Raw Need

It was a Thursday night so while the bar was busy, it wasn’t packed. That meant it was perfect for our two tables to not quite feel like we were having a party, but still feel ‘together.’ The girls, headed by Amelia, were at one set of tables pushed together. I’d been kind of surprised that eight of her softball teammates had made the trip for this, some of them from across state lines. I’d been the assistant coach for each of them for three years, and some of them for four, alongside Todd.

As each of them had shown up at the bar I’d gotten hugs and commiserations, some of them going so far as to say things like, ‘You were always my favourite adult, but I hated her,’ in regards to Jane. I’d never gotten that sense in the past, so I put it up to them picking sides. Amelia had made sure that everyone in our lives knew who was at fault in my divorce and why.

My table, squeezed in next to the girls, was a little lighter on bodies. Marcus, my investment partner, had been on my side from t