Nightchild

Chapter 4

        

CHAPTER 4

May brought with her beauty a constant energy that pervaded the air. Life was good, particularly Nate's. With only three weeks left of school, he'd given Marybeth his letter jacket which she had eagerly accepted and with each new day, they grew closer. His guitar and voice lessons were going well and for the first time in his life, he was taking a serious interest and enjoyment in the sport he was playing. Nate had always been a good athlete, but now he cared. Mrs. Stevens and Marybeth had formed a friendship of sorts and they could be seen together at all the baseball games and most of the practices.

Summer was just around the corner and spring was in her prime. Mowers had been brought from the storage of musty garages or backyard sheds to be oiled and serviced for the first grass cuttings that were looked forward to with such joyful anticipation during those young days of spring, only to be met with great dread by late August. Lawns were lush with new green shoots, spindly runners and clean scent of the freshly mown. The trees were covered in tender verdant leaves, sparse late blooms mingling here and there on some. Early bulbs which last such a short time had dropped their wilted petals and avid gardeners could be seen in Bermuda shorts and work gloves, snippers in hand as they tediously cut back old blooms and browning stems.

Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana were still being plagued by late spring storms. Winds were strong, lashing out at the world, proving their power as they curled and twisted into funnels that grew black with the debris they tore from the peaceful earth and carried away. Weather reports could be heard throughout the day, interrupting the music on local radio stations. Nate was like these tempests, intense, full of energy, excitement, yet dark and dangerously unpredictable.

On this May day, Nate had asked his mother if she would take Marybeth with her to Arnold, a neighboring town, for one of the most important baseball games of the season. To him, it was equally important to have them both there, and he knew Marybeth's mother wouldn't be able to leave work early to take her. He had even asked his father to come, hoping that if he only saw him play, it might get the older man's attention and he might actually find himself proud of his son as an athlete if nothing else. But as was customary with Mr. Stevens, no commitment was made only a rushed "We'll see".

Traveling by bus, the team left school early to reach Arnold in just over an hour, a little behind the faster cars of friends and families. As the bus carried them to their destination, the sky grew visibly darker with each passing mile, threatening to burst forth with another downpour. It should have been near the end of the season, but they'd had to reschedule so many rained out games, they would be playing well into the end of June.

Arriving in Arnold, the bus unloaded and the team headed for the diamond. It had been warm but a strong wind blasted them with cool gusts and a chill seeped into the air beneath the darkening skies. Thunder rumbled nearby, deep and threatening while the spirits of players and spectators dropped to a low ebb as eyes turned to the sky in expectation.

Nate searched the crowd, until he spotted Claire and Marybeth and though he smiled, he couldn't help the subtle disappointment that crept over him. As usual, his father was conspicuously absent. Disheartened, he scanned the faces once more but still no sign of the cold stern face.

Only minutes into the game, the first drops splattered onto the already soggy earth. The play continued, the sprinkles ignored until the clouds burst forth with an onslaught of opaque sheets that unleashed their fury on the dispelling crowd. The game was called. Players ran to the shelter of buses, rain stinging their faces and through their clothing as wind hurled biting drops horizontally. Quickly, with a hand shielding his eyes from the savage pelting, Nate paused to look for the two females who had come to cheer him on and was relieved to see they'd already left.