Slow to Speak
by
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“He just walked in her room and shot her - and then killed himself? In the nursing home?” Les Crumpler asked as he stared at the checkerboard.
“Yep. Guess he couldn’t take it anymore.” Marshall rubbed his chin as he focused on his next move. “She was nearly dead from cancer. He was 88. Wasn’t getting any younger. I suppose he didn’t want to see her suffer anymore and he didn’t want to keep living without her.”
“Gracious,” is all Les could muster.
It was a statewide story this morning. A man in nearby Orangeburg, South Carolina walked into his wife’s nursing home room with a gun. He shot her in the head and killed her in an instant, then he turned the gun on himself. A sad and bizarre tragedy.
“Crown me,” Marshall said.
For the fourth time in as many moves, Les had to put another checker on top of one of Marshall’s red game pieces. Marshall gloated at his gaming expertise. It was one of the few things he could do well anymore. Les studied the table knowing there wasn’t much he could do to salvage a victory against Marshall. He hated checkers and he despised getting beat by Marshall. But for the sixth time this morning, he would have to submit to Marshall’s domination in the ancient board game.
“Why don’t we play chess?” Les asked.
“Told you. Chess is for smart people. Too many rules. Too complicated.”
“I’d hate to strain your brain,” Les whispered to himself.
“What’d you say?” Marshall fiddled with his hearing aid.
“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
The Bentonville Senior Center was beginning to fill up as the lunch hour approached. Mornings were the prime hours of operation for the older generation’s local hotspot. About twenty retirees came in for coffee and activities between the hours of 8 and 11. That number doubled near dinnertime. After lunch, most folks went home for an afternoon nap.
“What was Garrett thinking?” Les asked.
“I guess he couldn’t stand it any longer,” Marshall replied. “They said he was at Ruthie’s side all day long everyday at the nursing home. She was out of it. Unresponsive. Comatose, I guess you call it. I reckon he’d had enough of it. Tired of seeing his wife miserable and tired of watching her suffer. Heck, he was suffering too. I suppose he decided to end it all for the both of them.”
Les and Marshall pondered their next moves as they reflected on the baffling act of their former acquaintance. Garrett McCombs was a native of Bentonville who moved to Orangeburg in 1995 with his wife Ruthie to be near their youngest daughter. Ruthie’s health had declined and Garrett could no longer care for her at home. She’d been in a nursing home for a couple of years.
“Poor guy,” Les said as he slid a black checker toward Marshall with his crooked index finger. “I hope I don’t lose my mind like Garrett.”
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About the Book
Les Crumpler has spent decades trying to forget the past—but the past isn’t done with him. At 81 years old, Les is a widower, a retired history teacher, and a man haunted by what he didn’t say. As a young ballplayer, he shared the field with Jackie Robinson, witnessing firsthand the racism and cruelty his teammate endured. But instead of standing up, Les stayed silent. Now, with more years behind him than ahead, he is forced to confront the weight of his choices. Slow to Speak is a powerful entry in the genre of historical fiction books about sports, seamlessly weaving together the thrill of the game with the deeper struggles of conscience, justice, and redemption. Through memories of the diamond and present-day conversations with his grandson, Les begins the difficult work of owning his past and finding his voice before it’s too late. For readers drawn to baseball fiction novels, this book captures the rhythm of the sport and the camaraderie of the dugout, but its heart beats strongest off the field. More than just a baseball novel, it’s a meditation on the impact of silence, the cost of inaction, and the moments that define us. As Les reflects on a lifetime of quiet regrets, looking back on life becomes both painful and necessary. His journey speaks to anyone who has ever wished for a second chance to do the right thing. At its core, Slow to Speak is a book about regret, but it is also a story of hope—a reminder that it’s never too late to change. Perfect for those seeking thought-provoking fiction about life after loss, race, and redemption, this baseball novel offers an emotional, deeply human exploration of one man’s reckoning with history—and himself. Would you have spoken up? Or, like Les, would you have stayed quiet?
About the Author
Gene Jennings is a pastor at TrueNorth Church in North Augusta, South Carolina. He was on the baseball team at the University of South Carolina at Aiken where he collected multiple splinters sitting on the bench. His nickname was Geno.