she's alright {benny rodriguez}

~22~

The next bright idea was to vacuum it up. The boys had gathered three vacuums from various houses and connected them. Then, they attached a pipe from the end of one, and put a mitt at the end. Hopefully, there would be enough power to suck up the ball. You were up in the tree house, helping with the power.

Smalls connects the cords, and says, "power connected." Ham feeds the pipe from the landing, and lowers it over the ball.

A chain of "initiate retrieval suction" made its way to you and Smalls, and Bertram switches on the first vacuum. The boys on the landing held the pipe in place.

The call for the second vacuum came, and you switched it on. "Firing number two, now."

The sound became louder, but it still wasn't enough. Smalls had to switch on the third vacuum, which did the trick. For a little bit.

There was a doink and Squints says to haul it up.

But, of course, the Beast was ready. He bit the pipe, which caused the tubes to keep filling up with air.

"They're shorting out!" you yell, and stand up.

"Guys, the vacs are clogged, I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting the hell out of here," Bertram yells, and climbs down the ladder.

Smalls follows suit, and you go down after him. All the boys were shoving you out of the way, going down fire poles and ropes and ladders, trying to get down. Ham stands on the ladder, so Bertram and Benny jump over him and then over the railing.

You were stuck for a bit, but decide to follow suit. You vault yourself over and land on your feet, but immediately collapse. Ham screams "it's gonna blow!" and falls backwards off the ladder. You scramble away from the tree house and collapse again next to the huge pile of boys in the grass.

When the explosion was over, you sit up and groan, rubbng your sore ankles. Benny stands up next to you and hauls you up, asking if you're okay. You nod, but widen your eyes as you see someone walking down the stairs of the tree house.

"Timmy?" you ask. He was completely covered from head to toe in yellow dust from inside the vacuums. He stopped in front of you guys and shook his hair. Dust came out and flew around him.

He sighs and looks back at the tree house. "We've been going about this all wrong. I blame myself." He looks back at you. "We need total surprise. An airborne attack. The Beast would never expect it."

+++++

So that's what y'all did.

"Take me up," Yeah-Yeah says. He was laying on an umpire's vest with strings attached to a ladder with a pulley system, which Ham would be controlling with a bike-like contraption.

He starts pedaling, and the other guys hold the support rope. You were standing under Yeah-Yeah just in case he falls. Which would hurt you more than him.

He starts going up, and pushes himself over the fence. Ham makes some struggling sounds, and you wonder how much more he can do.

"Let me down slowly," Yeah-Yeah whispers, and Ham nods, struggling again to not let him fall down.

It was silent for a bit, until he whispers that he got it. Suddenly, there was a scream and Ham's pedals break. The boys lunge to the rope and yank him up, but Yeah-Yeah drops the ball in the process. He flies over the fence, and they drop the rope. Luckily for him, he wasn't in front of the Beast anymore and was on the right side. Unluckily for you, you were under him, and you did your job. He came flying down, and you held out your arms, but he missed and you came toppling over with him on top of your stomach.

"Ow," you groan, and he sits up and apologizes.

"Sorry, Y/N. Didn't know you were there."

+++++

It was y'alls last chance. There was only one idea left, and you weren't sure it would work.

Smalls said he had an erector set, so you sent him home to get it. He came back with a wagon full of metal parts, and told you all how to assemble it. Then, he suggested that everyone get hard hats or combat helmets. Which you didn't feel like you needed, but the others did. You were watching next to Squints.

There was a long, tunnel-like thing that the catapult would drive down to get to the ball. They set the vehicle on the track, and Smalls started it. Timmy and Ham had a string attached, and slowly let it down.

Once it got to the ground, Smalls started driving it to the ball. It went a little too far, so he had to reverse it. He opened the catapult and closed it under the ball. "We're gonna get it, c'mon," you heard Benny mumble. You sure hoped so.

Suddenly, Squints screamed, which led you to jump away. "Fire, fire, fire!" he screams, and Smalls flicks a switch. This was it, you were getting the ball back. It came flying over, and Benny was calling the ball. It almost reached the yard...

And it went down the Beast's throat. You stare up in shock as the Beast starts shaking the track. The catapult flew up in the air, and Smalls looks away. You try and comfort him as he walks away, but he just shakes his head.

Everyone filed out of the sandlot and headed home, dejected.

a/n- you guys, 6k!! the love on this book is unreal, i'm so happy :D
-j
{apr. 24, 2021}