Simon walked next to Trevor, on the far end of the group, a good two feet away from him. “Not long. It’s only been a couple months.” He didn’t offer anything other than that.

“Are you from the area?” His mom tried to keep the conversation going as they worked their way through the crowds starting to fill out around them.

“No. I went to college back East and then moved out here for medical school with my wife. Her family is here.”

Trevor’s mom stumbled, and Trevor held in his groan. They really hadn’t thought any of this through.

“Oh...I didn’t realize you were married...” she replied. He heard the question in her voice.

“He’s divorced. It’s not important. Look, Mom, there’s the baseball booth. I promised to win you a bear. Let’s go.”

He could tell Simon tried to ease himself into the conversation when he said, “No one wins these things.”

“Trevor will.” His mom beamed at Simon.

Blake added, “He was the best pitcher this area has seen. He played varsity our freshman year in high school. We won state that year.”

“Blake.” Trevor tried to get him to quit speaking. Either he didn’t get the message, or he was ignoring it.

“He quit after that. Didn’t play again. Probably could have gotten a scholarship if he’d kept at it.” They all knew what Blake meant by that. Trevor had gotten into other things, he’d lost track of what was important and fucked up his life. “Oh, I see Jason up there. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Blake walked away. His mom shook her head as though she didn’t know what to do, and Simon stood in the background, without a word or a look in Trevor’s direction.

The box got tighter around Trevor, and the voice he mostly kept quiet in his head got louder... This would all be a lot easier with a drink...

***

Simon watched as Trevor threw a baseball over a hundred miles per hour. It hit the target, knocking down all the jugs. He did it two more times. Three for three, and won a stuffed animal for his mom.

Simon hadn’t known that Trevor played ball. That he’d lost a possible future in it. That struck him deeply for some reason.

As Tiffany stood picking out what animal she wanted, something made Simon reach out for Trevor. His hand hardly brushed Trevor’s arm when they both pulled back at the same time. “Trev...” he started, but didn’t go any farther. He knew Trevor felt like shit. Knew that his brother had upset him. That the whole evening was hard on him, yet he didn’t say anything else.

“Drop it. It’s no big deal,” was Trevor’s reply before he joined his mom. Once she got her oversized elephant, they started walking again. They didn’t make it but a few feet before Trevor pointed to a picnic table. “Why don’t you guys wait there? I’m going to hit the bathroom real quick.”

“Trevor,” his mom started but Trevor cut her off.

“I’m going to the bathroom, Mom. I’m a big boy. I won’t get lost.”

He walked away without a word to Simon. He wasn’t sure what to do besides follow her to the table where they both sat.

She fidgeted, looking nervous. “Do you not trust him?” Simon asked.

Tiffany looked up at him, surprised at first, maybe because he was initiating a conversation, or maybe because it clued her in to the fact that he knew about Trevor’s past.

“It’s automatic sometimes. I know I need to have more faith in him. He’s right. He’s only going to the bathroom, but I worry about him so much. He’s my son. I love him.”

Simon scratched the back of his neck. How did he do this? Have a heart-to-heart with Trevor’s mom about him?

“He understands. He’s doing well, though. You should be proud.” The words came out in an awkward rush, but they seemed to be the right ones since she smiled.

“Thank you. That’s good to hear. When he’s with Blake, I know he’s okay. No offense, but I don’t really know you and—”

“None taken. I understand what Trevor is going through, and I wouldn’t do anything to make that journey harder on him.”

She paused for a moment, and Simon could tell she had something else on her mind. He really wished Trevor would hurry and get back. Hell, he would be satisfied with Blake at this minute. He would rather gnaw off his own arm than hear what she had to say.

“There’s never been anyone he cared enough about to introduce to me before. I know it was my idea, but he still did it. I just...he would kill me for saying this. I know he’s a grown man but he’s still my son, and he’s going through a lot. I don’t want him to get hurt.”