Chuck finally settled on a pitch and started into his motion. On the release, it looked like a fastball. I trusted both my gut and Kayla and guessed how much it would break. I would either come off looking completely clueless or be the hero. Taking Coach Haskin’s advice, I put a little something extra on my swing.
The ball dove towards the strike zone, and I crushed it. I began running around the bases and chuckled to myself when I didn’t actually break the window. To accomplish that, I would have to pull out some magic, as Yuri said. The ball did roll almost all the way to the yard, though, where a little boy tracked it down.
Either Chuck was shaken, or my guys were a little peeved at his before-game comments because we put up three more runs on him in the second. Lemont played small ball and picked up runs in the third and fourth to get within two. I hit another solo shot in the seventh to put us up 5–2, which turned out to be the final score.
“Act like you’ve been there,” I barked out to my teammates when they wanted to celebrate.
“We’ll go crazy when we win state,” Wolf said to back me up.
I’d said it because the game was being televised, and I was sure whoever we would meet in the first round of the state tournament was watching. Teams that went crazy thought they were lucky to have won. Those that took care of business expected to win. I wanted to send a message that we intended to win it all.
◊◊◊
Chapter 29 – I Would for You Friday May 5
Prom was finally upon us. I came down for breakfast to find my mom, Peggy, and Cassidy all sitting around the table, talking about makeup and the like. I noticed my dad was missing in action, along with Dave and Coby.
“Where’s Dad?” I asked.
“He said something about saving the boys and left,” Mom said dismissively.
“And he didn’t think I needed to be saved?”
“Quit your whining and help us decide which eyeshadow would work best for Cassidy, Model Boy,” Peggy said.
Shoot me! Shoot me now! I took a deep breath and slowly let it out as all three of them looked at me like I should have a clue. The sad part was, I probably did.
“What look are you trying to achieve?” I asked.
“A distinguished, sexy, sophisticated woman of the world, out on her big night,” Cassidy said.
I wrinkled my nose, which earned me a glare. Before they lynched me, I decided I’d better explain the face I’d made.
“I get what you’re going for, but that’s not who you are …”
“David!” Mom barked.
“I’m not trying to be mean. And before you lecture me, let me talk.”
They all glared at me. I knew this was a mistake.
“Makeup is supposed to accentuate who you are and how you look, not make you into someone unrecognizable. Cassidy is the sporty girl next door, not a martini-swilling New York fashion plate. The mistake girls make is trying to appear older than they are. The reason older women pile on makeup is to cover up what Mother Nature has done to them. Cassidy looks good with no makeup, so that means she doesn’t need much to achieve what she’s looking for,” I rambled.
“What’s that?” Cassidy asked.
“Like the arm candy befitting me,” I said.
For two beats, they were silent.
“Ignore him,” Mom advised, and they returned to their planning.
“Just don’t make her up like a circus clown,” I said as my parting shot before getting kicked out.
I kept the grin off my face until I got outside. They wouldn’t be coming to me for advice like that again anytime soon.
◊◊◊
Manaia suggested we swing by the little place that sold burritos as big as your head. That made me happy; I hadn’t realized they served breakfast as well. We had time, so we ate in.
“Have you eaten breakfast here before?” I asked.
“Yeah. Get the huevos rancheros with tomatillo sauce. It reminds me of what I used to get back in LA.”
I spotted a special on egg-and-chorizo wraps. While I ordered what Manaia suggested, I also ordered several of the wraps to go. I knew some people at school who would appreciate them.
“I need to ask you a favor,” Manaia said when our food came.
“What’s that?” I asked.
I was learning not to automatically say ‘yes’ when someone said something like that. It was part of working on my life goals.
“Fritz is figuring out what our assignments will be once you leave to shoot your movie. The studios have convinced him they’ll have enough security in place that you won’t need us like you did for your movie in Cuba,” Manaia explained.
“I’d assumed someone would be going with me,” I said.
“Fritz will go with you to observe their setup. They’ve said that if it isn’t up to his standards, he can either make suggestions, or you’ll get someone on site,” Manaia explained.
“Oh.”
“I wanted to talk to you about what happens when you come back. The problem is, I don’t really want to move to Oklahoma. I would rather be based in LA, possibly even work at your Malibu house.”
While there were far worse places than Oklahoma, I could understand where an LA guy wouldn’t want to spend three to five years there if he had other options. I was going there to play football, not for the nightlife. Besides, I was also from a small town, not a city. If the plan had been to move to New York, I might have had a similar reaction because I wasn’t used to all the people.
“What’s the problem?” I asked.
“No one wants to move there.”
That implied that Fritz would either have to hire someone to be my security or force one of his people to take the assignment. With that in mind, I wondered if I even wanted or needed protection there.
“I’ll talk to my dad and Fritz about it and get you off the hook,” I promised.
I saw the relief on his face. Then it hit me: Manaia was the rookie of the bunch, and the low man on the totem pole got the shit assignments. It was a reality check to discover that I was that. I guess I could understand why: two of my guys had to be reassigned for different reasons while working for me. If I were looking at it without full disclosure as to why they’d been reassigned, I would figure it had something to do with the client.
This might actually be a blessing if it meant I could lose them for college. Believe me when I say that having them around as a high school boy wasn’t ideal. When I got to college … hell, no.
We collected my to-go order, and Manaia drove me to school.
I found Roc walking in with his sister, Zoe. I handed them each a bag of food.
“Go be popular,” I suggested.
They gave me confused looks until Roc opened one of the wrappers and tried one. When he didn’t die, Zoe felt better and took off with her bag.
“Thanks, Man,” Roc said as he left to share his windfall.
◊◊◊
Each class today was geared toward getting us ready for our finals next week.
At lunch, Dare made a pronouncement.
“Chrissy shared an article in a psychology magazine that said last-minute study sessions don’t actually help scores any, yet we all still do it.”
“So, Chrissy basically told you we don’t need to study for our finals. We can just kick back and party all weekend?” Wolf asked.
Dare looked confused and turned to his girlfriend.
“That doesn’t sound right. I would think partying would hurt because it kills brain cells.”
“Of course you shouldn’t party before finals, but you don’t need to obsess over them, either. The article said you already know the material,” Chrissy said.
I started to say something but caught the sideways look Chrissy gave me. I’d been about to point out that you could find an article to justify anything if you looked hard enough. Experts loved to make claims. Heck, you could get differing opinions on something as simple as rice. One group claimed it was good for you and would extend your life expectancy. Another would say it was high in sugar or something else and would kill you.