by Tim Green
Daniel’s face flushed. He shrugged innocently and held up his hands. He looked confused and upset, but he didn’t deny it.
Another pitch smacked into the catcher’s glove out on the field behind Jalen.
“Strike!” barked the ump, signaling strike two.
Jalen couldn’t even look at the action on the field, and he choked on his words before turning away.
“Daniel, you ruined everything.”
79
THE GUARDS GENTLY TUGGED JALEN’S arms, and he moved between them up the stairs with Cat’s mom following closely, muttering to herself that the whole thing was unbelievable.
When they got to the top of the steps, the sound of Yager’s bat nicking the ball foul got even the guards’ attention, allowing Jalen to look past Cat’s mom and back down at his friends.
Cat and Daniel were both staring at him, as were most of the fans sitting in the premium seats. They seemed to care as much about the Calamari Kid being taken away by the authorities as Yager’s performance at the plate. Jalen ignored the stares, because his eyes were locked on Daniel.
His best friend still wore a look of complete stupor. But now, one of Daniel’s hands was open, palm up, helpless, and facing the sky. In the other hand, held high for Jalen to see, was Daniel’s bottle of lucky stadium dirt that he had removed from his pocket. Daniel then made a grand pointing gesture with his empty hand to make sure Jalen saw that indeed, Daniel hadn’t given away his dirt.
Jalen gasped when he realized what had happened.
It all came together like the numbers on the billboard in his brain. Cat getting so friendly with Chris. Cat saying he reminded her of her brother, Austin. Cat upset about her mom and Yager maybe becoming an item. Cat furious with Jalen for various reasons, including the scene in the cafeteria.
Cat was playing for the other team.
80
“LET’S GO, KID.” THE TALL guard tugged at him, and Jalen had to go.
They passed an usher and then slogged down more concrete steps, heading for the VIP Club and most likely the elevators beyond.
Inside the club Jalen saw his friend Mr. Moses, who’d carved him a prime rib sandwich two nights ago. The older man pressed his lips tight and shook his head sadly at the sight of Jalen. Jalen wagged his head to say that it wasn’t true, he wasn’t a bad kid. The motion died quickly, though, because deep down Jalen knew he really had taken the dirt, and he really had hid it from Yager, letting him believe that he’d put it all back until Daniel exposed him by asking JY to sign the bottles. So he had to ask himself: Could a thief and a liar really be a good kid?
He hung his head as an answer to his own question.
Out they went, into the concrete tunnel, and waited for the elevator in silence.
“Don’t worry, Jalen,” Cat’s mom suddenly said. “We’ll get this all straightened out.”
The elevator dinged and the doors rumbled open. Jalen couldn’t reply.
They stepped in and turned around. There was an operator in the elevator; otherwise they were alone. The doors had just begun to close when Daniel appeared out of nowhere.
He darted into the elevator car, jamming a finger down his throat in the same instant.
With a gag and a heave, Daniel lost his slushies all over the two security guards. The slick sound of stomach juice and the smell of acid and hot dog chunks shocked everyone.
With his free hand, Daniel pushed Jalen out through the closing doors.
One of the guards made a move for Jalen, but his feet slipped on the mess and flew right out from under him. As the doors thumped shut, Jalen heard the guard hit the floor with a howl.
Jalen stood motionless for a moment, just as the elevator operator must have been frozen inside the car. He looked around.
The tunnel was empty and he was alone.
Jalen took off like a rocket.
81
JALEN’S INSTINCTS CARRIED HIM BACK the way he came.
He was already six steps into the VIP Club when he realized there was nothing to go back to at the seats. Cat was there, but she was now the enemy, and it wouldn’t be long before more guards came to take him away.
He froze and turned, wondering if he could find his way through the maze to the players’ parking garage. Maybe he could hide in Yager’s car?
The thought vanished instantly, like the bad idea that it was, and Jalen found himself staring into the face of Mr. Moses, the old man in the tall white hat.
“You look to be in some trouble.” Mr. Moses looked around quickly, speaking quietly in his low voice.
There were shouts coming from the hallway now. The guards were back off the elevator.
“Here. Get in.” Mr. Moses stepped around his station and raised the table’s skirt, exposing the cart’s legs on wheels and a shelf below big enough for Jalen to sit on with crossed legs.
Mr. Moses fixed the skirt back around the trolley, enveloping Jalen in a gloomy light. Jalen heard footsteps clapping the floor. The toes of two beetle-black shoes appeared at the edge of the skirt, messy from Daniel’s vomit. Jalen heard heavy breathing, and the odor of throw-up crept beneath the skirt so that Jalen had to clench his throat with both hands to keep from gagging.
“Hey,” one of the guards said, “did you see the kid?”
Jalen froze.
“Kid?” Mr. Moses rumbled softly. “What kid?”
“He must have gone back out into the stands,” the other guard said. “Come on!”
“Maybe he stayed in the tunnel. This guy would’ve seen him.”
“Mr. Foxx is gonna have our hides.”
“No one’s gonna blame us. The kid barfed all over us, Jim. And the mom’s making excuses for him.”
“I think that woman—the mom—stepped in front of me on purpose, you believe that?”
“Come on.”
They clomped off, back the way they came.
After a long minute, Jalen heard Mr. Moses whisper, “They’re gone. I’m gonna wheel you outta here, so hang on.”
Slowly the cart began to move. Jalen held on to the legs to keep himself still. They’d gone quite a ways—Jalen figured they had to be nearly out of the club—when a voice called out behind them.
“Hey! Stop!”
It was a high-pitched voice, not of a guard, but something just as bad.
It was Cat.
“Hello, miss,” Mr. Moses rumbled. “Miss? Hey, miss . . .”
The skirt hiding Jalen was torn aside.
There stood Cat, eyes blazing.
“I found you.”
82
JALEN FROZE, NOT FROM TERROR, but from disappointment. Part of him didn’t care that the game was up. If Cat was against him, everything else seemed to matter a lot less.
She reached for Jalen’s arm, and he let her tug him out from under the roast station. “Come on, this way. Fast!”
Her voice had the tone of a fellow prisoner on the run, so Jalen had hope.
“Thanks, mister,” Cat said to Mr. Moses. “I got him now.”
She had him, all right. Cat hurried Jalen toward the stadium, talking as they went. “We can get you lost in the crowd. I’ll stash you, and then you can call me. I’ll signal James.”
They burst outside. An usher said, “Hey!”
Cat didn’t slow down, and Jalen was moving fast now too, keeping up. They went up and up, into the concession area and a sea of people. They found some stairs and kept climbing. When they reached the third tier, Cat led him out into the stands again. An usher stood watching the game, but Cat marched past him like they belonged. Now they went down, then over—excusing themselves as they bumped past people’s knees—into a spot where six seats sat empty. Out on the field, Yager stood atop third with Gregorius on first and Ellsbury at the plate.
Ellsbury’s bat cracked, and down below, the miniature shapes of men moved around the diamond, pushing Yager across home plate, exciting the crowd.
Hope sprang up in Jalen’s heart. “He made it on.”<
br />
Cat nodded. “Pulled a shot right down the third base line. Are you going to be able to read the pitches from up here?”
Jalen squinted down at the tiny figures. “It’s better when I can see their faces, but I should be able to get most of them anyway.”
“Because I think this is about as close as you can safely get.” Cat looked around, then leaned forward, peering down at the seats they’d been in. “I better get back and find my mom. She’s probably having a fit.”
“And Daniel,” Jalen said. “I wonder what happened to him. I can’t believe he actually sprang me free. Only Daniel could come up with an idea as crazy as puking on everyone.”
“Well . . .” Cat looked at her hands.
“It was your idea?”
She looked at him with those fiery blue eyes and smirked. “We had to do something.”
“Cat, I thought you were mad at me,” Jalen said.
“I am mad at you, Jalen.” She looked back at her hands. “I was, anyway.”
“I’m really sorry, Cat. I didn’t mean it. I was stupid.”
She smiled. “It’s okay. Friends forever, right? That’s why I’m here.”
Cat held out her hand. Jalen shook it and pulled her into a hug. “Best friends forever.”
Jalen let her go. “But how did they get that bottle of dirt?”
“Must have been from Chris,” Cat said. “He wanted Daniel’s and offered to trade Daniel for his game ticket. Daniel wouldn’t give his up, but I wanted Daniel to be with us, so I gave mine to Chris.”
“But how did Foxx get it?” Jalen asked.
Cat shrugged. “The two of them were pretty chummy the other day. Maybe Foxx had Chris on the lookout for it, or maybe Chris just saw an opportunity to suck up to the Yankees GM and gave him a call. Getting it would be easy. Just send someone up the road to pick it up and bring it back.”
Jalen gritted his teeth. “That rat.”
Cat handed him her phone. “Let’s not worry about all that now. Let’s just get in place so when James is up again, I can get him that signal. I’ve got my mom’s phone cued up. All you have to do is dial it.”
Jalen insisted they review the signals before he let her go. Gardner’s slow grounder was kept in the infield, just barely. Frazier held the ball, and the bases were loaded with Yankees. The crowd got to its feet, and that let Cat slip past. Jalen watched her disappear up the steps without looking back.
Hall popped out, ending the inning with the Yankees down 2–1. Jalen didn’t pay much attention to the Yankees in the field. He kept scanning the VIP section for a sign of Cat and her mom, still also wondering about Daniel. His throat grew tight from time to time at the thought of them all being detained, but it didn’t seem possible that the security guards would dare to do that to Cat’s mom. He doubted they’d think of him using Cat as his substitute for signals.
It was a brilliant plan.
Still, the game continued with no sign of Cat.
The Yankees gave up another run before ending the top of the third and jogging to the dugout. Jalen strained his eyes, but the four seats they’d occupied next to the on-deck circle remained empty. He tried to pay attention to Fanale’s pitching, but it was hard to concentrate with those empty seats staring up at him. Tollerson went down swinging, and Hutt drove one deep into center field, but not deep enough. Joe Ros got up with two outs, and Yager appeared in the circle.
Still the seats sat empty.
Joe Ros battled to a full count. Jalen began to sweat. Yager had gotten his first hit, but what were the odds of him getting a second without Jalen’s help?
It felt odd to be relieved when Joe Ros struck out on a shaky call. The fans began to boo the ump. Joe Ros jawed at the ump too as he stomped back to the dugout. Jalen seemed to be the only fan in the whole stadium sitting quietly.
He had half an inning left. That was it. If Cat didn’t appear back in their seats, Yager would be on his own.
83
THE YANKEES’ DEFENSE HELD, AND the players returned to the dugout much too soon for Jalen, because Cat still hadn’t shown up. Yager loaded his bat and stood swinging as Fanale heated up his arm with a few fastballs. Yager took the doughnut off his bat and turned to the stands. Just in time, Cat raced down the steps and stood face-to-face with Yager at the wall. Yager paused, but only for a moment before circling the plate and stepping up to bat.
Jalen fumbled with his phone, dialing Cat’s mom.
As he watched, Cat’s mom, along with Daniel, appeared and sat down next to Cat.
Cat answered. “What have you got?”
“I . . . nothing yet.” The whole thing had flustered Jalen.
Fanale wound up and threw a low outside strike. Yager only watched it.
“Jalen? Jalen!”
“You don’t have to yell,” Jalen whispered into the phone. “I’m watching. I’m trying.”
Yager delayed as much as he could but finally had to step back into the box.
“Jalen?”
Jalen shook his head. “I . . . I want to say fastball, but I don’t know. I’m so far away, Fanale looks like an ant.”
Fanale threw a fastball that went too wide, giving Yager a 1–1 count. He stepped out and looked at Cat.
“Oh, Jalen, please.”
“It’s . . .”
Yager stepped back into the box.
“Fastball!”
Jalen couldn’t see if Cat signaled or not. He couldn’t tell if Yager got it, but he swung at the fastball, nicking it foul into the backstop.
Yager stepped out of the box.
“Oh, Jalen,” Cat said. “He looks so mad. That was too late.”
“Two thumbs-up, Cat.”
“Thumbs?”
“Up. Signal two thumbs-up. Changeup. That’s the pitch, Cat. Go!”
Even from the third tier Jalen could see Cat signaling that. Yager stepped into the box. In came the pitch.
Yager hit it over the left field wall.
84
THE CROWD ROARED.
Jalen jumped to his feet and pumped his empty fist into the air, overjoyed that strangers around him all wanted to exchange high fives. If they only knew!
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” he shouted into the phone as Cat screamed with delight. Jalen could hear Daniel and Cat’s mom cheering as well.
“We did it!” Cat cried.
“We did. We did.” Jalen was breathless.
“Hey,” Cat said. “How’s my battery?”
“Your what?”
“The battery. My phone.”
Jalen checked it and swallowed. “Cat, it says fourteen percent.”
“Shoot. I thought so,” she said. “Okay, no problem. Just shut it down until James gets up again. Just hold the side button and swipe it to power down. When you’re ready, hold that same button again and it’ll come on. My pass code is 1923, the year of the Yankees’ first title.”
Jalen looked around, suddenly uncomfortable alone in the big crowd. With Cat on the phone he didn’t feel that way, but there was nothing else he could do. “Uh . . . okay. I’ll call you back when he’s up.”
“You’ll be fine,” Cat said.
“Sure.”
Things settled back down, and Fanale went to work on the rest of the Yankees lineup so that the inning ended with nothing more than Yager’s run, preserving a 3–2 lead for the White Sox. Pineda countered with a hot inning of his own, giving up nothing more than a single before the Yankees left the field.
Jalen looked around. He might as well have been invisible in the big crowd, and he let out a sigh, then chuckled to himself. Yager might only get up one more time, twice at most unless they went into extra innings. He was that close to a jackpot. He fretted just a bit about the Rockets’ tournament in White Plains tomorrow and what time they’d be finished and if he could get to the celebration of the Silver Liner’s grand reopening. He wanted to see the look on his father’s face, but he supposed he didn’t have to be there to turn the attention into a gold m
ine.
Jalen sat there, breathing easy, counting the money he and his father would collect, when he noticed an usher moving down the aisle to his left. Everyone’s attention was on the game, but the usher seemed to be searching the crowd for someone. Instinctively, Jalen looked to his right. There was an usher in that aisle too, also walking slowly down the steps. Jalen looked left. That usher was closer now, but looking the other way.
When he looked right, that usher stared straight at him, squinted, and raised a walkie-talkie to his mouth. The usher stood frozen. His big, dark eyes swelled behind his glasses, and they didn’t waver from Jalen. Jalen looked left again. That usher had moved past Jalen, down a couple rows.
The usher to his right gave a shout. “Hey! Marvin! It’s him! Marvin!”
Just then Gardner punched a grounder through the 3-4 hole and the crowd erupted, drowning out the usher’s cries. Jalen bolted from his seat and went left. He bumped through people’s knees, saying, “Sorry” as he went. By the time the crowd noise subsided, Jalen was in the aisle and charging up the steps. He heard more shouting behind him.
“Kid! Stop! Get that kid!”
Jalen’s heart galloped in his chest. Adrenaline fueled his legs. He darted into the tunnel. When he hit the concourse, he went right, away from the usher who’d spotted him. He just had to get away. He could figure out where else to go later.
Thoughts of a disguise flashed through his brain.
When he rounded the corner, a man the size of a small hippo with a bucket of popcorn cuddled up under each arm tried to avoid Jalen. Jalen tried to avoid him, too. They ended up shifting the same way. Jalen struck the man and popcorn exploded into the air before snowing down on them both. Jalen’s foot hit a melted patch of sno-cone, and down he went.
In an instant he was up, but as he bolted, the big man caught him by the arm.
“Hey! What’s wrong with you?”
Jalen rebounded into him, surprised by his strength.
Before he could shake loose, someone grabbed his collar.