Chapter 21 – Chapter 21

The baseball season was glitchless. I sat on the visitor's side, and Rob (and sometimes Amy) sat on the alumni side (when they were there). I always stayed over. I never saw Rob and Amy. Trick had declared his loyalty, and I had won.

Mizzou was not yet adjusted to SEC baseball, and it had a very mediocre season. Raylan and Trick, however, did not. Raylan was SEC player of the year and a first team All-American. Trick was first-team all SEC and an honorable mention All-American.

Expectedly, Raylan got drafted in the first round. Unexpectedly, he got drafted first overall, by the New York Mets. He left for stardom in New York, a trailblazer as the first openly gay first round draft choice ever. He was the Jackie Robinson of his day, and he soaked up the sun. He was beautiful and confident and strong and, to no one's surprise, the media cared more about who he slept with than either his teammates or the fans did.

The media also made Mizzou into a sensation, marvelling at the team that protected Raylan as it had protected Michael Sam. The situations weren't similar, as there was far less attention to college baseball than to college football. But, Raylan's teammates had his back; Raylan's story was his to tell, if it was to be told at all. Trick got caught up in the story a little as Raylan's roommate, but there was no hint of a relationship between them in the coverage.

Trick also got drafted, in the 5th round. He obviously would turn it down and return for his Senior season, hoping a good year would turn him into a "million dollar baby."

He'd spend his senior year in that apartment. We had good memories there, and I could make up the difference that Raylan's departure created.

Trick rejected my offer. He wanted a roommate, and he lured in a returning junior who pitched and played right field. His future was as a pitcher. He threw 90+, commanded the zone, and couldn't hit enough to play outfield at the next level. He was also good looking. He looked like Raul Castillo, formerly of Looking. I thought I knew why Trick had lured him in. I had no doubt Trick would be successful, if that's what he was after.

I was okay with it. I knew Trick loved me. He'd have been fine with me taking the same approach, but that's not how I was wired. Still, we worked. It was he and I and the rest was just noise.

*****

Rob and Amy did not come around. In fact, they basically gave up Trick to avoid me. With which, we were fine. When faced with holidays with one person who loves you no matter what and a group of people who love you if you fit within a certain mold, it made no sense to choose the conditionals.

With Raylan gone, we became monogamous. The pitcher Trick lured in was unpersuadable, and we fixated on each other. We continued to lay parallel, cheek to cheek. We rarely fought. When we did, it was over stupid stuff that evanesced under the light of day and reason. Trick grew older, and I grew younger. We were not growing apart, we were growing together.

Trick's senior season was a wonder. He was happy, and it showed in his play. He was all-SEC and second-team All-American. The Rockies took him in the second round, and I quit my job as we headed off to Grand Junction together. My job no longer worked anyway, as Rob and I shared a wall but nothing else. The tension between us ruined the environment, and it was better if one of us left. I was happy to be the one.

Trick rocketed through the Rockies' farm system (although not as fast as Raylan, who spent one season in the minors before debuting as the Mets starting shortstop). The Rockies were terrible, and he was not. With Raylan shining, there was little attention to Trick's sexuality, at least from the media.

And, boy did Raylan shine. He played out his options with the Mets, improving every year. When he was eligible, he signed a monster contract with the Giants, who were happy to have MLB's first openly gay player as its starting shortstop and leadoff hitter. Raylan was a sensation in San Francisco, and he earned every dime the Giants threw at him.

We saw him all the time. We went to his wedding (although we were not fans of his husband, a banker from New York who rubbed almost everyone but Raylan the wrong way). We went to his son's baptism. And to his daughter's.

Raylan retired from baseball at 35, ultimately the victim of a ruptured disk in his neck that limited him physically and placed him at risk if he continued to try to play. He moved immediately into broadcasting, and he is now the beautiful face of Sunday Night Baseball. Much as he was for the Mets, he's a sensation, gliding into the booth as if he had been born there.

*****

Trick is now 37. I am now 62. His career (mostly as a fourth outfielder) is winding down. It's been remarkably average. But, it's been fun. He has made more money than we'll ever need.

It has not always worked between us. I had a hard time keeping my mind open, and Trick was not one to be fenced in. He was discreet, but his discretion was for baseball's sake, not mine.

We took breaks from each other, usually at my request. We returned to each other, also usually at my request.

Trick's parents reached out to him after awhile. When he told them they had to have a relationship with me if they were to have one with him, they balked. It was obviously their loss, as Trick was a wonder as a human being. Except for the one area that kept recurring, he was the most selfless, other-centered person I had ever met. It had kept him in the major leagues, as he was always referred to as a "perfect teammate." He was a locker room All-Star.

We don't know where we will write our next chapter. Trick wants a family and to go to New York to be near Raylan and to try his luck at singing. I think I am too old for a family and too tame for New York. I want to go someplace warm and go gently into that good night, whenever that may be.

Trick will probably win. He almost always does with me.