stealing home

“Man, Louise, for a 43 year old guy, Bill can play some serious baseball. He could have had a career.”
“Did you know they wanted him to play for DSU, back when he graduated from high school?”
“Really? Why didn’t they take him? Did he try out and not get it?”
“Oh, they never got the chance turn him down. They really wanted him, too. Had a scholarship lined up and everything. Only thing left to do was to meet with the coach.”
“He skipped the meeting?”
“Yep. See, we were on our way out to Corvalis, so he could work in the sawmill with my cousin. We were married a month, and his mom reminded him the morning we took off that he had agreed to meeting with the coach. That was in February, before we – got married and all that. Then the coach called his mom’s house, and she forgot to tell Bill until we were in the car. Said the coach would be at the cafe in Lourdis. You been there?”
“Once. Is it that place with the rooster on the sign?”
“That’s the one. Only, the rooster was standing up back then. Anyway, his mom told him and he says, ‘No way. I can’t go to college. I got a wife and a kid to think about.’
“She says, ‘Bill, if you think you’re better off raising that kid on minimum wage all your life, you’re crazy. Think about the future. If they’re going to pay for your schooling, why not go and meet with the man? You’re going through there, anyway.’”
“So you went to the meeting, right?”
“We went. The whole drive . . .you know Bill. He kept talking about how he might be pretty popular on campus, how he might get into the Majors and have fans and all that.”
“So? Why didn’t he play?”
“When we got there, the coach was late. We had to make good time if we were to get to Corvalis by the next night, so we didn’t have a lot of time to wait around. So we left.”
“Disappointed?”
“Bill was. Couple times he wanted to call the coach and ask for another chance. They would have taken him. Then there would be the parties and all that and the girls. And I’d be home with the baby, you know. I still worry about him when the amateur team travels. You never know about some of those waitresses. At least he didn’t have to deal with all that in college.”
Her voice trailed off, and I thought I saw a little smile start to dance the corners of her mouth. Then it was gone.