there 'd been a few plays here and there on the diamond , and he 'd once gone to memphis when he was seventeen with his cousin , sweet george , and they 'd had themselves a time on beale street that he 'd never forget , but riding in that train car with lila , knowing his child lived in her body -- her body no longer a singular life , but more like a life-and-a-half -- and that they were , as he 'd so often dreamed , out in the world , drunk on the speed of their crossing , he felt a lessening of the anxious throb that had lived in his chest since he was a boy .