The Long Ball by Aria Cole

Author:Aria Cole [Cole, Aria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aria Cole
Published: 2016-10-22T21:00:00+00:00

The car service pulled up outside Jacksonville General later that day. I threw my bag over my shoulder, then walked in, anxious for details on my father’s condition.

“Leonard Greenwood?” The woman behind the desk typed into her computer. “Looks like you missed him by a few hours. He checked himself out this morning.”

“What? I was just on the phone with his doctor. I thought they were keeping him.”

“Well, this doesn’t give me details, but if that’s the case, he may have left against doctor’s wishes. It’s not uncommon.”

“Christ, that old bastard,” I grit, spinning and heading back out where I’d come from, hailing the driver that was just about to pull away. “1525 Casnovia, please.”

“Change of plans?” the driver inquired with a nod.

“Something like that,” I murmured as the car took off again, headed for my childhood home. The one I hadn’t stepped inside of in over a year.

So much for leaving the past in the past. I was about to confront it head-on, and I had no idea what I might find.

“You need me to hang around?” the driver asked a few minutes later as he pulled up to the curb of my father’s house. I looked at the ill-maintained lawn, weeds growing everywhere, my father's old Ford parked in the driveway.

“Nah, thanks, though.” I handed him an extra tip before getting out, my feet heavy with dread. This place felt oppressive. I’d felt it as a kid, and it still weighed on me now.

My father had pretty much locked himself up in that place after my mom passed, and if I had to guess, I’d bet he checked himself out of the hospital to go have a drink.

I knocked once on the front door, hoping for a quick resolution so I could get on the next plane back home. After all, I had a girl and play-offs to think about.

“What?” my father’s haggard voice called as the door swung open. “You gotta be shittin’ me.”

“Hey, Dad.”

“You can turn right around the way you came from. Go back to that fancy life you got and mind your own business. Thought I told the hospital not to call.”

“You were unconscious, Dad. They had to call someone.”

“I'm fine.” He shifted his arm, and I noticed for the first time the small amber bottle. He’d stopped at the liquor store on the way home. Not even noon and he was already wasted.

“I’m just here to help. Anything you need, you know I’ll do what I can.”

“Don’t want your help.”

“Dad—”

“Listen, boy, I don’t know what brought you all the way down here, but I sure as hell know it wasn’t me, considering you ain’t been down here in a year.”

“You can’t even be bothered to pick up the phone!” I cried, feeling like I was twelve and we were having a row again. This was exactly why I hadn’t come back. “I knew it was gonna be like this.”

“What? You expect me to be grateful you came to play the hero, sit by my bedside and feed me soup?” My father shook his head.

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