Chapter 52
Four years later . . .
Sherry packed the gym bag, tossing in an extra pair of socks. “Which sneakers do you want to take?” she asked her son, who was now an eight-year-old.
“The blue and the red,” he said, scarfing down a cookie.
“You don’t need two pairs, Joel. Why don’t you take one?”
“Because I don’t know which one we’re supposed to have. I better take both pairs just in case,” he said, plucking two more cookies from the jar.
“How many cookies are you going to eat?” she asked.
He hunched his shoulders and kept eating.
“I’m surprised you have any left. I baked those for you when? Last week?”
He nodded and kept eating.
Sherry was beaming with satisfaction. She couldn’t have dreamt of giving birth to such an amazing son. She watched his every move, ready to jump in and help Joel with whatever he needed.
Dave entered the kitchen.
“What are you doing home this early?” she asked, startled to have him home before nine. It was only five thirty. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he answered right away. “Does there have to be something wrong for me to come home and be with my family?” He kissed her on the cheek and raised his hand in the air for a high five with Joel.
“Ah, yes,” she said, unable to relax. There was some reason he was home early, and she wanted to know it. “You don’t normally come home this early. Go on. Tell me. What is it?” She braced for his answer.
“Okay, you got me. I left a file here. I’ve pretty much needed the file all day, but I didn’t have a chance to come home earlier and get it.”
“Great. You can come to my practice,” Joel told his father.
“Not tonight, young man. Dad has to work this evening, but I’ll catch your next one,” Dave replied.
“You promise?” Joel said.
“I’ll do my very best, son. That much I can promise.”
Sherry cringed, listening to Dave. He had made only two of Joel’s seven soccer games, the first one and the all-star game a few weeks ago. Sherry was 100 percent sure Dave attended those because she’d nagged him relentlessly until he finally agreed. She sighed, hearing Dave falsely boost her son’s hopes, only to disappoint him later. He could disappoint her. That expectation had been established at the beginning of their relationship, but her son was off-limits. Sherry was well aware of Dave’s professional obligations, having worked closely with him for a year. She had accepted the demands of DMI on Dave’s terms, but he was also Joel’s father. She wasn’t going to let him forget, either.
“You know his championship game is this Saturday,” she reminded.
“That’s right, champ,” Dave said, scratching his son’s head with his fingers.
Joel laughed. He loved every second with his father. Sherry wanted more for him.
“You can’t miss the game,” she said firmly.
“I’ll be there.”
“You’d better be,” she told him. “You’ve missed most of the season, but this is important, Dave.”
“Yeah, Dad, this is our biggest game ever. If we win this, we each get a real tall trophy.”
“Great,” Dave said.
Sherry wasn’t sure if Dave understood how special the game was for Joel, and how important it was for him to show up. She had four days to remind him, and she would every single day. Joel’s happiness was worth the inconvenience.
“I’m not kidding, Dave. You have to come.”
“I said I would,” he said, embracing her.
“Yeah, Dad, you have to come. Will my sister and brothers be there?”
Sherry and Dave both looked at one another, a pause hovering over the conversation.
Finally Sherry broke the silence. “I don’t know, Joel.”
“Maybe I should call and invite them. The other players on my team said they’re bringing their whole family. They’re bringing their grandparents. I don’t have any of those, so forget that. I might have some cousins, but I’m not sure. So the only other family I have for sure is Don, Tamara, and Sam,” he recited, seemingly proud.
She didn’t understand why.
“And Andre too,” his father added. Dave went to his office, leaving Joel and Sherry in the kitchen, talking.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about my other brother. How could I forget a whole brother?” Joel laughed. “I don’t think I’ll ask him to come, since he’s too far away. I can’t ask Sam to come, either, since he’s in college, right, Mommy?”
“Right. It would take him at least five hours to drive home from Indiana. I’m sure he won’t be able to come,” she said, intentionally sounding very upbeat. Her son didn’t have to know Sam wouldn’t come to his game even if it was across the street. Sherry knew it but hoped he would never have to endure the alienation that she had experienced from the other Mitchells.
“But the other ones are right here. I wish I could have my sister and brothers at my game. Everybody else is going to be there. You think I should call them, Mommy?”
“If you want,” she told him, not wanting to douse his heated enthusiasm with negativity. But Sherry knew Madeline’s children weren’t going to give Joel a chance to share his excitement. They treated her baby like an infectious disease, wanting to be nowhere near him. She hated the rejection he had to endure, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. Unless she had more children, living with few meaningful family ties was going to be his fate. It had been hers and was destined to be his too.