Unexpected

Chapter 24

When Scotty's dad came back home, he grounded him for a week. The only reason he didn't die was that he gave the ball with all the autographs.

For the next few years, through middle school and high school, Benny and I were still dating each other. The boys and I still played at the sandlot every day.

Every Fourth of July, Benny brought me up to the roof. On that day, we remember how it all started.

All the sandlot people, including myself, kept in touch with each other over the years.

Yeah-Yeah told Mrs. Rodriguez that he wanted to be a part of the army, so she sent him to military school.

Bertram got really into the '60s, no one ever saw him again.

Timmy and Tommy became architects and designed playground equipment and treehouses. They became multi-millionaires when they invented "mini-malls".

Squints grew up and married my friend, Wendy Peffercorn. They have nine kids and bought Vincent's Drug Store. They still own it to this day.

Hamilton Porter became a professional wrestler. You know him as "The Great Hambino."

Kenny DeNunez played tripled A ball. He owned his own business now and coached his son's team called "The Heaters."

Hercules lived to be 199 years old (in dog years).

Scotty Smalls was the last person to move on, but the sandlot was still there when he left.

After Benny pickled the beast, his reputation spread all over town. From then on, he was known as Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez. The nickname stuck with him for the rest of his life.

As we got into college, Benny and I decided to move on. We attended different colleges: mine was out of state. We couldn't handle long-distance nor we thought our relationship would last forever. We just moved on to our separate ways.

Benny played for the Dodgers and Smalls was a commentator for sports. They were still best friends, even up to now.

While they did all that, I moved back closer to Hollywood to start acting, I became pretty famous. I was on TV shows and movies that became extremely popular when they came out. I was single, at least for now. I didn't want to date other cast members because I didn't want to replace Benny. I missed him after splitting, but it was for the best.

Whenever it was the Fourth of July, I drove over to the sandlot to think about the summer of 1962. I loved it, I miss it so fucking much. I watched the fireworks light up the dark sky that night, giving back so many memories.

Obviously, I still miss Mom. I visit her grave almost every week, and if I had extra time maybe more than once a week.

Life became busier and busier with my acting career. I was loaded with interviews and roles, the keys to being successful in my world.

On a summer day in 1982 (10 years after breaking up), I was laying down in my room. I was watching a movie... you guessed it, it was The Parent Trap. This was the only day I wasn't busy.

RINGGGG

The phone suddenly rang, I looked at the number. It looked oddly familiar, so I answered it.

-Hello?- I said.

-Hey...- it was a familiar voice.

-Who are you?-

-It's me, Benny, I have no clue if you remember me. I just wanted to ask if you wanted to meet up sometime? I just watched the movie you were recently in and I just got some flashbacks...-

-Sure-

-Ok, I'll call you later-

So then, we met up at some cafe. I was happy to see him again, we kept in touch. We always talked about middle and high school memories. We stayed as friends, it felt good that way.

No matter what, I'd always want to go back to that one summer in 1962. What an unexpected summer.