Bet | Benny Rodriguez

The Sandlot Boys

January 22, 2022・Saturday ★

B E N N Y
pov

I get to the Sandlot but stop when I see I group of kids already there. Oh no. I slowly go behind a tree and peek at the side of it. Trying to figure out what the kids look like I hear someone scream.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO REPLACE ME!?" Someone yells.

I look to see a girl screaming in disbelief at a group of boys. Specifically at a short boy with glasses. I move from the tree behind a bush, trying to get a closer look. I then see who it is. The girl. She's talking with the group of boys and throwing hands all around. She looks furious.

For a while, they keep talking but then get into a group hug. Huh? I then see one of the boys run out of the sandlot. I wait for the whole group to leave and then start walking onto the field. I wonder where they're going. I push that thought to the side and look around the field. It's not that bad. The grass is green and the field is wide. There are some patches of dirt and farther away from the field is a tree house.

The treehouse looks poorly built and looks like it collapse at any moment. I'm guessing the kids have put it into use. What do I do now? I walk to the pitcher's base and start swinging my bag over and over. I didn't bring a ball so there wasn't much to hit.

I wonder where the kids were going. All the boys seemed excited except Roxanne. I wonder why. I kept swinging my bat and running around. I'd stopped and then just walk around the field, and then go back to my bat. I made the same pattern until I saw the group of kids coming back. Oh shit. I didn't know what to do and they were already close. So I just kept swinging my bat and running.

As I was running trying to not make eye contact with any of them, the group comes to me. I stop and I'm panting hard. I see them all staring at me like I'm an alien. Oh, this is so weird.

"Uh, hi?" I give them a nervous smile and try my best to not look like I'm about to have a nervous breakdown. I look around and meet my eyes with Roxanne. Her eyes are so pretty. I wanted to keep staring at them but she eventually looked away.

"Hi, I'm Ham." A short freckled kid says to me, "that's Smalls, Yeah-Yeah, DeNunz, Timmy and Tommy, Squints, Bertram, and Roxanne." The last name instantly caught my attention. He smiles at me and stands there.

I feel put on the spot and all I say is, "Oh ok." I shift uncomfortably on my feet and the silence is very loud.

"So are we gonna play ball or what?" A voice says, I look to see Roxanna staring at the boys in annoyance. The boys all look at each other with mischievous smiles.

"YEAH!" They all run off into their spots and Roxanna gets to Pitcher with her bat and LA dodgers cap sitting on her head. I move to the side and stare in shock. Could this get any more interesting? I'm not sure what to do so I stand at the side awkwardly watching them all play. I thought that playing with them would be easier but not one of them even looks at me. I can't blame them though, they're all focused on the game and having fun.

"Hey!" I look down to see a kid a bit smaller than me with blond hair and slight freckles.

"Yeah..?" I respond with.

"You wanna play? You're kinda just standing here." I guess he's right, I probably look like a total loser right now.

"Uh sure..." I try to think of his name but it just won't come. Sawyer? No, um, Scott? Snail? He looks at me and raises his eyebrows in confusion.