“Hey,” I say, leaning down so only Charlie will hear me. “I need to go. Can you catch a ride home?”
“Are you okay?” he asks because it is obvious I am not.
“Yes, just need to go.”
The tears are in full force by the time I get home. Sophie is in Minden at her party, so I can’t call her with this right now, especially since she’s probably still mad at me, too. And as much as I want to call Leo back, I don’t even know how to begin to tell him what I did.
He’s never going to forgive me.
And I don’t blame him.
I’m outside the country club before it opens. It was dark when Igot here. Sleep eluded me. I think I may have only gotten about three hours, since I couldn’t quit thinking about Leo and what I did. The damage I caused.
Charlie texted me at some point last night asking if I was okay again and if he needed to be on phone duty today, since Wes and Sophie are still in Minden. I haven’t responded to him yet. My phone is still on the charger on my bedside table so Mom won’t see where I am.
I wait in my car until I see the tournament officials pull up. They arrive in unison, all five of them in their matching polo shirts and khakis, ready for the final day of play.
By the time they reach the check-in table, I’m right behind them.
“Excuse me,” I say. “Can I please talk to you a minute? It’s really important.”
Mr. Williams comes forward, since he’s the only one who knows who I am. “What’s wrong?” I must look a mess, because there’s actual concern on his face.
Tears fill my eyes and I brush them away. Mr. Williams gestures for me to sit in one of the chairs while the other officials casually gather in the remaining chairs or perch on the edge of the table.
“I need to tell you what I did yesterday. I’m the one who put the extra club in Leo Perez’s bag.”
This gets their full attention.
Mr. Williams leans forward in his chair. “Why don’t you start at the beginning.”
I probably go a little too far back, since I start by telling them how I know Leo and his relationship to the Evil Joes, but I’m proud of myself for calling them by their real names.
“It’s just, I don’t know anything about golf. I thought it would be an easy class. A blow-off. And they handed me a rule book when I started on Tuesday, but I didn’t read it all the way through because I thought…why would I need to know the rules when I’m not playing?”
I’m crying hard now that I’m getting to the part about what I did.
“My aunt Maggie Mae bought Leo a new club as a gift. And she gave it to him here, in the middle of the tournament,” I say, rolling my eyes. “As much as I don’t know about golf, even I wouldn’t expect someone to use new equipment for the first time in the middle of a tournament as important as this.”
One of the officials hands me a paper towel and I’m grateful, since I’m one step from wiping my nose on the sleeve of my T-shirt.
“But Leo is such a nice guy. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so he rearranged his bag to make room for it. I walked up while he was doing that right here at this table.” I look at Mr. Williams. “You were off to the side, talking to some other men, and I was waiting to drive you around. It was right after my lunch break. You asked me to make a copy of some papers, which I did.”
He nods like he remembers the time frame I’m talking about.
“I knew something was wrong with Leo last night, but it wasn’t until I found out what happened that I put it together. He asked my aunt and cousins to pick up the extra club once they were finished at their party. He would have had to tee off before they were done. So he left it sitting there, hoping they would grab it for him, since they were at that pool party. You know, the one that was so loud yesterday.”
All five of them shake their heads and mutter things like “Oh yeah” and “That one” and “So loud.”
“I came back out here after making the copies and Leo was gone, but his pushcart and bag were just over there.” I point to the area between here and the tee box for hole ten. “He must have gotten his bag back in order and gone in to use the restroom before heading back out. But I saw one of his clubs leaned against this table. And I knew it was his because it had the same neon-green handle. And I assumed he overlooked it when he was putting everything back in his bag. So I grabbed it and ran to his bag, dropping it in with the others. I thought I was helping.”
I’m hunched over in my chair so far that my head is almost in my lap. But I sit back up because I need to finish, as painful as it is.
“That’s why he had no idea how it got in his bag. And my family probably thought one of the others grabbed it.”
The officials are all looking at each other now. I have no idea if they had already come to a decision about what to do with Leo, but if they were planning to disqualify him, I pray I’ve swayed them in some way.
The gray-haired guy on my right says, “It’s very clear you are upset about the part you played in this. We appreciate you coming forward and telling us what happened. We will take everything you’ve said into consideration.”
