Under the Stars

Epilogue: Under the Stars

Bryant Landis and I started to hang out more after the night of Stevien's going away party. I think dad was secretly trying to make that happen. Bry was something else. He was laid back and easygoing. He stayed in shape with regular running and lifting. He even invited me to join him. I gladly accepted. We began to run together every day in the early morning. His shift for work was from 0700-1500, which took me a while to get used to because I was so used to hearing or saying 7:00 a.m. -3:00 p.m. but after a short while, it became second nature to convert military time to standard time and standard time to military. He worked five days a week followed by two days off or three depending on the week.

The more time I spent with Bry, the more I began to feel something in me stir. I had not felt that since junior prom with Stevien. He, himself, was flourishing with the Cleveland Indians. He was in the starting rotation, pitching nearly every fifth game, and was on his way to set some records. I always made a point to watch his games, though I usually recorded them to watch them after work. The different time zones sometimes made it difficult to catch the games live, but when the opportunity came for a live game, I watched it. Sometimes, my father and I would get together to watch the games, other times Bry and I would watch them together at my place or his house, and sometimes, my dad would join us.

Bry had purchased a cute little craftsman bungalow house on the opposite side of town from dad's house. Though it was older, it had modern touches found in the kitchen and bathrooms. The original woodwork remained intact and was restored beautifully. I was impressed with it, to say the least, and dad offered to buy it from him on more than one occasion. Bry and my dad seemed to enjoy each other's company. I was glad to see him making friends, especially after Mr. and Mrs. Jones moved to San Diego when Tyrus left for college. They moved to be closer to Lucy's family which was great, but it was hard to see my dad sad over his best friend moving away. It was only about an hour away but getting together with Darius became a lot more involved than just walking next-door.

Bry was always so supportive of me watching Stevien play. Even though he was more of a football fan than a baseball fan, he knew how much it meant to me to see Stevien live out his dream. I was so proud of how far he had come since moving in next to dad and me, almost twenty years earlier. Stevien was amazing to watch. The way he could pitch the ball and find the strike zone around the batter was amazing. He was quick and agile for his size. He had bulked-up a lot since high school and college, and it showed just how talented he was to be able to change up his pitches with each batter. He was a force to be reckoned with. The biggest change, though, that I could see was his level of leadership. I could tell that his teammates rallied around him and would look to him to make the plays happen. He had grown so much as a player. Despite never reaching out to me after all the letters I had written him over the years, I still was proud of the person he was becoming.

As Bry and I began to bond over the sport of baseball, the stirring I had, began to turn into feelings for him. I could tell that he felt the same with me, but he was holding back for some reason. 

One Saturday night in the middle of fall, he invited me over. The weather had been slightly warmer than normal during the day, but  was chilly that night, so Bry had a fire going in his backyard. The fire was almost perfect to roast marshmallows for smores, low flames and cool enough to get close without feeling like you are in a dry sauna. 

While we waited for the fire to die down a little bit more, I confronted him after gathering my courage because my curiosity had finally gotten the better of me.

"Bry, can I ask you a question?" I asked shyly, wringing my hands together while looking at the ground.

"Well, you just did," he joked back trying to ease my discomfort. It worked and I looked up to smile at him.