At 6:40 AM on Friday, a new number texted me.
Can we talk? Just coffee. —G.
I read it once over my cereal.
I didn't answer.
I blocked the number and rinsed the bowl.
It had been a busy week for everybody else.
On Tuesday, Rebound ended its deal with the Ospreys.
It withheld the $250,000 bonus.
The same afternoon, it ended Garrett's ambassador contract.
It wanted the $15,000 back.
On Wednesday, the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division sent Rebound a civil investigative demand.
The papers called it a "real moments" problem.
That night, Brielle posted a photo of a teal jersey in a donation bin.
I was lied to too.
She moved out of Unit 1408 by Thursday.
On Thursday, the Ospreys won the Wild Card Series.
The kiss cam came back for the postseason.
It didn't say who it was presented by anymore.
Megan's door stayed closed.
Todd never called.
At 8:30 AM, Room 104 sat on the alphabet rug.
Twenty-two kindergartners, criss-cross applesauce.
New name tags hung on every cubby.
Laminated, yellow, with cartoon apples.
I'd done them Monday night at Office Depot.
It was Mystery Reader Friday.
I'd given three clues.
He's tall.
He throws things for a living.
He's very bad at ties.
Brody guessed a firefighter.
The door opened.
Rhett Langford ducked under the frame in a gray Ospreys T-shirt.
He was carrying a picture book and a small paper bag.
Twenty-two kids screamed.
He sat down on a chair built for a five-year-old.
It held.
"Barely," Brody whispered.
He opened "Casey at the Bat."
He read it slowly, with voices.
He read Mudville like he'd been there.
When mighty Casey struck out, a girl in the front row gasped.
"That's so sad."
"It happens," Rhett told her.
"You come back the next day."
Brody's hand shot up.
"Mr. Rhett, did you practice?"
Rhett looked at me over the book.
"Every day."
The class clapped like it was a home run.
When the kids lined up for the bathroom, he handed me the paper bag.
The ball was inside.
The smear of mud was still on one seam.
Next to it, in black Sharpie, was his handwriting.
Row F, Seat 8 · 9/5/26 · 9/26/26 · Stay.
I read it twice.
I didn't say anything.
I didn't trust my voice yet.
"You can keep it on a shelf," he said.
"Or throw it at me."
"Shelf."
"Why 'Stay'?" I asked.
"That's what Row F yelled."
"The whole section."
"I figured they had it right."
I set it by the class pumpkin.
The pumpkin was paper, with twenty-two handprints.
The ball fit between two of them.
"Game 1 is tomorrow," I said.
"Shouldn't you be resting your shoulder?"
"I'm resting it."
"On a very small chair."
He stayed for snack.
Brody gave him half a graham cracker.
He ate it like it was steak.
"Is that your lunch?" Brody asked.
"It is now."
"You can have my raisins too."
"I'm good, buddy."
At 3:05 PM, I stood at the walker gate.
My walkers stood behind me in pairs, holding hands.
Brody had my hand.
The car line moved forward.
One car, then the next.
Nobody had their phone up.
The dad from the fence rolled down his window.
He waved at me.
So did the mom whose daughter was five.
I waved back and sent their kids down the walk.
Megan's minivan came last.
She didn't roll down her window.
Brody climbed in and pressed his whole face to the glass.
He mouthed something through it.
I think it was "Bye, Mr. Rhett."
I waved at Brody.
The van pulled away.
The girl who waited on her grandmother waited one more minute.
Then the grandmother came, and she ran.
The car line was empty.
The sidewalk was empty.
Rhett leaned on the fence beside the gate with his hands in his pockets.
He'd waited the whole time.
"You didn't have to wait," I said.
"I'm a pitcher."
"Waiting's most of the job."
"Car line's done," he said.
"It is."
"So the gate's closed."
"It is."
He didn't move.
He waited, the way he'd waited on the dugout step.
Mrs. Odom leaned out of the front-office door.
She had her reading glasses on her head.
"Kiss her, no camera!"
Then she went back inside and shut the door.
Rhett laughed.
I stepped up onto the curb so we were closer to even.
He kissed me at the walker gate.
It was slow, and it was ours.
Afterward, I looked around.
The office windows had blinds down.
The parking lot was empty.
The sidewalk was empty all the way to the corner.
Nobody filmed it.
I checked.