Short Story: The Ride Home
The ball bounced just below me in the centerfield bleachers and I caught it. What a souvenir!! A walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th giving the Rangers a win. When Danny was visiting his parents at their lake house in Texas, he and I often went to the games. Three bucks to sit in the centerfield bleachers and yell at the outfielders. You could bring your own cooler full of Rollin’ Rock beer and if you were lucky, you could grab a home run ball.
We walked to Danny's car and put the top down for the ride home. We needed more beer so we found the nearest drive thru carry out. No Rollin’ Rock. I looked at Danny in a questioning manner and told the man that we’d take a bag of ice and a 12-pack of Sam Adams. Something new. It somehow seemed appropriate at that moment. We filled the cooler and Danny put Jackson Browne in the cassette player. We jumped on the interstate for the all too familiar one-hour drive to the lake house. We both sang along as we drank our “new” beer.
“Lookin out at the road rushing under my wheels
Lookin back at the years gone by like so many summer fields…”
We talked about the past. We retold old stories that only get better with time and several beers. Without thinking I said, "Turn off at the next exit."
"Why? I'm not sure where those roads go. We could get lost or we could get a flat tire or breakdown in the middle of some cornfield."
"Just do it, we’ll eventually get back to your Mom and Dad's lake house. I'm sure we will.”
Danny took the next exit off the interstate, headed east on a small road and then north on the second road we came across. After about a half an hour, I put the Eagles in the cassette player. The Sam Adams was going down quite easily at this point and we had no clue where this part gravel, part dirt, and part blacktop road was taking us. We didn’t care. Our singing got louder.
“We may lose and we may win
Though we will never be here again…”
Then it happened. A flat tire. Danny gave me that I told you so look, "Thank goodness I actually have a spare in the trunk."
I laughed, “Well, we’re also out in the middle of a cornfield.”
“There’s no place to pull over.”
I laughed again, “I don’t think it matters, there’s not another car or person within 20 miles of us. Who in their right mind would want to be out here anyway?” Danny laughed.
As we were changing the tire, Danny asked, “Did Beth tell you that we got the business loan?”
“No, but Shan told me. That’s great. Big change from our carefree undergraduate years. You and Beth are going to own and run a store in southern West Virginia. Welcome to the real world.”
Danny laughed. “Yes, my world is nothing but real responsibilities. We open in about a month. We’re fixing up the building now. And then of course, Beth is due in about 7 months. Yes indeed, welcome to the real world.”
“How is she?”
“She’s great. She’s always been an encourager and an optimist. You simply can’t shake her faith in our future.”
I looked directly at Danny, “So, how are you doing?”
“Well, I admit that I was scared a few months ago, but now I am actually excited about the future.”
I paused for a few seconds, “And by the end of the summer, I will have completed all my classwork for my Ph.D. Then I get to write my dissertation and who knows after that. Perhaps I'll end up teaching in Indiana or some place like that.” I laughed.
“How is Shan doing?”
“She is running the largest residence hall on campus and just finished her MA. We may be moving to Austin soon.”
“That is fantastic. Hook'em Horns!”
"I can see her becoming a Director of Housing on a major campus in a few years. She's so bright and talented. I am the luckiest guy in the world."
One beer later Danny grunted an “OK” as he tightened the lug nuts on the spare. He quickly downed another Sam Adams and we got back in the car. Once again we were driving through the cornfield. For the remainder of the ride home we said very little to each other. Jackson Browne was singing again,
"I'm going to find myself a girl
Who can show me what laughter means
And we'll fill in the missing colors
In each other's paint-by-number dreams..."
We somehow managed to come to an intersection with the familiar road to the lake house. Yet, somehow the road was no longer the same...
Note: Song lyrics from Jackson Browne and Glenn Fry.
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