Page 31 - North Haven Magazine Issue 23 Spring 2022

while after that. All was calm. So far as his fam- to Larry’s games instead of the practices.”
ily thought of course. He was tired and a little “OK. He’s pitching today. Love seeing that kid
hungry. He always was after one of these eve- pitch.
nings. Granted, there weren’t a lot of them, but “Don’t put too much pressure on him please.
when they happened, he was beat for a few days And don’t call him L3 on the field. You know
sometimes. Before turning in he needed to clean he hates that.”
up. A hot shower and a snack were in order so “I told you a thousand times Mon, at least I
he went upstairs, peeked into the boy’s room, don’t’ call him “Yogi.”
then went into the bathroom to wash away the “I still can’t understand why you men feel the
night. Showers were therapeutic for Larry. He need to name your kids after sports stars.
thought of them as more than just washing It’s so silly.”
away the dirt of the day but as a sort of emo-
tional cleansing which was necessary for sure. After a little more small talk Monica went up-
When he was finished he snuck into his room, stairs to wake up the boys and Larry went out-
gave Mon a peck and got some clothes from the side in the backyard to do a little fall cleaning.
dresser before heading downstairs for that bite The monotonous pick up of deadfall and leaves
to eat and a spin around the TV. was a welcome distraction. There was a lot go-
ing through his mind after last night and doing
After wolfing down a small sandwich he set- these menial chores was helpful. He’ll be at the
tled into his recliner and turned on the TV. He game in a few hours anyway and that’s the best
flipped through the channels for a bit, got the escape. Living through your son’s successes
scores, scrolled through the HBO selection with and failures on the field and wishing you were
nothing particularly interesting, then closed 10 again helps make up for your mistakes. Soon
his eyes and waited to fall asleep. The chair was he’ll be lost in the game, where the secrets are
comfortable after all, and on nights like this be- buried. Not too deep of course. They never are
ing alone somehow felt like the right place to too far away, but just enough to allow him to live
be. Alone. Alone with his dreams. Alone with his life like a normal man, something he cer-
the night terrors that often accompanied them. tainly is not.
Soon the familiar thoughts would come crawl-
ing from the recesses of his mind to the front.
Was he careful? He replayed the evening and
all the other evenings over and over a thousand
times in his head. That’s who he is. Thorough,
organized. No reason to worry. Sleep grabbed
him a short while later and this time, he did not
wake up until Monica gave his arm a shake and
whispered “Rise and shine Honey.”

It was Saturday so no work or school rush. Mon
made the coffee while Larry sat at the kitchen
table and read the paper.
“Did you see they found that girl yesterday?
“Yeah I saw it on the news last night.”
“What time did you get home? I thought you
were going to the park?”
“I did. On the way home I saw Jerry in his
garage so I stopped in and had a cigar. I got
home around 9. You were out cold so I stayed
down here.”
She poured them both a cup of coffee and sat
down at the table.
“They said that girl worked at the factory a
few years ago. Did you know her?”
“Nah, lots of people work in the warehouse.”
“Such a tragedy. Can’t imagine if it…”
“Mon…Bad things happen all the time. They’ll
catch the guy. Which one do you want today,
L3 or Georgie?”
“I’ll take George I guess. I know you like to go

NorthHavenMag.com 31