by Tim Green
“I can if I see her, Jalen, but if you want my advice, you’ll tell her sorry yourself. With women, that’s the only way, in my experience,” Yager said before pausing. “Listen to me talking like I know what I’m saying. I’m thirty-five years old and still looking.”
They were both silent for a minute, the Lamborghini whisking past random cars, avoiding their red taillights like in a video game.
“I mean, what can he do?” Yager spoke like they had been in the middle of an entirely different conversation.
“You mean Foxx?” Jalen asked, even though he thought he knew.
“Yes. Him.”
“I don’t know,” Jalen said. “Ban me from the stadium?”
Yager shook his head.
Jalen bit his lip. “Take away the tickets?”
“Exactly,” Yager said.
“But . . . can’t you stop him?”
73
“I ALREADY DID.” YAGER REACHED into the inside pocket of his coat and produced four blue-and-white tickets. “So now he can’t mess us up at the will call window or anything.”
“So, we’re set,” Jalen said.
“Right, it seems like that, but that’s what’s got me worried.” Yager scratched the stubble on his jaw.
“Why?”
“He’s not as smart as you, but he’s smart, really smart,” Yager said. “And I just didn’t like the way he acted, bringing you guys into the clubhouse, walking away with a smile like that.”
“If he wanted to,” Jalen asked, “couldn’t he just not sign you? Even if you bat a thousand?”
Yager shook his head. “He wouldn’t do that, because I told Tom Verducci what’s going on, and he already ran a story on SI.com. Foxx went on record with Verducci about how everything is all about numbers. He’s too proud to back down. I don’t know, though, he seems so confident that this won’t work. It’s like he knows something that we don’t.”
“But what?” Jalen asked.
Yager looked over at him as he steered the car off the highway and into Rockton. “I was hoping you could tell me.”
74
JALEN RACKED HIS BRAIN BUT came up with nothing.
They wheeled through town and came to the train station. A white halo of light glowed in the night. Dozens of construction lights fixed to posts and machinery illuminated the diner. Men in yellow hard hats flitted in and out. It was as busy as a beehive.
“Wow.” Jalen realized he’d been saying that a lot lately. “Thank you for this.”
Yager chuckled. “Good old Harvey.”
“Harvey?” Jalen wrinkled his nose.
“Harvey Greenland. Big Yankees fan and a friend. It’s his construction company.” Yager craned his neck as he eased the sports car across the tracks and through the clutter of trucks, generators, and machinery. “He said he could have things back up and running in two days, but he didn’t mention two nights. Guy’s a beaut.”
“You don’t have to drive me all the way.” Jalen knew the curvy gravel road to his house would leave the Lamborghini coated in dust. “I can walk from here.”
“It’s not a problem.” Gravel clattered against the car’s undercarriage until Yager stopped next to Jalen’s father’s van.
“So,” Jalen said. “I forgot to ask, but did you have to give away Daniel’s seat for tomorrow, too?”
Yager twisted his lips. “Yes, I did. Man, I know that Chris is just a kid, but what a jerk.”
“You should see his dad.”
“If he’s half as bad as he sounds on the phone, I don’t have to see him.”
“He is,” Jalen said.
“Sounds like a good coach, though.” Yager snorted. “From what he says, anyway.”
“He does win.”
“With a pitcher like his kid, it isn’t a wonder.”
“Were you that good at twelve?” Jalen asked. “Is every major league player?”
Yager peered at him in the light of the dashboard. “You worried about making it to the big leagues?”
Jalen shrugged. “I guess.”
“School first, then baseball,” Yager said.
“I know,” said Jalen.
Yager gave Jalen’s shoulder a squeeze. “Jalen, with what you know, and from the swing I saw, you really could make it. It takes a ton of work, though.”
“And being on a good team so people notice you.” Jalen sighed.
“That’s probably true,” Yager said. “Well, you better get in. Your dad is probably wondering what happened to you.”
Jalen hesitated. “Thanks, Mr. Yager.”
“Hey, call me JY, will you?” Yager stifled a yawn. “And I’m the one thanking you, remember? We do this again tomorrow, and everything changes.”
“What happens after that?” Jalen asked.
Yager shook his head. “Don’t even think about that. Let’s just get through tomorrow.”
“You say it like there’s something wrong,” Jalen said.
“I can’t say what it is,” Yager said. “Just a feeling, and not a feeling I like.”
75
JALEN’S DAD SAT WAITING FOR him on the couch, reading a paperback spy novel written in Italian. He smiled at the sight of his son. “Jalen! They won again, the Yankees. Mr. Yager, he’s happy?”
“Yes, Dad.”
His father stood up. “Good. Good. The diner, they’re working like . . . beavers. Busy beavers, right?”
Jalen smiled and yawned, and his dad insisted they both get to bed. Jalen collapsed and didn’t wake up until the six a.m. train shook the pictures on the walls.
School was a circus. By now everyone had heard about the Calamari Kid—a name Jalen hated, because the truth was that he was a baseball genius. He wanted to grab the microphone in the office and shout a schoolwide announcement that luck had nothing to do with it, but he had enough problems with Cat already and didn’t need to spoil things with Yager on top of it all.
At lunch Cat sat with Chris and his gang. Daniel gushed about how well Rockets practice had gone without Chris there, and then he peppered Jalen for details about the Yankees game and Yager batting a thousand.
“I told you already, Daniel. It was a 2–2 count, and I knew it was gonna be a sinker.” Jalen had told him twice already, once in homeroom, but Daniel was bouncing in his seat.
“Yeah, but what did Yager do? What did he look like? I can’t believe I missed it.” Daniel struck his forehead and accidentally knocked over his milk. “Talk about unfair. And Cat doesn’t even feel sorry for me. It’s like she’s blaming me for your rotten behavior.”
“Rotten?” Jalen choked on a pretzel. “What did I do that was so bad?”
Daniel tilted his head. “What did you do?”
Jalen glanced over at Cat, pretty as ever and having a laugh with Dirk and Chris. He couldn’t control himself. It was too much.
“Where you going?” Daniel’s mouth fell open.
Jalen didn’t reply. He marched over and took Cat by the arm. He tugged her up out of her seat and had her halfway to his table before she dug her heels in and cuffed him in the back of the head.
“Ow!” Jalen spun on her.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Cat screeched.
Chris was up out of his seat now, and he glowered at Jalen. “Hands off, Calamari.”
76
“I GOT THIS, CHRIS.” CAT spoke through her teeth.
Chris balled his meaty hands into fists. “But—”
“Chris!” Cat directed Chris back to his table with a rigid finger, and he went.
Jalen felt suddenly weak. He leaned toward her to whisper, “You can’t do this, Cat. You gotta come back. I’m sorry. Didn’t James tell you last night?”
“You mean my future stepfather?” Cat looked around, speaking low, but with all the bitterness of shouting. “When he came over to see my mom?”
“I didn’t mean it about them,” Jalen said. “It was stupid.”
“Yes, it was stupid, but you did mean it.” Cat tore
her arm loose. “Now leave me alone.”
“Cat, you don’t have to hang out with me and Daniel, but don’t sit with Chris and those goons. You’re better than that.” Jalen felt sick.
“Why? Because he’s big? Because he’s not cute like you? It’s not about the outside, Jalen. If you don’t know that about me by now, you probably never will.” Cat stared hard at him with her blue eyes boiling.
Jalen was struck by the fact that she had just called him cute. He wanted to tell her about the name Chris had called him, beneath his rotten breath. He knew Cat would never go for that, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was a gurgle.
“Yeah, see? Nothing to say.” Cat scowled and turned to go. “See you later, Jalen. We’ll pick you up at the same time. Don’t worry. I won’t ruin my future stepfather’s comeback.”
Jalen felt his face burning. Everyone stared. A flash went off as someone took a picture. He could imagine the tagline: Calamari Kid Crumbles. He didn’t care. He sat back down next to Daniel.
“What was that?”
Jalen stared at the table. “Something bad.”
“I’ll say.”
Jalen dragged himself through the rest of the day. At some point—he wasn’t sure when—he began to resent Cat. Why did she have to ruin this? He already shared Yager’s ominous feeling that something was going to go wrong. Why couldn’t Cat be her good old self? Forgiving and forgetting and helping?
When he got off the bus at the end of the day, Jalen grumbled a good-bye to Daniel. There were fewer trucks outside the diner. The crane was gone, and Jalen noticed the glass in the front had been replaced. He went up the front steps before a workman stopped him.
“It’s my dad’s place,” Jalen said.
“Oh yeah.” The worker took a closer look at Jalen. “You’re that kid. The Calamari Kid.”
“Great,” Jalen said.
“Hey, just put a hard hat on, okay?” The man handed him a yellow hat. “Boss will have my hide if you don’t. Your dad’s in the kitchen with him, last I saw.”
Jalen wandered in, amazed at how good everything looked. When he entered the kitchen, he had no doubts the diner would be ready for the next night.
Now all they needed was something to celebrate.
77
JALEN LEFT HIS DAD AND went back home to change his clothes. He reheated the baked ziti on the stove and tried to eat some but only managed a few bites before giving in to his nerves. They had some math homework for the weekend, and he fiddled with that a bit until it was time to go.
The day had turned cool, so Jalen slipped on his Yankees hooded sweatshirt and headed down the path. Cat’s mom’s Range Rover was already waiting for him on the corner, and when he saw it he broke into a run, gravel crunching beneath his sneakers. When he reached the SUV, he braced himself for a dose of Chris, then flung open the back door.
Daniel grinned out at him.
“What?” Jalen had no words beyond that.
“Yeah, it’s me. Now you got all the luck on your side.” Daniel pounded his chest.
Jalen looked at Cat, but she still wasn’t talking to him. Cat’s mom had her hair pulled back into a ponytail, and it was easy to see why Cat was so pretty. The daughter of a woman so beautiful couldn’t help it.
“How?” Jalen asked.
“I don’t know, but who cares?” Daniel laughed. “Chris called me up and said he wanted me to have his ticket.”
“For what? What did you have to give him?”
“Nothing. He just did it!”
Jalen felt his stomach sink. “Chris doesn’t do anything for nothing.”
“He did say he wanted to save up any favors so he could come when the Yankees play the Red Sox.” Daniel was obviously trying to help explain the situation.
“I just don’t like it,” Jalen said. “Cat?”
Jalen was too upset to care about their feud.
“Tell Jalen that maybe he was wrong about Chris after all.” Cat turned and spoke just to Daniel. “Tell him he shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Most of all, remind him he’s got a job to do, and we all hope he’ll focus on that.”
Cat turned back around facing front.
Jalen wanted to pinch her. He was so mad, he pinched himself.
Daniel saw him and said, “Dude, that’s not right.”
They parked in the same VIP spot in the garage next to the stadium and went directly to the stadium like old pros. They had some time and felt comfortable enough to sit in the VIP Club at a table so Daniel, Cat, and her mom could eat some of the fine food. Jalen simply got a ginger ale that he sipped. None of them asked him to explain. They knew the pressure he was under and it made their whole group quiet, even Daniel.
Jalen did see the old-timer he’d spoken to on Wednesday night, but he was busy at his carving station and took no notice of Jalen. There was no sign of the GM, even when they went out into the stands and took their seats next to the dugout. Jalen cast a long look up at the owner’s box, and no one was looking down with any binoculars that he could see, but he took out his sunglasses anyway.
Yager seemed nervous as well. When the Yankees took infield warm-ups, he fumbled two grounders and threw wide of first base another time. Jalen tried to read Yager’s face, hoping to see a positive outlook that Jalen didn’t feel himself. It was weird. Everything should have been smooth. Daniel had replaced Chris and now sat next to Jalen, patting his back and telling him he was “the Man.” There was still no sign of Foxx and his nasty scowl. All should be well, but it was too easy.
Everyone stood for the national anthem, and when Jalen took his seat, he pushed all the doubts and questions from his mind. Cat was right about what she’d said in the car; he had a job to do, a job that could change the lives of not just James Yager and Jalen DeLuca, but his dad too, and that was what enabled him to dial in and concentrate.
Michael Pineda took the hill for the Yankees and sat the first three White Sox batters down. The crowd roared its approval. The Sox sent Dylan Fanale to the mound. Fanale had rocketed up through the minors the previous season, and he had looked like the real deal so far. Jalen knew he had a big arm, but without the movement Holton or even Quintana could put on the ball. Jalen knew Fanale killed people with his changeup. But if Yager knew when the changeup was coming, he could slaughter it.
The Sox finished their warm-up at the bottom of the first, and Ellsbury stepped up to the plate. Jalen narrowed his eyes and leaned forward to study Fanale. On a 3–2 count, Ellsbury fouled down the right field line. The pitch most likely should have been the four-seam fastball, but Jalen suddenly knew Fanale was going to throw his curveball.
He did, and Ellsbury missed it, swinging for the wall.
The next two Yankee batters went down as well, Gardner on a pop fly and Hall whiffing on three in a row. If this kept up, Yager might only need to go three-for-three a second night in a row. Perfection would be that much easier.
The first thing that went wrong happened with the third Sox batter in the top of the second. Pineda had put the first two down when the third batter dribbled a grounder to Yager at second. Yager snapped it up and cranked his hips as he fired the ball harder than he had to. Tollerson leaped and stretched, but nothing could have let him snag such an errant throw.
The crowd murmured, then rallied and cheered Pineda on.
The magic had been broken, though. The Sox scored two runs, and it was Yager who’d given them life. It made what he did at the plate that much more important, and Jalen knew Yager would be feeling it. Anyone would.
The good news was, Jalen had Fanale all figured out, and Yager just might get the chance to redeem himself in the bottom of the second.
Fanale walked Tegan Tollerson right out of the gate, making a Yager at bat highly likely. Jalen clenched his teeth and watched, muttering the pitches to himself. Daniel kept giving him hopeful looks, and even Cat looked over with a question in her eyes. Jalen didn’t smile at her, but he gave a businesslike thumbs-up.
Yager gave Jalen a quick glance from the on-deck circle, and Jalen answered with a forced smile. James smiled too and circled the plate before staring hard at Jalen.
That was when two thick-necked stadium security guards appeared to take Jalen away.
78
THE GUARDS’ FACES MIGHT HAVE been cut from blocks of ice.
“Excuse me, Jalen DeLuca?” The taller of the two spoke. “You need to come with us.”
Jalen obeyed at the sight of them. He jerked up out of his seat like a puppet on strings.
“Wait one minute.” Cat’s mom rose from her seat as well, blocking Jalen. “What’s this all about?”
The action on the field didn’t stop. Jalen heard Fanale’s pitch pop into the catcher’s mitt.
“Strike!” called the umpire.
Jalen took a quick glance at Yager, who had stepped out of the box and was staring at him. Yager’s face had lost all its color.
“This young man stole some stadium property, and the GM needs to talk with him about it,” the shorter guard said.
“What are you even talking about?” Cat’s mom raised her voice. “We were given these tickets by James Yager!”
“Mr. Foxx told us if there were any questions, we were to show you this.” The guard reached into the pocket of his dark-blue Windbreaker and removed a tiny bottle filled about a third of the way with dirt.
Jalen recognized in his own block-letter handwriting YANKEE STADIUM INFIELD, as well as Yager’s signature.
“It’s dirt,” Cat’s mom said to the guards.
The shorter guard pointed at Jalen. “Yeah, and he was specifically told to put it back.”
“Is this true?” Cat’s mom asked.
Jalen nodded, and she let the guard by. The guards took him by each arm. Jalen thought he might throw up.
“Wait,” Cat’s mom said, “I’m coming with you. Cat and Daniel, you wait right here. I’ll be back.”
Jalen couldn’t help turning, glaring at Daniel, and spitting his words. “You said you didn’t have to give Chris anything to get him to give you his ticket.”