Rough Love (Tannen Boys 1)

Mike scrubs a hand across his head, the shaved-short hairs making a scratching sound I can hear even from a few feet away. The park’s gone quiet, kids all headed home for dinner, and now only the occasional scream of a cicada sounds out.

I try to step away to give them a bit of privacy, but I feel Bruce’s eyes telling me to stay, to wait for him. I want to talk to him, though I have no idea what I want to say. It just seemed like the prudent and polite thing to do after the weekend of weird ups and downs.

I’m going for Adulting 201 now, I guess.

“It’ll be fine. Jamie understands, and we’ll make whatever adjustments we need to at home. I’ll be there in the mornings more, so I can do breakfast with Evan and take him to school. And sleep in the afternoon until I have to go in.” He nods, trying to convince himself as he repeats, “It’ll be fine.”

Bruce nods. “What’s that mean for the team? You won’t be able to come to practices at all if you’re working third shift, and you’ll be sleeping when we have games.”

And suddenly, I’m selfishly upset. I feel for Mike and Jamie and the changes their family is apparently going through, but if Mike can’t coach, does that mean the team is no more? Cooper is going to be devastated. I’m going to fail at giving him this thing he wanted so badly.

Mike’s grin is feral. “You remember telling me that your word is good and you were the Wildcats coach until the end of the season, no matter what?” His eyes look over to me, letting me know he’s aware of my presence in the darkening evening.

“Yeah . . .” Bruce says slowly.

Mike points a finger at Bruce. “Good, ’cause I’m holding you to your word. I want you to coach the boys, run the practices, and lead the games. You up for that?”

Bruce’s chuckle is huffed from deep in his gut. “Fuck no. I ain’t ready for that shit and you damn well know it.”

“Too bad, Coach. You’re the new leader of the Wildcats. Don’t let me down.” Mike acts like Bruce didn’t even speak, certainly not like he said no to the proposal that he be the only coach. He even holds his hand out for a shake on it like they agreed to the sales price on a used car.

“Need to clean your ears out, man. I said no.”

Mike lets his hand fall and steels his eyes. “Didn’t take you for a quitter, Brutal. You told me your word was good, so are you saying that was a lie?”

Bruce sniffs, not swayed. “Don’t try to play a player, asshole. This ain’t what we talked about and you know it.”

Mike sags under the pushback. “Fine, here’s the whole deal,” he starts but then pauses and looks at me. It’s so sudden and unexpected that I don’t have a chance to pretend I wasn’t listening to every word. “Allyson? You wanna come on over and be a part of this conversation instead of eavesdropping? It involves you too, so you might as well.”

I step over slowly, glad the heat of the night gives me an excuse for the flush on my cheeks at being caught so blatantly. “Sure, Mike. Uh, sorry for what you and Jamie are going through. It sounds like a pretty major adjustment.” Acknowledging that I was eavesdropping seems like the least dishonest way to join in.

“Thanks,” he says reflexively, but I can tell his mind is already focusing on how to say what he wants to.

“Here’s the deal . . . the Wildcats need a parent on roster as the head coach. Now, what that coach does or doesn’t do can vary. Most teams just have the one, so he—or she—does it all. Coaching, scheduling, emails, snacks, uniforms, practices and games, handling parents, and whatever other shit comes up. I don’t know for sure since I’ve never done this either.”

He shrugs as he lists out all the things on his plate before settling heavily on Bruce. “But we have Brutal, and let’s be honest, there’s not a single parent in the city who can coach these boys like you can. Unfortunately, you can’t be the ‘Head Coach’.” He pauses to do air quotes with his fingers. “Or at least, not on paper. So here’s what I propose . . .”

He lets a dramatic silence stretch out, and Bruce and I chance a glance each other’s way. Why do I feel like we already know what Mike is going to say?

“Brutal, you’ll be the coach in action. You’ll run practices and handle the sidelines at the game. And Allyson, you’ll be the coach on paper. You handle emails, snacks, and parents. It’s the best of both worlds.”