The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Author:Catherine Gilbert Murdock [Murdock, Catherine Gilbert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

We finally made it to that enormous Minneapolis airport with just minutes to spare. I'd been here before, those times we went to Florida, but I was still glad Jimmy walked us in because it's pretty confusing.

Dad's hands were shaking, I could see.

"The cows will be okay," I said.

"Curtis isn't you, sport," he said, his voice shaking too. Right as we'd pulled away from the house, he'd told Curtis to watch the farmers, make sure they were doing everything correctly. That's a big responsibility to give to a kid who doesn't talk. "And I—I feel for your mother."

"Kathy's with her," Jimmy chipped in. "She's a real pro at this." our words didn't seem to help, though. Dad still looked sick.

This is too much for him. I didn't say anything as we walked, but I couldn't keep that thought out of my brain. And you know, it was the strangest thing, but I didn't think less of him for it. I've been through patches where I really hated Dad, but we've been getting along better recently. Maybe I can just get inside his head a bit more, I don't know. Like his needle thing—that's not his fault, that's just who he is, like being left-handed or something. And thinking Curtis couldn't manage the farm—that was just plain obvious. And wanting to be with Mom ... Win was going to have doctors all around him, and nurses, the whole University of Washington probably, not to mention me and Bill. Mom didn't have anyone except Kathy Ott. Right now she needed Dad as much as Win did. Maybe more.

Just then Jimmy found the ticket lady we were supposed to meet, the one who was going to hustle us past all those people who didn't have family medical emergencies and weren't late.

"Okay then, I just need to see some ID," she said.

Dad started going through his wallet, his hands shaking worse than ever.

"Wait," I said.

Everyone looked at me.

"Dad ... Bill and I can do this."

"What?" said Dad, blinking at these words.

"You go back home. They need you there."

"No—my son—" Dad started to cry.

Jimmy Ott put his arm around him in that way men do. In Wisconsin anyway.

"My cousin got in a motorcycle accident," the ticket lady chipped in, "and the first couple days don't matter, really. He won't remember much anyway."

I looked Dad in the eyes. "Win's going to be okay. You know him. He's going to be fine." I knew this in my bones. I knew it like I'd known it my entire sixteen years of life.

"Maybe I could fly out in a couple days..." Dad whispered. "Get things organized first."

Jimmy turned to the ticket lady. "Can we do that?"

The ticket lady started working away at her computer.

"Let me do this, Dad," I said, feeling so strong and capable. "You take care of Mom. Let me and Bill handle this."

"Oh, sport." Dad's voice cracked. "Okay," he whispered.

"I'm proud of you, D.J.," Jimmy said, getting teary-eyed himself.

Dad hugged me so hard that I thought I might snap in two.

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