by Margot Comstock

In the evening after the kids’ match, after the horrible noises from the drone drove him to smash the ball perfectly into the selfie drone, sending it, its beanie propeller, and the beanie with its artificial intelligence into pieces on the floor, Reid sat in his study, listening to Philip Glass, and smiling broadly. Yes, it was a good ending to a rather foolish day.

Reid knew he was in some ways as foolish as the day; but he was wise enough to accept himself. There were a lot of reasons to accept himself, forgive himself, whatever, he thought. He hadn’t gotten all he’d wanted in life, but most of it had had its modicum--or better--of pleasure, joy, achievement. That counted.

And there were always the games—and music.

He supposed he would never get thoroughly over his schooldays crush on Stacy. He knew now that that was what it had been…. And he knew she wasn’t what he had dreamed her to be. But he valued that youthful devotion and cared about her. Not love; well, not romantic love; just caring, maybe for a lost dream.

He’d been comfortable with Elena, but now that seemed to be ending. He thought of himself as fairly wise--really, fair and wise--but he had no idea about what was happening with his marriage now. Worse, he wistfully looked forward to its end. They really had little in common, never had had much.

Hmmm, he sort of grumbled. Well, tomorrow was another day, a day of games he loved; and next week, a day in Judge Jolene’s court. Another amusement.

Reid began to realize he was sounding morose. He laughed at himself, tuned his music to some softer etudes, fixed an Oban, picked up the McCall-Smith novel he was reading, and settled into his favorite chair.

…..

As she left the courts, Stacy’s demeanor changed: Henry. What was to be done about Henry? She had arranged to keep him free of her business dealings--he didn’t really care or even grasp what she was doing. Reid would always cover for her; one potential problem avoided. She smiled, phew! Stacy knew herself well. She wasn’t a single path person; she bored easily; she needed variety, free range. But, in truth though seldom acknowledged even to herself, she didn’t like going it--anything--alone. And she tired easily--of people. She had known for a while she was done with Henry.

…..

Henry sensed his marriage dissolving; it disappointed him and he tried to avoid thinking about it. He began making mistakes in his work, a problem, and socially. Letting himself get angry at Cavanaugh was one of those errors. It really wasn’t Cavanaugh’s fault: Cavanaugh was the prey. But for Henry, Cavanaugh was the problem, and so Henry struck. Now they were all in a pickle, except for Stacy of course. Just acknowledging this made Henry angrier. At whom? He declined to consider.

…..

Already enmeshed with the young players at the bar that morning, the Kiwi was unconcerned about events to come. He looked forward to the court hearing; he was confident of success and found the whole affair amusing. He was unharmed by the precipitating dousing, well, apart from his personal pride. He flippined a puck into the hole for another win; a couple of the guys crumbled but Cav didn’t notice. Henry had no business pushing him, Cavanaugh, into the pond--it wasn’t Cavanaugh’s fault Hank’s wife was running around on Henry; from all he had heard, it certainly wasn’t the first time. Anyway it wasn’t important, just a little fun. Nothing long range—god, no.

Cav would keep his eye on Reid though…. Reid, he felt, was the only person he’d met in this part of America who really paid attention and knew what was going on. And Reid had helped him out of the hot tub that day. Cavanaugh appreciated that.

He’d tired of the game, dropped a tenner on the table for the the players, and took a seat at the bar. He began to think of moving on. He liked the games--on court and off--but he was tiring quickly of America, or at least this part of America. Maybe try New York City--no, too busy. Florida was attractive, good weather (not all of the time; he’d read about the horrible hurricanes), but…old. Maybe he’d look into South America—there was a thought—maybe Brazil? No: language would be a problem. Although Cavanaugh wasn’t averse to learning another language, it would take a lot of time. So he guessed he’d stick around here a while longer. Yis.

…..

Long after Stacy was out and about that morning--probably already on one of the practice courts, Henry was enjoying bacon and eggs (over easy), two poppy seed bagel, and his third cup of coffee (strong and dark), when Finn scrambled down the stairs, picked up his dad’s second poppy seed bagel, raised his eyes at Henry who nodded “Sure,” and sat down to eat.

“Why am I so short?” Finn asked, in frustration. “Why did I have to play such a tall girl? Or any girl? And she’s fat too!”

Henry, who was of average height himself and had been about Finn’s size at Finn’s age, tried to comfort his son. “Oh, Finn, you’ll grow; I was small too at your age. And you’re a much better player than I was.”

“Well, that doesn’t help a lot, but thanks, Dad,” Finn said. “Still, why do they pair me with a much bigger girl?”

Henry believed it was Stacy’s attempt at forcing Finn to fight, to get better at the game. Having been there, more or less, Henry understood; he also knew it wouldn’t work.

“Not everything is fair, Finn. And sometimes folks think giving kids tough challenges makes them stronger and strive to do better. Actually, I often don’t agree with that thinking. But I believe your mother does.”

“Geesh,” the kid grumbled hopelessly.

“So how about if you and I finding some time to practice together, see if we can speed up your progress? Even better, what do you think of joining a gym? You can gain strength and flexibility there. It can be tough at first, but the rewards can be excellent.”

“I always thought that would be boring, Dad.”

“Well, it can be, at first. But if you put your heart into it, you’ll begin to see results pretty quickly; then it stops being boring and starts being exciting.”

Finn looked skeptical, but he was listening.

“Tell you what: Let’s figure out a schedule we can both keep and I’ll work and train with you a few times a week. Maybe we could share a fun meal after. What do you think?”

The boy brightened considerably.

“I don’t know if I’ll like the gym work much. But I’ll try it. I’ll try my best with you there.” Finn raised his hand to fist bump his father. “Thanks, Dad!”

Finn took off for practice with a wide smile.

…..

When a much happier Henry ran into Reid at coffee that evening, Reid asked how Finn was doing after the difficult time the day before.

Henry was a bit surprised but he was eager to tell someone about his and Finn’s new plan. He’d thought highly of Reid and decided to trust him. He blurted out the whole story of his new arrangement with his son. He still wasn’t prepared for Reid’s response.

“What a perfect plan,” Reid said. “Wonderful foresight and generosity, Henry! And it sounds like Finn is thrilled. Hank, I believe you may have changed your son’s life permanently for the better.

“Stay strong, Henry. Let no one, no one, alter your plans for Finn!”