Not Done Yet - 14. Grounder

Grounder

“Hey, short stuff!”

“That’s short stop to you, Casey. You ready for this weekend?”

“Yeh, about that, I, umm, may not be able to make it.” Casey squeezed up to his locker, and started to spin the combination on his lock. He didn’t look at Sam, their new backup shortstop.

“Oh, dude, do not tell me that. This is the baseball team’s appreciation banquet. You’re one of our starters and a junior; you’ve got to show. What kind of example is that going to set for young and impressionable freshmen like me, just making it onto the team for next year??” Sam’s smile was as bright as ever, but it didn’t match the look in his eyes, or the note of concern in his voice.

Casey glanced at Sam. “My date kinda fell through, dude. I don’t want to show up solo, like some loser. That wouldn’t make for much of an example, either.” He halfway turned to Sam, deflated, and leaned against his locker.

"Listen, big brother,” Sam leaned forward and spoke low, for Casey’s ears only, “I’m nervous as hell about goin’ to this thing, but I’ve already asked Mary. I’m the only black guy on the team, takin’ a white girl for a date. You know just how redneck this school can be. You’re my best friend on the team, and I really could use ya there. If you’re there, nobody’s gonna pull any crap, but if you’re not, I don’t know if I wanna go, either. Please, Casey.”

Casey looked right at Sam, then, and he wasn’t smiling, for once. Puppy dog eyes and a quivering lip gave away how concerned he was.

“Sam, I’m sorry.” He got quiet for a couple of seconds, then said, “I wasn’t thinking, and I shoulda been. I’ll be there for you and Mary. If anyone so much as looks at either of you crooked, I don’t care if it’s at the banquet or not, anytime, you let me know. OK?” His words were quiet, but his eyes were clouded.
Sam brightened up right away, and the sparkle came back into his eyes. “Case, you’re the best brother from another mother I could ever hope for. It’s not too late for you to get another date. Send up a flare. But keep your bat handy, ‘cause you’re gonna have to beat ‘em off with a stick, stud.”

“Yeh, right, Sam. You’re so full of it, your eyes are brown.” He reached out and cupped the back of Sam’s neck, squeezing softly, and snorted. “Listen, I’ll ask if I can borrow Jim’s car to pick y’all up, so we can all go together and you won’t have to ask anybody else. Unless you wanna borrow your daddy’s horse.” He squeezed Sam’s neck again and winked.

Sam just about jumped into Casey’s arms to hug him. When he first tried out for the team, there had even been mutterings about a nigger on the team. The coaches hadn’t said a word about it, either, but Casey let it be known, he had Sam’s back. Something about the way he’d said it had snuffed out the comments like a match in a gust of wind.

Casey wasn’t the biggest guy in the school, or even the biggest on the team, but they’d all seen him in gym class. When the coaches had them wrestle, nobody wanted to go up against him. It wasn’t his strength, or his speed, or his skill that backed them off. It was the look in his eyes when he fought. His opponents always knew from the outset, the boy would never submit. When Casey hit the mat, it was like a spring wound two turns too tight.

From the first day he’d gotten to town, Sam and Casey had just clicked, and Mary clicked right along with them both. Casey and Sam hugged each other hard, right there in the hallway. When they broke apart, Sam was laughing. He turned and walked away, pumping his fist in the air. “I’m glad you got your license this year, bro!”

Casey’s smile disappeared as he turned back to his locker, deflated once more. “Damn it, why did Sara have to get sick?” He changed out the books in his pack, shut his locker, and turned around and saw his lab partner, Karen, smiling brightly at him from a few feet away.

“Hi Casey,” She said, stepping closer. “Did you get the lab report written up?”

Casey reached into his pack and pulled out a flash drive to hand to her. “Here you go. I haven’t had a chance to print it out, but Mr. Cullen will accept it as an email. Wanna look it over and send it in?”

Karen waved him off. “That’s OK; I trust your work. Can you go ahead and turn it in? Just copy me on the email so I’ll have it, too.”

“Sure, no problem, but this is a spare, so take it. I’ll send the email when I get home. Um… Karen… you know I’m sorta seeing Sara right now, right?” She nodded. “Well, the baseball appreciation dinner’s coming up this Saturday, and she’s down with a rippin’ case of the flu, so she can’t go. Would you consider going with me? It’s going to be at the Lost Pines this year, and I’d hate to waste the ticket. I know it’s short notice, but –“

Karen smiled again. “Casey, I’d love to. I haven’t been there, but I’ve heard a lot about it. It’s supposed to be really nice. I just got a new dress, too, and needed some place to show it off. Your timing couldn’t be better.”

“Wow, that’s great. Can I pick you up at six? I offered Sam and Mary a ride, too, so we’ll need to swing by and pick them up on the way.”

“Fair enough, boy.” Karen’s eyes were bright, and her smile matched, when she lightly stroked Casey’s arm before walking away. Several feet away, she turned and yelled back, “See ya in bio. Let’s cut open a dead animal to celebrate!”

Casey started laughing, and found he couldn’t stop. Finally, he had to just sit down on the floor, there in the hallway, he was laughing so hard.

*
Casey was in panic mode. “Carol, have you seen my tie?!” He had his head buried in his closet, frantically rifling through his clothes for the third time, and was shouting across the house. “CAROL –” He spun around and nearly crashed right into her.

Carol stood her ground and snickered, as Casey nearly fell. A long, narrow box with a silver bow on it was in her hand. When Casey regained his balance, Carol offered him the box. “Try this one, honey.”

Since Casey had first come to stay with Jim and Carol Fisher several months earlier, he had tried his best to live up to his words to the social worker, and his foster parents took as much pride and delight in him as if he were their own. When he wasn’t in school or at baseball practice, Casey was working, either running parts for the auto repair shop, or helping out around the house. The week before, he’d gotten another solar array installed, and several circuits on the property were off-grid now.

Looking at the box in Carol’s hands, Casey reached out and gently took it. “What’s this?”

“Honey, you’ve been talking about this dinner for a month. You got new slacks and a jacket, but I noticed you didn’t get a tie to go with them. I hope you like this one.”

Casey opened the box. Inside was a brilliant abstract tie, in red and gold tones. He actually gasped, and Carol’s face lit up at his reaction. “It’s a J. Garcia, from their Watercolor collection. I thought it would play well off your outfit, and brighten it up. Trust me. You’re much too hot to dress drab, honey.”

“You know, there are certain things you never want to hear from your mom. Hearing her say you’re hot is right at the top of that list. But thanks. And thank you for the tie. It’s perfect. I love it.” He turned up his collar and draped the tie around his neck. Starting to knot it, he fumbled the knot and muttered, “I could really use some help with this.”

Casey’s foster father, Jim, walked in right then, took one look at him, and smiled warmly. Crossing the room, he quietly stated, “Let me help you with that. You never seem to get the length right the first time, and you need to leave shortly.”

He deftly looped the tie around each bight before circling both, tucking the tip down through the knot and sliding it into place. He snugged up the knot, folded down Casey’s collar, and smoothed it out carefully all around. He took a step back and looked at Casey appraisingly. Casey looked up at him with a lopsided smile, and quietly asked, “Whaddaya think, Dad?”

Jim looked down at Casey, reached out, and pulled him into a hug, cradling the back of the boy’s head. “I think anybody who captures your heart holds a pearl of great price, boy,” he whispered softly in Casey’s ear, and kissed the side of his head. Then he turned the boy to face Carol. “Passable, do you think, honey?”

She winked and took Casey by the arm, and led him through the kitchen and to the garage door, away from Jim, saying, “If a divorce lawyer weren’t so expensive, I’d keep you for myself.” She handed Casey a small white box, which he took nervously without looking inside.

“I HEARD THAT!” Jim shouted as he walked into the room.

“That’s why I said it so loud. So you’d know you’ve got competition, old man. I have seriously got a crush on this guy here. I think I could give Karen a run for her money. What do you think, Casey?” She smiled sweetly at him and batted her eyelashes.

“I – I think I’d better get going. G’bye, Mom, Dad. Don’t wait up for me.” He freed his arm and ducked out to the garage, while Jim and Carol watched, arm in arm, from the door.

While Jim and Carol watched Casey drive off in Jim’s car, Jim waggled his eyebrows and asked his wife, “Wanna play Hide the Salami? We’ve got the house to ourselves.”

Carol snorted. “That’s easy enough. Set it down anywhere. Five seconds later, neither of us will remember where you left it.”

*
Casey parked in front of Karen’s house, and walked to the door. Before he could ring the bell, a young girl opened it, and looked Casey up and down. “Can I help you?”

“Hi, I’m Casey. I’m here to pick up Karen.”

The girl, who might have been twelve years old, smiled and said, “Oh, come on in to the living room. She should be down in a minute.” She stepped back and swung the door open wide. “My name’s Jade. They call me that because of my eyes.”

Casey looked more closely, and the girl had very soft green eyes. “They’re very pretty eyes. Are you Karen’s sister?”

“Uh huh.” The girl was watching Casey intently.

He shuffled his feet, slightly uncomfortable under her gaze. “Um, would you please let her know I’m here?”
“Oh, sure.” As she neared the door, Jade turned to Casey and tilted her head a little. “You’re different from most boys that come to see Karen,” and left.

Casey sat on the couch, and picked up a book from the coffee table. It was one of those oversized picture books, full of photographs. He got so interested he didn’t notice when Karen walked in.

“You’re looking pretty sharp there, Casey.” Karen was standing in the doorway in a midnight blue dress with a pair of matching heels. As she walked to the couch, Casey stood, admiring the way the fabric of the dress revealed and concealed the girl beneath it. Her hair was swept to one side and lay in soft honey colored waves that fell in front of her shoulder.

Casey brought out the small box Carol had given him. He’d picked it up from the florist. Inside was a cluster of dark blue flowers arranged in a spray with baby’s breath. “I thought you might like this. Looks like I got lucky with the color.” He pulled out the flowers. They were fixed to a small comb to be worn in the hair.

“Oh Casey! They’re beautiful! Help me with them, please.”

Casey stepped up and tucked the arrangement just above Karen’s ear. He softly adjusted her hair and smiled. “They look great on you.”