Mango Girl came to me with an idea about a story, she is very creative! The premise was right up my alley! She has been busy with her island story, which you should be reading! (IF YOU READ HER ISLAND STORY MAKE SURE THAT YOU READ IT FROM THE BEGINNING!). Anyway, here is a Mango Girl-Otin collaboration:
Cooper Ty Lawson! Just the name alone sounded like baseball. Cooper’s Dad, Jim, was a minor league outfielder who’s dreams of making it big were never realized. He spent six years in the Braves organization, just trying to make it to the big show, which is what the players called it when they got called up to the main team. All he ever wanted was to have one at bat in the major leagues, but he just never got the chance. He was a mediocre ball player, at best.
Along the way, Jim had met Cynthia Potter, a waitress at a local bar, near his Georgia home. They fell in love, or at least what twenty somethings thought was love. Cynthia became pregnant, and their families pushed them to marry. Seven Months after they took their vows, a healthy baby boy arrived. Jim named him. Cynthia had very little input, and really did not want to fight over a name. Cooper was his first name, because Jim had said that one day when his son reached the hall of fame, and was inducted into Cooperstown, that people might say that the hall of fame was named for him. His middle name was taken from Jim’s hero, Ty Cobb, A rough, racist , ball player, also known as the “Georgia Peach”.
Up until the time that Cooper was about seven, his Dad did nothing but fill his head with dreams of being a ballplayer. He worked with Cooper endlessly. After the age of seven, the talk became less, and the workouts became uninspired. Something had gone wrong. Jim had started drinking, staying out late, and leaving Cynthia and Cooper alone on many evenings. He began staying out all night, and coming home smelling of perfume and cigarettes. Cynthia was devastated.
Cooper took a backseat to his Dad’s lifestyle. Jim had almost become his imaginary playmate. Cynthia began to take up the slack, donning a mitt, and playing catch with her son. She was not very capable at first, but with a little practice, she and Cooper were doing pretty good. Jim and Cynthia divorced the following year. It was a very messy break up. Cynthia even reverted back to her maiden name.
Cooper started little league, and immediately, Every one could see that he was a good ball player.
He went on to the Babe Ruth League, with the same enthusiasm that he had demonstrated in little league, and eventually to the high school team, where he became very popular. He had turned into a great pitcher, and had become the team’s ace. He was a decent hitter, but never really tried to hit for power , he always tried to get on base any way he could .
All of this time, Jim had fallen into the grips of alcohol and womanizing, to the point where he became uninterested in his son’s day to day life. He came to one game, and was so drunk that he passed out in the bleachers. It was Cynthia who became Cooper’s rock. She encouraged him, she went to every game, and always cheered him on.
Cooper had always wanted to hit a home run for her. He was not really a power hitter, but it was a goal of his to have his mother see him hit one. He doubted that he could ever drive one out onto the freeway, like a few kids had done in past years, but on any given day, he thought that he could hit one for her. The field was a high school field, but it had a bigger feel to it, especially the way it was sandwiched between an interstate exit and a main boulevard leading into town. Sometimes the traffic beyond the outfield fence was distracting to the hitters, that is what you had to deal with when you lived in an urban area.
It was 5pm on Thursday evening when Cynthia looked at her watch. Cooper had a game that started in an hour, and she had just enough time to get there. Work had kept her late, and she was really upset by it. She had never missed a single one of her son’s games and had only been late to one. She hurried off to her car. She had left the top down, it had been so hot and dry lately that she rarely put it up. She hopped in and sped off toward the ball park, getting on the freeway at the first on ramp. Of course, getting anywhere at five O’clock on a Thursday night in an urban area was easier said than done. It was going to be close, and Cynthia hated being late for anything, especially if it involved Cooper. He had told her that today was going to be the day that he hit the long ball. It was his goal, even though he was a fantastic pitcher.
Cynthia drove as fast as she could, weaving through the interstate traffic, cursing at every idiot who was going slower than the speed limit. People just seemed to meander when they had every opportunity to make forward progress. The traffic became heavier and Cynthia started to become more annoyed, feeling like it was the peoples lack of driving skills that was causing the congestion. Her tapping on the wheel to the beat of the music started to become a more impatient pounding of frustration. As she made forward progress, Cynthia thought about Cooper, and how he has had to struggle with so much crap in his life, especially with the relationships that had been destroyed. Through it all, he had always maintained his desire to be a pro ball player. She thought about the Johnny Cash song, “A Boy Named Sue”, and how the name “Sue”, had helped the songs main character grow up tough. She wondered if Cooper’s baseball name had given him the drive to be a ball player? Traffic was now stop and go and Cynthia was wondering how a road with six lanes and no traffic lights could come to a dead stop! She was pissed, especially because she was now in view of her exit and the stadium, all within a half of a mile.
Cooper was due up sixth. The game had started and he had struck out the side in the top of the inning. From the mound, he could see that his Mom was not in the stands, it worried him, but he put it out of his head and had mowed down the opposing teams best hitters. Now, as he sat in the dug out, he really began to wonder why his Mom wasn’t there? He knew that his Dad would never show up to a game, but his Mother never missed them. He thought about their divorce and how it had really scarred him. He wished that he could have grown up in a normal household. All of the time that he was growing up, he was jealous of his friends whose parents were together. It was a shame that in the midst of a baseball game that this is what was on his mind.
The first batter had grounded out. Cooper, still seeing no sign of his mother, hoped that his own team would go down one, two , three, in order to buy his Mother a few more minutes before he would bat. He just had a feeling that today was going to be the day! He knew that Mom would bring her video camera, she always did.
The next two batters hit singles. The cleanup man hit a weak infield grounder, but the opposing pitcher muffed the play and now the bases were loaded with one out. Cooper was going to bat in this inning, barring a double play. He wondered about his Mom?
Cynthia Potter was furious! She had gotten to the exit and was sitting on the ramp, actually staring at the field through the left field fence. There was a wreck at the bottom of the ramp, that was the reason for the back up. She was here, that is what she told herself. She could see the players so well that she could see the numbers on their backs, so close to the field that she could see that Cooper’s team was batting, and that #24 was at the plate, meaning that Cooper would be up next. She grabbed her video camera and pointed it toward the field, zooming in as much as she could.
Number 24 had struck out and Cooper was due up. He strolled to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. He scanned the stands one more time, looking for his Mother, but still did not see her. He dug in and took the first pitch. It was a fastball, right down the middle, it was a perfect strike. The pitcher wound up and dealt the next pitch, this one was low and away, ball one. He stepped out of the batter’s box to regain his concentration. This pitcher threw very hard. The next pitch was a curveball, way inside, ball two. The next pitch was another curve, and Cooper swung hard at it, but fouled it off. He was not a great curve ball hitter, obviously the other team knew that. The count was two balls and two strikes. The next pitch was another curve ball, just missing the strike zone. The count was now three balls and two strikes, the bases were loaded, and there were two outs. Very definitely a pressure situation. Cooper knew that the pitcher had to throw a fastball, it was to risky a situation to throw the curve. The pitch was delivered and Cooper swung with all of his might, almost coming out of his cleats!
Cynthia saw the swing through her viewfinder and she saw the ball leave the bat, and she saw everyone in the bleachers rise to there feet! She saw Cooper toss the bat toward the dug out and start to take a leisurely trot toward first base. What she did not see is where the ball had gone.
Cooper had never hit a ball so hard in his life, it was a towering, mammoth shot to left field. He had never hit or seen a hit go that far into the stratosphere, he was elated. He began to trot to first, scanning the stands once again looking for his Mother, he hoped that she had caught it on camera.
Cynthia had a rush of emotions at the moment of his contact with the ball, she thought about Cooper’s dreams and aspirations, about how she knew that he would succeed in life and one day stand on the Hall of fame steps. She was filled with pride. She saw everything from the hit, to his bright future, still, the only thing she had not seen is where the ball had gone.
Whaccck!!! The baseball hit Cynthia in the forehead, knocking the camera from her grasp and shattering her skull, driving bone fragments into her brain. She died instantly.
Cooper rounded the bases, never feeling so good as he did at that moment! He wondered where his Mom was, but then realized that it was ok that she was not there, surely someone had caught his hit on video. She could see it later. He knew that she would have a good reason to miss it. He stomped on home plate, as his teammates came out to greet him. H e wondered about Cynthia one more time and then noticed a crowd gathering out past left field. He thought that they must be looking for his baseball, after all it was probably one of the longest home runs ever hit out of that park. Life was great for him at that moment.
Cynthia Potter was dead at the age of 44, Cooper Ty Lawson’s journey into history had just begun.
