With them deciding to stay, we went to the hotel together after dinner, getting two different rooms. I sent a few texts out to those who needed to know about my whereabouts.
The manager called as soon as he saw my text. Never mind that it was late and he should be going to sleep. "What’s going on Patterson? Are you coming back tomorrow or not?"
I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "I might need another day. I don’t know. I should be done by noon and back by two, so theoretically I should make it to the ga tomorrow, but I’ll be honest Coach. I’m not in a good place."
"Take care of yourself, Patterson." He told right away. "Family first. Then baseball. I want you in your best ntal state. You coming back to us and not having your head in the ga will kill us and your chances at mvp. Just keep in the know."
"I will." I felt a little better knowing that the manager was on my side.
After his call, I decided to call Rose. She wasn’t soone I can just brush away with a text.
"Jeremy!" She answered with a yelp.
"It’s ." I confird.
"What the heck?" She raised her voice again. "Why would you just leave hanging like that!? I was so worried about you! Going off the deep end." She got quiet before asking. "Are you at the prison?"
"I won’t see her until tomorrow morning." I answered with a sigh.
"You don’t have to do this. Co back." She told lightly.
"I do, Rose. I couldn’t face Jake without knowing for certain." I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Jake...might be the only one I have left."
"That’s not true." She whispered. "You have . And no matter what your uncle did, you can’t bla your cousins."
"He was paying her off, Rose." I blurted out for the first ti. "He took and was paying her! When I got drafted, the paynts went up! He had to know about Jake. I was-I was just so tool for him to make money. He saw as his big payday since I was a child. I had picked him over Jake and this-this-this-"
"Take a deep breath, Jeremy." Rose said calmly. "You didn’t have any part in this. Jake will understand."
She shared a few more words of comfort before convincing that it was ti to go to bed. I wasn’t soothed that easily. I spent the rest of the night staring up at the ceiling. I was replaying my childhood. Growing up with Mom and Dad as Mom was going crazy. Dad’s death. My uncle saving from my mother and raised like one of his own. The signs were there. The way he would push to practice baseball. The way he would remind that it was my dad’s dream to make the majors. My life was planned out. Thoroughly.
I hated to think back to when I denied Jake being my brother. I didn’t want him or our mother in our life. My uncle was telling that he probably wanted money to help his new family out. Was he just projecting? Thinking that everyone wanted my money because he treated it like his own money?
Knocking at the door pulled back to reality. I glanced at the clock. 7am. I rolled out of bed and opened the door to Wayne towering over .
"You didn’t sleep." He stated instead of asking.
"How could I?" I rubbed my face to get so of the sleep out of my system. "Are we leaving early?" They said they didn’t open for visitors until 9am.
"You need to eat sothing for breakfast." Wayne told . "I thought we should go back to the diner, eat on our own ti, then we can go."
"Yea...okay. Give a minute." I went to the bathroom and washed my face, brushed my hair, and brushed my teeth. With it being an unexpected stay, I was thankful for the complintary toiletries from the hotel. Too bad I didn’t have enough ti to iron the wrinkles out of my shirt.
I was numb as we went to breakfast. Wayne and Zeke carried most of the conversation talking about Zeke’s preparation for college. His fall classes had been picked out and he was about to move into the dorm with his friend in just a couple of weeks.
It reminds when I was a senior in high school and colleges were reaching out to . But...Uncle Jack had cut them all off and told their offers wouldn’t compare to going pro. Maybe he was right, maybe he wasn’t. I’ll never know now. I wasn’t exactly good at school, but I’d still find a way to get by.
"You ready?" Wayne asked as we parked in the lot of the facility. He had driven in my car while Zeke drove his.
I stretched as we got out of the car. I was starting to feel restless. "Let’s go." I glanced at Zeke staying in the car and nodded at him. Kind of like a small thank you for coming.
Wayne and I walked to the building and noticed a long line coming out.
Before we could ask if it was the line for visitors, a man in uniform approached us. I recognized him from last night. "Hello."
He gave a polite smile. "I let my superiors know last night about your visit today. They have a plan for a more private visit. Normally the visitation takes place in a giant room with others present."
A load was taken off my shoulders. "Thank you. I didn’t know."
He gave a small nod. "Follow ." He led us to the front of the line and had us cut in front to go through security checks. Then a multitude of hallways until I lost my way. He opened the door to a small room with a table and four chairs.
"She’ll be here in twenty minutes or so." He explained. "She has to go through a similar process of security checks. A guard will be in the room at all tis for protection."
I nodded. "Thanks. Really. I appreciate it." I recalled him wanting an autograph. "Do you have so paper? And a pen?"
He hesitated for a second.
"I’ll sign a few copies. For you and whoever else put this together." I told him. "To show so appreciation."
He handed over a small notepad and a pen. I spent a few minutes, signing each page until my hand cramped up.
"That should be good. Thank you." He hurried to leave.
Wayne and I sat on the sa side of the table. The room definitely belonged to the prison. No windows, no visible vents, and just one solid steel door.
I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets, feeling more nervous. This was surreal. I haven’t seen this woman in over a decade. God knows how fast my heart was beating and I haven’t even seen her yet. Ti passed by slowly as we waited.
"Any minute now." Wayne said after the twenty minute mark passed by.
The door opened and a woman was guided in. She wore the standard prison uniform, but in blood red. It gave an eerie feeling. The guard locked her handcuffs to the table, then stepped back to stand behind her.
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