Good Enough

The way practices are going, Darren will never make it to the Little League regionals, let alone the state’s All-Star team—and certainly not, when he’s older, any NCAA D3 school. Already he can’t take one more day of screaming over missed catches, bruises all over his left side from his dad’s pitches. His dad, who’d never escaped from the Cubs’ rookie-level Minor League affiliate. Darren grits his teeth, preparing to release the car jack, which will drop the car’s full tonnage on his femur, shattering it. He’ll never have to make another excuse as to why he’s not good enough.