He’s quiet for what feels like forever, then he finally responds, “It’s not a good time.”
I pace around in a tight circle while I talk. “Do you want me to come over? Or pick you up so we can go somewhere to talk?”
“No. No, that’s where I went wrong this week. I’m here for the tournament and nothing else. I’ve had Mae and the girls driving me nuts and then I got distracted with you,” he says. I flinch at the tone of his voice. “And for what? Now it might not even matter. None of it may matter.”
I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach. “Where is this coming from? Did something happen?”
“Look, it’s been a pretty shitty day. Tomorrow doesn’t seem like it’s going to be any better. And I’m tired. Really tired. I need to go.”
The line goes dead just as my group comes running out of the restaurant, laughing hysterically. They’re already rehashing what happened inside, but I can’t hear them. I feel like I’m underwater and everything is muted. We get through the rest of the challenges with zero help from me. Danlee asks a couple of times if I’m okay and I wave her off. I can’t even talk.
And then, replaying the conversation with Leo, I start to get mad. Really mad. I don’t know what happened, but I don’t deserve that.
We get back to the park just as the hour is up. My team turns in our sheet and we relax on one of the picnic tables while we wait for all the other teams to get back and for the moms to tally up the scores.
I toss my phone from side to side, thinking of all the things I want to text him. But I don’t.
The party rolls on around me. Other teams are arriving and everyone is exchanging funny stories of things they had to do.
But I’m stuck in that conversation with Leo.
Finally a group that includes Lily shows up and I sprint to where she is.
“Hey, Lily,” I call out. Lily is the only one from the golf course I’ve seen here so far. “Did something happen with Leo Perez at the match this afternoon?”
She grimaces. “It’s bad,” she says. “Really bad.”
I step closer. “What happened?”
“He may be kicked out of the tournament.”
Kicked out! He’s close to winning it!
“Why?” I croak out. I feel the tears gather in my eyes.
“He had just finished the last hole and from what I heard had his best game ever. But then he called an official over. I could tell something was really wrong. He and the official talked for a few minutes, then Leo started pulling all his clubs out, laying them on the grass.”
“But what does that mean?” I ask.
“He had too many clubs in his bag. You’re only allowed fourteen, but he had one extra.”
My stomach drops. Does this have something to do with the club he left leaned up against that table? The one I went and put back in his bag?
“That’s a rule?” I shriek. “That’s insane.”
Lily shrugs. “He knows it’s a rule, though. He told the officials he rearranged his bag and left one club out after putting a new one in. He said he left it on the check-in table for a family friend to pick up and take home. He said he has no idea how it made it back into his bag.”
I screwed it up. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.
“You said hemayget kicked out. What do you mean?”
Lily lets out a slow breath. “He called it to the officials’ attention. He didn’t have to. In fact, he probably would have gotten away with it, since he was basically done for the day. He told them he doesn’t know how it got in his bag. Normally, they would disqualify him immediately, but they’re talking it over and will let him know in the morning.”
“Why would he tell on himself like that? That’s so dumb.” Then I’m shaking my head. It’s not dumb. It’s honorable. And that’s who Leo is. I’ve heard enough. I’m sick to my stomach at what I’ve done. If I’d read that whole rule book, I would have known that was a rule. A big one. But I didn’t. And it may cost him the tournament. And a place on the LSU team, along with all that scholarship money.
Because I thought golf was stupid and it didn’t warrant any of my time or attention.
I find Charlie hanging out with Bianca. The moms have set food out and Charlie and Bianca are sitting down, eating.
