Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:34:02 -0800 (PST) From: T H <ref_sport@yahoo.com> Subject: SUMMER BASEBALL (TOURNEY 4, PART 2) SUMMER BASEBALL 4.2 ------------------------------------ STEVEN AND MARCUS --------------------------------- I got home that Sunday completely exhausted. Emotionally drained. Before Pete's heart attack, I was the casual observer in my role as umpire. I had little clue how involved the process is to run one of our tournaments. I'm now guessing I've seen but the tip of the iceberg. Joel and Mark emailed, saying they and Andy got home safely. And that Andy is so in love with Steven. It's all they talked about on the way home, LOL. If so, Steven has a major league hottie to love. Steven also emailed, thanking me too many times for taking him home from the hospital and for being there for him. He wants to help next weekend as umpire and in any other way he can. What a great kid...becoming a young man. Gorgeous looking. Dedicated and enthusiastic. And now in love for the first time. Oh, what a fine lover he could be... I shot him back a quick note saying he has a direct line to my heart 24/7/365. And that I will definitely want his help this next week. Some emails already from Bulldog and the committee. I'll read these in the morning. I will soon learn they plan the next event well before the previous event even starts. And that plans for the following season are already started. An email from Pete. Thanking me and congratulating me for a job well done. And that Steven WILL be safe from now on. Not sure what that entails but I'll find out soon enough. He also enclosed the schedule for the umpires for this next weekend. Bless his ever strengthening heart that I don't have to start that chore. I will however confirm this schedule with every Blue. Nothing from Angel and Rock, so I turned the laptop off. I grabbed a brew and turned on the TV. I have a very busy work week ahead, which will only get much busier. *************** Monday morning arrived all too soon. I am a morning person by nature, and by nature, I hate Mondays. I will spend the rest of my life trying to find a way to go directly from Sunday to Tuesday. This Monday feels like it will be absolutely brutal. I work from home. Many times in my boxers...and many times without boxers...So naked as the day I was born, I fired up the PC. As I inhaled my first cup of coffee, I looked at the extended weather forecast. Not good for Thursday through Sunday. Great. How does the committee handle the elements? How do I handle the umpires in case of bad weather? Guess I'll find out at Wednesday's meeting. Emails. Jesus-Mary-and -Joseph...I got a friggin ton here! Let's see...some business clients. I'll look at those tomorrow or next week. Committee & Bulldog...these wait til I'm on my 2nd pot of coffee. Aaahhh...the Rock and his Angel did send a note overnight. Open sesame... They send their love. They went out of state to play this past weekend and got home really late. They lost the championship game, but still had some fun. I'll bet they did! I shot them back a heart and smiley. Also asked them if they both played sports in the fall for their schools. I'm sure Rock is a terror on the football field. Does Angel play soccer or run cross country? School will be starting before you know it and training for the teams starts soon, in fact, in some parts of the country well before Labor Day. Sent a note to Mark. Would he help again? How about Andy helping? I sent confirmation emails to all the Blues working this week, including Joel and Steven. 1st email from Bulldog...reminder of committee meeting Wednesday...same time, same place. Agenda enclosed. 2nd Bulldog...thanking me on behalf of said committee for helping. I paused a moment and replayed events of the past weekend. How the games went well. How everything operated like a well-oiled machine. Inspite of Pete's health problem and Steven's assault. How she seemed to be everywhere at once doing everything. And just what all did she do behind the scenes regarding Steven? And she's thanking me? 3rd Bulldog...Steven has a younger brother living, no it's surviving, in the same miserable household that Steven is. Kid's name is Marcus. Age 12. How about us putting him to work also? The power behind the throne is asking me? LOL, I see Pete and Lois all over this email. I can't use Marcus as an umpire, but I suppose I could have him go from site to site with me. As Andy did and probably will this weekend. Perhaps he could help with grounds keeping or press box? I responded to each of her emails. Check for Wednesday. I'll be ready. I hope. I thanked her for thanking me. Marcus would be welcome to come along for the ride. Can we discuss his involvement at the meeting? Better get showered and dressed. I really can't delay working any more today. ************* Later that Monday, which ain't turning out so bad after all, I checked emails. Another ton. What nerdy geek invented emails any way, for god's sake? Several Blues confirmed. Joel, check. Steven, may God bless him, check. Nothing from Mark, but one from Andy. He must have gotten my addy from Mark and Joel somehow. This might be interesting...he wants to know if he can come along this weekend. And...whether Steven will be there. And...he loved our shower, hehehe. I thought, Yes, sweet pea you can come this weekend. And yes, you hot little thing, Steven will be there. And, my God YES, did I also enjoy our shower...AND sleeping arrangement...AND the kisses...And the hugs... ************** Steven and Marcus live in a neighborhood not exactly ghetto, but just what is a ghetto? It's a mindset, not just a physical location. Not defined by color of skin, or one's faith, or economic status. Not necessarily marked by the condition of houses and streets and vehicles. Theirs is a ghetto in the sense that the neighborhood is full of drug abuse and spoilage of the human potential. But we all know that fabulously wealthy neighborhoods, who have all the advantages, also are afflicted in this way. These wealthy neighborhoods in my mind are the TRUE ghetto. Anyway, their so-called parents are suspected by the police to be involved in drugs and Lord knows whatever else. I don't know Marcus, but I see in Steven a remarkable survivor and a real example of the best of human character surrounded by the worst. Steven gets good grades in school. Attends school every day. Is involved in activities. Helps tutor underclassmen. Plays ball for his high school, and BTW, as a player is quite good. He is for all intents and purposes raising Marcus. Steven makes sure Marcus gets to school every day and on time. He is relieved every day when Marcus calls him telling him he got home safely. Ensures that his school work is done. Marcus is doing very well in school. Is a whiz on computers. And is hitting puberty head on. Much of what money Steven earns by umpiring gets confiscated by the `rents. He is able to squirrel the rest away, but not only for himself. He often times feeds Marcus when there is no food in the house. Takes him to the health clinic when sick. Takes him to the local Salvation Army store to buy clothes. Invites him to his games. Invites him to hang with the few friends he has. Steven was on his way to the bank to put a few dollars in savings when he got mugged last Friday afternoon. He then was going home to provide for Marcus. But his assault wasn't just to steal his money. It was a gay bashing, with all the evil effects intended. Would he have been sodomized? Who knows? Had an elderly woman not happened by as his attack progressed, my money says he would have been. Not because the attackers were gay, but for the mental punishment as well as the physical punishment that rape entails. But just how did his attackers select him? So, as I took him home from the hospital yesterday, I saw for myself how this remarkable young man is rising above the ghetto of his surroundings. And how important we of the committee in fact are to his survival. And to the survival of his younger brother. Pete, you are SO right about Steven. He IS a diamond. I commit right here and right now, to do all I can to help this shining jewel. Other committee members and some corporate sponsors feel strongly the same way. One such sponsor is the private detective Bulldog called regarding Steven. He has a very good business, and is very, very thorough at what he does... **************** More baseball comin`...will the weather cooperate next weekend?