“Mmm, the shed. Hey, does she know about you?” Marlee asked boldly.
“Know about me? What?” Susie giggled. “That I’m Puerto Rican?”
“No.” Marlee snickered. “No. C’mon, you know.”
“Of course she knows.”
Of course? Of course she knows? “Is she...you know?” Marlee marveled at her new courage even though she still couldn’t say the words.
“Oh, now who’s getting nosy? And, you know what? Why are we talking about Christy, anyway?”
Marlee let the question drop.
MARLEE CLOSED HER eyes and fell back into her pillows. Jeri had just dropped her off after the cancelled game. She heard a scritch, scritch, scritch on her closed bedroom door.
“Patches? Hang on, girl.” She got up and opened the door a crack to let the cat in her room. “Come on in, kitty cat. I know, girl, I never have my door closed. But sometimes I need privacy.”
Patches chirped her entrance and wound around Marlee’s legs. Marlee plopped back on the bed in a sitting position and patted her lap. “C’mon, kitty. Come up.”
The cat jumped up on Marlee’s lap, circled a few times, and finally settled down. “Good girl.” She thought about Susie as she absentmindedly stroked the cat. Patches purred. Marlee had talked on the phone with Susie every day since that first Friday evening when she and Jeri had made the long trip to East Valley. She couldn’t believe someone as pretty and wonderful and smart and funny as Susie would be interested in her. She tried not to think too closely about the fact that she had such strong feelings for another girl. She couldn’t quite wrap her mind around that and reasoned that she just had an attraction for one particular person and it didn’t have to mean anything earth shattering. It was just Susie for goodness sake.
Susie. Does Susie get butterflies in her stomach the way I do? Marlee smiled as she scratched Patches behind the ears. Did Susie make a list of things to talk about that first time, too? Does Susie get nervous when I pitch to her? Marlee made a mental note to ask her during their next phone conversation, which would be the next day, of course. Waiting to talk to Susie again wasn’t so bad since they could talk every day on the phone, but waiting to see her again was nerve-wracking.
Marlee jumped when her mother rapped on her closed bedroom door.
“Marlee? Can I come in?”
“Sure, Mom. Patches and I were just trying to solve the world’s problems.”
“Come up with anything?”
Marlee laughed. “Not really. Patches isn’t much for talking.” She smiled and moved toward the wall to make room for her mother to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Marlee, Mrs. Stratton called this afternoon.”
“Mrs. Stratton?” Marlee tried to stay cool, but alarm bells went off inside her head. Maybe she hadn’t escaped the wrath of Stratton after all.
“She’s concerned with your focus in class. She said you haven’t been putting in your best effort lately and your quiz grades haven’t been up to par.”
“Mom, I’m doing fine.”
“Well, Marlee, Mrs. Stratton seems to think otherwise, so I’m taking away your phone privileges.”
“What?” Marlee hadn’t meant the word to come out quite as strong as it did, but she couldn’t have her phone taken away. She just couldn’t. How would she talk to Susie? “Mom, c’mon. My phone? I’m not doing that bad.”
Her mother raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, okay. Maybe I was daydreaming one time. But that was only one time. C’mon, Mom. That’s so not fair.” Her voice was rising around the growing knot in her throat.
“Marlee, when Mrs. Stratton calls and tells me things are getting better then you can have your phone back. So no phone calls on school nights. You can make phone calls on the weekends, but only after all of your homework is finished. Understood?”
“But, Mom—” Marlee whined.
“Understood?” Marlee’s mother’s tone was grim and she held fast. Marlee knew she wasn’t going to get anywhere.
“Yeah. Okay. Fine.” Marlee sank lower in the bed and looked away from her mother.
“You can keep your cell phone, but only for emergencies.” She stood up. “Okay, I’ll leave you and Patches to finish fixing the world. Good night, honey.”
“‘Night,” Marlee mumbled as her mother closed the bedroom door. “Mom?” Marlee called.
The door opened slightly. “Yes, honey?”
“You’ll have to tell my friend Susie about my, uh, phone restrictions when she calls tomorrow.”
“Okay. I will. Good night.” Her mother closed the door again.
Marlee briefly entertained the idea of calling Susie from her cell phone anyway, but figured her mother would find out somehow. And she didn’t have text messaging on her phone so that was out. And besides, her mother got the cell phone bill so she’d know if Marlee used the phone. Marlee lamented not having a computer at home. She could have emailed or IM’d Susie all day and night and her mother would never know, but Marlee didn’t have a computer at home. Her mother had promised that by the start of her senior year they would finally get one. Her mother wanted to use it for her real estate business as well. But even if they had a computer it would probably be in the living room where her mother could see what she was doing. So, no, a computer wasn’t going to help anyway. And it wasn’t like she could ask Jeri to use her cell phone. Jeri would get too nosy. She’d want to know who Marlee was calling and why. Too risky. What about the school pay phone? No, that wouldn’t work either because Susie would be at school when she tried to call. And besides, Mrs. Stratton or Coach Spears would probably walk by just as she picked up the phone. Marlee became firmly convinced that the entire world was unfair when she realized that she didn’t even know Susie’s home address.
Marlee took a deep breath and held it. When her lungs threatened to burst she exhaled slowly, eyes closed. She consoled herself with the knowledge that Susie was coming to her game on Saturday. If she worked hard on Friday night she might be able to get all her homework done by game time the next day. She hoped her mother would let her go out with Susie after the game. She just had to. Marlee fell asleep praying that it was just her phone privileges that had been revoked.
WHEN MARLEE WOKE early Saturday morning she leaped out of bed like it was Christmas morning. She had even finished every ounce of her homework the night before. It had taken her until two in the morning to do it, but it was all done. She asked her mom to drop her off at the fields early so she could get her head together before pitching in front of Susie. Marlee usually liked to be the first one on the field anyway, but today was special. Susie was coming. And this time, Susie wasn’t a competitor. This time, Susie was coming to watch her. The perfect day she ordered was delivered. Lazy cotton-ball clouds made their way slowly across the baby blue backdrop. And despite the slight chill in the air, the sunshine felt wonderfully warm on her face. Thankfully, there was no sign of snow.
She put her softball gear on the bench and took out her cleats. As she put them on she watched the sparrows flit from the outfield grass to the batters’ boxes. A sparrow chirped its pleasure while taking a dirt bath in one of the semi-permanent ruts. Miniature puffs of dirt blew in all directions. Marlee felt bad for the tiny bird because its day at the spa was about to be disrupted by two noisy softball teams.
Cleats finished, she pulled out her glove and rubbed the pocket absentmindedly. She looked at the empty bleachers and thought she should ask Susie not to sit right behind home plate. She was nervous enough, and if she had to look at Susie with every pitch she wouldn’t be able to concentrate. It was going to be hard enough as it was.
“Hi, Marlee.”
Marlee jumped. She hadn’t seen her coach walk up.
“You’re here early.” Coach Spears took out her scorebook and lineup cards.
“Uh, yeah, my Mom dropped me off. She has a house to show this afternoon.” Not exactly a lie.
“Seems like you’ve recovered from your...” h
er coach paused clearly trying to find the right words, “setback.”
Momentarily confused, Marlee suddenly realized that her coach was referring to her breakup with Bobby over a week ago. She said, “Oh, yeah. I bounced back.” Right into Susie’s arms. “I’m gonna take my laps now.” Marlee jumped up and spun away from her coach in order to hide her smile. She sprinted up the right field line. The bulk of her teammates, including Lisa and Jeri, arrived while Marlee was taking her last lap around the field.
“Hey, Marlee,” Jeri shouted as Marlee rounded left field and sprinted toward the Cougar bench.
“What’s up, kids?”
“What are we doing after the game today? Lisa wants to go to bowling.”
Lisa added, “Since you’re single now, we figured you’d have more time for the rest of us.”
Marlee smiled. Lisa had called her single. What they didn’t know was that Marlee had been single for only a few days. And, actually, Marlee did want to hang out with her friends. Just not tonight! She supposed that she and Susie could go to the bowling alley with the team, but then they’d have to wait even longer to be alone. She scrambled for an excuse. “Oh, I think I’d better take a rain check.” She fumbled, “I told you guys that Mrs. Stratton called my mom, didn’t I? I have to stay home and work on calculus.” She turned to Jeri. “You saw Mrs. Stratton give me grief for not having my homework.”
Jeri seemed surprised at Marlee’s sudden interest in homework on a Saturday night. “Uh, yeah, you’ve been a real slacker lately. Maybe next time.” She smacked Lisa on the arm and said, “C’mon, let’s take our laps.”
Marlee groaned. Her heart hurt. She didn’t like deceiving her friends. If she could only tell them what Susie meant to her, surely at least one of them would understand. But then again, she didn’t fully understand it herself. She didn’t exactly know what Susie meant to her yet. Marlee walked to her pitching area to wait for Lisa to finish her laps. Marlee looked around. No sign of Susie.
The game got underway and Marlee tried to concentrate, but found it difficult as she continually scanned the stands for Susie. As the game wore on, Marlee became frustrated on several levels. She had already walked five batters in five innings and she never walked that many. And to top it off, Susie still wasn’t there.
“Marlee McAllister.” Lisa pulled Marlee aside as the Southbridge team took the field for the bottom of the fifth inning. “Look me in the eye and tell me you’re giving it everything you’ve got.”
“Chill out, Lisa. I’m cool.”
Marlee started to walk away from her catcher, but Lisa held onto Marlee’s uniform sleeve. Marlee had no choice but to turn around and face her.
“Marlee, you pulled that one on me in the East Valley game. I’m on to you.”
Marlee swallowed hard. On to what?
Lisa continued. “When you’re on I can feel your focus, right on me. When you’re off, like now, I can tell you’re scattered. Where is your mind?”
“Did Coach send you over here?”
“No, she didn’t.” Exasperated, Lisa glared at Marlee. “Geez, Marlee, what is going on with you?”
Marlee looked up at the taller girl with reservation. Lisa’s light brown eyes flashed with anger. Marlee softened. “Lisa, I’m sorry. I...” She couldn’t tell Lisa about her total infatuation with Susie so she used the same line on Lisa that had seemed to work on her coach, “I’ve been distracted lately.”
“I know,” Lisa roared. Several of their teammates turned to look at them. She brought her voice down. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Stay with me when you’re pitching. Look at me. Pull yourself in. You are such a better pitcher than,” she gestured toward the pitcher’s circle, “that!” She stormed away.
Marlee was mortified that Lisa had reamed her out in front of her teammates, but was relieved that Susie hadn’t seen. She snatched up her water bottle and sulked on the end of the team bench. She rubbed at her glove until her fingers felt hot. She sighed and snuck a peek over her shoulder at the parking lot. Her heart leaped when she saw Susie walking toward the field. She wore a faded pair of blue jeans and her East Valley softball jacket. Susie had her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Even pulled back her hair is beautiful. Marlee couldn’t help the smile that crept across her face.
When the Cougars took the field again for the top of the sixth inning, Marlee knew she shouldn’t look at Susie. Everyone would know she had a crush on her if she did. Focusing on Lisa suddenly became a lot easier to do. Lisa’s eyes flared behind the catcher’s mask.
The Southbridge batter stepped into the batter’s box. With a start Marlee realized what everybody else had probably already known. She had a no-hitter going. Because she had walked five Southbridge batters already, she couldn’t get a perfect game. And that’s why Lisa’s so pissed at me. She snuck a peek at Susie in the bleachers. Susie gave her a thumbs-up. Marlee waved hoping no one would notice. Susie smiled back. Focus, Marlee reprimanded herself and turned back to Lisa.
Marlee struck out all three Southbridge batters. She was one inning away from her first-ever no-hitter. In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cougars added one more run to their lead with a Lisa Brown-in-the-park solo homerun to make the score 5-0 in the Cougars’ favor. Marlee needed three more outs in the top of the seventh inning and the no-hitter was hers. She struck out the first batter. One down. The second batter conveniently grounded out to the Cougar shortstop on the first pitch. Two down. One more out to go.
The third Southbridge batter of the inning stepped up to the plate. Marlee threw the fastball that Lisa requested. The batter hit a routine fly ball to center field. Jeri will have that one easily, Marlee thought and felt a smile creep up her face. She glanced out to center field and to her horror saw Jeri fighting with the sun. Jeri was trying to use her glove to shade her eyes, but it obviously didn’t help because the ball sailed over her head for a basehit. Marlee groaned along with the fans. She had lost her no-hitter. The Southbridge batter stood on first base pumping her fist as if she had just won the World Series. There was nothing Marlee could do except pitch to the next batter, whom she struck out with a fastball, curveball, fastball combination to end the inning and the game.
The fans and players from both teams applauded and gave Marlee a standing ovation. She beamed with pride when she saw Susie applaud like the number one fan Marlee hoped she would be. Susie flashed a big-toothed smile. Marlee smiled in turn and then tipped her hat to the people in the stands.
Lisa waited for Marlee to acknowledge the crowd and then got nose-to-nose. “See what you can do when you listen to me?”
“Yeah,” Marlee said sheepishly. “You were right.” They growled into each other’s faces and laughed their way arm-inarm to the Southbridge high-five line.
Her teammates mobbed her when she got back to the team bench.
Once Marlee freed herself from her teammates, Coach Spears clapped her on the back. “I don’t know how you turned that one around, McAllister, but keep it up.”
“Thanks, Coach.”
Marlee turned to look for Jeri. She scanned the field and found her sitting against the center field fence. Jeri held her head in her hands with her hat pulled down over her eyes. Her glove had obviously been thrown as far away as possible.
“Coach, I’ll go,” Marlee said as Coach Spears started to walk toward Jeri. Marlee ran out and plopped on the ground next to Jeri. “What’s up?”
Silence.
“If you’re worried about that ball in center field, don’t. It wasn’t your fault. And besides, how many batters did I walk today?”
No response.
“I’ll tell you. Five! Five batters. What’s up with that? Look, Jeri, I’m just as happy with a one-hitter. You know my dad told me once that Tom Seaver never pitched a no-hitter with the Mets. So the way I see it, I’m in good company. And besides, I’ve never pitched a one-hitter either. Leaves a little room for improvement, right?”
Still nothing.
Marlee ke
pt trying. “And besides, maybe I’m saving my no-hitter perfect game for that stupid East Valley team.”
Jeri snickered in spite of herself. “Stop trying to cheer me up, Marlee.” She pushed Marlee away without any real conviction. “I suck! I just couldn’t find the ball. The sun was right in my eyes. I had my hat on and I used my glove to block the sun like Coach taught us. But I just lost it. I’m so sorry.” She jabbed at a tear and covered her face again. “You probably hate me,” she muttered from behind her hands.
“I don’t hate you. I’m just bummed that you’re not celebrating. We just won our game, you dork. Now would you get up? Outfielders are so lazy.” She pushed her friend over and then jumped up to run away.
“Oh, you are going to be so sorry you did that.” Jeri chased Marlee around the outfield. When Jeri stopped to pick up her glove, Marlee kept running. She ran back toward the bleachers to finally greet Susie properly.
“Aay, the one that got away,” Susie said.
“I know. What are you gonna do? Jeri feels so bad.” Marlee looked over and watched Jeri get mobbed by her teammates who also seemed to want a shot at cheering her up.
Susie smiled. An apology in her eyes. “Hey, sorry I missed the first part of the game. I was at Christy’s and she didn’t want me to leave so I had to lie about where I was going. And then it took, like, forever to get here.”
Marlee understood about lying. She probably would have lied to Jeri about where she was going, too. But Marlee was becoming more and more uneasy about the amount of time Susie seemed to spend with Christy. She didn’t mention her uneasiness, she just said, “I know. We live too far apart.”
“I should have just come from home. Christy can live without me for a day, you know?” Susie pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
Marlee longed to do it for her, but knew she couldn’t.
Jeri, having broken free from her well-meaning teammates, joined them. She gave Susie a firm handshake and asked, “Girl, what in the world brings a Panther to Cougar territory on a Saturday afternoon?”
Barbara L. Clanton - Out of Left Field Page 9