head over heels | benny rodriguez, the sandlot

| chapter thirteen |

"Hello, anyone there?" I shout as I knock on the wooden trapdoor at the top of the ladder. I somehow still managed to show up fashionably late -  as I typically do.

Not hearing a response, I begin to heavily bang on the wooden latch with both fists.

"LET ME IN ASSHOLES, ITS DARK OUT HERE!"

After a few moments of utter silence, the creak of wooden beams and the unlocking of a hatch greeted me with the shine of camping light. As the door swung open, I saw a bright, smiling Smalls standing above me.

Soon, however, Squint's head popped into view, furrowing his brow.

"You're late," He howled as he pointed his finger at my face. "We said dusk, and the sun set half an hour ago."

"You guys know I'm always late, shoulda expected it!" He shakes his head, but I laugh it off and proceed up the ladder.

I'm welcomed by several boys bundled in sleeping bags and jackets, curled around a table where Ham resided. Pacing around the room for a moment, I spotted Benny leaning against the wall, where his eyes met mine and he waved me over instantly.

"You made it," He jeered as I sat beside him "Didn't think you were gonna show, nice outfit by the way!"

"Shut up! You know I wouldn't ditch you guys. But I'm actually thinkin' about leaving now..." I joked as I began to stand up, but he soon grabbed my arm and pulled me back down.

Leaning his head on my shoulder, he began tossing a baseball bat up and down in his hands as his warm brown eyes flickered shut. His soft hair tickled the back of my neck, making me shiver, but I didn't move away.

There we sat, laying against each other in the corner of the room. I thought the group would say something, yet nobody said a word, so we minded our own business.

Watching the group tentatively, I noticed Smalls hobble over to Ham's table, which was covered in bags of marshmallows, chocolates, and two large candles.

"Hey, you wanna s'more?" Ham asked him, pointing to the marshmallows in front of him.

"Some more of what?"

"No-no, you wanna s'more?" He asked Smalls once again, yet Smalls just sat there in utter confusion.

"I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?"

"UGH, you're killin' me, Smalls!" Ham shouted as he began to show Smalls how to perfectly craft s'more. It seems like he's gotten it down perfectly - almost a science experiment, where he carefully crafted each layer of graham cracker, chocolate, and marshmallow, ensuring that Smalls was paying attention. He then stuffed the warm creation into his mouth, handing it to Smalls to try. He questioningly took a bite but soon snarfed down the whole thing in seconds.

"Hey, make me one while you're at it!" I shouted in Ham's direction.

"I will, gimme a minute. I got a lotta customer!"

-

After everyone had received their respective s'more, Squints began to hush the group.

"Quiet! Are you trying to wake it up! It just went to bed," He announced as he propped himself up on a ledge near a window, firmly gripping a camping lamp. Smalls and I glanced at each other in confusion.

"What just went to bed?" Smalls asked.

"SHHHHH!!!"

"Now quiet," Squints muttered. "The legend of the Beast goes back a long time before any of us could even pick up a baseball, back to a place called Mertle's Acres. It all started about, mmm, years ago, when thieves kept stealing junk from Mertle's Acres junkyard. So Mr. Mertle, the guy that used to own the place, got him this new pup from the dog pound. He fed him whole sides of beef... and turned the pup loose in the junkyard. And the pup was grateful.  And so, in a few weeks, the pup grew into The Beast. And he grew big, and he grew mean... so that he could protect the junkyard with only one thing on his mind: to kill everyone that broke in. - And he did, and he liked it a lot! The Beast was the most perfect junkyard dog that ever lived. A true killing machine. But after a while, the cops started getting phone calls from people... reporting all the missing thieves, the ones The Beast had killed. It added up to many guys, it's true." I began to fall asleep at this point, but tried my hardest to keep at least one eye open.