Page 30 of The Battery

Cody

C leansing, golden sunshine poured through the living room windows to bathe us in light.

I sat frozen in the moment, willing that sun to thaw me from the petrification of Leo’s story.

Half a dozen things ran through my mind on what I could say or do but none of them seemed good enough.

I was completely ill-equipped for this level of intimate confession.

Did you go back to the car?

Did you have to identify bodies afterward?

When you said Archie was all around you, did you really mean…?

Do you still talk to Iris and Joel?

The emotional side of it lay completely beyond my ability.

Did you see a therapist?

Is that why you are angry all the time?

Do you still talk to your family like they’re still here?

What is it like losing a twin?

I kept my silence. Leo had shifted during his story and locked me to him by putting his right arm around my shoulders, pressing me closer.

I had both hands on his thigh, holding onto him like he was about to drift away into the deep.

He didn’t look at me once when he spoke, just kept his eyes on the window.

When he finished, he lowered his head a fraction.

I spoke first. I had weeded through all the stupid things one could say to find the core of how I felt.

“You’re… you’re Superman, Leo.” That got me a curious look.

“You’ve been through unimaginable heartbreak…

and you used it. It didn’t claim you. You claimed it .

Turned it into, I dunno, a superpower? Your past is your strength, and you built an incredible future from it. ”

“Didn’t feel like that for years.”

“Yeah, but from everything you told me, Uncle Andy knew how it had to be. He never stopped pushing you, did he? I imagine he threw you right back into baseball the moment the spring came.” Leo nodded slowly.

“And you didn’t want to play anymore without your brother.

But Andy didn’t care. He gave you no choice. ”

“I tried to punch him once because of it,” Leo said.

The faint hint of a smile caressed his lips.

“All wild and uncontrolled.” He shrugged.

“But then six months passed… a year… two years… then I was drafted my junior year of college. The hurt, it never left. I just got used to it. If that makes sense.” It didn’t—not for me at least, but I nodded like I understood. “That’s when I began my mission.”

“Mission?”

He shifted, withdrawing his right arm a bit from my shoulders so that his hand had a solid grip. Then he extended his left arm and rotated so I could see the underside of his forearm. I saw the swirling patterns and mosaic of his tattoos and tried to find whatever icon I knew he wanted to show me.

“I made it my life’s mission to win three pennants. One for each of them.”

I refreshed my view. I knew Leo made it to the World Series with the Ann Arbor Lions and lost. Then, when he was with the Brawlers, he made it to the World Series twice and won once. That made three pennant wins. One with the Lions, two with the Brawlers.

My eyes scanned for the white and blue stripes of the Lions, the blood red of the Brawlers.

There.

Three triangles interwoven in those tattoos. Three pennants.

Leo was a consummate professional and a star athlete. Someone of his caliber vied for the World Series. Always. So I had to ask, “Why league championship?”

“And why not a World Series win for each of them? I don’t know if this will make sense to you or not, but my father always encouraged Archie and me to find a challenge in facing our peers.

He said competition with friends and peers would always make us stronger than facing down an enemy.

He also hated the pomp of the World Series and always thought the thrill of a league championship was more fun to watch.

A battle for one of two places at the top.

” Another shrug. “So I said I’d win him a pennant.

Then thought, fuck it, I’ll win for my mother and Archie, too. ”

My hand had been tracing the pennants as he spoke. “And so you did.”

“When Uncle Andy got cancer the first time, I promised him I would win my fourth for him.”

My eyes widened and I shot a look at Leo.

Everything connected. Pieces fell into place that I didn’t even know were there or missing. I saw the puzzle that had been Leonidas Papadopoulos and now it all made sense.

“You manufactured the trade,” I said. “There were rumors…”

At that, he nodded. “The Brawlers lost their way, especially after last season. I had to get out and the Riders just so happened to lose their catcher. It was perfect.” His right hand slid back a fraction so that his thumb ran along the nape of my neck.

“Then I met you and was conflicted. Professionally, you could help bring us to the league championship. Personally?” He snickered and I melted at the sound. “You’d be the death of me.”

“You’re driven to win this pennant. And you’re pushing aside any obstacle that gets in the way.”

“Correct. And we will make it. I know we will.”

Which begged another question. “So where ya puttin’ Riders blue and bronze on your body?”

Another light chuckle. Two smiles in a row? How lucky was I?

“Haven’t found a spot yet.”

A face-splitting yawn roared out of him suddenly, as if he had been holding it in.

I seized the opportunity and extracted myself from his hold, then stood.

“Come on.” I held out a hand for him to grab and leverage himself up.

He lumbered up. We faced each other, still holding hands.

“You’ve been through hell the past couple of hours.

Go upstairs, take a shower, sleep for a bit. ”

He shook his head. “I need to call—”

“I’ll deal with talking to management. Don’t worry about any of that. Go sleep.”

Then, his hands were on the sides of my face in a gentle hold.

He pulled me toward him and planted a slow kiss on my lips.

Gone was the fervent kiss that fueled our impassioned tryst a few weeks ago.

He transferred something to me at that moment.

It was like I could feel a piece of his soul reach out and touch mine, all from a simple kiss.

For the span of three heartbeats, our lives connected, as if two pairs of lips were able to transfer a wordless communication of thankfulness, appreciation, adoration. The propensity for love.

It was the single most romantic and intimate moment of my life. I surrendered to him completely. Eyes closed. Our lips sealed.

When he pulled away, I opened my eyes and thought…

He’s the most beautiful person I have ever met.

That smile. I had never seen the likes of it before.

I felt sure I never would again. A sadness existed in his eyes still, vestiges of the past six hours.

But his lips conveyed contentedness and satisfaction.

Not a wide smile. Not a smirk. He held onto sorrow, yes, but it was like he knew he had overcome an obstacle.

I had to look away before I lost myself to emotion. “Okay. Get upstairs before you make me all blubbery.”

We walked out of the living room together.

Leo went up that gorgeous half-spiral staircase at the foyer.

I watched him go up and wondered if I would ever see the second floor.

Then I was in the kitchen grabbing my phone where I had left it.

Freddie woke up and asked me if everything was okay.

I told him what had happened. I wasn’t slated to play at tonight’s game, but Leo was, so I said I needed to let people know. He told me to give Leo his best.

Freddie knew, of course. We didn’t talk about it, but he knew about my preferences from our days in the minors together.

Naturally, he just assumed I was having fun with Leo when I left the house more often to see the man.

Like a good friend, Freddie never pried, and he never told. I was lucky to have him as a roommate.

I spent twenty minutes figuring out the espresso machine, a chunk of stainless steel the size of an oven bolted to the countertop and hooked into the water line.

I did not enjoy espresso and preferred regular coffee.

There was a section on the machine for regular drip that I had to watch a video online about to learn how to operate.

Then it was perusing through almost every cabinet and then the butler’s pantry to find whole coffee beans.

A half hour later, the greatest aroma in the world perfumed the kitchen while I nosed through the fridge to find some protein for breakfast.

I had Romo on speakerphone while I did a second round through the cabinets looking for coffee mugs.

“Hill—what’s up?” Romo said. “Early call. You’re… ah, I think I know why you’re calling.”

What was he, a soothsayer? “You do?”

“Leo’s uncle.” He tutted and I could hear the genuine sorrow in his voice. “Oh gosh. Awful. Just awful. I’ll say a prayer for him at Mass.”

“Oh. Um. Thanks. I’ll let him know.”

“I can take it from here. You’re not playing tonight, right? I think you’re up in two days. Will you be okay by then?”

How sweet—he took my feelings into consideration, too. Mr. Perfect. “I will, yeah.”

“Tell Leo he doesn’t have to come in for the next three games but can if he wants. I’ll start to get the paperwork filled out and let management know. This is my burden now, so just take care of him, okay?”

Jeez. This guy was something else. “Yeah. Okay. Thank you, Romo.”

“Please, call me Rome. Talk soon.”

Wow. What a guy. His fiancé was a very lucky man.

The first sip of coffee returned my soul to my body.

I closed my eyes for a moment to savor the feeling.

Like a nasty fastball paired with a swing and a miss.

Perfection. Brought back to life half a cup later, I set to cleaning the scuff marks on the floor that the black soled shoes of the funeral home employees had left.

Maribel said someone from her company would be by in the following days to pick up the hospital bed, and to leave the linens there.

I tidied up the room and removed the photos with care, setting them in a neat stack on the kitchen island.

I spent about a half hour wiping every surface with a cleaning solution I found under the sink in the powder room.

The mop I found in a hallway closet, and I set to scrubbing the floors.

Lastly, I opened the window and closed the door to air the room out.

Everything took me about an hour total and when I finished, the coffee’s energy had completely abated.

I crashed hard in the living room without a blanket. The couch there was so damn comfortable that sleep had overtaken me in seconds.

I woke sometime later, though I wasn’t sure how long.

Leo. Squatting down in front of the couch. Forearms folded atop one another on the edge of the cushion with his chin resting on them. My eyes parted to see him. Then widened.

“Your beard,” I said and sat up.

It was gone. Well, most of it. The Spartan style shaved down to stubble. All that remained on his face was a five o’clock shadow. Rugged. Handsome.

“I love it,” I said with a smile.

“I need to clear my head. Wanna throw the ball?”

I yawned and stretched. “Sure.”

“Thank you for cleaning my uncle’s room. The coffee you made was good, too.”

I stood and stretched again. He was on his feet a moment later. “Thank you,” I said after a second yawn. “Gonna need more, I think.”

“Already have one waiting for you. On ice. Let’s head outside.”

He turned to head toward the kitchen but I grabbed his hand and he stopped. “Hey, um…” I didn’t know how to ask the question that popped into my head. I’ll stay as long as you want, but…

He pulled me half a step toward him. His left hand cupped the side of my face, thumb tracing my cheekbone. He didn’t lean in. “Gonna need more time. It’s a mess in my head and I need to sort through things.”

That level tone had returned. The serious gaze of the Spartan still there.

“Take all the time you need, Leo. Let’s go play some ball.”