They were in the car sitting in the driveway waiting on her to enter the house. Once she had the door unlocked, she turned and waved to them. They pulled out of the driveway and once Jack was headed back out of the neighborhood he began his interrogation on Ben.
�Ok, are you two just friends?�
�Of course we are.� Ben answered from the backseat.
�Do you believe that D?�
Derek turned and looked at Ben, �Actually, it is a little hard to believe.� She was an attractive woman.
�You guys heard her tonight ragging me about all the girls I talk to.�
�What does that mean?� Jack asked as he made the right turn onto the road that would lead right onto campus, �Some girls are ok with sleeping with a guy who has other friends.�
�Maleeyah is not one of those girls.�
�Have you ever tried her?� Derek asked as he continued to look at Ben.
Ben answered immediately, �Never.�
Derek nodded and looked at Jack, �I believe him.�
He turned back towards the front and settled in his seat. There had to be some reason Ben wasn�t interested in Maleeyah. Not some sinister reason either. Ben was a nice guy, who really was capable of being just friends with a girl. He was one of the rare cases. Ben had to have a lot of respect and genuine care for Maleeyah to not try to get in her pants.
�Why all the questions? Which one of you is interested?�
�Who said anything about being interested? Derek, are you interested?�
He shook his head, �No.�
�And neither am I. Calm down little brother. You don�t have to be her keeper from us. Besides, if you have her in the esteemed friend zone she must be pretty cool.�
He and Jack thought alike on many issues dealing with women. There were the women they were with behind closed doors. There were the women they were with and who had enough class, image, or beauty (whatever you wanted to call it) that they didn�t mind being seen with and then there were the off limits no sex women. They were the ones who no matter how much he wanted to sleep with, he didn�t. These women were so cool, like one of the guys, you didn�t want to screw up the friendship by having sex with them when you could get that from anyone else. It has to be said, that you only run across one or two of these women in a lifetime. Every other woman was someone they would sleep with and women they didn�t find attractive.
�We�re leaving tomorrow; late afternoon. So, I�ll probably see you again at Thanksgiving.� He stopped in front of a big building and Ben hopped out.
Derek let the window down and slapped hands with Ben, �Hey, if I don�t see you before then I�ll see you in December. I�ll make sure we fit you into our annual Caribbean trip. Its about time you got to go.�
Ben cheered as Jack simultaneously groaned.
�I�ll see you guys.� They shouted good-bye as he ran off and they drove away.
**
�Man, do you have to drive so fast?�
Jack laughed, �Ain�t that the pot calling the kettle black?�
It was true. He was a bit of the speed demon himself. But it was more comforting when he was the one driving. He felt like he had control over whether he lived or died. He definitely didn�t have any control at this moment.
�I�m a safe driver. If you can drive in New York, you can drive anywhere.�
Although, he would have to admit he didn�t mind getting out of New York. The debacle they called a playoff series and the traffic being only two of many reasons why he was happy to be anywhere but New York.
Going up three games to nothing, only needing to win one game out of four to go to the World Series and not getting it done was the most humiliating, humbling and painful thing he had ever experienced. He still didn�t see how it was possible. And off all teams, to lose to the Red Sox made things that much worse.
It made him physically ill. After Game 7, he didn�t leave his apartment for three days. Once he got the courage to do so, he took care of minor details that would make it possible for him to leave New York for the winter.
He planned to spend all his time everywhere except New York. He didn�t want to be in a seven hundred miles radius of New York unless he had to.
�Well, this isn�t New York. This is Florida, I-4 and it means drive as fast as possible. Besides, I need to take care of some things before tonight.�
He and Jack had a double date tonight. Derek was casually seeing the choreographer for the Bucs cheering squad and Jack had been even more casual with her friend.
�Man, I wish I could take a nap or something.�
Jack laughed. �You just turned 30 and you are like an old man.�
�Hey man, I�ve been playing baseball for what, ten years in the Bigs? My body is tired.�
�You may be tired but if you could have played in that World Series I bet you would have found some strength.�
Derek could only muster a wry smile, �Yeah, I would have.�
�Damn man, I know it really hurts. I can�t even imagine. I know you don�t want to hear it but it had to have happened for a reason. It has to be part of some greater plan.�
�Well, I wish I knew what the plan was.�
The only way he might be able to get that pain out of his heart was if they went 162-0, the Red Sox didn�t make the playoffs and they swept everyone in the post season to win the World Series in 2005. Since he knew that wasn�t going to happen, he accepted that he would have to carry that burden with him for the rest of his life.
008 | No Ordinary Girl