At some point just before dawn, I finally fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning, Chucky was already gone. He left me a note saying he would be training for the Iron Man triathlon the whole morning but had left the quinoa, feta, and olive salad for me in the fridge for lunch. I guess he really had changed. I was the only one who was still the same.
I decided that I would go to Seth’s game after all, but before heading to Lake Elsinore, I drove by Adam’s apartment and saw the same FOR RENT sign. I could also see through the window that the apartment was already vacant. I parked the car and knocked on his neighbor’s door, the one who had given Adam that Post-it note about Foxy, but no one answered. I got back in my car and tried Googling “Los Angeles muralist” on my phone. There were actually quite a few hits about his murals, but no one knew his identity. I guess I never really would, either. Maybe he wanted it that way.
* * *
AT THE GAME that night, I retrieved my ticket at will-call and found Helen in the same seats we sat in before. She looked up at me as I shimmied sideways down the aisle. “I guess this is the girlfriend aisle,” she said.
“Seth isn’t my boyfriend, Helen.”
“I know.” She huffed. “Never mind.” She was wearing a Storm T-shirt with Roddy’s number on the back. It was one of those jerseys made for women. They’re basically designed to make your boobs look big.
“Cute shirt,” I said, but Helen ignored me. “I’m glad we’re here together,” I finally said after several moments of silence.
She turned to me. “I’m glad, too.” She smiled. “I love you, Charlie.”
“I love you, too.” My eyes started to water.
The speaker crackled to life, announcing that Seth was up to bat. There were runners on first and third and one out. He hit a blooper to right center field that was caught pretty easily.
“Bummer,” I said.
“No, it’s good,” Helen said. “It was a sacrifice fly. The runner on third tagged up and scored.”
“Oh. Wow, Helen, I’m impressed. I was wondering why he high-fived the first-base coach before running back to the dugout.”
“See, I’m learning. I really like it!” she said.
“I’m glad.” I squeezed her hand.
Seth had another great game, and afterward we went to the same bar we had gone to before. Helen pointed out to me two Storm Chasers sitting at the bar. One was way too old to be a baseball groupie. She had to have been well over forty, with a soccer mom bob. Her cut-off jean shorts were rolled up her artificially tanned legs and she had a ton of Storm buttons pinned to her shirt. She was sitting with a smaller, dark-haired girl who could have been her daughter but was apparently old enough to be at the bar. They were glaring at us. Roddy and Seth tried to ignore them.
“They smell it,” Roddy said.
“Smell what?” I said.
“Seth’s move up.” He arched his eyebrows like I should know.
Seth looked away shyly. “What does he mean?” I asked Seth.
“There’s talk that I might get bumped up to the majors soon.”
Helen clapped excitedly. “Oh, that’s so great, Seth!” She was rapidly becoming a Storm cheerleader.
He smiled, embarrassed. “I don’t know if it’ll really happen.”
“Don’t be so humble,” I said, though I actually really liked that about him. “You’ve done amazingly well. I wondered why you weren’t in the majors the first time I saw you play.”
“He was,” Roddy answered. “He was with the Royals. You didn’t hear the story?”
“All right, let’s get this over with,” Seth said, shooting Roddy a mock glare. “I played one season with them. In a crucial game, I made an error on a routine fly ball, which allowed the other team to score three runs in the top of the ninth. Then I struck out with bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth. We lost the game and our chance to go to the playoffs that year. So that’s my fucking legacy.” He seemed more amused than pissed.
“But you might have a chance to redeem yourself,” I said.
“Maybe,” he said, looking away absently.
I didn’t know what to say, but Helen broke the moment of awkward silence. “What do the Storm Chasers have to do with him getting bumped up?”
“They follow our team and try to get in with the players who might make it onto the Padres,” Roddy answered. “I’d bet that woman is trying to find a husband for her daughter.”
We all laughed. “That’s pathetic,” Helen said. “And she doesn’t have to glare at us.”
“We should invite them over for a drink,” I said.
“No!” Seth shouted.
“Come on,” I pleaded. “I just want to know what their deal is.”
“No, I really don’t want you to,” he said.
I turned to him and in a quiet voice said, “Did you already date that girl? Is that why?”
He nodded.
Roddy jumped up from the table. “Another round, ladies?”
“Sure,” Helen and I both said quickly.
Helen, sensing that Seth and I needed a moment, followed Roddy to the bar.
“I know you’ve dated other people, Seth, and after last night, you know I have, too. I didn’t assume you were a monk. Let’s not make this into a big deal.”
He smiled. “I appreciate you saying that, Charlotte. But I didn’t want to invite her over here because she has an annoying voice. It’s grating—seriously.”
“How long did you guys date?”
“I took her out once. We didn’t even kiss.”
The girl seemed to sense that we were talking about her because, a second later, she was approaching us.
“Seth,” she said, drawing his name out in a long whine.
“Hey, Marley,” Seth said. I took a sip of beer and tried not to make eye contact with her. “This is my girlfriend, Charlotte.”
I coughed and felt beer shoot up my nose. Trying to catch my breath, I reached my hand out toward her. “Nice to meet you,” I said between throat clearings.
“Oh!” She shook my hand quickly but with a weak grip. She looked at Seth. “Move on fast, don’t ya?”
He stood from the table. “It was nice seeing you, Marley. Charlotte and I have to take off.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the front of the bar. We passed Helen and Roddy on the way out. “Bye, guys,” Seth said.
“Where are you going?” Helen asked.
“Home,” I said.
“Bummer—I wanted to party!”
“Me and you can party, sweetie,” Roddy said to her before leaning down and kissing her right below her eye. She giggled.
“All right. See you later then. Charlotte, are you coming to the game tomorrow before they go on the road?”
“Go on the road?” I asked.