Two Minute Drill (Bases Loaded Jam Series #2)

Ch. 8: Breakdown (Scout)

I get out of the car and check to see what the problem was. Just my luck, I see that my car has a flat tire. That's just great. What a great time to have a flat tire.

"Crap!" I shout kicking the car. I then got my phone and google the nearest car shop around. Sadly, there wasn't one for another 45 miles. Here I am in the middle of nowhere on a somewhat hot day and already, I was stuck with a flat tired rental car. This was not how I wanted my day to go.

Fortunately, a car stopped by and the passenger, a male Latino, asked me if I needed help. I said I did and he then called a friend of his who supposedly was a tow driver. The tow driver soon arrived and the car was loaded onto the back of the truck. Of course, I had to ride in the front seat as we had to drive for another hour in the middle of nowhere to get to the nearest shop.

The tow driver, also Latino, was very friendly. His name was Enrico Gutierrez and he had been doing this job for seven seasons. I did, however, have a hard time trying not to look at his arms, which had tattoos of a skeleton face and a rattlesnake on either side of the eyes.

"So, what's a guy like you doing out here?" Enrico asked me as we started to talk.

"I was on a recruiting assignment and I was heading back to Houston." I said.

"Recruiting for Houston? Like you looking for military men?"

"No, just some football players who would be interested in playing for our team."

Enrico's eyes lit up.

"College?"

"Pro."

"Get out of here. You an NFL scout for the Texans. Tell you what, your team was bad as ass last year."

"Thanks for the compliment," I said. Enrico laughed before turning to me again.

"Seriously, you need some help and I know just what you need. Quarterback play needs improving. You're running back is getting old and needs to retire. Plus, you have to trade away them linebackers. They can't even back the d-lineman. And boy oh boy, does your kicking game suck. If you ask me, I would tell you about my cousin Diego."

"What does he do?"

"He's working part-time delivering mail. But, the guy can kick. He can kick footballs further than baseball players can hit home runs. He's tried out multiple times for other NFL teams. Giants, Jets, Steelers, and even the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins. I shouldn't say that because it's offensive to some. But all them boys cut Diego."

"Any reason why?"

"Well, he can kick it far anywhere but through the goalposts. That surprised me because his kicking was superb in high school. He was the best kicker in the state of Massachusetts. Still thinks he can try out."

All of a sudden, I started to think about kickers named Diego living in Massachusetts and there was only one kicker that I knew of. His name was Diego Carmen and he kicked at Boston College a few years. He was a pretty talented kicker, but something happened that made him go undrafted in the NFL. I had heard rumors of him getting caught up with drugs and being part of some gang activities, which probably hurt his chances more. Now, I didn't think Enrico would go into details about his cousin as a way for me to recruit him. But, maybe, just maybe I was thinking about adding on to our team.

We finally arrived to a place called Marfa, Texas. It was a city with over 1,000 people in it and was surrounded by the beautiful landscape of mountains and desert land. I never thought my journey would've taken me to this place on the other side of the state. But, that's where Enrico drove us and soon, the car was in an auto shop.