Disclaimer: Don't own Auggie.

Chapter Fifteen – Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Sunday, September 7, 2008 11:30 AM

"Augs, get it in gear. We'll miss the first pitch at this rate." Austin shouted through the closed guest room door.

Auggie finished buttoning the White Sox jersey that Austin had brought him that morning. It might be a family tradition for the guys to go to a baseball game if either the Cubs or the Sox were playing a home game the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, but he wasn't exactly sure that it was a good idea for Austin to insist on his coming along. He grabbed his cane off of the small table to the left of the door and exited the room.

"'Bout damn time," Austin chided as Auggie opened the door.

"Austin, I'm really not so sure about …"

"Shut up, Augs. You're coming with us and that's final. There's five of us to watch over you. They have special radios for their visually impaired fans, too," Austin patiently explained.

Austin and Auggie trundled down the stairs and out to the drive where everyone else was al-ready waiting in Adam's Mercedes SUV. Austin led Auggie to the front passenger seat and then settled himself into the seat right behind him. Auggie firmly clasped his cane in his left hand as he reached out to close the car door with his right. He definitely didn't want to be without his cane today.

A bit over an hour later Auggie was gripping Austin's arm, cane held diagonally in front of him, working his way through the throng of White Sox's fans. Alan followed slightly behind with the special radio that they'd picked up at the Guest Relations Booth on the main concourse.

"Stairs going down," Austin soon proclaimed.

After what seemed to be an unending flight of stairs, Austin finally said, "We're here, Augs," as he stepped into the row to the left. "We've got these three seats right here on the end and the three right behind them." He placed Auggie's left hand on the back of one of the seats.

"What's in front of us?" Auggie asked after he'd settled himself into the center seat and reached forward. His cursory investigation had turned up no seatbacks before him.

"Top of the dugout; we've got first row seats," Austin said proudly. "Only the best for you, Augs."

"Even though I can't exactly appreciate what's happening on the field?"

"Especially because of that. Down here you can be a part of the excitement of the game, even if you can't see what's going on out on the field."

"That's what this is for," Alan said as he placed the special radio against Auggie's chest. Auggie examined the device – it was about the size of the Walkmans he'd taken apart as a kid. He clipped it onto his belt and placed the earpiece into his ear. "How does this thing work?" he asked Austin.

"According to the lady that I talked with when I was getting the tickets, it broadcasts the same play-by-play that the radio listeners get, but without the time lag. It's real time so you can know what we're groaning or cheering about when we do and not 5 seconds later."

"Cool!" Auggie exclaimed.

An hour or so later, after several beers, a hot dog and a bag of popcorn, Auggie leaned toward Austin and whispered, "Austin, I got to pee. Could you ...?"

Austin rose from his aisle seat and touched Auggie's shoulder. Auggie rose and took Austin's arm. "Did you count the steps when you went down?" Austin asked as they trudged back up to the main concourse.

"Nope. Did you?" Auggie retorted playfully.

"Last step," Austin said shortly. "Looks like there's a line for the restroom."

"I'm okay with that."

Austin whispered into Auggie's ear, "When we do get inside, do you want a stall, or is the urinal okay?"

Auggie quickly whispered back, "I'm a big boy, I can use the urinal. But thanks for asking." A few moments later he exclaimed "Konerko just homered to center field! Damn wish I could have seen that one. Sorry for making you miss it Austin." Around him a series of disappointed groans sounded; no one liked to miss the good plays. Auggie was almost thankful for the 'assistive listening' device he was using.

Austin nudged Auggie's arm with his. "That's what I get for havin' to babysit my baby brother."

"Okay, blame me, will ya," Auggie said with a broad grin. "I'll just blame the damn terrorists."

For a moment all around him went silent. Auggie felt eyes on him; he felt confused and embarrassed. He whispered at Austin, "Why has it gone so quiet? Have I suddenly grown a second head or a third eye?"

"I don't know, Augs. Maybe something to do with the terrorist comment."

Before the brothers could exchange further comments, a hand grasped Auggie's and shook it firmly. "Thank you, son."

"Why? What did I do?" Auggie was utterly confused about what this elderly man could be thanking him for.

"Thanks for serving your country and leaving a part of yourself over there. What branch?"

"Army, Special Forces," Auggie replied proudly. It wasn't exactly the truth, but close enough for the situation.

"I'm glad that you came home alive. My son didn't. Lost him a few months ago. He was Special Forces, too. An IED took him."

No. It couldn't be. Could it? "Mr. Long?" Auggie asked tentatively.

"No. I'm Mr. Wright. Jim Wright. Why do you ask?"

"Thought for a moment you might be someone else. Sorry about your son."

The line shifted and Mr. Wright entered the men's room.

"What was that all about?" Austin whispered.

"Specialist Long, the guy that was killed when I lost my sight, was from the Midwest. Thought that gentleman might have been his dad. It would have been a freaky coincidence though."

"Real freaky," Austin agreed.

When the youngest Anderson boys returned to their seats, Anthony began to relate the action on field since they'd left to Austin. "… should have seen that homer by Konerko. Too bad the bases weren't loaded. Then Ramirez and Swisher both sent fly balls to right field. …"

"No need for the play-by-play, Tony. Augs kept me abreast of the play while we were takin' care of business. He kept the rest of the men's room entertained, too."

"Well, I knew there was some reason you insisted on bringing him along." Anthony's words dripped with disapproval. "What? Don't look at me like that. You know that I didn't think it was a wonderful idea to bring August with us."

"He should be safe back at the house," Adam added.

"Adam, Anthony, that's quite enough." Alfred reprimanded his two oldest sons.

Auggie heard mumbled apologies, but the words were lost on him; he'd retreated into his own thoughts. He wasn't surprised at Anthony's words. He'd always had a strained relationship with him, but Adam's words stung. Better off back at home? Well, if that's what they thought he'd just oblige them. And show them a thing or two, also.

He unfurled his cane and stood. He pushed past Austin, shaking his restraining hand off as he passed.

"Where are you going?" Adam asked as he passed him.

"Home. Where I'm safe," Auggie retorted vehemently

"How …?"

"Watch me!" Cane held straight down and lightly touching each stair riser in turn, Auggie climbed the stairs. Behind him he heard footfalls matching him own. Someone was following him, but which of his brothers he was not certain. Or if it was even one of his brothers or father.

At the top of the stairs he set the cane in motion and angled slightly to the right where he thought the Customer Relation's Booth was. He silently cursed himself for not paying closer attention to his surroundings while Austin led him to their seats.

His initial burst of indignation waning, Auggie slowed his pace and listened to the sounds around him intently. He needed direction. Another step and his cane struck something. He stepped up to it and found only a wall. "Damn," he mumbled under his breath.

A hand touched his arm. "Come back to our seats, Auggie," Adam said.

"No!" Auggie said shrugging Adam's hand from his forearm. He turned to his left and began walking away while following the wall.

"Auggie, don't do this. I'm sorry for what I said, but you're not making any points with me right now. Do you even know where you are?"

"I'm in U.S. Cellular Stadium and I'm heading towards a gate where I'll catch a cab back to Glencoe," Auggie responded with feigned confidence.

"You're not heading towards a gate, Auggie. You're heading towards the escalator to the upper level." Adam's tone was even, matter-of-fact.

"I would have figured that out eventually," Auggie said defensively.

"I'm sure you would have. Do you want me to leave you here to bumble your way around? Or, will you come with me back to our seats? I'm sure that dad and the guys are starting to get worried."

"How long have you been following me?"Auggie wavered between anger and despair. He hoped that Adam had just come upon him and had not seen his countenance fall from indignation and confidence into confusion and near panic.

"From the moment you left your seat; long enough to see that you were out of your element and totally disoriented." Adam touched the back of Auggie's hand.

"No, Adam. I've got my bearings now." Auggie squared his shoulders and stepped out past his brother. Adam grabbed his arm again, but Auggie shook it off. "Adam, don't."

A dozen or so paces and his cane once again located an obstacle.

A nice female voice asked, "May I assist you, sir?"

Taking a few steps to what his cane had discovered, Auggie said, "I need a cab. Can you secure me one and point me in its direction?"

"No problem, sir," the female Customer Relation's agent said.

He felt another touch on his arm. "Auggie, will you please come back with me to our seats," Adam pleaded. "I will not let them know about your disorientation a few minutes ago."

Auggie, now knowing that he had an option, turned to face Adam. "Look, I know Austin was the only one that wanted me to come to the game today. Even Alan had his reservations. I heard the loud discussion that you all had earlier this morning. I had my reservations. I came at Austin's insistence. I'm glad that I did. I was having fun until a few minutes ago." He waited for Adam to say something. He did not wait long, and was surprised by his words.

"You know Tony. He never did want another baby brother. Just the two of us and maybe a sister would have been just fine with him. Yes, I had my reservations on bringing you along. There for a few minutes I thought I'd been right, but you have just now proved me to be in error."

"Do you still need the cab, sir?"

"I … I don't know," he replied to the woman behind the counter. He didn't know what he wanted at the moment. He did know that without Adam's inadvertent help, he might still be wandering around lost. Even his second go at finding the Customer Relations Booth had gotten results only from dumb luck. If his cane strike hadn't elicited a comment from someone inside the booth he had been close to having a panic attack.

"Come on Auggie. Let's head back to our seats?"

"Oh, okay," Auggie said reluctantly as he reached for Adam's arm. He had made a point with his actions. Whether it was a good point or a bad one, and to whom he'd made the point he wasn't sure, but he thought he was now ready to return to the baseball game.

When they got back to their seats, their father asked, "Where did you catch up with him?"

Auggie held his breath as he wondered what Adam would say.

"At the customer service booth; he was going to have them get him a cab home. "

"Good one, Augs," Austin said patting Auggie's back. "You showed them that you're not the helpless man they took you for."

A smug little smile worked its way across Auggie's face as he mentally patted himself on the back. He had shown them, and himself, that he was capable of fending for himself a bit. Maybe he hadn't gotten there on skill alone, but dumb luck worked for him, too.

The muse would still like to know what you thought of this chapter. I'm especially interested in knowing what you think of Anthony aka Tony.