Disillusioned

Nine (Part One)

I ran off the basketball court, catching up with Mom as she started down a path.

"Mom wait up!" I called out to her, grabbing the water bottle from one of the nearby benches before sprinting in her direction.

I wiped the drop of sweat from the tip of my nose with the back of my arm. Chris and Logan had dragged me to the park but I really only came for Mom. We wanted to be able to spend some time together outside of the house and today was the perfect day for it. The park was bathed in warm sunlight, highlighting the vibrant green grass and colorful flowers blooming all around.

I ran past one of the baseball fields, staring out into the distance as a girl winded up on the baseball mound and threw the softball straight into the catcher's glove. Their muffled shouts rung out through my ears. I slowed my pace, squinting to get a better look at the pitcher as she met the catcher halfway to retrieve the ball. It wasn't far enough for me not to be able to recognize the black framed glasses and body shape that none other than Amanda Sterling encapsulated.

"You looked good over there!" Mom exclaimed as I neared her, my eyes glued to Amanda's second wind up. She had always been the best pitcher on our softball team which I always acknowledged....silently of course.

Last season they had put me all over the outfield, on third base and finally at the catcher's position, mainly because our catcher had gotten injured halfway through the season. The word my coach had used to describe me was 'versatile' because he always said he could put me anywhere on the field and he'd knew I'd be able to do a good job.

A smile spread across my face as I remembered those special words that Coach C. had spoken at last year's sports banquet. If one thing was certain, I was excited to join the team again this year to see him and the girls again — minus Amanda and her little clique — on a daily basis and play the game we all loved.

Unfortunately for last season though, I eventually got injured too and was out for the rest of the season from a tear in my meniscus.

"I tried," I told Mom, out of breath. My heart was pounding in my chest. I brought the water bottle up to my lips, taking big gulps.

"Mmm," I hummed, gesturing for her to stop moving. I held back a laugh as I realized her overall strap was too loose on her left side. One thing about Mom was that she always loved to wear comfortable one pieces that she could just slide over a tank top and call it a day. I held my plastic water bottle between my legs as I readjusted it for her in a jiffy. "There you go," I said as I finished.

She thanked me as we made our way towards the walking path. I had been to this park numerous times and it was an odd feeling in a way because most of the memories I had here were when all of us were still a family. Mom and Dad were still together, living in the same house and my brothers and I would always run over here to play basketball or practice baseball out on the fields.

"I'm glad you showed your brothers what you're made of, they underestimate you too much."

I smiled at her, matching her steps with my own as we made our way down into the woods. I tried taking it a little slower because Mom had recently been complaining of foot pain and I knew that she had been struggling a bit with any sort of activity.

Sometimes I tended to get too far ahead though because of the eagerness that filled me on the forestry trail. The path that led through the wooded area was made of gravel which was my favorite because I could always pretend like I was going on an adventure. Hiking was something we didn't get to do often unless we went on a vacation, but I took every opportunity I could to try and find the smaller hiking trails in the area.