Coffees with Luke & Audrey

XII

“Be happy for no reason, like a child. If you are happy for a reason, you’re in trouble, because that reason can be taken from you.”

— Deepak Chopra

Audrey hated sport, had always, even when she was little and was expected to enjoy spending never-ending hours throwing, kicking and hitting balls around a field all day. She sometimes wondered if maybe she only hated it because of the incident in grade one when her class had been playing cricket. It was her first time playing an actual sport rather than hide and seek or musical chairs. Everything had started out okay, not great, but not terrible either. That was until it was Jimmy Jenkins turn to bat. He was one of those first graders who looked like he didn’t belong in the year at all, what with how big he was, in both weight and height. On top of that, he was visually impaired. Not so much that he was blind or anything, but enough that things got dangerously fuzzy when he was told to remove his glasses. This was one of those times because he could not have them and the helmet on at the same time.

She had been standing innocently with the rest of her team fielding. It was hot and the sun was burning the back of her calves and she remembered thinking wistfully about how much she wanted to go back inside and finish her Mother’s Day card with the gold glitter she’d managed to swipe before anyone else (because that was the most popular colour). But her daydreaming was cut short when there was a loud bang shortly followed by a shout and before her six-year-old reflexes could catch up the ball had collided into her left temple.

She had not passed out, but that did not make it hurt any less, and suddenly she was reminded of the first day of school when she’d just about burst into tears and her father kneeling down and saying very seriously that the world was full of weak people and if she really wanted to make him proud she would not become one of them. Clutching the side of her head as warm liquid oozed over her fingers, Audrey tried to hold back the moisture threatening to overflow, she tried to be strong, but it just hurt so badly! 

Her lip trembled and a tear escaped and that was all it took before the rest of her dissolved into tears. 

The school called up her mother, who arrived in record time and took her straight to the hospital. The doctors said there was no permanent damage or any signs of a concussion. They commented on how lucky she was – a hit like that should have been fatal. But Audrey could not understand their logic. In order for her to be lucky, she had had to be unlucky in the first place.

As she sat now on the grass, watching Luke and his father and brothers play soccer, she doubted even if she hadn’t almost been killed with a cricket ball she’d enjoy sport. And Lindsey must have been following the same train of thought, because she sat down on the grass beside her.

“Not your thing either, huh?” she asked, her eyes squinting against the harshness of the sun.

“Not really. I prefer watching.”

Lindsey scoffed. “I don’t even like that much.”

Audrey turned her head, a light smile toying the corners of her lips. “Why are you out here, then?”

She rolled her eyes, heaved a dramatic sigh and leaned back on her elbows, dark hair shining brilliantly in the sunlight. “Mother advised I should stop studying and get some fresh air. Why do adults even say that? It’s not like there isn’t fresh air inside. There are these miraculous inventions called windows.”

Lindsey sometimes reminded Audrey of Lisa Simpson: the complete lack of interest in her brothers and the ever so constant need to learn. And though she was only twelve, it was easy to tell she would go far in life. She’d be one of those successful women who owned their own companies and on the front pages of magazines, maybe even president someday.

Her face was looking up to the sky, every once in a while bringing her left wrist up to check the time before she could go inside again. The soccer ball zoomed their way, almost hitting the both of them and Lindsey yelled at all four men, irritation making lines in her face that should not be there. Audrey thought a kid should not be so serious; there was plenty of time for that later. Gingerly, she poked the younger girl in the ribs.    

“What was that –?” But before she could finish Audrey poked her right where she remembered she was the most ticklish. Lindsey let out a reluctant giggle – she poked again; a poking war of sorts began and by the time the guys had finished their game Lindsey was red faced and shining with laughter, her eyes bright and cheeky, the way a kid should be, and she did not go back to her room to study.