𝙨𝙖𝙙 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡. ━ rodriguez

[ 8 ]

STREETCAR — Daniel Caesar

The sound of a pop fly being thrown out of the park rang through my senses, awakening me from my thoughts.

I sat upon the bench placed in the dugout, observing the game after tiredly playing through about four games. The sandlot gang and I had been playing baseball since nine in the morning, and I was exhausted.

I gazed at the boys in their familiar stances, the game appearing like it was progressing in slow motion.

I watched Smalls dig his heels on home plate, awaiting a heater to be thrown his way by DeNuenz. The swing of his bat penetrated the baseball, sending it straight over the fence with a heaving force.

As Smalls ran over to Mister Mertles house to retrieve the ball, the rest of the boys joined me in the dugout to rest and drink water from the mini fridge.

"Hey guys, I was thinking," Yeah-Yeah began. "Why not have a camp out tonight?"

I stared at the small boy in confusion, "what camp out?"

"We usually all have a sleepover in our tree house, it's a tradition, especially during summer time," Yeah-Yeah explained with beaming excitement.

"That sounds like a good idea, Yeah-Yeah," Kenny piped up, draining a bottle of water to stay hydrated.

The rest of the gang all shouted yeahs and cheers in unison at the idea, everyone answering or commenting apart from Benny.

"Are you coming tonight, Rodriguez?" Asked Timmy.

"Yeah, are you coming tonight, Rodriguez?" Tommy's voice echoed after his brother.

Benny turned to us and shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, isn't it kind
of. . . boring?"

Each boy gasped at the words slipping from Benny's mouth, each of them painted in flabbergasted expressions.

"Boring? We've been doing it almost every weekend during the summer, it's always been your idea," Squints shrieked.

Benny rolled his eyes at the panic stricken boys, "fine, fine, fine, I'll come."

They all cheered, everyone exclaiming in excitement.

"You wanna come, Canada?" Benny asked, all of the boys diverting their attention to my answer.

"Uh, I'll ask, yeah." I replied, feeling a small pinch of excitement pulse through me as well as I gathered my belongings to rush home to pop the question to my mom.

✱✱✱

I sat on my mothers bed, my legs dangling off as I lazily sprawled my torso on the fluffy coated mattress.

"Mom," I began. "Can I ask you something?"

She rummaged through her closet to search for her nurse scrubs, "what is it, Lina?"

"I uh, my new friends are having this slumber party thing, can I go?"

My mother sighed as she continued pacing through the room, "I don't know if that's such a good idea, I have no idea who these friends of yours are, Lina,"

"Please mom? It'll mean a lot for me to go," I pleaded.

"I understand that Lina, but I don't want to be considered a bad parent if I let you off at a slumber party with kids I don't know." My mother explained, striding into her washroom to apply makeup.