he was late in a strenuous lift
when usually the blood in his ears deafened him and he couldnt hear a thing outside
of his body
but he snagged a bita
line not the music accompanying it just the wordsthree words my first
glove
Eighteengasping gaspinggaspingNineteen gasp gasping
gasp Twenty
AahFUCK he groaned
softlydeliberately he laid the weights down he tried yawning to clear his earsno
luck the pitch of pounding blood he looked up at the clock on the wall the
hands read 1:23 (A B C as simple as do re mi one two three thats how easy love
can be)whyd he look at the clock it wasnt
like a radio station spun the music live and he could call and they could check
their playlist against 1:23 and tell him what he was listening toheard heard he didnt listen to the music played over the P
A he was too busy shaking blood out of his armshis legstrying to catch his
breathrecover just enough to hit the next lifta cardio rhythm he used for more
than twenty years when he was able tonot physically compromisedwhen the weights
were taken out of his hands
but no matter the reason he really liked that the time was one two three
and he heard my first glove it made him
remember suddenlyremember his first glove a first basemans glove
long thrashed oiled to almost black he could fold it in halfthere was scarcely any
padding to it and if he didnt catch the hardball in its webGODdamn it hurt many afternoons he returned home from the
playground and soaked his hand in iced cold water to take the swelling
down
he didnt have a choice
his parents couldnt afford a new
glove
elderly neighbors across the street and
down the block who tended a fantastic rose garden in their backyard had the
glove sitting in their basement it was
their sons glove he died in World War
Two when they recognised he was a
lefthanded boy like their sonthe only lefthanded boy the neighborhood had ever
known prior to his family moving into a two-flat with his grandmother they shared
the first floor with her the neighbors watched
him and after a time they thought he would take good care of the glove he obviously needed one for a lefty
when the kids switched out sides those kids who
had gloves let theirs to the kids who didnt all the kids were righties his glovehand was awkward but he made it work
well enough that he was always one of the first kids chosen for a side a bat toss
whichever captains hand covered the knob chose first
the neighbors gave it to him through his
parents
they said they were sure he would
love the glove love it as their son did but
they couldnt bring themselves to see the joy in his face personallyitd be like
seeing their little boys face their
heartsheartache hadnt mended yet their
boy was their only child they had him late
in life
he became the only neighborhood kid who didnt have to share his glove
he
offered
You
nuts they said Couldnt make that thing work if I tried
his was the only first basemans
glove on the field but he played all the positions with it
a glove is a glove is a glove
then he learned Ernie Banks
played first for the Chicago Cubs and living in Chicago he became a Cubs fan an Ernie Banks fan and the kids teased himcalled him Ol Ern because he
identified with Banks skill and enthusiasm
Hes black yaknow the kids said
I dont care he said Nobody plays
the game better than him
Then youre black too they said
I dont care if hes green
Nobody plays baseball like him
nobody played with his zealhis relish
the boy who won first pick always picked Ol Ern
1236, Saturday,
15 7. 17
1300, Monday,
17 7. 17
Jackson 5 A B C
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho7796-au8U
