Soccer with the Birds

   "And that, Mr. Johnson, concludes your tour. This is your room, and there, over in the window, is your new roommate Mr. Wendell. He doesn't talk, so it will almost be like a private room for you."

   Johnson entered the room carrying just one medium sized bag which he promptly plopped onto the bed.

   "See what I told you pops?" Johnson's son, Bill Jr., carried a couple larger bags which joined the other on the bed where one of the nurses had already started to unpack them and place their contents into the dresser drawers. "Peace and quiet. You can read, or if you want, you can finish that book you've been working on. You have a desk over here to write on, and don't you worry, I've already ordered a big wide screen TV and all the cable channels for you."

   Bill Jr. was a ball player. He wasn't a star, or at least not a franchise player, but he made a good enough salary to build a considerable portfolio, and enough to afford the best convalescent hospital available. Bill Jr. walked over to the window next to Mr. Wendell. "Look at that view pops. You got a baseball diamond right outside your window. You'll be able to watch young kids playing ball just like you used to watch me when I was little. And smell that air. I think this place is going to be real good for you." He turned around and walked up alongside his father and spoke in a more subdued tone, "And did you see the nurses?" He held his hands out in front of him indicating large breasts. "I think you'll like this place much better than that last dump you were in."

   Of course, the last place wasn't a dump at all. Neither was the one before it. Bill Sr. was just a bit too active for the convalescent scene, but he needed medical supervision, not because he had a bad heart, but because he took too many risks. He still lived his life as if he were a young man able to do young man things.

   "Listen dad, I'd love to stay and have supper with you, but I gotta catch a plane to Cincinnati for a three game series. Call me if you need anything."

   He hugged his father and rushed out the door, followed by the nurse who had just finished putting away his clothes.

   Bill stood there a moment, waiting for the whirlwind to die down, then turned to Mr. Wendell at the window. "You'll have to forgive my son, Mr. Wendell. He's a major league ball player. He's with the Braves, here in town. Maybe you heard of him?" Bill offered him his hand to shake. "I'm Bill Sr., but most of my friends just call my Bill or Billy. They tell me your name is James. Since we're gonna be roommates and all, do you mind if I just call you Jimmy?" Mr. Wendell didn't move or respond, so Bill retracted his hand. "That's ok Jimmy, they told me you didn't talk much. I 'spect I can talk enough for the both of us, don't you worry."

   Bill turned to look out the window. "I know what it's like, losing your wife. I hope you don't mind, they told me that too. Yeah, I know. I lost my Paige a few years ago. Bill Jr. took it hard, and he's been doting on me ever since. I do miss her. I missed her right off the bat and tried taking up hobbies to keep me occupied."

   "I tried flying those radio airplanes. You ever try that? Getting them up ain't so hard, but then they get kinda hard to see, up in the sky, and they turn into little bombs and you never know what they are gonna crash into. You wouldn't believe the fuss some people make over their cars. I tried to tell them it could have been a lot worse. I coulda crashed it into one of the babies out there. That didn't ease their minds much."

   Bill pulled a chair from the desk and set it alongside Mr. Wendell. "Then, seeing that airplanes wasn't my forte, I thought I would get a dog. I wasn't gonna get no sissy dog that wanted to be carried around in a purse all day, I wanted a real dog. Someone that could play fetch and learn to catch a Frisbee. Someone that would be a real companion and maybe even protect me from muggers. You know what I mean, don't you Jimmy? Now I'm not saying it had to be one of those Pit Bulls or nothin like that, but it had to be substantial. And I didn't want no long hair mutt shedding all over the place, so Lassie was out. So I got me a Great Dane. He was just the right size, not too big, not too small. Of course, he was just a puppy, and he grew into a horse. He loved to play. And he really loved me too. You ever had a dog Jimmy? If you did, you know what I mean.  Unconditional love. That was his downfall. He loved me. And one day he stood up on his hind legs and put his paws on my shoulders so he could lick my face and show me how much he loved me. Problem was that I fell down and broke my hip. I think I was stuck there for three days, that's how long it took Brutus, that was his name, to run out of food. He had already cleared the food in his bowl the first day, then he managed to open the cupboard and pull out the bag of food. Now you should know, that was a thirty five pound bag of food. And he polished it off in about a day and a half, and when a Great Dane eats thirty five pounds of food, he turns around and creates thirty five pounds of reasons for you to be somewhere else. It was horrible, there I was, my hip was broken, the house stunk like nothing I ever smelled before. Maybe I should have gotten Lassie, then she could have gotten the phone and dialed 911. Lucky for me, on the third day, he got hungry again and started barking which disturbed the neighbors enough to complain."

   "Bill Jr. wasn't too happy, and that was the last I saw of Brutus. Oh, don't you worry, Billy had a teammate that gave Brutus a nice home with a huge yard for him to graze. That's when he started putting me in these homes, so I wouldn't hurt myself like that again."

   "That's also when Bill Jr. got me one of them fancy head doctors, you know the kind, with the real expensive offices and all kinds of awards nobody ever heard of on the wall telling us what good doctors they are. Bah, they're all quacks. This guy tries telling me that I'm afraid of dying, only he uses lots of foreign sounding college words. What an idiot. He says I'm taking up all these risky hobbies to feel young again. He actually believed that I was just acting out because my Paige died. Have you ever heard such rubbish? What kind of moron is going to go out and risk his life if he's afraid of dying? And why would I be afraid of dying? It's the only thing between me and my Paige! Truth is, I'm probably more afraid of living than dying. You know what I mean Jimmy? Yeah, you know what I mean."

   "Excuse me gentlemen." A nurse entered the room. "It's lunch time. I'm here to wheel Mr. Wendell to lunch."

   "Oh, let me get that."

   "That's very kind of you Mr. Johnson."

   "Please, call me Bill."

   "Bill, that's very kind, but not until the doctor has a chance to examine your hip and certify that you are fit enough to push Mr. Wendell around."

   "You see that Jimmy? As if getting old weren't punishment enough, these young whipper snappers start to treat us like we was children. Well I'm not a child miss," Bill leaned in closer to read the name tag, "Paige, that was my wifes' name. You remind of my wife, miss Paige. She had a real nice chassis too."

   The nurse took his comment well, she's heard a lot worse from some of the old geezers staying here. She wheeled Mr. Wendell out and down the hall to the lunch room.

   Bill followed and sat down next to Jimmy. Surprisingly, he was able to feed himself. Bill thought maybe nurse Paige would have to feed him like a baby, but he used the fork and the glass like anyone else, he just didn't make eye contact, and never spoke a word.

   None of the other residents sat at the table with Bill and Jimmy. One of them hollered across the room, "Hey new guy, if you want to sit with the living over here, you're always welcome."

   Bill looked at the guy, and just nodded his head, one quick nod, to acknowledge the offer without wasting any attention on him.

   After lunch, Nurse Paige wheeled Jimmy back to his customary spot looking out his window.

   Bill grabbed his chair again and set it next to Jimmy. "Nothing better for a full tummy than a good ball game, I always say. What's this?"

   Bill looked out over the field, but the bases were put away and goal cages had been setup in the outfield. "That don't look like baseball to me. Look at all them people on the sidelines. I had no idea so many people liked this sort of thing."

   Bill thought he detected a very slight trace of a smile on Jimmy's face. "I get it Jimmy, just cause I love baseball so much, you think it's funny that they would set them foreign nets up on my outfield. You be careful Jimmy, baseball is the national past time you know. Or, maybe you aren't even American. Maybe you're one of them foreigners that thinks this is football. It's not you know, not here it ain't. It's more like kickball if you ask me."

   Bill thought he detected another smile cracked on Jimmy's face. "All right, you go ahead and laugh at me. But, you'll see that I can adapt. I'm gonna sit here and watch these boys play soccer, and I'm gonna adapt and get into it. What are you laughing about now? Oh, ok, I'm going to sit here and watch these boys and GIRLS play soccer. It's all good to me."

   "Look at them go Jimmy. Don't you wish we could still run up and down the field like that? They're like a swarm of bees buzzing around the ball all over the field. Boy, I'd like to tell you what I could do with just one tenth of that energy."

   "Do you have children Jimmy? I noticed your name didn't show up on the visitor log. I'm guessing you didn't have no children or maybe your children are ..."

   "You know, my wife liked soccer. She said it reminded her of her school days when she used to play field hockey. She didn't care for hockey though, she said it was too brutal. But she did like soccer. Every Olympics, she was glued to the TV watching them play soccer. She didn't care who won or loss, she just liked watching them go back and forth. She liked the struggle."

   "What do you like Jimmy? Are you like my Paige, watching them swarm back and forth, or do you like the highlights, like someone diving to save a goal, or doing one of those back flips to kick it in upside down? Oh, I guess you don't see much of that here, they're just kids. I'm guessing you like the struggle back and forth like my Paige did."

   "Did you play when you was young Jimmy? I did. Baseball of course. I loved to play ball. I could play all day long. In the summer, when school was out, I would fix myself a peanut butter sandwich and head out before my folks were even awake. Sometimes it would be dark before I got back. Of course, in those days, staying out late wasn't such a big deal like it is now. I never let Bill Jr. stay out that late, it's just not safe anymore. I'll bet you did play. Except for that wheel chair, you look like a pretty well built guy. Yeah you probably played. I won't ask what position, I wouldn't know what any of them are. You know, if you ever want to get up out of your chair and kick the ball around, you just let me know. I'll kick it back to ya."

   "My boy done real good. Made us both proud. Paige didn't really like baseball that much, funny how things work out like that. Me, I'm a baseball nut. I can quote you statistics and I could tell you all the teams that made it to the playoffs, and now that my son's been playing, I can tell you a thing or two about player salaries too. But my Paige was what you call indifferent about baseball. But she sure wasn't indifferent about me, let me tell you. And what a knockout she was. When I said nurse Paige reminded me of my wife, it's true, but only a little. My Paige was an 'A number one' knockout from top to bottom. She was perfect, except for the not liking baseball so much. Sometimes I wish she did like baseball, I'd like to think she is up there watching Bill Jr. play."

   "What about your wife? Did she like soccer same as you? Probably so. I figure the two of you probably spent hours watching together. You probably watched the same games my Paige watched. Kind of makes me sad knowing you and your wife was watching the same game as my Paige, and I wasn't. I robbed myself of some time I could have spent with her."

   "Maybe, if you and me did go kick the ball, maybe my wife would be watching. She did love watching soccer. Maybe yours too. Would you like that Jimmy? Maybe we should go kick the ball so we know our wives are watching over us."

   The games concluded, and the people on the sidelines hugged their kids, picked up their chairs and ice chests and headed out to the parking lot and their cars. The birds didn't even wait for the officials to remove the goal cages before they swooped down and started picking at the popcorn and french fries the crowd left behind. First a dozen birds, then several dozen, then, there must have been a hundred birds.

   As fast as the bird frenzy had started, it was over, and the whole flock, as one, lifted up into the sky like a large undulating bubble. It flew first left then right. Sometimes they would form up in a tighter group making the flock look like a dark rain cloud, then they would suddenly swoop in a new direction stretching out the flock into a gray mass.

   Perhaps there was something in the food they ate, but they flew like the wind. Every few seconds a new bird would take the lead and the flock would take off in an entirely new direction. Either they had no destination, or they all had different destinations and couldn't decide on a leader, but they kept swarming around back and forth in a magnificent ballet.

   "Hey Jimmy? You see what I see? Of course you do. Ain't that something. Look at them go back and forth like that. Just like them kids. I never would have noticed if you hadn't shown it to me, thanks Jimmy."

   "You think my wife ever noticed that? Maybe she's watching right now. Heck, for all I know, she might be one of them birds flying back and forth like that. Wouldn't that be something. Is that what you think too Jimmy? You think maybe your wife is out there flying around? Maybe they are just waiting for us. My Paige was like that. Very patient woman, she was."

   "Even if it's not them flying around, I think maybe she would be watching this. It's exactly what she would like to do. Hey Jimmy, I think you got the right idea here. If we can't be with our wives, then the next best thing would be doing something they are probably doing at the very same time. I know we been hanging out together here, but would you mind if I just sat here and watched them with my wife for a spell? Thanks Jimmy, you're a pal."

   And just like that, Bill was silent. The two of them sat and watched with sly smiles traced across their faces.