Safe On Base

by Sandra R Neeley

  “What do you want for breakfast?” she asked.

  “Chicken nuggets,” he insisted.

  “For breakfast? What about cereal, or eggs and toast, pancakes?” Renata asked.

  “Chicken nuggets,” he insisted.

  “Okay, chicken nuggets it is,” she finally relented. “And then, how about a picnic when we go to the park?” she asked.

  “Yes!” he said, his little fists raised in the air excitedly.

  An hour later Renata and Kaiser got in her old, beat-to-hell, thirty year old Corolla. She buckled Kaiser into his car seat in the back and tucked her plastic grocery bag stuffed with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a couple of bags of chips, a few cookies and two bottles of water into the passenger seat beside her. She placed a bottle of dollar store sunscreen that she’d already put on Kaiser once beside their lunch. She brought it with her so she could apply it to his skin again, even if she had to hold him down. He hated it, but she didn’t want him to burn in the sunshine. She turned the ignition and spoke to her car. “Come on, baby. Let’s get to the park,” she encouraged.

  “Come on, baby!” Kaiser called out, holding up his beloved stuffed bear.

  The engine finally turned over and the car came to life.

  “Yay!” Renata sang.

  “Yay!” Kaiser chanted.

  “Park, here we come,” she said backing out, then pulling out of the parking lot and onto the service road that led to the apartment complex they lived in.

  ~~~~~

  Basilio spent another restless night, and arrived at the airport just in time to rush aboard the private team plane. He was actually still stowing his carry on and taking a seat as the plane taxied down the runway.

  “Almost missed it, Base,” Will told him.

  “But I didn’t. I made it,” he said, his voice tired and rough.

  “You okay?” Will asked.

  “Fine,” he answered.

  The coach stomped down the aisle. “Lyakhov, when I say 9:00 A.M., I mean 9:00 A.M.!”

  “I know, Coach. Sorry. Couldn’t sleep last night and once I did fall asleep, didn’t hear the alarm,” Basilio explained.

  “Maybe if you didn’t live your damn life in the bars, you could get some rest!” Coach barked.

  “I wasn’t in the bars! I was home, just couldn’t sleep,” Basilio defended.

  “You go out alone and get you a sweet thing to keep you company last night?” Squire asked. “You did, didn’t you? You dog! And left us on our own,” he said from the row across from him.

  Irritated, Basilio raised his voice. “I was alone, Squire! No woman. Nobody. Just me.”

  “Yeah, I bet you were…” Squire started.

  “Drop it! I was alone, and that’s the only way I plan on being for the foreseeable future!” Basilio yelled.

  “Fine. Damn,” Squire said. He glanced over at Will beside him. “Touchy much?” he asked.

  Will nodded, watching Basilio slip his earbuds in and turn up the volume, making every effort to tune them all out.

  Basilio closed his eyes and tried to lose himself in the loud music, ignoring everyone and everything around him. He didn’t want to be here. Didn’t want to deal with these people, and didn’t want to play baseball. All he wanted at this moment in time was to find his woman. He opened his eyes again and glanced around. His coach had taken a seat next to him.

  “You okay, Lyakhov?” his coach asked.

  Basilio pulled one ear bud out and looked at the man. “I’m fine.”

  “Don’t look fine, son. Feel like I’m watching you start to spiral.”

  Basilio shook his head as he glanced out of the window. “Just tired of the lifestyle. Had enough,” he admitted.

  “Some of the guys have families. They don’t live it the way you have, the way some of the others do. Maybe rethink your choice of friends,” Coach offered.

  Basilio nodded.

  “You’re a good man, Base. Don’t let the wild side of this crazy ride take you down. Change your perspective. Rethink your choices and I think you’ll be just fine,” Coach encouraged.

  “Trying,” was all he said. “It’d be easier if you could help at all with the little issue we spoke about the other night.”

  “What? That housekeeping woman? I told you to go to corporate,” Coach said.

  “I did! They won’t tell me a damn thing. And that cold-hearted bitch they have managing the offices… she wouldn’t budge. Not a damn inch,” Basilio complained.

  “Your charm didn’t work on her, huh?” the Coach asked, chuckling. “Think they hired her because she’s not swayed in any way by any of us. Everything to her is by the book.”

  “I have to locate the woman I told you about,” Basilio insisted.

  “Not for the next two weeks you don’t. All you have to do is win some games. All the games preferably,” Coach answered.

  Basilio just shook his head. How could he tell the coach that he didn’t even want to play anymore? All he could even think about was his mate.

  Basilio put his ear bud back in and sat back closing his eyes again. This was going to be a long two weeks.

  ~~~~~

  For the second day in a row Renata sat on the blanket with Kaiser at the park. When he woke up this morning and figured out that she was staying home with him again, the first thing he asked was to go back to the park. She simply couldn’t deny him. He was having a blast, they’d chased the ducks at the pond in the middle of the park, played football, climbed trees and played football some more. She’d convinced him to stop playing long enough for lunch and all the activity was finally catching up with him. He yawned a bit and took another bite of his sandwich.

  Renata’s phone vibrated and she picked it up, hoping for news of work. She was not disappointed.

  “Concert tomorrow, Nacho kiosk, 2:00 P.M. ‘til?” the message said.

  “Yes! I’ll be there,” she messaged back quickly.

  Since the team was out of town, she was temporarily out of a job. It was the nature of the position. It wasn’t necessary to clean the locker rooms and lower levels of the stadium that catered to the teams that played there until they returned. Which meant that Renata was out of work for two weeks, unless another crew at the stadium needed her. As luck would have it, there were also concerts and conventions held at the stadium. She’d given her name and number to the manager of the food service department in case they needed help. Thankfully, he’d called her.

  Buoyed by the fact that she’d actually have a bit of an income while the team was away, she reached over and lightly pinched Kaiser’s leg. “I’ll race you,” she said, standing up.

  Kaiser grinned at her. “Where?” he asked.

  Renata pointed to a large oak in the distance. “That tree and back?” she asked.

  Kaiser didn’t answer her, he just started running, laughing and squealing with every step.

  ~~~~~

  Basilio stalked into the visitor’s locker room. He snatched off his batting gloves and tossed them on the bench outside the locker he was using. He pulled off his hat and threw it into the locker, then slammed the locker shut. He sat down on the bench and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands as he stared at the floor between his feet and tried to get a grip on the situation.

  The locker room door opened and the rest of the team filed in. When the game ended, he’d simply turned and started for the locker room rather than join the line to shake hands with the opposing team. Over the last two weeks most of the team had figured out he required a wide berth at this point. They pretty much left him alone. His coach questioned him daily on what was wrong and how he could help him get back on track, and Squire and Will had become relentless. Their off-color remarks almost more than Base was willing to take. The one bright thing in all this? Tomorrow they flew home. Once home, he could find his woman — hopefully, then take a look at his life and decide what he wanted to do going forward, other than loving her.

  “Lost anothe
r game,” Squire said, striding into the locker room.

  Basilio glanced up and caught the snicker between Squire and Will.

  “Got a problem, Squire?” Basilio asked.

  “Me? Naw, see, I love to lose all the damn time. These other guys, though… they may have a problem with it.”

  “That’s enough,” Coach said. “Everybody has good and bad days.”

  “Do they have bad weeks?” Squire asked, indicating that Basilio had been off his mark for weeks versus a day.

  Squire started for the showers and Coach came to a stop in front of Base. “You okay?”

  “No! I’m not,” he almost shouted.

  “You need to get it together, son,” Coach said.

  “Got something I need to handle at home. Nothing will be back to normal until I get it addressed,” Basilio answered.

  “Alright. Hope you’re right. You’re a hell of a player. Hate to lose you to some kind of bullshit that could have been helped.”

  Base nodded. “I asked for help. You didn’t help me.”

  “I tried! I called corporate yesterday. They said all the support personnel, including housekeeping are contracted through separate entities, just like I told you. We don’t employ her, someone else does. Nothing I can do,” Coach answered.

  “Fine. I just need to get home.”

  “Don’t be late for the airport. We’re taking off at 2:00 P.M. tomorrow afternoon.

  ~~~~~

  Renata worked her final shift at the nacho counter with Basilio on her mind. She couldn’t help it. Every time she walked into the stadium these last few weeks, her thoughts turned to him. Tomorrow evening her regular shift would start again, with her cleaning the locker room, showers and doing the laundry after each practice and game. She felt sure she’d proven herself to the food manager as well, and hopefully she’d still get called in for shifts when the venue was in use for other reasons than just baseball games.

  She’d had Basilio on her mind almost non-stop. The way he’d defended her to his friends. The sound of his voice, the feel and smell of his skin when she’d run into him, the way his hands had felt around her waist when he’d steadied her. The look in his eyes when the door had closed between them — and what had that been all about? She didn’t know. She really didn’t have the luxury of finding out. No matter what it meant, her son was her life, and everything she did was for his future. Allowing a man into her life, no matter who he was would only distract her from her purpose and that was just asking for trouble. But today would be stress free, she didn’t have to worry about running into him or his friends. Even when they came back, it wouldn’t be that bad, she’d just have to wait until late each game night to clean the locker room to be sure she ran into no one.

  The crack of a ball on a metal bat brought a round of roaring and applause. The little league baseball championship playoffs were taking place this weekend and the stadium was filled with baseball fans. A man and his son walked up to the kiosk. “Hello,” she said, smiling welcomingly. “What can I get for you?”

  The man picked his son up and held him high enough to see all the choices. “What do you want, bud?” the father asked.

  “Nachos with chili,” the boy said.

  “That’s it?” the father asked.

  “And a root beer,” the boy replied.

  “You got it,” the father said. Then he looked around. “Ya’ll got any of those blow-up bats or the big foam fingers here?” he asked.

  “Yes, sir, but they’re a couple of kiosks down,” Renata replied, pointing to the left.

  “Perfect. Thank you,” he said, handing Renata the money.

  Renata made his change, then turned to their order. She handed it over and smiled watching the man and little boy stroll away, with the father pointing out different things in the walkway of the stadium. About five minutes later they walked back by with the little boy waving a blow up bat on his way past while the father held the food and drinks. She smiled sadly. This was what she wanted for Kaiser. A man who loved being his father, who enjoyed just spending time with him and loved him for who he was.

  Chapter 4

  The door to the meeting room opened and Squire nudged Will. “Man, look at him. He looks like he’s having a breakdown.”

  Will looked up to find Base entering the room, his shoulders hunched, grim look on his face. He took his seat and waited for the meeting to start.

  “Serves you right for treating us like you have,” Squire whispered in a hushed tone when Base leaned his head in his hands, rubbing his temples.

  “What?” Basilio asked, half turning toward Squire.

  “Your headache, the shape you’re in, losing all those games out there on the road. Serves you right. First you hit me, then you ghost us like we don’t mean nothing. Snapping at us no matter what we say to you. Serves you right. Friends don’t do that shit,” Squire said a little louder.

  “You’re lucky I didn’t rip your fucking head off! You don’t disrespect my woman like that!” Base hissed at him.

  “Your woman? She’s a fucking cleaning woman. And a fat one at that!” Squire said, voice rising.

  Base stood, his fists at his side clenching and unclenching. “She’s not fat. She’s got curves, and she’s soft and pretty and smells like home. And there is no shame in an honest day’s work, no matter what it is.”

  Squire didn’t get it, he truly didn’t, his face twisted up in confusion. “What can you possibly see in that? She’s not a hard body. She’s not slender and muscular, or tight. She’s round,” he said.

  “Exactly!” Base said. “She’s a woman, not a girl. She’s got more beauty in her little finger than any of these girls running around flaunting what they got and just giving it away to the first one that looks their direction.”

  “Hey, if you got it and you want to share it, what’s wrong with it?” Squire asked.

  “If you’re doing it because you enjoy it, nothing — not a damn thing wrong with it — more power to you. If you’re doing it trying to catch you a ball player, or trap somebody into having to marry you, or pay you child support for the next eighteen years, there’s a lot wrong with it.”

  Squire was irritated because Base had made perfect sense. “Least I won’t want to chew my arm off in the morning when I wake up. Least I won’t be lying next to something I wish I didn’t have to see in the daylight.”

  Basilio advanced on Squire, his lips pressed together, a rumble in his chest. “Don’t insult her again. This is your only warning.”

  Squire jumped to his feet and shuffled back a few steps.

  “Hey! The hell is wrong with you guys? Settle down!” Coach yelled, walking into the meeting room.

  Base glared at Squire. “It’s not finished,” he warned, then turned back around, giving Squire his back. It was the deepest of insults among his kind, though Squire didn’t know it. It gave Base immense satisfaction.

  “We got a game the day after tomorrow. That’s all the time we have to get prepared. Get your head into it and stop fucking with each other,” Coach snapped.

  After the meeting, Base went straight to the locker room, just in case his female had been there. Unfortunately there was no trace of her. Disappointed, he made his way to the laundry room, there was no trace of her there either.

  Nothing to wash, his beast told him.

  You’re right, no games, nothing to wash, he thought back at his Gorilla, looking around the laundry room and trying to figure out what his next move would be.

  Some of the other guys on the team started filing into the locker room just a little way down the corridor. He could hear them talking and joking around as they went in. He let himself out of the laundry room and pulled the door closed behind himself. He walked back into the locker room, ignored everyone and went straight to his locker. He grabbed the notebook that he kept there for meetings and such, and ripped a page from it. He wrote a short note, then folded it and tucked it into his pocket. Basilio threw the notebook back into the
locker, closed the small metal door and left the room. He went back to the laundry facilities and placed it neatly on top of the first washing machine, tucked behind the dial control to keep it in place. Then he left, heading home to spend what he hoped would be the last of his lonely nights waiting for her to call.

  Squire watched Base go into the laundry room then come right back out, make his way out of the player’s entrance and presumably leave the stadium. He waited a few moments after Base left, then went in the laundry facility to see what Base found so interesting. He immediately saw the note and picked it up. He stood there reading it and laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of the entire situation.

  “Dear Pretty Lady, I don’t even know your name, but I want to tell you how sorry I am that my former friend insulted you like he did. I won’t let him do it again. Or anybody else for that matter. Please call me so we can talk. I’m waiting to hear from you. Yours, Basilio Lyakhov.”

  Still laughing he hurried to catch up with Will. “Will! Man, this is priceless! Base don’t even know that woman’s name.”

  “What are you talking about?” Will asked him.

  “That woman, the one he hit me over, he don’t even know her!”

  “How do you know that?” Will asked.

  “I followed him. I found a letter he left her in the laundry room down the hall from the locker room. He don’t even know her name. I’m going to find her. I’m gonna prove to him she ain’t nothing better than the others. They’re all alike.”

  “Squire, man, he didn’t like it when you insulted her. Maybe you should leave her alone. She hasn’t done anything to you. Just let it go,” Will told him.

  “I ain’t letting nothing go. He can’t treat us like that, we were his friends, and he’s gonna punch me over somebody he doesn’t even know. No! I ain’t letting it go,” Squire answered.