Baseball Bellies: Chapter 2

February

The new year kicked off with its fair share of drama for the boys. Not only were they struggling with money and about to begin a paid medical trial, but Miguel had broken quarantine and hooked up with a girl. This was expressly against the university’s rules during the pandemic. Opinions were divided amongst the team about whether Miguel should be reported to their Coach. Ultimately, Corrigan made the difficult decision to report what happened which ended with Miguel being temporarily kicked out of the house. For one month he would be quarantined in a studio apartment dormitory by himself and unable to attend practices.

Following Miguel’s departure, the rest of the team commenced the medical trial which consisted of consuming a pill on a daily basis. The expectation of the trial was that through boosting the mood of the players via a plant-based antidepressant their performance on the field would also improve. Whether it was effective or not, the boys were excited about getting paid.

Corrigan was especially looking forward to the supplements. The pressures of being team captain were beginning to weigh him down. All the guys came to him with their thoughts about the team, Coach was especially hard on him, he was strapped for cash, and had to deal with the moral conundrum involving Miguel. On top of everything, he was practicing just as hard as everyone else, if not harder, in order to prove his position as top dog.

To compensate, Corrigan was resorting to numerous cheat days. What had begun as a one-off moment of weakness, had developed into something of a habit. Sundays were his designated days to let loose on his diet. With little privacy in the house, he would drive to the grocery store and pick up a variety of cake slices, with chips, and maybe a chocolate milk. Sometimes he’d do fast food or order take out as well. He would eat in his car or at the park depending on the weather. If he had leftovers they would be smuggled back to his room for later.

After every cheat day Corrigan would be filled with guilt and self loathing. He knew better than to fall prey to cheap treats. He would then struggle to burn the calories off on the treadmill, feeling lethargic and drained from the overeating. For the next few days he would push himself extra hard to compensate and by the time the weekend rolled around all that he could think about was his cheat day. He’d make lists in his phone of everything that he had been craving so that he wouldn’t miss one bite.

Slowly but surely Corrigan noticed his appetite increasing. He blamed himself for this, attributing his expanded capacity to the cheat days. He increasingly found himself starving between meals. To satiate his hunger he turned to healthy snacks such as nuts and fruits. This helped, but nothing seemed to truly satiate the hunger burning deep inside of him.

One day, Corrigan couldn’t take it any longer. None of his healthy snacks were doing it for him. He craved dairy more than anything but there was nothing sweet in the house besides the milk in the fridge. Out of frustration, he sCorriganped downstairs and pulled a jug of milk from the fridge. The second the thick liquid hit his lips a warm sensation swept his body. This was just what he needed. Gulp after gulp after gulp went down.

“Bravo,” said Abram startling Corrigan out of his milky reverie.

Corrigan took a final gulp, “Whoa, you came outta nowhere… Again.”

“Honestly, I was on my way to do exactly what you’re doing. I’ve been so fucking hungry lately and nothing quite does it for me. Thought I’d whip up an extra protein shake for the day with some extra milk. You want one too?”

“Yeah, sure, why not,” Corrigan agreed.

Corrigan was relieved to hear he wasn’t the only one feeling especially hungry lately. Plus, Abram was smaller than him which made him feel less guilty. His guilt was further assuaged when four other housemates joined them in the kitchen all complaining of hunger pangs and requesting an extra protein shake for the day. Abram prepared six frothy shakes with extra milk and powder to drown everyone’s hunger.

The men cheersed their tall cups and without a word every one of them instinctively chugged it down with barely a breath spared. Corrigan and a few of the other guys burped loudly once they were finished. As he headed back to his room Corrigan contemplated the team’s seemingly mutual hunger as of late. Perhaps Coach had been pushing them harder during practice, possibly jump starting their metabolism. Otherwise, the only other mutual variable he could think of was the new medication they were on. This thought made him uncomfortable and he pushed it out of his head.

Sitting down on his bed, Corrigan heard fabric tear from beneath him. He looked down and his bedspread seemed fine. He touched the rump of his denim which was intact. Pulling down his pants, Corrigan found the root of the problem. His white briefs had torn where the fabric meets the elastic. Surprised, he pulled them off and examined the hole. This was a fairly new pair of underwear that shouldn’t have been destroyed so soon.

Looking in the mirror, Corrigan realized that the problem might be his ass and not the underwear. Sure, Corrigan had always had a larger booty like most baseball players, but it was looking especially pronounced. In fact, he could even see dimples of cellulite on his cheeks. He grabbed one cheek and examined the cush softness of it. He let it drop and watched as it jiggled into place. There was no denying it, Corrigan had gained weight.

Nervously, he pulled the scale out from under his dresser and stepped on. He was shocked to learn he had put on fifteen pounds since the start of the new year. Looking in the mirror once more, Corrigan realized that his botCorrigan row of abs had disappeared. There was no denying it: those cheat days were beginning to pile up, especially in his rear.