Dear Virgil Sanders [✔️]

Chapter 9: To Break In A Son

When Virgil got to the Picani's house he was walked back to Remy's office. Inside hosted a box of old collectibles.

"I was thinking about the Janus Project and I thought, hey if you get the right people to come, you could do an auction of this old junk. You could raise a good bit of cash for the orchard, easy." Remy fosses about an old baseball that seemed like no one used it.

"That's- That's a good idea, I'll talk to Logan about it."

He pulled out an old base ball glove and sets it aside. Inside the glove there was shaving cream, rubber bands. It looked like the beginning of a project he had yet to finish.

"I swear I have better stuff than this crap."

"It's really generous to donate all of this stuff, Mr. Picani."

Patton enters. Virgil smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Pops, Dad said that your show is on and doesn't want to DVR it again." Patton said after a moment.

Remy looked up. "Tell him we're busy."

"Doing what?"

Virgil looked between the two. "Your dad had a good idea for the orchard, an auction of his old collectibles!"

He nodded. "Virgil's been helping me sort through the stuff."

Patton paused for a moment before grabbing Virgil's arm. "Pops, are you torturing him?"

"What?"

"Virgil, is he torturing you?"

Virgil shook his head. "What?! No!"

"You can tell him he's being boring and you want to leave. He won't be upset."

"He can leave whenever he wants."

"I don't want to leave-"

Patton looked back at Virgil. "Virgil, do you want to leave?"

Remy locked eyes with Virgil. "If you want to leave..."

"I don't want to leave." He said, firmly reassuring Remy that he was fine and Patton that he wasn't being tortured.

"Okay... well.." Patton moved to leave. "Don't say I didn't warn you." And left.

A few beats passed before Remy scoffed. "Men, am I right?" He said half joking. Virgil nodded, a feigning attempt to be similar to him. "So... you and Patton?"

He looked back at the glove, wanting to talk about anything but that. "This gloves really cool, wow."

Remy shrugged. "It's never been used. You probably got one of your own, no need to worry about that old thing."

"I um, I don't know if it still fits. It's been a while."

After a moment of thought, the older man speaks again. "Why don't you keep it?"

"N-no I couldn't."

"Why not? Sounds like you could use it. Besides this ones just gonna sit and collect dust."

"Are you sure?"

Remy nodded, fiddling with one of the rubber bands. "I bought this glove a thousand years ago for some birthday or some Christmas that's come and gone... I thought we could play catch or... I dunno. But he left it in the bag with the tag still on." He pulled out all of the bands and shaving cream, gently placing the glove on his own hand, feeling how still it was. "Man, you gotta break it in. You can't catch anything with it that stiff."

"well-" Virgil shifted on his feet. "How do you break it in?"

He looked shocked. "Your dad never taught you how to break in a baseball glove?"

The teenager shook his head. Remy smiled and took the glove back off. "Well it's all a process that is really quite precise, a sort of secret method known to very few. And if you're in the market for professional advice, today's a lucky day for you." He held up the can. "Shaving cream."

"Shaving cream?" Virgil echoed.

"Oh yeah, you rub it in for about five minutes then you tie it up with rubber bands, put it under your mattress and sleep on it. And do it the next day, repeat for at least a week. Every day. Be consistent." He said, starting the process on the glove. "And though this method isn't easy, every second that you spend will pay off in the end. It just takes a little patience. It takes a little time and a little perseverance and a little uphill climb." He shrugged, passing the glove to Virgil to continue the process. "You might not think it's worth it or you might begin to doubt by you can't take any short cuts, you gotta stick it out cause it's the hard way but it's the right way... the right way... to break in a glove."

He helped him put the rubber bands in place as he kept speaking. "Nowadays no one wants to put in the effort. When your doing something like this you gotta be ready to put in the effort. Make a commitment. What do you think?"

"Definitely." Virgil nodded, continuing to massage the shaving cream into the leather.

"Some people say 'just use a microwave or that run it through hot water technique'!" He laughed. "Well they can gloat about the time they saved when they have to buy another glove next week. It just takes a little patience..."

"Takes a little patience." Virgil echoed.

"It takes a little time."

"Takes a little time..."

"A little perseverance.."

At the same time they said "and a little uphill climb."

Remy nodded, gently placing a hand over Virgil's. "And it's the hard way but it's the right  way... cause there's a right way in everything you do! Keep that grit-"

"Follow through!" the kid grinned as he started to get the message.

"Even when everyone around you thinks you're crazy! Even when everyone around you Let's things go... whether you're prepping for some test or miles from some goal or you're trying to do what's best for a kid who's lost..." he felt a pang in his chest as he felt emotions welling up inside of him. "control..." he paused for a moment. "You do the hard thing cause that's the right thing... the right thing..."

Virgil smiled softly. "Janus was lucky to have a dad who cared so much about... about taking care of stuff."

"You're dad must feel pretty lucky to have a son like you."

"Yeah he does-" he lies, a reflex.

"Good."

Virgil misses a beat before clearing things up. "I don't know why I said that. It's not true. My dad's got divorced. I only have one, you know of him. I didn't want to... my other father...he doesn't want anything to do with us."

Remy placed the glove in Virgil's hand. "Shaving cream. Rubber bands. Mattress. Repeat. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Cause it's the hard way..."

He nodded. "But it's the right way. The right way... to break in a glove."

Remy smiled. "And you're good to go."