The angst continues... See previous chapter for credits/notes.
"We're gonna get going so we can take Kasey her flowers before the performance. You sure you won't come with us?" Mike asked for the third time.
"I'm sure," Kelly said. Mike thought he sounded like he was trying very hard not to lose his temper.
"OK. I'll see you later, then."
He led the Bears outside to where Kelly's bike was parked beside his rental van. As the other Bears piled into the van, Mike heard Tanner say,
"What's a couple cruddy hours in a theater, Kelly? You'll be kickin' yourself tomorrow because the rest of us will have seen Kasey in tights."
"Screw off, Tanner."
Mike wasn't sure whether he was more bothered by Kelly's choice of words, or the fact that it didn't seem to ruffle Tanner in the slightest.
The town center had a good-sized stage, and it took the Bears a lot of time and a few awkward moments to find and successfully enter the backstage area. Someone finally decided they weren't there to ruin the show and directed them to Kasey's dressing room. Mike knocked on the door.
"Come in," Kasey called.
The Bears nearly trampled Mike on their way in.
"Holy crow!" Tanner exclaimed. "Get a load o' Gooding without any levis!"
"Shut up," Kasey told him, but she was smiling.
Mike admired Kasey's ornate hairdo decorated with white feathers. "You look beautiful," he told her honestly.
"Thanks." Kasey looked down at the floor and smiled.
Lupis brought the bouquet of pink carnations out from behind his back. "We brought you these," he said softly.
"Oh! Looper, thank you," Kasey exclaimed, giving the undersized boy a hug.
Lupis blushed.
"Heck, Looper, they're from all of us," Engelberg said, messing up Lupis's hair.
"OK, guys," Mike said, "we'd better let Kasey finish getting ready. Come on."
"Thanks for coming," Kasey said, looking around at each of them.
Mike knew she was looking for Kelly. He decided to be diplomatic and try to earn his son a second chance. "Kelly's sorry he couldn't make it," he said.
Kasey bit her lip. "Thanks," she said at last.
He knew he hadn't fooled her. Her look said: "No he's not, but dangit, he will be!"
It was a bit crazy getting all the boys into their seats. Once they found the correct seats, the boys started arguing about who was sitting by whom. Tanner didn't want to sit by Engelberg because he had smuggled food into the theater and Tanner didn't want to hear his smacking. Lupis didn't want to be stuck between two large people. Ahmad didn't want to sit behind the lady with the big hat because he couldn't see…
But finally everyone was settled and looking over the program. Act I – a magnificent park before a castle.
Mike glanced at the empty aisle seat on his left. He wondered if Kelly still had the ticket Mike had bought for him. In a few minutes the theater doors would close, and late-comers weren't allowed in until intermission.
"Hey," Carmen said, elbowing Ogilvie. "See that jock down near the front? Don't he look familiar?"
"Course he does," Toby put in. "That's Bobby Meyers. He's the new star pitcher on the Yankees team."
"The Yankees' old pitcher was their old coach's son," Tanner told Mike. "That kid kinda messed things up for them last year, and his father had a fit. He and his son both quit baseball, at least for now."
"That's too bad," Mike said, deciding that at this point it would do no good to tell Tanner that gossiping wasn't polite.
Ahmad shushed them. "The lights are going down! It's starting!"
Mike soon stopped wondering about Kelly, distracted by the amusing whispered comments from the team. It was obvious that most of them had never been to this kind of cultural event. A few people seemed annoyed with the constant whispering—some of the boys needed a running commentary to understand what was going on—but they made it to the intermission without any major incidents.
Mike herded the boys toward the bathroom, knowing that it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Kelly!" Carmen said, spotting Kelly near the entrance.
"Go ahead, fellas," Mike told the others. "I'll wait out here for you."
While the team formed a line at the restroom door, Mike went to talk to his son.
"So, did you just get here?" Mike asked.
Kelly shook his head. "No; I just decided to stand at the back. I hate crowds."
"Right," Mike said, accepting the blatant lie. "You want to come sit with us for the second half? The view would be better. I saved you the aisle seat."
Kelly hesitated, then nodded. "Sure, I guess so."
"Good. Do you have a program?"
The Bears behaved a bit better during the third and fourth acts, but Kelly felt uneasy. Ballet was something so foreign to him, he didn't know how he felt about it. He also didn't know how he felt about Prince Siegfried touching Odette—Kasey—so much. Under her arms, on her waist, even her hips at one point…. Apparently this was all normal ballet stuff, but Kelly wondered why it was allowed to be performed in public. She was graceful and beautiful, but he seemed predatory. Maybe it was just his imagination…
Suddenly, he saw Bobby Meyers in the front of the audience. It was dark, but Kelly would have known that profile anywhere. And the way his gaze seemed glued to Kasey made his stomach feel strange. Kelly could feel his face getting hot. He wanted to give Bobby a fastball to the gut. He wanted to tell him that their old pitcher, a girl, could have struck him out any day. And most of all, he wanted to threaten Bobby's life if he looked at Kasey like that again.
But he couldn't do any of those things and he knew it. So he just smoldered through the rest of the performance, trying not to look at Bobby Meyers. Or the male ballet dancers. Or Kasey herself, for that matter, but it was hard to take his eyes off her, beautiful as she was in her costume.
It made him feel very confused. He was still angry with Kasey, but he knew he'd said things he didn't mean. At least, he didn't mean them now.
I think… It was all so confusing. One thing he knew for certain was that he felt regret. Exactly what for, he wasn't so sure. But he knew he couldn't go on like this much longer.
That's it for now; comments are welcome.