The plan was to take apart the outfield bleachers and move them to the football field this summer. Coach told us we now had the largest high school baseball stadium in the state. The Booster Club decided that center field needed something, so they set up a hospitality tent. The smell of well-grilled meat all through the game was going to be a distraction.
Today’s games were against Lakeview and Mt. Vernon. Coach told us we needed to win both games to have a chance at playing in the Regionals. Seeding would be decided on Monday, and the first games would be played Tuesday night. If we kept winning, we would play three games to make it to Sectionals. Another three games would be played, and then the four Sectionals would each provide a team for the State Playoffs.
I think we were all worried we didn’t have enough pitching to get out of Regionals. We would need to get hot with our bats and have our offense carry us if we went deep. It would have helped immensely if there hadn’t been the seven-on-seven team. Losing all our football skill players to seven-on-seven robbed us of some of our best talent. Certainly, Moose wasn’t happy that we had two freshmen starting in their place.
I was doing long tosses to warm up my arm when Tim and Wolf appeared at the fence, calling me over.
“Just when you think you know someone. I had no idea you were racist,” Wolf said with a scowl on his face.
Clearly, someone in the Mass household had blabbed a bit about our conversation.
“Dude, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it that way,” I said, worried I’d damaged our friendship.
Wolf and Tim both laughed.
“Told you he would freak out,” Tim said.
They both took a couple of steps back when I began to come over the fence. I took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Don’t be,” Wolf said. “At first, I was a little miffed, but I talked to my dad and uncle about it, and they told me to get over myself. They pointed out that you never treated me any differently because of the color of my skin and that I was lucky I hadn’t grown up when they had. They also said I should thank you for looking out for me. Most people are so PC that they’d be afraid to ask.”
“Yeah, you mentioned before that you’ve experienced racism,” I said.
“A few times. Normally it’s something like a girl will cross the street so she isn’t on the same side as I am. Little things like that bother me,” Wolf said.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with you being black,” Tim said.
We both looked at him, perplexed.
“Look at him. With a face like that, he scares pets and small children. If I saw him coming down the block, I’d run to the other side of the street,” Tim said with a grin.
“Oh, bite me,” Wolf shot back and smiled.
“So, you got us jobs for the summer,” Tim said to change the subject.
“Yes, I did. I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s fricking awesome. We’re going up to Jack’s today with our parents to see where we’ll be living. Jack said we’ll each get our own bedroom and that he has an exercise room. He said he was thinking about getting a set of free weights so we’d have a place to work out,” Wolf said, getting excited.
“He told me that Tami and his daughter Harper would also be there this summer,” Tim said. “When you said you’d help us with your contacts, I didn’t realize what that meant. Thank you.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Wolf added. “I can’t wait until this summer. Jack said he’d rotate us as helpers for different jobs.”
“What are you going to do about your lawn care business?” I asked.
“I talked to Yuri and your brother Phil. They’re going to take it over for me. I’ll rent them my equipment and trailer,” Wolf explained.
“Are you sure? Those two dumbasses don’t know how to take care of lawn equipment. I bet they don’t even know that you have to change the oil or sharpen the blade,” Tim said.
“He has you there,” I joined in.
“My dad’s going to keep an eye on them,” Wolf explained.
I was skeptical, but it was Wolf’s business, so I let it go.
“Is Tami going up with you guys?” I asked.
“She and her mom are driving up. I think all the moms want to check the place out to make sure we aren’t living under a bridge,” Tim said.
I just shook my head. They’d be shocked when they saw Jack and Bev’s home. I hadn’t seen anything that really compared here. Yes, Tracy’s house was nice, but Jack used his house as a showpiece to help sell more homes. Even Halle’s and Brook’s homes didn’t really compare. I expected my friends would have a great summer in Chicago.
◊◊◊
The first game was against Lakeview. They’d had a .500 season so far and had an outside chance of making Regionals, so they took this game as seriously as we did. Brock was pitching against Lakeview’s best pitcher. He was a little guy who was reported to have pinpoint accuracy. If he was on, we would need to keep our bats active because he could eat away at the corners.
