“Go. Benny! Shoot,” I yelled.
Looking out onto the field, Chase stopped in his tracks. “Benny,”he screamed. “Go.”
And before we could both take our next breath, Benny’s foot met the ball, sending it soaring way over the goalie’s head. His arms stretched out over his head, but they were no match for Benny’s strength and aim.
“Holy crap! Yes! Go, Benny!” Chase yelled out, jumping up and down, running into my arms. “Did you see that?” he asked, clapping my back, each touch filled with pridefor his younger brother.
“Amazing,” I said, clapping him back, and pumping my other fist in the air.
“That was quite the shot,” the scout said, folding up his papers and clicking his pen before sliding it into the crease of the manila folder. “That makes his fifty-fifth goal of his career, right?” It was an odd tone, one that was clearly questioning us as we sat there celebrating what I assumedwas the first goal we’d both seen.
“Sure,” Chase agreed, holding out his hand for the scout. “Chase Hansen,” he introduced himself.
“Dennis Duggan from Syracuse,” he said, shaking Chase’s hand. “Nice to meet you.” He pumped Chase’s hand before his eyes met mine. “Both of you,” he added, reaching for mine. “You must be Benjamin’s father,” he said, his eyes glued to mine. Just like Chase had lookedme up and down earlier, Mr. Duggan did the same to me now, but his assessment was entirely different.
“Uh, I’m—”
Without letting me get out another word, he pulled me away from Chase. “Your son has some serious skills. We’re very interested in talking about a scholarship opportunity for him.”
Looking over my shoulder, I saw Chase standing right where Mr. Duggan and I had left him. Looking confusedand more than a little hurt, he ran his hand over his face. I had two choices: I could either tell the scout the truth, that I was nothing more than Benny’s brother’s very new boyfriend, well, possible boyfriend, was more like it.
Or I could lie and tell him there was nothing more than I’d like to do than to enjoy the game in peace, that I’d be more than happy to discuss any scholarship optionsafter the game. Seeing the pain on Chase’s face made me opt for the latter rather than the former.
Luckily for us, Mr. Duggan graciously accepted my words as the truth and made his way over to the other side of the bleachers where he could take his notes without distracting us. But the damage was already done. For the rest of the game, Chase barely looked over at me. Even when I asked if he wantedanything from the concession stand during halftime, he barely made eye contact with me as he mumbled a barely audible “No thanks.”
During the second half of the game, I made myself busy, attending to made up texts and phone calls from work. I even played a few rounds of Words with Friends with Wes. Clearly it was busy at work, too.
Hiding under the shade, closer to the school, I figured I mightas well text him.
Awesome moment in my life, being mistaken for the dad of a seventeen-year-old.
Of course, Wes’s response was immediate. Following his stupid crying, laughing, smiling emoji face, he wrote,
You do have some wrinkles around those eyes. Looking a little old these days, Carpenter.
You know how to make a man feel all warm and fuzzy. Maybe your wife can set me up withsome of that skin care shit she’s always pushing. Get me back into my youthful days, huh? What do you think?
Nah, you’re not pretty enough for her before and afters. Might scare some people away, he wrote back.
I couldn’t help but laugh. She was a little over the top with her side-gig, but it made her happy. Which made Wes happy, which made him an even better version of a friend than I couldhave ever asked for.
And just like he was in my head, he wrote,
Fuck him. Let the guy think whatever he wants. Keep the kid in mind. Whatever is going to work out best for him is what’s important. All the rest will fall into place. Gotta run. They’re calling for me in peds. Oh, did you get his name?
After sending him their name, and wondering what hair had climbed up his ass about it,I said,
Thanks, beers on Friday? A thank you for covering?
Damn straight you owe me some drinks!
And just like that, the distraction he offered was over. But I couldn’t be happier that he’d put it all into perspective for me. This wasn’t about me. This wasn’t even about Chase. This was all about Benny.
I knew that Chase was put off by the assumptions the scout made, so I wasn’t aboutto push my way back into his good graces. Keeping my distance for the rest of the game, I cheered from a few steps away from Chase, pretending to be busy on my phone every now and then with something from work. Chase seemed more than happy for my distance, and I was more than happy not to make the scene I could feel simmering on the horizon. I knew it wasn’t the place for it, but I couldn’t helpbut feel like he was being an immature jerk for it all.
When you boiled it down to its core, everything that had happened in the last forty minutes was nothing a fast and dirty conversation couldn’t clear up. But if Chase wasn’t about to take a step forward in it all, I wasn’t about to push my luck.
Benny’s team scored once more before the final whistle blew, a goal for which he chalked up anassist. Chase and I wandered around the bleachers as the crowd cleared. I figured I’d wait for Chase to take the lead where the scout was concerned, but that wasn’t a step I needed to worry about.
