Sliding into Home

by Dori Hillestad Butler

  Brooke. Joelle would recognize that snobby voice anywhere.

  The other person answered, but her voice was just a mumble. It sounded like Elizabeth, but Joelle couldn’t be sure.

  Joelle toweled off her hair. She wasn’t exactly eavesdropping, but she couldn’t help overhearing Brooke’s part of the conversation.

  “Oh, come on,” Brooke was saying. “It’s not like you’re a real team yet. What’s the big deal if you miss one little meeting?”

  There was no doubt about it. Brooke was talking to Elizabeth about their baseball meeting tomorrow morning! That made Joelle so mad. Elizabeth didn’t need any pressure from Joelle to play baseball. But she didn’t need any pressure from Brooke not to play, either.

  Pulling her towel tighter around her, Joelle stormed over to the lockers. Water dripped from her hair and landed on her bare shoulders.

  Brooke and Elizabeth both jumped when they saw Joelle. A couple of the other girls who were getting dressed in that area stepped back out of the way.

  “What are you guys talking about?” Joelle asked, glancing from Brooke to Elizabeth.

  “Nothing.” Elizabeth grabbed a pair of socks from her locker and sat down on the bench without looking at Joelle.

  Brooke stood up a little straighter. “We’re playing Greendale Academy next week. They’re a tough team, so I want to have an extra practice tomorrow morning. But apparently Elizabeth has other plans.”

  Joelle set her shampoo down on the bench. “Tomorrow’s Saturday. You can’t schedule an extra practice on a Saturday and expect everyone to show up,” she said. It didn’t matter that she herself had shown up for plenty of Saturday practices when she played for the Blue Jays in Minneapolis. And she probably would have grumbled about any Blue Jay who didn’t show up. But that wasn’t the point.

  “Joelle,” Elizabeth said in a this-is-between-me-and-Brooke tone of voice. But Joelle wasn’t about to let Brooke walk all over her friend.

  Brooke slammed her locker door closed. “Hey, it’s up to you,” she told Elizabeth. “Just get your priorities straight, okay?” She quickly gathered up her gym bag and left the locker room.

  All the other girls glared at Joelle and Elizabeth, then followed Brooke. Elizabeth stared at the floor.

  Joelle sat down on the bench next to Elizabeth. “Are they giving you a hard time about playing baseball?” Elizabeth hadn’t even committed to the girls’ league yet.

  Elizabeth shrugged. “I can handle it.”

  What should I do? Joelle wondered. Tell Elizabeth to skip our meeting and go to softball practice? Yell at Brooke some more?

  “Look, don’t worry about it,” Elizabeth said. “It’s my problem, okay?”

  Joelle bit her lip. Elizabeth was right. She had to stay out of this. She knew she was acting pushy again. And it really wasn’t any of her business. “Okay,” Joelle said. “Whatever you decide. Like Brooke said, it’s totally up to you.”

  But she sure hoped Elizabeth chose baseball.

  “So, how did everybody’s phone calls go? Were people still interested in the league?” Joelle asked as the girls gathered around the swings at Center Park the next morning.

  She glanced around the group. Elizabeth was sitting in one of the swings, twisting the chains around and around. She really had skipped her softball practice to be here today.

  A true friend, Joelle thought.

  “This one girl from Merrill said most of her softball team was interested,” Leah spoke up.

  “Great,” Joelle said, nodding. She sat down cross-legged on the grass next to Nikki.

  “Yeah, but none of them wants to start until summer,” Leah went on. “They all think it would be too hard to do two sports at once.”

  “A girl in Fairmont said they already have nine players. They just need a couple of alternates and they’ll have a whole team,” one of the twins put in. Joelle wasn’t sure whether she was Paige or Paula.

  “That’s great!” Nikki said.

  “We don’t need many more girls here in Greendale, either,” Elizabeth pointed out.

  “I guess our next step is finding a place to play,” Tara said.

  “Why can’t we just keep playing here?” Joelle asked. “It’s a public park. We’re part of the public, right?”

  “Sure,” Mandi agreed. The other girls nodded.

  “We also need a team name,” Joelle said.

  “It’s got to be something that fits us all,” Mandi said thoughtfully.

  “Well, we all come from Greendale,” Leah said.

  “A lot of teams have animal names,” Elizabeth said. “What are some animals that start with G?”

  “Gorilla, gecko, giraffe, goat, goose …” The more talkative twin counted them off on her fingers.

  Tara scrunched up her nose. “The Greendale Geese?”

  Everyone laughed.

  “Uh, I don’t think so.” Mandi shook her head. “But Greendale Geckos has a nice ring to it.”

  “Yeah, but what is a gecko?” Tara wanted to know.

  “I think it’s a lizard,” Nikki said.

  “A lizard!” Leah shrieked.

  The group laughed even harder this time.

  “How about the Greendale Green Sox?” Elizabeth spoke up.

  “Not bad,” said Joelle. “It sounds like a real baseball team.

  Anybody else have any nominations?”

  “It does sound like a real team name,” Mandi said. “Like a professional team.”

  “Except it’s not,” Leah put in.

  “I know,” Mandi said. “That’s why I like it.”

  “Well then, everyone in favor of Green Sox say ‘aye,’” Joelle said.

  “Aye!” all the girls except Tara and Paula chorused.

  “I liked Geckos,” Paula said timidly. “That was unique.”

  “Socks are kind of lame,” Tara said.

  “Oh yeah?” Nikki said. “Do you think the Red Sox are lame? Or the White Sox?”

  “Well, the White Sox are pretty lame,” Tara said. “But that’s sort of beside the point.”

  Nikki frowned. “Do you have any better ideas, then?”

  “No,” Tara said. “I guess not.”

  “Majority rules,” Nikki said.

  “All right,” Paula sighed.

  Tara shrugged. “Fine, you guys win,” she said. “We’ll be smelly green socks.”

  “Don’t worry,” Mandi said with a grin. “We won’t stink, I promise.”

  All of the other Green Sox giggled.

  “Great,” Joelle said. “So far we’ve got a name, a coach, and a sponsor. All we need now is one more player. Then we’ll have ourselves an actual team!”

  “Hi there, Joelle!” Mr. Shaw called cheerfully over the fence on Sunday afternoon.

  Joelle looked up from her notes. It was too nice a day to be cooped up inside, so she was practicing her opening statement for Goldilocks’s trial out on the deck.

  “I just got off the phone with Kathleen Kennedy,” Mr. Shaw said. Elizabeth was standing beside him, sort of bouncing from foot to foot.

  Joelle set her notes down and went over to the fence. “Who’s that?” she asked.

  “A softball coach in Chesterfield.” Elizabeth’s dad was beaming. “And she just got a whole baseball team together. Eleven players.”

  Joelle felt a stab of jealousy in her chest. “That puny little town got a whole team together already?” Chesterfield was even smaller than Greendale.

  “Hey, if they can find eleven players there, we ought to be able to find a lot more here in Greendale,” Elizabeth said. She looked almost as excited as her dad.

  “You’d think so,” Joelle said. The Green Sox had been making tons of phone calls and posting fliers. But they still didn’t have a full team.

  “Well, these Chesterfield girls are pretty anxious to play,” Mr. Shaw said. “They’re holding their first practice Saturday.

  So I thought maybe we should start practicing next Saturday, too.”

>   Joelle perked up. “Really?”

  Mr. Shaw shrugged. “I don’t see why not. It won’t be anything too tough, since a couple of the girls still have softball. Maybe a practice or two each week. Wednesdays and Saturdays.”

  “Sounds great!” Joelle said. “Let’s do it.”

  She couldn’t wait to play baseball again.

  “This court is now in session.” Mr. Hawkings banged a gavel on his podium at the front of the room. “The Honorable Judge Hawkings is presiding.”

  Several kids snickered.

  The room was arranged so that Brooke and Joelle’s chairs were out in front. The six jurors’ chairs were off to the side.

  “Are the attorneys ready to give their opening statements?” Judge Hawkings asked.

  “I am,” Brooke replied. She was dressed for the part, in a navy blue shirtdress that made her look a lot older.

  Probably her mom’s, Joelle told herself.

  “Me too, Your Honor,” Joelle said. Maybe she shouldn’t have worn her regular jeans and T-shirt. Brooke looked a lot more … professional than she did.

  Brooke stood up. “Your Honor, distinguished guests, and members of the jury, I will prove that Goldilocks is guilty of the crimes of assault, burglary, and destruction of property. She broke into the Bears’ house. She assaulted Papa Bear, stole their food, and broke their brand new chair. We recommend Goldilocks be punished to the full extent of the law.”

  Joelle got up and rolled her eyes dramatically the way she’d seen lawyers do on TV. “Your Honor, distinguished guests and members of the jury. Goldilocks is not the evil person the prosecution is making her out to be. She’s an honor student and community volunteer. She found herself lost in the woods for three days with no food and no water. She came upon a little house, knocked on the door and found nobody home. So she went inside. While she was inside, she ate some food. She accidentally broke a chair. And she did hit Papa Bear, but it was in self-defense. This whole thing has been blown way out of proportion. Goldilocks is a good person and she should be set free.”

  Brooke called her first witness. Jake Trembley stood up. He was dressed as a hunter in camouflage.

  “I warned Goldilocks not to go into the woods,” Jake told the court. “But she wouldn’t listen. She went in anyway.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Trembley,” Brooke said.

  “Had you ever met Goldilocks before?” Joelle asked Jake on cross-examination.

  “No.”

  “Then why should Goldilocks listen to you, a complete stranger? She could have gone into the woods just to get away from you because she wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers. Maybe that’s why she got lost.”

  Jake didn’t know what to say to that. Joelle felt proud of herself for thinking on her feet.

  Danielle, the girl who sat behind Brooke, played Mama Bear. She wore a headband with furry ears attached. Brooke walked her through her story about how the porridge was too hot, so the family decided to take a walk.

  Then Joelle stood up.

  “So Mama Bear, you claim that Goldilocks broke into your home. Isn’t it true that the door was left unlocked?”

  “Well, yes, but we were only gone for a few minutes,” Danielle answered.

  “How can you call it ‘breaking in’ if the door was unlocked?”

  Danielle’s eyes darted from Joelle to Brooke. She didn’t have an answer.

  Another point for my side, Joelle thought as she moved on. “Now, you’re a mother bear. That means you’re a good and kindhearted soul, correct?”

  “Yes.” Danielle eyed Joelle warily.

  “Well, if you’d been home when Goldilocks arrived at your door, hungry and thirsty and scared and confused, would you have invited her in?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “And would you have given her some porridge? Asked her to sit down? Maybe even let her take a nap in Baby Bear’s bed?”

  Danielle looked mad. “Well, I wasn’t home. And Goldilocks assaulted my husband!” she said.

  Several of the “witnesses” behind Joelle laughed.

  “Order in the court!” Judge Hawkings banged his gavel.

  Joelle raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t it true, Mama Bear, that Goldilocks was just trying to protect herself? Maybe she was just scared. After all, she’s just a little girl. And your husband is a big, scary bear.”

  “Objection, Your Honor!” Brooke jumped to her feet. “The lawyer is harassing my witness!”

  “Overruled! You may answer the question, Mama Bear,” Judge Hawkings said.

  “I forgot the question,” Danielle said in a small voice.

  “I said, Goldilocks is just a small girl. How could Goldilocks have assaulted Papa Bear? We haven’t heard any testimony about Papa Bear being injured,” Joelle pointed out.

  Mama Bear couldn’t argue with that.

  Next Caitlyn, as Baby Bear, stepped up on the witness stand. She was wearing bear ears like Danielle’s and pink pajamas with feet. Her hair was in pigtails and she carried a blanket and a teddy bear. She answered all of Brooke’s questions about that “mean old Goldilocks” in baby talk.

  “Okay, Baby Bear,” Joelle said when it was her turn to speak. “I understand Goldilocks ate all your porridge.”

  “That’s right,” Caitlyn said, sucking her thumb.

  “Couldn’t your mom just make you some more porridge?”

  “No. That was all the porridge we had.”

  “Couldn’t she have made you something else then?”

  “No. I only eat porridge.”

  Everyone giggled.

  Joelle rolled her eyes again. “You sure are picky, Baby Bear. I bet you had some porridge the day before Goldilocks came to your house, didn’t you?”

  “I don’t remember,” Caitlyn answered, pouting.

  “Come on. Mama Bear wouldn’t let you go a whole day without food. When you’re out of porridge, she probably goes to the store and buys more. But poor Goldilocks hadn’t had anything to eat for three whole days. Didn’t you feel sorry for her?”

  “No. She broke my chair.”

  “Yes, I know,” Joelle said. “It was an accident. She’s terribly sorry and she’s willing to buy you a new one. She doesn’t really need to go to jail, does she?”

  “Yes, she does!” Caitlyn insisted.

  “Why?” Joelle pressed.

  “Because she’s bad!” Caitlyn hugged her teddy bear.

  Joelle tried a new tactic. “You don’t like humans much, do you, Baby Bear?”

  “No.”

  “You might even be prejudiced against them.”

  Caitlyn bit her lip. She knew she’d made a mistake.

  Ha! Joelle thought. Got her!

  A few minutes later, it was time for Joelle to call her witnesses. All of them talked about how wonderful Goldilocks was and how shocked they were to hear she’d been accused of these crimes.

  Ryan played the Bears’ neighbor, Mr. Farnsworth. “The Bears are a fine family,” he said in a deep, serious voice. “They keep to themselves and don’t cause trouble.”

  “Would you say that the Bears are afraid of humans?” Joelle asked.

  “Definitely,” Ryan said.

  “And how was Goldilocks when you found her in the woods?” Joelle asked.

  “Really, really sick,” Ryan said. “It was terrible.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Farnsworth,” Joelle said.

  Ian Walsh, who played the doctor, claimed that Goldilocks was hungry and dehydrated and probably not in her right mind at the time.

  There wasn’t much Brooke could do with these witnesses in her cross-examination.

  I’m going to win this, Joelle thought triumphantly. That’ll show Brooke.

  Once all the witnesses had spoken, Brooke and Joelle gave their closing statements. Then the jury went out into the hall to make their decision.

  “You all did a terrific job,” Mr. Hawkings said. “It’ll be interesting to see what the jury decides.”

  All around th
e room, kids were whispering.

  Yes, Joelle thought. It will be very interesting to see what the jury decides. There was no doubt she’d presented the better case. She knew it and she was sure everybody else in the room knew it, too. She had just beaten the great Brooke Hartle!

  Joelle glanced across the aisle and found Brooke looking back at her. Brooke actually looked worried.

  Good, Joelle thought with satisfaction. She needs to lose every once in a while.

  The jury marched back into the room, single file. They looked very serious.

  “Has the jury reached a verdict?” Judge Hawkings asked.

  Joelle sat up a little straighter.

  The jury members all looked at each other. Then a boy stood up and said, “We have, Your Honor. We find the defendant, Goldilocks, guilty as charged.”

  What? Joelle’s mouth dropped open.

  Even Brooke looked surprised. Then a slow smile broke out across her face.

  No! This can’t be! Joelle told herself.

  But it was.

  She’d lost.

  “All right!” Several kids gathered around Brooke to congratulate her.

  Joelle turned away. How could the jury have found Goldilocks guilty? Didn’t they listen to the testimony? Or didn’t the facts matter?

  Was this whole trial just some sort of popularity contest?

  It wasn’t fair!

  The bell rang and kids charged toward the door.

  Joelle stayed in her seat.

  “Hey,” Ryan gave her a light punch on the arm as he passed. “You did a good job.”

  Joelle stared at her desktop. “Right. Thanks.”

  “Joelle?” Ryan frowned. “What’s the matter?”

  Joelle turned away as tears pricked her eyes. She never cried. Ever.

  “Why don’t you go on to class, Ryan?” Mr. Hawkings said, coming over. “See you tomorrow, okay?”

  Ryan nodded and left. The teacher leaned against the desk across from Joelle.

  Joelle raised her eyes. “I should have won,” she said tightly.

  “I presented the better case.”

  Mr. Hawkings rubbed his mustache. “I guess the jury didn’t see it that way.”

  “That’s because they all wanted Brooke to win,” Joelle said. “In a real trial, jurors make a decision based on evidence, not on personal feelings.”