hard knock life ◇ sandlot

✖ | chapter nine

THE GAME OF truth or dare had unofficially ended after smalls decided to hurl all over the sidewalk.

the night, however, had just begun.

the nine boys jogged down the dimly lit street, joking and challenging each other to races. bertram was the one to stop them, right before they began to head down the timmons' street.

"hey guys - wanna do something cool?"

everyone but benny and smalls sprinted over him, nodding eagerly. benny shot bertram a warning glare. bertram stared at benny hesitantly, before returning his gaze to the other guys.

"alright, c'mon."

the boys all tore off in the opposite direction, smalls wearily glanced at benny.

"i...i dunno..."

"smalls...i won't let 'em do anything too crazy. c'mon." benny smiled, and ruffled smalls' hair. if there was one thing he learned, it was to never leave those seven dorks by themselves.

not after the summer of '61.

benny still wondered how the hell they weren't in jail after that one.

smalls watched the boys, including benny, all run down the street. none of bertram's ideas were good ones. none. he whined loudly, before sprinting after the others.

"c'mon, you guys, wait for me!"

****

"c'mon, smalls, don't tell me you've never snuck into a carnival before." bertram sneered, as he gripped the fence. smalls took a step back.

"uh, no, no i haven't." smalls protested, desperately looking to benny. benny shrugged his shoulders, and hoisted himself up as well. the other boys couldn't help but watch in awe as the two older boys scaled the fence.

"c'mon, we don't got all night." benny whispered, as he swung a leg over the top. yeah-yeah was the first of them on the fence, shortly followed by denunez and squints. then timmy and tommy. ham and smalls, however, looked a bit uneasy.

"aw, c'mon, don't tell me you're scared." timmy teased, before easing himself down on the other side. ham frowned, and started climbing the fence, complaining something about how this was too much work.

smalls still refused to move.

"smalls, c'mon, man, this'll be fun." denunez plastered a smile on his face. "and plus, if you don't do this, you know you're gonna regret it."

benny and bertram were the only ones on the ground so far.

"yeah yeah, smalls, this is easy." yeah yeah bragged, seeming to be in some sort of race with squints. in that moment, ham's sneaker missed the fence, and down he fell, taking down yeah yeah, denunez, and tommy down with him. the four boys hit the ground below and all instantly groaned in pain.

smalls' eyes grew even wider.

"nice goin', ham." bertram snickered, and ham flipped him the bird.

"jesus, porter, i think you broke a rib." denunez groaned, slowly standing up and shoving ham.

"yeah yeah, i got the breath knocked clean outta me, man!"

"yeah, clean outta me!" yeah-yeah assisted the youngest member off the ground, and delivered a pat to his back.

"look, smalls, the worst thing that could happen would be that you fall. and tommy just fell and he's fine. right, tommy?" bertram asked, turning to face him. tommy, upon hearing his name, nodded eagerly. very hesitantly, smalls began climbing the fence.

the boys waited, not so patiently for smalls to make it over. once he had, the boys all stared in awe at the playground that stood before them.

"...now what?" smalls asked what everyone was thinking. bertram grinned, and looked from person to person, before throwing his hands in the air.

"we have the time of our lives!"