Sliding Home

by Joyce Grant

  “There’s history in this ballpark,” Coach Coop would say. Looking toward the “big” diamond used by the Intercounty Baseball League, he told Miguel, “People have been playing in the Pits for decades. This is where I learned to play baseball. This park gets in your blood. It’s home.”

  Now, at thirteen, the Blues were finally old enough to play on the big diamond. It had rough wooden bleachers for the crowd, and sometimes the local TV station covered the games.

  “Getting to play on this diamond kills me, every time,” Tami said as the team warmed up before their game.

  “I know,” said Miguel. “It’s awesome.”

  Miguel had been eyeing the big diamond for a long time. It felt like a reward for their hard work over the years. Miguel understood hard work. He knew a lot less about rewards.

  “Is that a new infield glove, Sebastian?” Miguel asked during warm-up.

  “Yeah,” said Sebastian.

  “When did you get it?”

  “Last weekend. My dad and I were in a sports store.”

  “But your old one is still good. And you don’t even play infield!”

  Sebastian turned his glove over and looked at it. “I know.” He shrugged. “I like gloves. I sort of collect them, I guess.”

  Miguel felt his face grow hot and red. He whipped the ball to Lin.

  “Ow!” said Lin, shaking her hand. “Not so hard! This is just warm-up!”

  “Sorry,” said Miguel as he caught her return throw. He looked over at Sebastian. And then he looked at his own glove. One of the laces had been repaired with a bit of shoelace. Even the shoelace had started to fray. Miguel tugged at the lace.

  “You collect gloves,” said Miguel, softly so Sebastian couldn’t hear him. “Must be nice.” He threw the ball.

  “Ow!” said Lin, again. “Miguel!”

  Coach Coop called to the team. “Okay, everyone! C’mon in!”

  The Parkhill Pirates had been warming up on the other side of the diamond. Now they gathered in the visitor dugout along the first baseline.

  The gravel crunched as Miguel and the Blues crossed the third baseline. They fanned out to take their places on the big diamond. Raj was the team’s starting pitcher while Jock was out of town. Raj set up on the mound and threw five warm-ups. Then he threw his first pitch, hard and low. Too low.

  There was no sound from the umpire as the ball scraped the dirt in front of the plate. No news was bad news — silence from the umpire almost always meant “ball.”

  Things got noisier for the second pitch, but only because the batter smacked it hard up the middle. The ball flew between Miguel and Tami. Gnash charged at it from centre field, picking it up gracefully and throwing it to Raj to stop the runner at first.

  “Hey, Miguel!”

  Miguel saw Coach Coop waving his arm in a wide arc, trying to get his attention.

  “Hey! Move over!” Coop shouted.

  The coach motioned for Miguel to move closer to second base. Why would he do that? Miguel wondered. He looked around.

  “Move!” Sebastian shouted. Miguel didn’t move. He didn’t take orders from his catcher.

  But Coop waved his arm, agreeing with Sebastian.

  Miguel trudged two steps over.

  “A bit more!” shouted Coop.

  Miguel moved one more step.

  “Good!”

  Miguel squinted at the second batter in the box. She was a strong right-hander. With a runner already on first, Miguel knew he had to field the ball if she got a hit. The Blues couldn’t afford to let anyone get into scoring position. Not this early in the game. And not without Jock there to make a miracle play to save the day.

  Miguel thought she would likely hit the ball between first and second. Now he felt too close to second base. Miguel itched to move closer to first.

  “Stay there!” called Coop, who had noticed Miguel leaning back toward first.

  “But . . . righty-shift, coach,” complained Miguel. But he didn’t stray.

  Raj pitched a hard fastball past the batter. “Strike!” yelled the umpire.

  But then — “Going! He’s GOING!”

  All the Blues in the dugout and their parents in the stands called out at the top of their voices. The runner was taking off from first.

  “Second! Second!” yelled Sebastian. He jumped to his feet and fired the ball. It was a bullet, hard and low, near the dirt.

  Miguel was much closer to second base than he would have been if he hadn’t listened to Coop. He easily moved into place to catch Sebastian’s perfect throw.

  Miguel’s back foot hit the third-base side of second base. Just as Coop had taught him, he planted his front foot in front of the base. Then, he pivoted and trapped the ball neatly in his glove more than a second before the runner slid right into it.

  “Out!” said the umpire, his fist raised.

  Miguel gave Sebastian a ‘nice throw’ nod.

  Sebastian rolled his eyes. Miguel knew it meant ‘I told you so.’

  Even before the batter had stepped into the box, Sebastian had known what the play would be. It wasn’t about the batter at all. It was about the steal to second. That’s the play Coop and Sebastian had been getting Miguel in position for. And it had worked.

  “Hunh,” said Miguel to himself.

  * * *

  The game ended in a scoreless tie.

  “Just do what I say next time,” Sebastian said to Miguel, in the dugout.

  “But how did you know?” asked Miguel. “How’d you know the runner was going to steal?”

  “We’ve played against that kid at least two dozen times,” said Sebastian. “He’s their lead-off hitter. He’s their fastest runner. I knew he was going to go for it. And their second batter is really strong. It was obvious.”

  “Yeah . . . I guess,” said Miguel.

  “Hey, Sebastian.” Raj ruffled the catcher’s hair. “How come you’re so smart at baseball, and so dumb at school?”

  “Hey!” said Sebastian. He pulled away from the tall pitcher and shoved him. “I’m not dumb at school!”

  “Well, okay. But in comparison. I mean you’re like, a freakin’ genius at baseball, man!”

  “Yeah,” agreed Tami. “You’re kind of Einstein-y at baseball.”

  Miguel watched the scene with interest. This was a different side of Sebastian, one he’d never seen before. A smart side. A competent side.

  “Hunh!” he said again.

  Raj shoved Sebastian playfully. “Hey, Einstein, you still coming to the movie with us tonight?”

  “Of course!” said Sebastian. “We’re all going, right?”

  Miguel didn’t say anything.

  5

  Lost and Found

  “Twirl me again!” yelled the small boy. He held his arms up to Miguel.

  The Blues had gone to the movies after the game. All except for Miguel. He had stayed at the Pits. But not at the ball diamond. He was at the playground.

  Miguel turned and smiled at the boy. “Okay, Alejandro,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  Miguel grabbed the boy’s arms and spun him gently in a big circle. The boy’s legs flung out in the air as Miguel twirled him around. Then Miguel set him neatly down on the ground. Giggling, the boy tried to walk. But he could only wobble on his feet. Then he sank dizzily to the ground.

  “Me too! Me too!” A little girl about the same age as Alejandro held her arms up to Miguel.

  “Okay, Claudia — you too,” said Miguel.

  Miguel was on his knees, talking to the giggling children, when he heard voices he knew.

  “Hey, Miguel!” said Raj.

  Raj was in a pack with the rest of the Blues, coming down the path toward the playground.

  “Oh man, you missed a great movie!” said Lin.

  “Yeah, you shou
ld have seen it,” said Sebastian. “There was this one crazy chase . . .”

  “Again, again!” said Alejandro. He held his arms up to Miguel. “Again!”

  “Sorry, guys,” said Miguel to his teammates. He bent down to pick up the little boy.

  “What’s going on?” asked Gnash. “Is this your brother or something?”

  “I’m working,” said Miguel. “I can’t talk right now.”

  “I’m his sister! I’m Claudia,” said the girl. She walked right up to Sebastian.

  “Babysitting?” asked Sebastian.

  “Come on, guys,” said Gnash to the others. “Let’s leave him alone. The man is just trying to earn a living!”

  Gnash winked at Miguel and roughly shoved the others off toward the swings.

  “Don’t listen to them, man,” he said to Miguel. “Most of them have never held down a job in their lives. They don’t know what it’s like to be a working stiff like us!” The season before, Gnash had missed several games because of work. Miguel knew he had a job in the corner store near his apartment.

  “Thanks,” said Miguel. He brought Claudia a bucket and shovel to make castles in the sand pit.

  Alejandro jumped up and down in front of Miguel.

  Miguel picked up the little boy and twirled him until he was giggling and dizzy again. Then he set him down gently on the sand. The boy began to take a step, but lurched forward to his knees.

  “Whoa!” said Sebastian, reaching out to steady the boy. Then he laughed. “You’re so dizzy!”

  “Alejandro, this is Sebastian,” said Miguel. “Sebastian, meet Alejandro.”

  The boy was still giggling. But he managed to thrust out one small hand toward Sebastian, as Miguel had taught him.

  “Sebastian plays baseball,” he said. He saw the boy’s eyes grow wide. “He’s a catcher.”

  “Wow!” said Alejandro. “I play baseball, too!”

  “You do?” asked Sebastian. He crouched down to the boy’s level. “What position do you play?”

  The boy looked up at Miguel.

  “You’re a utility player,” Miguel explained with a smile. “You can play any position.”

  “Yeah!” said Alejandro. “I can play any position!”

  “Sebastian is an awesome catcher,” Miguel told Alejandro.

  “He’s good?” Claudia asked.

  “Best I’ve ever seen,” said Miguel.

  Sebastian looked surprised. “Are you sure you should be lying to the kids?” he asked.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Miguel. “You’re a really good catcher!”

  “I know that. But I didn’t think you did,” said Sebastian. “I also know that you don’t like me.”

  “Oh, geez, Sebastian,” said Miguel. “Stop it. I like you.”

  “Then why don’t you want to room with me in Ottawa? And why do you never come with us to the movies or anywhere? And how come you always take off right after school? Because you don’t like us, that’s why. You don’t like me.”

  Miguel rolled his eyes. “I’m busy!” he said. “I have to do stuff. Like babysit —”

  He broke off suddenly and looked around the playground.

  “Oh no!” he said.

  “What?” asked Sebastian.

  “Alejandro! He’s gone! Alejaaaaaaaandro!” Miguel called. He felt panic begin to work its way up into his throat.

  Miguel and Sebastian walked around the playground. They checked under and over every piece of equipment, looking for the small boy.

  “Alejaaaaaaandro!” Miguel called.

  Miguel heard his teammates calling for Alejandro as well.

  “Found him!” said Gnash, near the splash pad. He was frantically waving Miguel over.

  “Here!” came a small voice, finally. “I’m here!”

  Miguel ran over to the splash pad. There, in the middle of the water, his pants soaked past his knees, was Alejandro.

  “Alejandro!” cried Miguel, wading in. He crouched down and looked in the boy’s eyes. “You must never run away from me!”

  “I was just —”

  “No!” said Miguel. “You stay with me and Claudia, okay? We all stay together!”

  The boy nodded slowly, his eyes wide. He held out his hand to Miguel, who took it in his and led him out of the splash pad. Sebastian, holding Claudia’s hand, was watching from the edge.

  “I can’t talk to you right now, Sebastian,” said Miguel. “I need to focus on these guys. Sorry.”

  “Okay,” said Sebastian. He handed Claudia over to Miguel.

  “So . . . this work stuff is serious,” he said quietly.

  Sebastian patted Alejandro lightly on the head and walked off to join the rest of the Blues. They were going down the slide on their bellies at stupid speeds. Smaller kids in the playground leaped out of the way as the baseball players barrelled toward them.

  Miguel smoothed down a lock of Alejandro’s hair.

  “Wanna play on the swings?” he asked the children.

  “Okay!”

  6

  Workout Buddies

  “Have a good day, sweetheart,” Miguel’s mother said to him in Spanish. She put his lunch in his backpack and zipped it up. “Don’t forget we have to see the lawyer tonight. So come right home after school.”

  “I know, Mama, I know,” said Miguel. He gave his mother a peck on the cheek and headed out the door with Claudia. They went down the block to a house with a red door. They turned up the walkway, which was strewn with tricycles and toys.

  Before Miguel could knock, the door opened. Miguel and Claudia were greeted by a chattering Alejandro and his mother.

  “Thanks for dropping him off,” she said in Spanish, handing Miguel an envelope. “Good morning, Claudia!”

  “No problem,” said Miguel. He waved the envelope in thanks and took Alejandro’s hand.

  “Morning, Alejandro,” he said to the boy. Miguel carefully folded the envelope full of babysitting money and tucked it into his back pocket.

  Miguel enjoyed the stream of happy chatter all the way to the nursery school, which was attached to his own middle school. He made sure Alejandro and Claudia had everything they needed for the day, and were safely in the hands of their teachers. Then he said goodbye and set off toward the school library.

  Crossing the lobby, he noticed a familiar figure.

  “Sebastian!” he said. He was surprised to see his teammate at school so early.

  “Miguel!” said Sebastian.

  And then Miguel remembered. “You’re going to a workout, aren’t you?”

  “Yep,” said Sebastian. “I’ve been going all week.”

  “How are they going?” asked Miguel.

  “Watch this,” said Sebastian. He put down his backpack and started running in place, pumping his knees up high. Then he leaped sideways back and forth, as though dodging an imaginary line.

  “Impressive footwork,” said Miguel. “You do seem slightly more . . . well, less . . .”

  “I am!” said Sebastian, finishing off his move. “I’m getting super-fast.”

  “That’s great,” said Miguel, nodding.

  “But what are you doing here?”

  “I had to drop Alejandro and Claudia off at daycare.”

  “Wow, you had to get up this early?” Sebastian looked shocked. “That’s horrible!”

  “I do it every day.” Miguel shrugged.

  “Every day? Like, every . . . day? You’re always here at this time?”

  “Yep.”

  “But it’s not even eight o’clock! What do you do until school starts?”

  “Homework. I don’t have time to finish it after school, anyway.”

  “Oh geez!” Sebastian looked so shocked, Miguel had to laugh.

  And then Sebastian’s face
brightened. “Hey, why don’t you come with me now?”

  “Where?”

  “The gym. I’m sure the coach will let you try the drills.” He looked at the clock on the wall. “C’mon,” he said. “We can’t be late!”

  Smiling, Miguel trailed after him. Sebastian was practically running down the hallway toward the gym. Miguel had never seen Sebastian worry about being late for anything.

  “Good morning!” said the gym teacher, when the two boys burst into the gym, puffing. “Here, give me a hand!”

  Miguel took the long, thin rope the teacher handed him. It was tied into a ladder that they stretched out on the floor. Off to one side of the gym, Sebastian was laying out a row of orange cones.

  “Okay, Sebastian,” said the teacher. He looked at Miguel. “Are you going to do the drills too?”

  “He’s on my baseball team, Sir,” said Sebastian. “The Blues.”

  Miguel had never heard his teammate speak with such respect to a teacher. Sebastian had always seemed like a likeable goofball with no respect for authority.

  The teacher blew a whistle and the two boys fell into line. “Go!” said the teacher.

  Miguel watched Sebastian run the “ladder,” his knees coming up hard on each step.

  “Faster!” called the teacher. “Faster! Pump those knees!”

  Sebastian was doing a good job, but Miguel was able to do the drills faster. On his turn, he flew across the rungs, his knees up high. The boys took three turns each. When they were done, Sebastian’s face was dripping with sweat.

  “You don’t even look . . . like you’ve . . . been running,” Sebastian puffed. He was bent over and his hands were on his knees. His belly was heaving in and out.

  “No time to rest, guys,” said the coach. “Quickly! Over here.”

  The next drill was speed hurdles. Each boy ran over six small hurdles, about a foot high.

  “Faster!” said the gym teacher. “Again!”

  After that, the teacher had the boys go into a crouch. They had to jump up quickly and then fake a throw.