We Come Alive 5

Goodbye, Baylor Santos

All dressed in black when morning hit. The hearse carried a teenage boy who had his life taken from him. All of the teenagers who shared the field along with Baylor put on their best black and joined their head coach to the church to say goodbye. All of them went, except their assistant coach and their former head coach, Ricky.

Ricky instead was sitting in his makeshift office doing work in the athletic building. He had already told Bianca he doesn't like to go to funerals and would much rather remember Baylor as a great player and a good person; rather than a body going into the ground.

Ricky had just finished an email on his laptop when the door opened. He looked at the door only to see Victor walking in with an envelope in his hand. He wandered over to the teenager and set the envelope in front of Ricky's hands.

"Mailman delivered this with the bills." He whispered.

Ricky picked up the envelope while Victor walked out. When he read the front, his heart stopped in his chest.

University of Miami
To: Baylor Santos
4038 Ash Street
Dallas, Texas 75287

Ricky stared at the letter with a painful heart. He didn't want to open it, but they both worked hard to get to this point. Ricky reluctantly carefully opened the envelope, pulling the letter out only to read the top line;

Congratulations, Mr. Santos. I am pleased to inform you that we accept your full ride scholarship...

Ricky set the letter down softly, allowing the tears to run down his cheeks. He brought his hands up to his face, sobbing into them. Baylor made it.

With a rush of adrenaline, Ricky grabbed his car keys, the letter, and envelope and ran out of the room. He yelled to Mateo he was leaving, everyone already knew where he was going in his rush. He was making his way to the front doors when he heard someone calling his name. Ricky turned around to see Danny walking towards him with Sam, Victor, and Mateo watching from the waiting room.

Danny held up a black blazer in his hand. "Here. Put this on."

Ricky carefully took it. When he put it on, Danny helped him button it up the correct way so he looked like he belonged at the funeral.

"Thanks," Ricky mumbled.

Danny nodded his head, not trusting his voice to reply. He watched Ricky rush out the athletic building and to his Jeep. He started it up and sped to the funeral home that he near memorized the address from his friends texting it to him in hopes he'd show up.

He parked his Jeep in an empty parking space and walked quickly inside. A worker ushered him to the correct room to go to, but when it came to walking in, Ricky couldn't do it. He stood in the open doorway with the envelope in his hand knowing the person who it belonged to would never know what it contained.

Ricky looked down at his feet, taking as many deep breaths as he could before he started hyperventilating. He felt the room spinning around him and his whole world darkening with him.

"Hey."

All stopped when Ricky looked up and saw the familiar features of Baylor, but instead, it was Bianca. He didn't greet her back, just handed her the envelope. Bianca took it confused but silently gasped seeing who it was from and who it was for. When she opened it, she broke down into tears. Those tears soon turned to sobs.

"Thank you so much." She cried, putting her free hand on Ricky's arm. "So much." She whispered.

Ricky nodded his head, tears slipping from his eyes. "He deserved it." He sniffled.

While Bianca went off to speak to someone, Ricky found himself walking further into the room. He stopped at the third row of pews, his heart and breath stopping with his feet when he saw him.

Baylor laid peacefully in his casket. He didn't have his usual scowl, he didn't have a baseball glove or bat in his hands, and he didn't have on a SnapBack covering his hair and forehead. Ricky noticed his birthmark in his hair, the white hair spot just on the crown of his black hair. He almost expected him to get up and say something that would get on Ricky's nerves, but he didn't. He laid still with his brown eyes closed and his sly mouth shut.

Ricky glanced beside him to see his friends sitting there with Hurst. Only Diego had noticed him, the rest of them were either silently talking to one another to comfort each other, or silently staring into space. Ricky looked back at Baylor and noticed his outfit. It wasn't his usual jeans and t-shirt, instead was his prom tux. Black blazer, white vest, and black tie with grey details. Ricky helped him pick it out at a cheap tuxedo store after one of their tutor sessions.

Ricky backed away before he couldn't compose himself anymore. On his way out, he saw Bianca in the corner with the letter in her hands, silently screaming at a man who was bigger than her but didn't seem to be hostile back. The man adjusted the sunglasses on his eyes and let Bianca yell at him. She kept shoving the letter in his face with tears running down her cheeks.

Ricky sat down in one of the last pews and stayed for the rest of the service. He held onto the obituary silently, listening to the pastor speak and his family speak on Baylor's life. When it ended, Ricky was one of the first ones to leave so he didn't get caught in the crowd and didn't make it about himself.

On his ride home, Ricky put the obituary on the passenger seat and smiled remembering Baylor. He remembered the first time he met him at the first baseball practice. He laughed to himself remembering his Boston slang he would say. The feeling of excitement ran through his veins remembering how many home runs and grand slams Baylor would get during games. He wished he could see it one more time. He wished he could see him with the state trophy in his hands. To see that secret smile of joy Baylor would have sometimes, especially when he saw his sister in the stands. But none of that would happen. And that's what brought them all back down to reality.

No matter how much we try, how much we want it. Some people just don't have happy endings.