Part 451
Ten people emerged from the buses hungry for nourishment. Sarah had spent almost an hour trying to find a place that would accommodate them with a private dining room and finally found a restaurant near the venue.
As they made their way across the parking lot, Sarah started giggling watching how all five of them were walking like old men. She nudged Becca and pointed to them and together, they tried to stifle the laughter.
Kevin looked back at the two women and asked, "Okay, what’s so damn funny?"
"You five," smirked Sarah. "All you need is the make-up and you’d be the men in the video."
"You’re NOT funny!" snapped Kevin.
"You try playing a bunch of gorillas," commented Brian. "If I didn’t know better, I’d swear they were professionals."
Sarah and Becca exchanged knowing looks as Sarah said, "I offered but I was told I couldn’t play because I was pregnant. Maybe if you’d at least let me pitch, you wouldn’t have been beat so bad."
"How do you figure THAT?" questioned Kevin.
"No offense, Brian, but you pitch like a grandmother."
"And I suppose you could have done better?" came Kevin.
"As a matter of fact, yes. Those guys are a fast-pitch team and the slow-arching pitches were a walk in the park for them."
"What do you mean, they’re a fast pitch team?" Kevin was suddenly aware that Sarah was holding something back.
Howie took Sarah’s hand as he said, "Let it go, Kevin. The game is over, we lost, but JWR got a generous donation."
That set Kevin’s warning bells off. "Oh no! I’m not your wife…I’m NOT letting it go just because YOU said so! BOTH of you know something that you’re NOT telling us."
The group stopped and all four guys looked at Sarah, their eyes demanding to know.
"’Angel’, you might as well tell them."
"Tell us what, ‘Tigger’?"
"You guys were set up and made to look like fools…by your own management. The team you played was a professional team who travels the country playing benefit games as well as playing in a league of their own. The last time I saw them, they’d won three national championships."
"Whoa! No wonder we got our butts kicked," laughed AJ.
Kevin’s blood was boiling. "You knew they were professional?"
Sheepishly, Sarah nodded her head. "Yeah." She inched closer to Howie.
"Let it go, Kev," said Brian as he took put his arm around Sonja and started for the restaurant again.
"No! I’m NOT gonna let it go, damnit!" barked Kevin. Turning on Sarah, he glared, "Exactly HOW long did you know?"
Howie put his arm around Sarah protectively as Kevin stood just inches from
her.
"I figured it out just before the game."
"YOU BITCH!" seethed Kevin, his eyes boring into Sarah.
The toll of being on the road had finally gotten to Kevin and everyone knew it. He never spoke to Sarah, or anyone, like that and they all waited for the inevitable explosion because they knew Howie wasn’t going to let him get away with it. Fortunately, they were basically alone in the parking lot and this wasn’t causing a scene.
"Back off, Kevin. I’m not gonna have you talking to her like that," spoke up Howie, calmly but forcefully.
"And YOU! YOU knew the whole time too?" growled Kevin getting in Howie’s face.
"No, I didn’t know the whole time," countered Howie letting his anger get the better of him now. He put his hand on Kevin’s chest to push him back from them. "What difference would it have made? It doesn’t give you the right to speak to Sarah like that."
Seeing the mounting tension between Howie and Kevin, Sarah stepped between them. There was no way she was going to let Kevin back her down or speak to Howie like this. The old Sarah, the one who didn’t take any crap from anyone, emerged. Standing as tall as possible to Kevin’s 6’ 2", she let go on him. "You jackass! If you hadn’t been such a jerk about me playing yesterday, I MIGHT have told you sooner. But NO! You couldn’t see I was playing with your head. You had to be ‘Mr. Large and In Charge’ ORDERING me around. Tell me something, Kevin! What would you have done if you’d known? The game was to raise money for YOUR foundation! Would you have backed out of the game?"
Damn her! Sarah could get to him like no other and she knew him better than anyone. His anger diffused, Kevin said, "You know the answer to that…obviously, because you didn’t say anything." Kevin took Sarah in his arms hugging her. "Baby, you drive me insane! I apologize for calling you a bitch."
Howie glanced at Lynne who was staring at the two. It was written as plain as day. Lynne still suspected something had happened between them. He’d have to talk to Kevin about this. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all to keep it from Lynne about what had happened between them.
Sarah laughed against Kevin’s chest. "I just love seeing you explode! You’re so cute when you’re pissed. A pissy Kevin is a good Kevin," she teased. "Right, Bec?"
"Uh huh, whatever you say, Sarah," laughed Becca as Nick led her to the restaurant.
"Come on, Kevin. I’m hungry," smiled Sarah as she took Howie’s hand once more.