The Last Time He Wore This - Jennifer Baljko

Danny pulled his father’s varsity jacket out of the dusty chest. He ran his fingers over the old black leather, and traced the letters of his father’s name stitched in gold on the right side. How different it fit him now, now that he had grown into it. The last time he put on was almost 20 years ago, when Danny and Sebastian were packing up their house and moving to their uncle’s place on Kennedy Boulevard. The jacket had swallowed Danny’s torso and draped his skinny, bowed legs. Years later, people who knew his father told Danny he should run track. As a teen, Danny had his father’s lean physique, and they said Danny would do well in the 200-meter dash. The only place where Danny ever wanted to run was far away from all of them. Standing in the cold basement, shivering in his father’s jacket, the 33-year-old regretted that he hadn’t run far enough.