Chapter 15 - The Brother I Grew Up With
Scott called that evening and asked to meet at the old public diamond where Dad used to coach us.
I agreed on one condition: there would be no children and no surprise audience.
Nicole knew where I was going, and I told her when I expected to be home.
Scott sat on the lowest bleacher when I arrived.
His old coaching bag rested at his feet.
For several minutes we watched a groundskeeper drag the empty infield.
Then Scott said, "You took everything from me."
I reminded him he was suspended for a season, not banned from baseball for life.
"That team was my whole world."
"That's part of the problem."
He looked at me sharply.
I told him Owen's whole world included school, friends, his mother, and a future he shouldn't have to trade for a roster spot.
Scott said I had always been Dad's favorite because I played high school varsity.
I almost laughed at the irony.
For years I had believed Scott was the favorite because he followed Dad into coaching.
We sat with that misunderstanding between us.
Scott remembered being twelve and getting benched after missing a game for our grandmother's birthday.
Dad had told him that real athletes didn't make excuses.
"I promised myself I'd never be the one who quit," Scott said.
"And then you decided no one else was allowed to choose differently."
He rubbed his face.
"I wasn't trying to hurt Owen at first."
"But you kept doing it after you knew you were hurting him."
Scott didn't deny that.
He said the other families had questioned his schedule and he feared losing control of the team.
When Owen left, it felt like defiance from his own nephew.
He told Dad a simplified version because he knew Dad would agree with it.
"I thought Owen would come back after the birthday," he confessed.
I stared at him.
"You thought humiliating him would make him want to play for you?"
Scott lowered his eyes.
I told him the board's decision was his responsibility, but it did not have to be his entire future.
He asked whether Owen would ever forgive him.
"That's Owen's decision. Not mine."
We left without a hug.
But before I reached my car, Scott called my name.
"The reference to the summer program was wrong," he said.
"Then you need to tell them that yourself."
He nodded once.
May you like
I had no way of knowing whether he would follow through.
