Hotbox

by Delia Delaney

  We did go to a movie that night, and we sat in the back row like usual. I loved it when she cozied up against me, but it sure didn’t beat being able to stretch out on a couch with her at home. She stayed the night with me, claiming it was acceptable because it was almost my birthday, and in the morning she made me breakfast.

  “So…” she smiled. “Are you ready to have some fun today, birthday boy?”

  “Fun? Isn’t that what we’ve been having? Well, at least I have. Maybe it wasn’t as exciting for you…”

  She was laughing. “A different kind of fun.”

  “Oh,” I replied, eyeing her carefully. “What do you have planned?”

  “Fun. I already told you that. Don’t you ever listen?”

  With a smile I said, “Yes, I always listen.”

  “Mmm, not always. Sometimes you kind of…space out. But that’s okay. I understand I can ramble on and become totally uninteresting.”

  I was laughing, and I disagreed that she was uninteresting, but I didn’t argue the spacing out part. When I had things on my mind, sometimes it was hard to concentrate on anything else.

  “So I’ll give you a hint,” she smiled. “What’s your favorite thing to do?”

  A big smile slowly filled my face.

  She rolled her eyes. “Okay, second favorite?”

  “Mmm, play baseball.”

  And that’s what I got to do. She took me to the fields at the college where there were almost two dozen people gathered. Nine guys from my former team were there—including Jack and Jesse—and four other players that made the team after some of us graduated. Matt, Shawn, and Josh were there as well. Even Coach Tucker and Coach Farland came, each to officially manage a team. I realized Jayden had intended for this to be an actual game, and she wasn’t planning on playing.

  “And I thought you were going to take me to church for my birthday,” I teased her.

  With a smile she replied, “We can still do that if this isn’t good enough.”

  “This is more than good enough. But I wish you’d reconsider and come play. We’ll be easy on you.”

  “That’s why. I want you guys to play a real game, without us girls slowing you down.”

  “Maybe you can be the umpire and massage my shoulders while you stand behind me.”

  “Nice try, but you have an umpire,” she pointed. “Three official umpires.”

  “Oh. The bat girl?”

  She shook her head. “Nope. I want to watch from the stands. I’ll still be your biggest fan, though.”

  “Okay, that’s plenty good for me.”

  “Hey!” Tucker hollered. “Just because it’s your birthday doesn’t mean you can make us wait all day!”

  I looked at Jayden and asked, “Since he’s my coach again, do you think I have to tell him I broke the twelve-hour rule?”

  She shoved me and looked embarrassed.

  “What?” I chuckled. “I’m beginning to believe the rule exists for a reason. I’m feeling a little weak.”

  “Get out of here!” she laughed and shoved me again. “Good luck,” she added, blowing me a kiss.

  I watched her head for the stands to sit with Megan, Cali, Stacie, and Silvia. A few of her other friends joined them as well, and the bleachers actually filled up a little with other spectators that came to watch friends or family.

  I have to admit it was the best birthday ever. Between having Jayden with me for the past eighteen hours and getting to play a game of ball, I was a very happy guy. We actually played two entire games, mixing up the teams the second time around. Jayden later told me she thought of taking a bunch of us to another Mariners game, but she realized that I would rather play baseball than watch it. She was absolutely right.

  Devin was now a senior and he had taken over my position as catcher for the upcoming season. But Tucker had a freshman he’d added to the team with the hope that he was going to turn out just like me. His name was Justin Sanders, and he really was pretty good. He played catch for the second game and it was obvious he had a perfect understanding of the game. He probably had twenty pounds on me and wasn’t as agile, but I had no doubt that he’d make a great team leader one of these days.

  Jayden had pizza delivered in between the two games for anyone that felt like eating. Most of us were hungry and had a couple of pieces while we took a break on the bleachers. There was a case of bottled water that she brought from her car as well. I was impressed by how much thought she’d put into the day.

  When the second game was over I was surprised that a lot of the guys still stuck around. I guess many of them missed playing the game as much as I did. Jayden did join a third game we started, one that was a little more laid back. Megan played as well, and about four or five other people that were in the stands joined in too.

  When five o’clock rolled around, Jayden returned to the bleachers to sit and watch. I was done for the day so I really didn’t need to be on the field anymore either. I went and sat with her while she laid her head against me, and we watched the remaining people play around for another half hour.

  We headed home and I showered up. I was planning on spending the rest of the evening alone with my fiancée, but she cringed and said there was one more thing she wanted to go and do.

  “You’ve already done plenty,” I told her. “We don’t have to go anywhere else.”

  “Are you too tired?” she asked.

  “No, I’m not tired. I’m a little hungry again, but I was hoping that you might make me a sandwich and we could…hang out on the couch for a bit.”

  “We can still do that later,” she smiled. “But first there’s one more thing I’d like to do.”

  I shrugged. “Okay, that’s fine with me. I’ll go anywhere you tell me to go.”

  “Good, I was counting on that.”

  Howard had half the restaurant shut down for us at Time Out, just so we could have a private party. Most of the people that played ball with us earlier were there, and several others including Chris and Joe, and even my own father. I was shocked.

  What was most surprising was that Jayden had put together one of those video montages of our baseball season, and played it on the big screen. It was really cool because of the way she did it, and the music she used fit the scenes perfectly. I don’t know a single thing about video editing, but Tuck had given her all of the recordings of the games over the past two years, and she took only the best footage and put them onto a DVD. There were so many great moments, at least two of every guy on the team. The end of the whole thing consisted of more than a dozen plays at home plate, mainly a lot of collisions. The room was roaring with different exclamations over every play.

  “Oh!” Jack yelled. “I remember that game! I thought you were unconscious!”

  “I thought I was too at the time,” I replied. “But I had the wind knocked out of me so bad, it just took a few seconds to sit up. At least the guy was out. That’s all I remember.”

  “I almost cried when I saw that,” Jayden said next to me with a sad chuckle.

  The night carried on with a lot more baseball stories, and a lot of food. After a couple of hours people began to trickle out, saying their farewells and birthday wishes before they left.

  When we were back at my house, finally alone again with some quiet, I told Jayden how much I loved her, and how important she was in my life. She told me how much I meant to her as well, and that her life wouldn’t be the same without me.

  “Yeah because then you’d be back to the single life, fighting the guys off every time you turn around.”

  “Thank goodness that’s changed. At least you’re good for something,” she winked.

  We lounged on the couch together and watched TV. The baseball video she made came up and I asked her how she found the time to do it all.

  “Why do you think I’ve been so tired lately?” she smiled. “I watched hours and hours of baseball games! It took longer than I thought and I was running out of time to work on it. But it was a good thing
you were sick last weekend. That’s when I got most of it done.”

  Huh, funny how things work out that way. I still had bitter feelings about that weekend, and just the reminder made me think about it all over again. I wished I had an entirely different life sometimes, but the only thing I wouldn’t change is Jayden.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  If I could have predicted the future several months ago like I’d wanted, when Jayden and I first started dating, I wonder what I would have decided to do at the time. Would I have avoided her at all costs, just so I didn’t have to ruin her life, or would I have still selfishly enjoyed my time with her while I could? I honestly didn’t know the answer to that, but right now I was wishing for the former. I never should have let myself get close to her; I never should have fallen in love with her.

  That Friday I had to lie to her. Dean wanted to meet with me and there was no way I could get out of it. I told Jayden the only thing I knew she would believe: I told her I was going to visit my dad. I told her that I was happy he was making progress and he’d remained clean and out of trouble, so I felt that he deserved the attention.

  She was thrilled and actually agreed with me. “I think I’ll finally be able to read a book,” she laughed, after assuring me she didn’t feel like doing anything else. She was just getting off work and was going to head home to take a bath. I talked to her for a few minutes longer until I told her that I loved her and would call her later.

  I met Dean somewhere new, somewhere I’d never been before. It was a billiards lounge downtown near a lot of the restaurants and social scenes. It was a little odd to me because there were so many people meandering the streets, but I slipped down the alley and made it through the back entry like I was instructed. I immediately saw Cue, and my heart began to race. I knew I was meeting Dean, but Cue was the boss’s personal bodyguard. Why would he be there, too?

  Cue led me down a set of stairs into a dimly lit private lounge. It gave me a sick feeling, like all the other times I’d entered establishments just like this. I’d be summoned to the conclusion of an underground poker game, only to find my father in a pitiful, helpless state. I was always there to settle his debts.

  This time my heart began to feel like a heavy brick when I took stock of who was there. Dean was there, along with his henchman, but Olevsky was there as well. I swallowed, not used to seeing the two of them together. Whatever this was couldn’t be good.

  “Have a seat, Ty,” Dean instructed me. I slowly sat in the chair he’d pointed to. “We have some things to discuss.”

  “What’s going on?” I couldn’t help but ask. Olevsky was silent, and he remained on the couch with his legs crossed, smoking a cigarette. I had never seen him smoke before.

  Dean motioned to Dax and he walked across the room to someone sitting in the shadows, pulling him up out of his seat and leading him over.

  It was Bobby.

  “I’m- I’m sorry, Ty. I- I really am,” he practically trembled.

  “Sorry for what?” I asked him. I looked at the other men but they didn’t say anything. Dax forcefully sat Bobby into a nearby chair and took a couple of steps away.

  Dean leaned forward in his seat. “It’s come to my attention that there’s been a breach in our organization,” he said to me. “I give you a second chance, Ty, and you screw it up.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I replied, looking between him and Olevsky. The boss was still sitting there, motionless.

  Dean sort of smiled and sat back in his seat again. “Bobby, refresh Ty’s memory.”

  Bobby looked scared out of his mind, slouched in the chair like a little boy. His hands were shaking and he swallowed several times. “I’m- I’m sorry,” he said again.

  “Get to the point!” Dean growled at him.

  “Uh…for- for talking to you…in- in the street…for breaking the code and- and talking to you…uh, in front of her.”

  I tilted my head to peer at him, still trying to understand what was going on. I held my hands up and looked at Dean. “I don’t know what he’s worried about. Yeah, he passed me on the sidewalk last week and said hi, but that’s it. We didn’t talk about the organization. Not a word.”

  Bobby seemed to flinch for a second, seeming utterly confused. And then I understood. Dean must have coerced out of Bobby what he wanted to hear.

  “Is that true, Bobby?” Dean asked with a hard look. “Is Ty lying to me, or are you?”

  “Lying to you?” I asked. “There’s nothing to lie about.”

  “Bobby?” Dean pressed.

  Bobby swallowed again. “Uh, I don’t- I don’t…”

  “Bobby, what’s going on?” I asked him. “Did you tell him I did something wrong? Did he make you think you did something wrong?”

  “Shut up, Ty,” Dean glared at me. “You actually talked to him on the street when your girlfriend was with you? You’re an idiot. So much for keeping everything separate.”

  I scoffed. “She already knows him. They’re acquaintances. She was the one that talked to him for a few seconds, and then we left. Nothing was said; she’s not suspicious about anything!”

  Dean smirked. “Bobby, didn’t you tell me that Jayden threatened to turn you in?”

  “She wasn’t serious!” I exclaimed. “Bobby, you know she didn’t mean that, right?”

  “Well, yeah, she’s always joked about stuff like that—”

  “Are you changing your story now, Bobby?” Dean asked him. “We had a nice little chat about what happens when you lie to me. I’d hate for something bad to happen.”

  “I didn’t- I’m not—” He took a deep breath. “I’m not lying,” he said quietly. “I’m just… I think I’m confused. I don’t really remember.”

  “You didn’t have a problem remembering earlier.”

  “Well you—” He stopped short and then shrank back down in his seat. Dean was giving him a look that suggested Bobby better not accuse him of a single thing.

  “Look,” I said. “We came out of the restaurant, he was there, he said hi, Jayden mentioned getting him clean, he asked if we were together, and then we left. No harm done, nothing was—”

  “Roy,” Dean called.

  Out of the shadows came another figure and I didn’t even know he had been sitting there. It was the dirty cop.

  “Tell Ty why you think he’s being naïve. Tell him why you think she knows more than she’s letting on.”

  The cop folded his arms across his chest and casually leaned against a post that supported the ceiling. “She won’t even look me in the eye,” he said. “I try to talk to her at work, and she avoids me.”

  I almost rolled my eyes. “She doesn’t like talking to guys. Period. Is this something new? Were you two buddies before, talking all the time and hanging out? What, did you all of a sudden decide to try talking to her more, to see what she knows? Of course she’s going to avoid you. She gets hit on all the time; she probably thinks you’re trying to—”

  “Shut up, Ty,” Dean said. “I don’t like your attitude.” He folded his arms and leaned back in his seat.

  “Well, this is ridiculous. The bottom line is that I never want Jayden to know who I’ve been involved with. If you guys would just leave me alone, we wouldn’t be here right now!”

  “And where does your pretty little princess think you are at the moment?” Dean inquired.

  I paused for a moment and took a breath. “She thinks I’m visiting my father.”

  Dean laughed out loud. “Oh, that’s rich. Ty’s deadbeat daddy is now a good guy, willing to back up his son’s lies. That’s very sweet that you and Clifford have made amends, Ty. I’m very touched.”

  The room was silent for several seconds as I sat there awaiting my execution. Not literally, because I knew Olevsky wouldn’t allow it, but Dean was out for blood in any way he could get it. I knew this day would come. No matter how many hopeful moments I’d had, I knew my whole life was going to come to an end.

  Dean act
ually turned to Olevsky and said, “He’s a risk. The more he’s with her, the sooner we’re all going to be screwed. She’s the daughter of Joe Adams! We all know what that means. We can’t get rid of her because her dad would turn this damn city upside down. She’s already seen him with Bobby, Roy is afraid she’s onto him… We can’t work like this, afraid that some little princess is going to be the undoing of us all! We either pull her into this our way, or Ty dumps the broad. Hey, I tried to be the nice guy for once, but if you expect me to be out of the country, I can’t leave my end of the biz in turmoil.”

  I couldn’t even believe what I was hearing. Was this really happening? They had all come together to conspire against me? Again.

  “Just think about what we have to worry about from now on,” Dean continued. “The Cramer case went down the drain. Roy didn’t even get halfway through his testimony before he got completely shut down.”

  That found my voice. “Wait a minute. Don’t tell me you think Jayden had anything to do with that. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  With a laugh Dean replied, “How are we supposed to know, Ty? Huh? Your girl has more influence than you think. You think I don’t have a right to worry about it?”

  “Influence? With who? What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t be stupid, Ty. She’s got her father wrapped around her little finger. If she has a problem with someone, he’s right there to take care of it.”

  I almost laughed. “She doesn’t have a problem with anybody. And she has nothing to do with her father’s work decisions. I have no clue why you would even think that.”

  “Why would Joe Adams suddenly have something against Roy?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. If Joe thought there was something going on, he would surely take care of it. He wouldn’t be railroading someone in a courtroom. Maybe he knows he’s been talking to her all the time,” I said, looking at Roy at the same time. “She’s engaged. Why would she want to be friends with you? I think you’re paranoid.”