he responded, “But you could just ignore these things, and let things go on as they are. I know we would be worse off if you didn’t, and I just think I’ve got the greatest brother in the world. Look what you do for us. You keep me going, you look after yourself, and you’re only eight years old. I don’t know how you do it. If there was ever an award for being the best, kindest pretend-parent going, you would get it!”
Those words caught Devin off guard. He’d been putting up a tough front for so long, and these were certainly the kindest words Jordan had ever spoken to him. Not that he didn’t often think about what he’d just said, but he’d never put those thoughts into words before.
He managed to get out, “Thanks, Jordan,” before the waterworks started. He was sitting beside his brother, and Jordan grabbed his head and held it to his shoulder as his older brother had done so many times for him. As he held him, Jordan realized that he had never seen his brother cry; even right after their Mom had died.
That night, Devin cried for his mother and for all the things that he’d had to do to keep their lives going. It was a watershed event for both of them.
For Devin, it was the time that he finally let go, and for Jordan, it was the first time that he really grew to develop a more complete understanding of the world in which he lived.
It was the best thing that could have happened to the two boys. They grew to depend on each other more and more, and through Devin’s example, Jordan always stopped to think about his feelings before he said things. There is no doubt that Jordan grew up that night, too.
CHAPTER
3
THE SHOW
As Daryl sat in the Boston hotel room, he thought about how things had gone for the Robinson family for the following two years, but really there was nothing really exciting or special in their lives.
Jordan started keeping a Journal as part of the requirements for a scout badge, and kept it up for the next 15 years. It was, in fact, Jordan’s journal that provided the basis for the boys’ ability to tell their story in some detail many years later.
On reflection, just living as they did, and thriving, was special, but they didn’t know or appreciate it at the time.
The fall that Jordan was turning six (although everyone thought he was going to be eight), and Devin was turning nine; they started playing Little League Baseball, on the same team. They’d learned a lot from watching their father’s games, and it turned out that they had some real talent. At the end of the season, they even played for the district team in some regional playoffs.
Their experience playing Little League ball carried over to their Dad’s world. The manager continued to allow them, when they went to the stadium for some of their Dad’s games, onto the field for the practice time before the game, and they enjoyed fielding some of the balls for the team and continued to get some hints when they tried a little bit of batting practice.
The following spring, Devin completed Elementary School, and moved on to Junior High.
Without discussing the matter with his dad in advance, Devin decided to take advantage of the change in schools to put himself ahead a grade. He did this by going to his new principal just before school started in the fall, and telling him that he was really supposed to be in sixth, not fifth, and that he was really turning eleven, not ten. He explained that he’d started first grade a year late, and had all along told everyone that he was a year younger, so that he wouldn’t stand out. After he pressured the principal to let him write some placement tests, Devin was allowed to advance.
Finally, he told his father, who really had no option to go along with what Devin had arranged.
The age thing hadn’t mattered for the first year that they played little league, as the team was comprised of boys aged eight and nine. Devin could play on the team because the age cut-off was September 1st, and his birthday wasn’t until November, and Jordan was allowed to play because he was turning eight that calendar year.
Now, though, the boys were split up on different Little League teams because of their ages, and when the practices and games were at different times, Devin took the time to help out some of the kids on his brother’s team who had difficulty. His efforts were recognized halfway through the season when they made him an assistant coach.
That fall, the Cub Scout leader left to go on a church mission overseas, and the troop pretty much folded for want a good leader. Devin and Jordan didn’t stay, and they found themselves with some time to fill after the baseball season ended.
Knowing that swimming had been good for them, Devin decided that it was time for him and his brother to take some more swimming lessons, and he added lifesaving and springboard diving lessons to the mix, once again telling his father after the fact. Tommy was pleased that Devin was taking the initiative, and pleased at Devin’s choices, but regretted that he was not as connected in his boys’ lives as he would have wished.
The brothers kept their paper route going, and worked hard at being dependable carriers. Their Dad frequently told them how impressed he was with how well they were doing, and it was on those occasions that the family actually sat back and thought about the life they had made for themselves. All in all it was pretty good.
That year, the family finally got the break that they had been hoping for.
During the off-season, the Pirates organization traded Tommy to the Giants, and he had to head out to Arizona for spring training. They discussed the possibility of moving out west, but decided not to go until they knew where Tommy might be playing. Devin would be 12 later that year, and with Jordan supporting him, was even more involved in the decision making than ever before.
Devin and Jordan looked after themselves back home, knowing that it might be some weeks or longer before they saw their father, but determined to support Tommy by making sure that they didn’t cause any problems.
It was almost eight weeks later, just before opening day, when Tommy called the boys with the news that he’d been waiting all his life to say.
He waited until they were both able to listen on the phone before he started talking.
“I need you boys to come out here as soon as you can. There is something you need to see.” He paused for dramatic effect, as the boys wondered if there was something wrong.
“I’m, um, going to the show.”
Devin and Jordan knew full well what that meant, and let out a cheer that must have been heard around the trailer park.
It didn’t take them long to organize plane tickets, charged to the Giants account, and Devin decided to pack as if they were not going to return, even if the school year had more than two months left to go.
Devin got transcripts from school, informed the newspaper that they’d have to find new carriers, and helped Jordan pick out what they should take with them. They actually made two piles in the living room. One pile of things that were going with them on the plane, such as clothes they would need right away, and one pile to be shipped out, with some of their other possessions.
“We’re not coming back,” declared Devin, as he stood in the living room surveying their work. “We’ll sell this place with everything else in it, if we have to, but this is a one way trip.”
Jordan didn’t know how he could be so certain, but he wasn’t about to argue.
The next morning, Devin arranged for a cab to take them to the bus depot in Rochester, and they boarded a bus for Buffalo, where they were going to catch a plane to Chicago, and then on to San Francisco.
Devin tried to hide it, but he was really excited, and Jordan was clearly thrilled to be traveling.
Devin was a little worried about the two of them traveling alone, but the airline treated them well, and made sure they were escorted to the connecting flight at O’Hare. Jordan was clearly pleased when the flight attendant asked where they were going, and he was able to tell her that they were going to watch their Dad, who was a major league pitcher!
Their Dad met them at the airport, and took them over to the baseball park, where he gave them a little tour before introducing them to a number of the staff and players, who were in for a practice on the day before the season opener.
Devin and Jordan were well treated, and the boys were sitting in the stands, just behind the home team’s dugout, on opening day at the ballpark beside the bay.
As they headed back to their temporary home, a motel near the airport and baseball park, the boys were bubbling over about the game and what they’d seen. Their Dad was pleased to see the boys so happy. It was a long time since he’d seen smiles like that on their faces.
Tommy didn’t play that day, but the next day stepped out to the mound as relief in the fourth inning, and pitched a perfect two innings, before he was himself pulled. That was enough, though, to see his name well placed in the coverage of the game in the papers the next day.
It was also enough to for Devin to be able to convince his Dad what he’d already decided; that it was time to move. They set about finding themselves a home, which they found up in Marin County, just over two weeks later. Their new home was empty, so they were able to move in right away.
After Devin checked out the location of the local school, Tommy took them over on an off day to get them registered. Because the school district had a different grade split from the schools back home, the two boys were back in the same school, for the rest of the school year.
It was a little difficult, transferring in the middle of a school year, but the boys stuck together, Devin finishing 8th grade and Jordan finishing 6th grade.
Their Dad set things up so that there was a housekeeper who came in for a few hours each afternoon, which was perfect when he was away. The boys got themselves up and off to school just fine each morning, and there was a good supper waiting for them at the end of each day.
After school finished in June, Tommy took the boys on a long road trip to the mid-west and east coast, giving them a chance to see some of the big, almost legendary ballparks in cities such as New York, Boston, Chicago and Cincinnati.
Once that road trip was over, the brothers spent most of the summer at home, completely looking after themselves for virtually the whole month of August while the housekeeper was on vacation and Tommy was away for all but five days.
The lives of the Robinson family were looking much better than they had in a long time.
CHAPTER
4
THE SHOW ENDS
Things finally started working out for them. The Giants did fairly well that season, but finished out of the playoffs. Tommy did well enough that the Giants signed him to a three-year contract, and the family finally started to feel a little secure.
During the baseball off-season, Tommy spent his time being a stay-at-home Dad, and enjoyed being around for the boys. They were able to take a trip to southern California at Christmas and explore Disneyland and the rides at Knott’s Berry Farm.
As the next season started, Tommy felt more comfortable than ever leaving the boys at home along while he was at training camp, and while he was on the road. The housekeeper was brought back this year, but for only three days a week, at Devin’s insistence.
“Look, Dad, we can take care of ourselves,” he had said to Tommy. “We just won’t tell anyone, but really, you know we can do it! Hey, we did it for all of August, and we did it back home when we were not only younger, but we had a lot less money.”
Tommy relented, and agreed to Devin’s plan, and the boys really did fend for themselves better than he expected. They kept their home in good condition, and it was always a welcoming sight for Tommy when he returned home from each road trip.
It was there, in that home, just past the midway point of Tommy’s second season with the Giants, that Devin found himself waiting for his father’s teammate, Daryl, to tell him why he had phoned so early in the morning.
Devin tried to pull himself awake as the phone rang on the table next to his bed. He glanced at the clock-radio as he picked up the handset. Six thirty, it read. Pretty early for a Saturday morning.
“Hello.” A young male voice, full of sleep, was the best he could muster.
“Devin,” an older male voice replied. “It’s Daryl. Sorry to wake you.”
Devin snapped awake. His father’s teammate did not phone this early unless there was news that could not be good. It had to be about his Dad. There was no other possible reason for Daryl to be phoning when his Dad was not at home.
Daryl continued without waiting for a reply. He knew what his best friend’s son must be thinking. The problem was, he thought, that the news was worse than anyone could imagine.
“There is no easy way to tell you this, Devin, and I am phoning because I wanted to let you know, in person.” A long pause, and just the sound of breathing on the line coming from the west coast.
Daryl looked around the Boston hotel room, wondering how he was supposed to tell this story. He wondered how it was that he had was now the one to make the one phone call that no one should ever have to make.
As he sat on his bed, Devin listened quietly as Daryl gently explained how his father had been found dead in his hotel room, apparently of a massive heart attack in his sleep.
“Oh, God,” exclaimed Devin, the distress in his voice clearly apparent to Daryl.
“He didn’t show up for breakfast, as he always does, so I went to check on him,” continued Daryl, as much to keep talking to Devin as to inform. “I am so sorry to have to tell you this.”
Time blurred for Devin, so shocking was the news. He was aware that he spoke some more to Daryl. “Thank you for phoning to let me know, Daryl,” he said, as if to politely thank him for some innocuous and unimportant information.
Daryl heard the strained desperation in Devin’s voice, and hoped that he’d be able to cope. He wished that there was someone that he could phone to go over to the Robinson’s house, but he knew that there was no family or close friends. It would be professionals who would step in. Lawyers, team officials, and most regrettably, the state or county child welfare people.
Although he knew that Devin wasn’t going to be okay, but he asked anyway. “Are you going to be okay, Devin?”
Devin didn’t know how to answer that. He and his brother were now orphans, and with no one to look out for them, they would be at the mercy of whoever decided that they wanted to stick their nose in. Devin didn’t see how he and his brother would ever be okay, ever again.
For now though, Devin was aware enough to know that he had to reassure Daryl, otherwise there would be police and county officials taking them away to a orphanage within minutes, instead of hours.
“Sure, Daryl,” Devin said, in as confident a voice he could muster. “I’m okay now. I’ll wait for a bit, and then tell Jordan when he wakes up, and I’ll phone the team office later on. I’m sure that they’ve got a lawyer that could figure out what to do next.”
Daryl was pleased that Devin appeared to be recovering from the shock of hearing the news, and glad that he was being mature and sensible enough to think of calling the team office.
“Listen, Devin,” Daryl said, “I’ll check in with you later. In the meantime, the local police from here in Boston will be contacting you, to find out what you want done, and they’ll forward a copy of their report, as well. If you can’t handle them, you could direct them to the team office, I suppose.”
“No, that’s okay, but thanks for the advice, Daryl,” Devin responded. He wasn’t sure about arranging things, but he’d looked after a lot himself over the past few years, and he could handle this, too.
Daryl finished off the call by repeating that he’d phone later, and Devin hung up the phone on his end.
Devin just sat the edge of his bed, his head full of thoughts about what he should do, and how he should handle things. It dawned on him that their time in their home was limited. Not only had he and Jordan lost their father, but they were about to lose their home.
Strangely enough, the plan for who would take care of the two boys was one thing that he’d never talked to his father about, perhaps because there was no easy answer. He knew that there was no one that he could call, and no person likely to take them in.
Devin had heard enough about child welfare that he knew that he and Jordan would be taken from their home as soon as the local authorities became aware that their dad had died. He didn’t know if it would be very long, but he figured that it would be hours, at most. He thought about what they needed to pack, and what papers of his father’s that he would need to find and take.
As Devin thought things through, he wondered if the team office had a lawyer who could stall the child welfare system. He’d make that one of the questions that he would ask, but it was at least a couple of hours before they would be answering the phone at the office. He made a list of the things that he wanted to check out, and a list of things to be done.
All of the thinking about what was to be done kept Devin from dwelling on the loss of his father. It would be a while before he was able to come to terms with that.
It was about an hour after the phone call that Devin went into Jordan’s room, and sat down on the end of the bed. As he watched his younger brother’s face, Devin wished that there were some way to avoid bringing the pain of the news that was coming.
It was only a few minutes before Jordan started to wake. Devin waited a few minutes to make sure that Jordan was fully awake, and talked to him about a couple of inconsequential things before he moved up the bed to pull Jordan into a sitting hug. Then, as gently as he could, Devin broke the news. As expected, Jordan’s tears started.
“It’s okay, Jordan,” Devin said, pulling his brother’s head into his shoulder. He just held his brother tightly as the tears continued.
The two boys clung together for a while, with Devin gently encouraging Jordan to cry at the same time as he tried to reassure him.
As much as he knew that they both wanted to just stop everything, Devin knew that their time was short, and he had much to do. He started trying to get Jordan calmed down, and eventually sat him back on the bed so that he could look him in the face.
As calmly as he could, Devin told Jordan what needed to be done, and what they could expect from the authorities if they didn’t take control.
Leaving Jordan to organize and pack his own clothes, Devin went to the kitchen to phone the team office. They were answering the phone, and were expecting him to call. He was put through to the vice-president, who told him that they would take care of getting Tommy home, and do whatever else they could to help out. Devin was also given the phone number of the team lawyer as well as the number of the contact person at the Boston police.
The call to the team lawyer turned out to be a good call. Not only did the lawyer repeat the offer to do whatever he could, he told Devin that the team would help with all expenses related to Tommy’s death. It turned out that the team lawyer also had the name of a lawyer that Devin’s dad had been using.
Devin next phoned the police in Boston, who took his information and his Dad’s lawyer’s name and address so that the report could be forwarded.
Thanking the police detective, Devin hung up and called his dad’s lawyer, and had a long conversation. Devin reviewed what he knew of the child welfare system, and asked the lawyer to make an initial contact around noon. He explained that he and his brother needed some time to pack and get ready to be taken away.
The lawyer acknowledged that would be expected action, and explained that there was little he could do to stop that, unless Devin could come up with a name of a relative. Devin promised to see what he could do before noon. The lawyer also said that he’d review his dad’s file, and see what the situation was about a will and insurance.
It was about ten by the time that Devin got off the phone with the lawyer, and he found Jordan sitting out by the pool, with his feet dangling in the water. He looked up at Devin with a dejected face.
Devin could see that Jordan was feeling the same way that he was. The thought of losing their home at the same time as losing their father was anguishing.
He sat down beside his brother, and brought him up to date on what he’d done so far. They were in this together, Devin thought, and Jordan had a right to know.
It was just before noon that their father’s lawyer phoned back. His news was not all bad. The mortgage on the house was life-insured, and that meant that the house would be paid for. Even if they couldn’t live there for a while, the house would still belong to them. The lawyer even had the name of a recommended caretaker.
The lawyer went on to say that the team president himself had contacted the county executive, to ask him to hold off sending a social worker to apprehend the boys. The team had agreed that Daryl could be spared from playing duties for a few days to look after things, and the county executive had said that he would allow for the team to look after the boys until the funeral. The team couldn’t continue to pay Tommy’s salary, but would help with some living expenses for the boys, if they could find their own guardian.
Devin had a little news of his own. He and Jordan had remembered an elderly lady who was an aunt of their father’s who they thought lived in Phoenix. The lawyer promised to check it out and see if he could track her down.
With that phone call and the news that they didn’t have to leave the house immediately, the boys had a little more time to come to terms with their father’s death.
Jordan took it especially badly, reverting from his normal, mature outlook on life to a more childish behavior. Devin took it all in stride, knowing that it was just Jordan’s way of coping.
The next week was a blur, as Devin and Jordan survived a funeral, a memorial tribute at a Giants game, all kinds of lawyers and other professionals who thought they should step in and control the boys’ lives, and finally, just more than a week after their father’s death, they were on a plane to Phoenix, to be place in the care of an elderly lady they had never met, and who was in fact their father’s great-aunt.
The boys struggled to deal with the suddenness and tragedy of their father’s death, and the cruel hand that had been dealt them. Although their great-aunt was very understanding, it was obvious to Devin she would not be a long term answer for a guardian, nor was she equipped to offer more than basic comfort and care. It was Devin who organized their attendance at yet another new school, and who arranged for the school counselor to find someone for them to talk to about their grief.
Over the next few weeks, things settled down into something of a normal routine, but the boys missed baseball, both their father’s team and Jordan’s Little League team. They were also away from the comfort of their familiar friends. Devin knew that somewhere along the line, there would have to be a change in their living circumstances, but he wasn’t about to pursue that until it became necessary. What both he and Jordan needed was time to heal.
CHAPTER
5
The invitation was there, not in writing, but definitely there. Devin had been asked to throw out the first pitch at the first game of this year’s World Series in San Francisco. Not bad for a 13-year-old kid, but that was just a small part of the story. The first concern was currently being voiced by his great aunt.
“I don’t want you going there, Devin, and I certainly don’t want Jordan there either! Look what baseball did to your father. I don’t want you boys involved.” A pretty good voice for an elderly woman who had been looking after her two orphan grand-nephews for just over two months.
“But grandma,” countered Devin in a low, earnest voice, using the form of address that she preferred. “You can’t say that baseball killed him. It was his arteries. It was a weird disease. It just happened.” He into stared his great-aunt’s eyes, willing her to see his point of view.