Driving home from Mixed Doubles
Night, Jasmine wonders whether she should be upset with Davie, or the elders,
or both. Davie did not make it tonight,
nor did he text that he’d be gone. Was
that his choice or the elders’? Will he
miss every week or just this one? Will
he let Jasmine know? In the past, if he
couldn’t make it to Mixed Doubles Night, he’d text her at least by their group’s
Yoga Room stretching time, and usually sooner. It was a simple heads-up: Sorry, you’ll
have to hunt for another partner tonight.
The Mixed Doubles group had Courts 1 through 3, and sometimes 4,
reserved every Thursday from 7-9 pm.
Since the Yoga Room cleared out at 6:30, the group made it standard
practice to meet there at 6:45 for chit-chat and stretching. Late players sometimes texted some other
player at that time. But Davie didn’t
text anyone tonight, not Jasmine, not BD, not anyone. That’s not like him.
Will Jasmine see him again? Cast out of Quail Canyon, she won’t see him at church. Maybe she’ll no longer see him at Glendale
Racquet Club either. Is tonight a
one-time breather, or did Davie receive a permanent order from the elders to
quit the Mixed Doubles group, just as she had received an order to leave the church? What is to come of her and her mixed doubles
partner? Or should she say former
mixed doubles partner?
They
haven’t even had a “break-up.” And if
they’ve never had an official “break up” of their mixed doubles partnership,
along with whatever else one might call the rest of their relationship, Jasmine
is sure to blame the elders for that.
Davie would never end it like this.
He’d have a real conversation with her, looking her deep in the eyes
with sorrowful regret.
Jasmine can remember only one other
time when she hadn’t received a heads-up text from Davie, and it wasn’t on a
no-show day. It was on a day he arrived
late – and for good reason. Stopped at a
red light, Jasmine sets free her tortured mind to nostalgically recall that evening
almost seven months earlier . . .
July 28, 2011
July 28, 2011
By the time Davie arrives to Mixed Doubles Night on that last
Thursday of July, all three courts are deep into close sets. The points are carrying long rallies, the
games are holding multiple deuces, and the sets are close. Jasmine’s court, Court 3, is at 4-4, and from
what Jasmine can hear from Courts 1 and 2, the other sets appear to be about as
tightly matched. Not only are all three
courts playing tight, competitive sets, the numbers had been perfect for Mixed
Doubles Night at exactly 12 – until Davie arrives. He makes the awkward 13th. Besides that, he hadn’t texted any of the players
during Yoga Room stretching. Based on
the group’s rules, he might have to sit out the night. Late players are welcomed to play if either
they tell someone they’ll be late, or if they’re needed. For Davie on this July night, neither is the
case.
It doesn’t seem to bother him. When he arrives, he appears exhausted. Something must be be up. He approaches Jasmine’s court, and she looks
at him puzzled. “You all play. I’ll just watch. It’s been a long day.” Jasmine had found a partner, Stephen, and
they were playing against Todd and Gabbi. The best seating is by Court 1, but Davie sits
down at the bench with the broken leg by Court 3.
Gabbie takes her serve game to pull
her and Todd ahead 5-4, and the group breaks for water and a side switch. “What made your day so long?” Stephen asks
Davie, who stands up to join the players.
Taking a breath, he replies, “I’ve been counseling a teen who has been
finding his escape in drugs, but is starting to ask for help. Confidentiality. Can’t say much more. But this kid’s whole story is
complicated. He can’t escape the drugs
until he faces all that crap that got him into drugs in the first place.” Davie lets out a heavy sigh. He appears to have taken on some of the kid’s
trauma. That’s just like Davie, Jasmine
thinks. His heart is too big.
Davie’s face begins to relax. Perhaps he just needed Stephen to ask the
question so he could answer it and breathe out a couple of sighs. He sits back down on the bench, catching his
balance after the bench tilts upon Davie’s weight coming down too close to the bench’s
broken leg. Davie’s chuckle is joined by
the Court 3 players, and he moves to the side of the bench with the two
functional legs. “You’re risking your
life on that bench, you know?” Todd teases.
“Yeah, I know,” Davie replies with a smile. “I must love you guys a lot, huh?” Jasmine catches his eyes and smiles at
him. Davie smiles back, raising his
eyebrows at her. Jasmine’s heart
flutters.
Now
seated on the sturdy side of the bench, Davie lets his body relax into a
laid-back position to enjoy the rest of the set. It’s now Jasmine’s turn to serve. “You got this, Jazzie!” Davie calls to her as
Stephen tosses a second ball to her for the serve. She catches it, nods to Stephen, looks over
to Davie, smiles at him, and he casts back a wide grin, a nod, and a thumbs
up. Jasmine’s game improves throughout
her service game as he roots her on, cheering as her best fan. At 15-30, she’s at back court and has just
hit one toward Gabbi, who is at the net.
“Up!” Davie calls to her, and Jasmine rushes the net in time for Gabbi’s
short volley to the alley, which Jasmine drop shot spins for an even shorter
centered shot, which Gabbie can’t reach in time, to tie up the point
30-30. “Hey, no calling out from the
peanut gallery, OK?!” teases Todd with a wink to Davie. “OK, I’ll be good,” Davie smiles with a wink
back to Todd.
Davie stays true to his promise, but
only to the letter, not to the spirit.
He still sends gestures, muffled code words, and, most of all, his
electric energy to Jasmine. At the
second deuce, she nails the backhand volley he had just coached her on the
previous week when the two played singles.
Davie throws himself out of his seat into a standing cheer and cries
out, “Yes! Jazzie, that’s it!” Jasmine
smiles, accepts Stephen’s high 5, and then returns the ritual high 5/low 5 from
Davie, who is standing a mere foot and a half away from alley. If Todd thinks that should also be
prohibited, he doesn’t speak up. Now
it’s ad-in. Time for Jasmine to clinch
up this set. “You got this, Jazzie, you
got this,” Davie whispers. With Davie’s
energy poured into her, Jasmine sends a powerful spin serve to Todd’s backhand,
putting him on the defense and giving Stephen the chance to volley-slam Todd’s
return – that favored one-two punch to win the set. Now the sets are tied up: 5-5.
Jasmine notices Davie watching her
the entire time. What catches her
attention are those filler moments between points when the players are
collecting balls, sending them to the server, getting into position, and doing
nothing that should draw attention to any of them. At one of those times when she’s positioning
herself at the net, she sees Davie from the corner of her eye. He’s looking at her fondly. Does he know she can see him too? Seemingly not, as he doesn’t look away. He continues to watch her. Jasmine returns her eyes to the front and readies
herself at the net. Stephen and Todd carry
out a rally, and neither is letting the net player in. Once, when repositioning herself, Jasmine
manages to catch a glimpse of Davie out of the corner of her eye. His eyes are on her. She’s not the one playing the point, but
she’s the one he’s watching. His look appears
to be of admiration, almost as if he’s charmed by her. Is she imagining that? Is he watching her because they’re about to
enter a USTA Tournament as mixed doubles partners, or is there something more
to his interest?
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