by Derek Jeter
How were the Yankees supposed to win without her?
Chapter Thirteen BOILING POINT
Derek got more bad news on Thursday morning when the math and science finals results were handed out. Well, not bad, really. Studying with Vijay had sure helped. Derek had managed a 92 in math and an 88 in science.
But just as he’d suspected, those scores weren’t good enough to beat Gary’s.
“97 and 93,” Gary mouthed silently from his desk. When Derek pretended not to understand, Gary held up his papers with the red circled numbers.
Derek had no choice but to hold his up in return. Gary raised both arms skyward in triumph and did a little dance in his seat.
But the news wasn’t all bad, it turned out. Derek did have one ace up his sleeve—he held up his English final. 95!
Gary’s smile vanished. He froze mid-dance. When Derek shot him a questioning look, Gary held up his own paper: 92.
Now it was Derek’s turn to do a desk dance. When the bell rang, the two boys went straight toward each other to compare notes.
“Two tests to one—I win!” Gary said, regaining his usual self-confidence.
“It’s not over,” Derek reminded him. “There’s still the standardized tests. I can still come out on top.”
“That’s a laugh,” Gary said with a snort. “Those tests measure aptitude, Jeter—as in, it doesn’t matter how hard you study.”
“I know what ‘aptitude’ means,” Derek shot back.
“Then you should also know that no matter how hard you study—and I know you’ve been working your tail off to beat me—you still can’t change your aptitude. IQ is IQ.”
“Why don’t we save the trash-talking till the final results are in?” Derek suggested.
“And by the way, how did you manage to get a 95 on the English test?” Gary snatched the paper from Derek’s hands.
“Hey!”
Gary held it at a safe distance while he looked it over. “A hundred percent on the essay portion? Are you kidding me?”
Derek flushed with pride. He’d written that essay straight from his heart—and it had paid off big-time, staving off humiliation, at least for the moment.
“Here. Take your piece of trash back, speaking of trash-talk. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He handed back Derek’s English final. “Boy, I can’t wait to see you in that chicken suit. I hope you’re excited. Better practice your chicken walk. Buck-buck—b’guck! You’re goin’ down, sucker!”
“We’ll see about that,” Derek said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. “We’ll just see.”
* * *
“I don’t get these reading comprehension problems!” Derek shoved the booklet Vijay’s way. “What would you say is the main point of the story? (A) acting on impulse is a mistake? Or (D) preparation is the key to success? I mean, they’re both the point, aren’t they?”
“Let me see that,” Dave said, reaching out and taking the booklet. The three boys were grouped around the Jeters’ kitchen table. Derek’s parents and Sharlee were in the living room, giving them privacy to do their last-minute studying together.
It had been Vijay’s idea to invite Dave to study with them. Derek had jumped at the chance to see his friend one extra time, and Dave had convinced his parents to let him put off packing one more afternoon.
“What about C?” Dave wondered. “That’s a good answer too: it’s important to expect the unexpected.”
“Sheesh,” Derek said, shaking his head. “You’re right! They’re all the right answer. Vij?”
“Well,” said Vijay. “This is one I would definitely skip, and come back to when I’m done with all the other questions, yes?”
“Definitely,” Derek agreed.
“For sure,” said Dave.
Derek looked at his friend. What a bummer it was that the two of them had to spend most of their last moments together studying, instead of having fun!
You’ve got to enjoy every moment.
The words popped into his head. Was it his dad who’d said that? His mom? He wasn’t sure—but Derek knew it was true. He also knew he wasn’t doing a very good job of it just then. Enjoying every moment was way harder than it sounded! And the harder Derek tried, the harder it got!
Mrs. Jeter came in at eight forty-five to tell them Chase was there with the car and would be happy to drop Vijay off. The boys packed up their stuff and wished Derek good luck on the tests.
“Back at ya, guys,” he said as they waved good-bye and left.
“You ready to call it a night, old man?” his mom asked him.
“Nah. Not yet. I’ve got to nail these tests. I’m just going to go as long as I can.”
“Okay. Just don’t stay up too late. You need your sleep, so you’re rested and ready tomorrow.”
When Derek next looked up from his books, it was almost his bedtime! But now he was hungry. He’d been too anxious to eat much dinner. His stomach was actually hurting now.
The image of Avery grabbing her stomach came into his head. Was that why she was hurting? Was she too stressed out to eat enough?
Derek made himself a PB and J sandwich and poured himself a glass of milk. He had just sat down to eat when his dad came into the kitchen. “Hey, champ,” he said. “Studying make you hungry?”
“Mm-hmmph,” Derek said, nodding with his mouth full.
His dad smiled and sat down across from him. “Well, finish up. It’s bedtime.”
Derek swallowed and took a swig of milk. “Ahh,” he said. “I was so hungry, my stomach was actually hurting!”
“Hmm,” said his dad, stroking his chin. “You think maybe all the pressure is starting to get to you?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, a lot of times when we’re anxious about things, we feel it in our bodies. I notice you’ve been kind of tense lately… a little more irritable than usual…”
“Me?”
“Just a little more than normal,” his dad reassured him. “But it’s understandable. Even Sharlee felt upset yesterday. That was a hard blow for her.”
“She didn’t mean it—about it all being your fault,” Derek told his dad.
“Oh, I know that—but thank you for saying it. That’s kind of you. And you seemed to know just what to say to settle Sharlee down too.”
“Kind of.” He guessed younger kids got over things more easily. They didn’t have as many worries as big kids like him.
“Maybe you should say some of those same things to yourself, Derek. It helps to be able to shake off our worries, and just—”
“Enjoy the moment?”
“Exactly. You took the words right out of my mouth. You see what happened with your friend Avery? It’s not good to get too wound up about things. I know you’ve got your big game Saturday. But you’ve been in big games before. And you’ll be in bigger games down the road.”
“It’s not just that,” Derek confessed. “There’s the standardized tests, too.”
“You’ve prepped as much as anyone could, Son. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”
“No, you don’t understand, Dad—there’s more.” He proceeded to tell his dad all about his bet with Gary.
“Chicken suit, huh? Whew. That’s rough.”
“I’ll say. Now I’m as good as doomed.”
“Don’t be so sure,” said his dad. “All that work you’ve put in—I sense an upset coming.”
Derek tried to smile. “Thanks, Dad. But it’s hard to enjoy the moment right now.”
“Derek, let me ask you—why do you put in so much effort in school? Not just now. I mean all the time.”
“Huh? Well, uh, to get good grades!”
“And why do you need good grades?”
“To, uh, succeed in life as a grown-up?”
“That’s right! And why do you put in the effort on the ball field? Taking swings and grounders all day, always the first one to show up, and the last one to leave?”
“Because one day I want to play shortstop fo
r the Yankees—the real ones.”
“And why do you want that?”
Derek thought for a moment. “Because… because I love playing baseball.”
“Bingo! Never forget that, Derek! It’s the most important part—because the road is always much longer than the time you spend at your destination. You’ve got to enjoy every moment you can along the way. That will give you the strength to keep on going, and to overcome the huge obstacles and struggles along the way.”
“Avery’s mom says that Avery’s not going to play on Saturday,” Derek said. “I guess it all got to her.”
Mr. Jeter nodded sadly. “You see what can happen if you forget to relax and have fun? It’s not healthy to be serious and intense every minute. Having fun and doing well go together—like breathing out and breathing in. One’s no good without the other.”
Derek shook his head. “Poor Avery. She wanted it so badly…”
His dad nodded. “A person can hold up only so much weight before they collapse,” he said. “I guess she just took on too much.”
Derek wondered if Avery would even show up to watch the team play on Saturday. He could imagine how agonizing it would be for her to just sit there and watch—especially if the Yankees wound up losing.
But how could she not come down to cheer the team on? Derek couldn’t even imagine Avery not being there—not after everything they’d been through together!
Chapter Fourteen BACK IN THE GAME
For a moment Derek wasn’t sure where he was. It looked like Saint Augustine’s school, but why wasn’t anyone else there? Was it a weekend?
He heard a sound, like chalk on a blackboard. He tiptoed slowly down the hallway toward the source of the noise. And then he heard another sound, on top of the scratching. Was it… the clucking of a chicken?
He came to an open classroom door and looked inside. There, at the blackboard, was a giant chicken, scribbling “GARY PARNELL IS SMARTER THAN ME.” Suddenly the chicken turned its head to look at Derek—and he saw that it had HIS FACE!
* * *
“AAAAAAAHH!”
Derek sat up in bed, his heart pounding. “A dream, that’s all it was… just a bad dream.”
Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was almost seven a.m. His alarm would be going off in six minutes.
Just as well. No way was he going to go back to sleep and risk having that dream again! If he got up and dressed now, he’d have time for a little last-minute review before heading off to school for the standardized tests.
After today it would all be over—except for the worst part. Tuesday was the last day of school—doomsday, in other words. Unless he could somehow beat Gary on both these exams, the chicken writing at that blackboard would be him!
Derek knew he had stiff competition in Gary. He could have kicked himself for taking the bait and one-upping Gary by suggesting the whole chicken suit thing!
Why had he done that? Writing on all the blackboards that Gary was smarter than him wouldn’t have been too bad.
It would have been easy enough to just admit Gary’s slightly superior IQ in the first place, and not have to deal with all his taunts. But Derek was not someone who could resist a challenge, no matter what the odds. And for that, he feared, he was about to pay the price.
Buck-buck-b’guck.
* * *
Math was in the morning, with English in the afternoon. Derek used the tricks Vijay had taught him to make sure he got through most of the questions quickly, with plenty of time at the end to go back and solve the difficult problems. He wound up with ten minutes to spare!
As he got up to leave for the cafeteria, Derek saw that Gary was still working away. Well, well—that’s a switch, he thought happily. But then, as he left the room, he had second thoughts. Should he maybe have used those ten minutes to go over the tough questions one more time?
Dave was already in the cafeteria when Derek got there, and Derek sat down next to him.
“How’d it go for you?” Derek asked.
Dave shrugged. “I think I did pretty well—thanks to studying with Vijay.”
“Yeah, right? That’s probably why Gary always wants to make bets with me, not Vijay!”
They both laughed. It was true. Gary was the type of kid who would never make a bet he thought he could lose.
“So, listen,” Dave said. “My mom told me we’re moving Wednesday.”
“So fast?” Derek said, dismayed. “That’s the day after school’s over!”
“I know,” Dave said sadly. “I told you. They wanted to leave last week, but they put it off on account of me. So anyway, we’re going to be packing and stuff next week. But I wanted to see if we could hang out one more time before we leave. Maybe over the weekend?”
“I’ll ask my parents, but I think it’ll be okay,” Derek said.
“We could go drive some golf balls or something, maybe?”
“Sure.”
Derek liked golf, but he avoided playing it during Little League season, so as not to mess up his baseball swing. But after Saturday? Why not?
“Wow, I just remembered,” Derek said. “We’re up against each other tomorrow!”
“I know. Should be fun, huh?” Dave smiled, but it faded quickly. “I… I know how much it means to you, Derek. I… I almost hope you guys win.”
“Aw, you don’t have to say that.”
“I said ‘almost.’ You know I play to win.”
Derek knew, all right. “Hey, are you even going to be able to play golf in Hong Kong?”
“Oh yeah,” Dave assured him. “The school even has its own golf team.”
“Wow! Well, you’re a cinch to make it, huh?”
“There are only ten kids in my class, so I have a feeling there’s room on the team.”
“It sounds fancy, but good. You must be excited.”
Dave looked him right in the eyes. “I’ve never been as happy as I was here, in Kalamazoo,” he said sadly. “It was hard at first—but I made real friends here—you most of all.”
“Vijay and I are going to write you. Once a week. We’re going to take turns.”
“Oh. Okay, cool.” Dave seemed doubtful, but Derek knew now that he could write well when he wanted to—his essay had proved that.
Which gave him an idea. He reached into his book bag and pulled out his English final. Finding the essay page, he folded it in half and gave it to Dave.
“Here.”
“What’s this?”
“My English essay. Read it. Not now but later, when you’re in Hong Kong.”
The bell rang, and kids started filing into the cafeteria for lunch. Derek spotted Gary walking in, scanning the room for him.
“Ah, Jeter!” he said as he came over to gloat. “Gave up early this morning?”
“No, I finished the whole thing,” Derek replied. “You seemed to be having some difficulty there.”
“Ha! That’s funny, Jeter. About as funny as you’re going to look wearing a—”
He cut his words short, realizing that Dave was there. “Well, let me not ruin the surprise,” he said, before tootling off toward the food line.
“What was that about?” Dave asked.
“I’ll tell you next time I see you.”
“Hmmm. Sounds intriguing.” Dave waggled his eyebrows and stroked his chin.
Derek had to smile. It felt good, after all that studying and stress and worry, to have done his absolute best this morning. He had a pretty good feeling about this afternoon, too. After all, hadn’t he already beaten Gary on the English final?
* * *
“Dad?”
“Yes, Derek?” Mr. Jeter looked up from the textbook he was reading.
“Could I ask you a favor?”
Mr. Jeter smiled. “I think you’ve chosen your timing for this ask wisely. You’ve been studying day in and day out for weeks, it seems like.”
“Could you take me to the ball field early tomorrow, and hit me some grounders?”
Mr.
Jeter nodded. “I’d like that, Derek. I’d have liked to be there more for you this season, but, well…”
“I know. Sharlee.”
“I think she has finally accepted that we didn’t win the championship. It took her a while, but…” He paused, looking hard at Derek. “You ready to earn that big win tomorrow?”
“Of course!”
“That’s my boy. We enjoy every minute, but we also play to win, right?”
“Right!”
* * *
By the time Coach Stafford arrived at the field with Pete, Derek and his dad had already been at it for thirty minutes. Derek had worked up a sweat chasing ball after ball, but he had gotten a sort of rhythm going, as if he were on autopilot. Derek felt like if a ball came to him during the game, he could handle it with his eyes closed.
“I like it, I like it!” Coach K said. “That’s some dedication there! Way to go, Derek!”
“Thanks, Coach. Thanks, Dad.”
The coach then went over to the stands on the Tigers’ side of the field. Sitting there was a man who’d shown up around fifteen minutes earlier. Next to him sat a kid in a Tigers uniform. Derek didn’t know either of them, but Pete was talking to the kid like he knew him. Probably from school, thought Derek.
The man pointed over at Derek, and Coach K nodded. Derek wondered what they were saying about him.
“Hey, champ!” Derek’s dad called. “Waiting on you!”
“Sorry, Dad.” Derek got back into position to field another grounder.
Soon other kids from both teams started to filter in. Having dropped Derek and his dad off forty minutes ago, Derek’s mom returned in the station wagon with Sharlee and Vijay, whose parents had to work this Saturday at the hospital.
The big black sedan showed up with Dave and Chase. Dave had been a really good player for their team the previous year. Chase had been Mr. Jeter’s assistant coach—and those Tigers had won it all.