Red Brick

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tylertoo
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Red Brick

Post by tylertoo » Thu Mar 04, 2021 8:40 pm

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He never really knew the guy, had only exchanged emails. So why did it hurt?

The GM shut the door to his office and stared at the bottle of whiskey. Red Brick, imported from the States, and having it shipped to this godforsaken country cost more than the whiskey itself. But it went down smooth as milk. Two is enough, he told himself. Then he sat down, squinted at the label, and poured a third.

He was approaching his second anniversary in Libya, and the loneliness, the distance, the strangeness, smacked his senses like waves cascading onto a Tripoli beach. He had thought he would eventually become numb to it, but now, already in May of 2046, only the whiskey numbed him.

He missed his family, his friends, and he missed the States. He even missed the Brewster. And now this. Vic was gone.

Three hours earlier, the Office of the Commissioner of the UMEBA, Brodie Burt, has sent the urgent message to all league owners and general managers: the beloved GM of the Chicago Black Sox, Vic Caleca, had suddenly passed.

The GM and Vic had shared that one thing: the Black Sox. He'd run the team in '95 and '96, ages ago, and had somehow managed to earn two Landis titles, but at what cost? The drinking, the parties, the... if he hadn't gotten out then, right after the second title, he'd have ended up, well, it would not have been pretty.

Besides, who even remembered those titles? Sure, it got Kiplinger into the Hall, there was that. But the trophies? Who remembers them now? Why had he thought they mattered?

Vic, though. Vic was as smooth as the Red Brick. How many years had he run the Sox? He'd lost track. Always calm, always with a smile. And now, now of all times -- when they were in first place!

The standings don't matter, you dipshit, he told himself. A family lost their father, their husband, their grandpop. That's the stuff that's real. Doesn't matter how the team is doing.

Red Brick -- this time, number four. Or was it five? His hand shook as he poured.

Vic had reached out to the GM when he had returned to baseball in the summer of '44. Out here in the Middle East, this godforsaken land where somehow, someway, baseball was taking hold. "Welcome back!" Vic had written, in his usual buoyant tone. Then, this advice: "Have fun! That's what this is supposed to be all about!"

Dammit, Vic, the GM thought. You've been robbed. You deserved better.

He laid his head on the desk, brushing his arm against the half-empty bottle. Then, came a voice. "Stop feeling sorry for me."

The GM looked up. No one was around, but the voice continued, "Stop feeling sorry for me. And stop feeling sorry for yourself. Just stop. Get up. Stop whining. Go out there and win some ball games."

It was the alcohol talking, that much he knew. Red Brick. Potent shit, for sure.

Still, he replied to the voice: "I miss you, Vic. We all miss you. We hardly knew you, but we wish you were still here."

He waited for a response. There was none. The GM breathed in a sob, then pushed the bottle off his desk. It shattered against the cement floor of his dank stadium office, the last vestiges of the potent and pricey liquid streaming outward from the impact.

He waited for the shards of glass to settle, then the GM stood, clasped the knob of his office door, and stepped out -- toward the clubhouse, toward the players and coaches, toward the vendors and ushers and cheering fans.

Toward the grass.

Toward the sunlight.

"Mike!" The voice called to him again. He looked around and saw no one. "Have fun! That's what this is supposed to be all about!"
Mike Dunn
Chicago Black Sox (1995-1996) (2049-2054)
Landis Champion: '95, '96

Edmonton Jackrabbits (2047-2048)
Tripoli Piranhas (2044-2046)

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Re: Red Brick

Post by allenciox » Thu Mar 04, 2021 9:26 pm

Beautiful

RichY
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Re: Red Brick

Post by RichY » Fri Mar 05, 2021 9:07 am

Really nice Mike.
El Paso Chili's GM 2046-
Riyadh Red Crescents GM 2046
Mumbai Metro Stars GM 2045, Won United Cup

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CTBrewCrew
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Re: Red Brick

Post by CTBrewCrew » Fri Mar 05, 2021 8:22 pm

Im sure Vic’s still keeping tabs on the ol’ Brewster from wherever his is. Very nice Mike. 👊
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