head over heels | benny rodriguez, the sandlot

| chapter nine |

During the third day of playing ball from dawn to dusk at the sandlot, they finally let Squints be the batter. Apparently, after he started beating people up with the bat last time, they banned him for two weeks. Not suprised. I've decided to stay in left-center for the past few days, just to get more comfortable.

Besides the first day's incident however, everything has been pretty smooth! No spitting, no more injuries, but nothing to celebrate. Let's just hope I have something exciting to tell Mila when I get home, or else this whole baseball thing is gonna get really old really fast.

"BATTER UP SQUINTS, GET READY FOR THE HEATER BABY!" DeNunez shouted as he threw the ball up and down with a smirk.

"Oh please," Squints murmured as he wiped the sweat off his forehead, standing himself over the plate.

"P-P-PLAY BALL!"

DeNunez narrowed his eyes and quickly would up his arm, throwing the fastest curveball I've ever seen.

To my surprise, however, Squints hit it perfect first try, sending the ball straight over the fence.

Gotta get the ball, I thought as I sighed and stumbled over to the fence. No baseballs, no game after all.

I jumped onto an old wooden barrel stacked up around miscellaneous boxes and gripped the top of the teal fence, pulling myself up to peer over the barricade.

There it was: the sandy ball laying right next to a little wooden hut. Easy enough.

I stuck one leg over the wall and was a few seconds away from being on the other side before I heard loud shouts from behind me, proceeding with several stomps of pattering feet. The hell is their problem?

"DON'T JUMP! IT'S SUICIDE!"

"OH GOD, WHAT AN IDIOT!"

Without even. having the chance to turn around, I felt a pair of hands wrap around my hips.

"What the hell are you doing, put me down!" I scream as I twist and turn until I was gently placed on the ground.

"Geez, just lookin' out for you man." Benny scoffed as he released his hands from my torso. Shit, If I would have known it was him, I wouldn't have shouted so much.

"Shit," I whispered out while wiping my hands on my jeans. "I-I'm sorry, didn't know hopping the fence was illegal."

The boys all stood there, panting while shaking their heads.

"We'll explain it tomorrow, I gotta be home for dinner." Ham heaved as he yawned.

"Whatever you say."

-

We packed up the empty bottles of coke and equipment, all going our separate ways for the night.

Smalls disappeared into his pink house with a small wave, leaving just Benny and me for the rest of the walk home. We walked in silence for a bit, until he broke the quiet.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" I felt a twisting feeling in the pit of my stomach but swallowed to keep everything down.

"Uh, sure? Need anything?" I stare at my shoes, waiting an eternity for a response.

"Nah, just wondering if you've seen a hat around the lot, it's a Dodger's one. Think I left it there a few days ago or somethin', no biggie if you haven't though. It was my favorite, kinda a bummer, right?"

Fuck me.

I could practically feel the sweat drenching my back, but I tried to level my voice out as much as possible. "Sorry dude, haven't seen it. But if I find it, I'll let you know!"

My nerves were unmanageable, so as a last resort, I begin to run as fast as I could all the way down the street to my house. He'll think I'm a stalker if I confess, so giving it back to him is definitely out of the question.

"BYE BENNY!" I shout as my feet patter against the pavement.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING ELLE, I WASN'T FINISHED?"

"HOME, GOODNIGHT!"

*

sorry for the short chapter, longer ones are definitely coming soon don't worry! also i'm saving the campout scene for a special moment in the future so don't worry *wink wink nudge nudge* ;)

- alex