by Tim Green
“Two thumbs . . . a changeup?” Doubt flooded Cat’s voice. “Not another slider?”
“Why? Signal a changeup.” Jalen chuckled like a madman. Tears welled in his eyes now, because he expected it was all over. He sniffed, but kept laughing. “For fun.”
92
CAT SIGNALED TWO THUMBS-UP.
Yager dug in.
In came the pitch.
Yager blasted it.
The ball didn’t go over the wall, but it found the left-center alley and caromed sideways off the fence. Hutt and Hall scored, ending the game.
Jalen could feel and hear the thunder of feet above him, shaking the stadium like an earthquake. Cat was screaming and looking into the camera at him. Daniel was hugging her neck and howling. The roar of the crowd swallowed them whole.
Jalen laughed and cried at the same time. Even though he was alone, imprisoned in the Yankees manager’s office, he knew everything was going to work out.
Relief washed over him. It was over, and he’d done it.
He didn’t know if he could ever do what he’d done again, or if all the pressure had simply snuffed out his ability to predict pitches like a birthday candle.
But that didn’t matter.
When he’d needed it, really needed it, Jalen had been a genius.
A baseball genius.
What’s next for baseball genius Jalen? Find out in a sneak peek of
Baseball Genius #2: Double Play.
The policeman tightened his grip on Jalen’s arm.
Still, Jalen grinned.
Up they went on a fancy elevator reserved for the Yankee Stadium suite holders. In the hallway, people with rolled-up shirtsleeves passed them, wearing curious faces. Jalen supposed the team employees stayed busy into the night if there was a game, and there had been a game, another victory for the Yankees.
Jalen’s grin was born from something bigger than a win, even though the Yankees were his team. His was the grin of someone whose life was about to change. Someone who’d won the lottery or unexpectedly inherited a fortune from a long-lost relative. It was the smile of a kid who’d gotten the lead role in a play, or the MVP trophy at the team banquet. He wanted to share his joy, and he wished the policeman would ease up on his arm.
“Everyone looks happy with the game.” Jalen smiled up at him, but the officer remained stone-faced. Of course, how could the policeman have known that Jalen’s ability to predict the next pitch in an MLB game—or any game, for that matter—had helped the Yankees win the game?
They stopped outside a pair of wide, dark wooden doors. Jalen thought the officer was reaching for one of the heavy chrome handles, but instead he knocked. After a moment, he knocked again, and a stern voice ordered them in. Behind a mahogany desk as broad as a boat, the Yankees GM, Jeffrey Foxx, held a telephone to his ear. He pointed, not to the chairs, but to an empty space on the thick rug in front of the desk as he finished his call.
“You never were good at poker, Don.” Foxx wore a scornful smile. “You’re bluffing, and I’m going to double down. Good luck.”
The GM hung up the phone with a scowl. He turned his attention to Jalen, staring with the pale eyes of a Siberian husky, vicious, hungry, and barely human. He had the tan skin and sun-bleached hair of a lifeguard, and Jalen was reminded of how tall the man was, even sitting at a desk.
The policeman finally let Jalen’s arm loose. Again, Jalen flashed his smile at the officer as he rubbed the blood back into his arm.
“Thanks, Jimmy,” the GM said to the cop. “You can wait outside.”
For a reason he couldn’t explain, Jalen hated to see the policeman go.
“How about you take those sunglasses off so I can see you?” Foxx asked.
Jalen had forgotten about his glasses. He removed his hat and pushed them up onto his dark, curly hair. His eyes adjusted to the brightly lit office. In the window behind the desk, the stadium lights burned white and the empty field glowed, a rare bit of color in the concrete city.
“Those were so no one could see what you were up to, right?” The GM’s frown deepened.
Jaden adjusted the glasses. “I guess.”
“You guess.” Without warning, the GM smacked his hand down on the desktop with the crack of an ax.
Jalen jumped.
Foxx leaned forward, planting his arms on the desk like he was preparing to pounce. His voice was a low, nasty growl. “Son, I have no idea why you’re standing there smiling. You are in a world of trouble.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF TIM GREEN
TIM GREEN was an NFL first-round draft pick and a star defensive player for eight years with the Atlanta Falcons. He is the New York Times bestselling author of dozens of books for adults and kids, including The Dark Side of the Game, The Fifth Angel, Exact Revenge, Football Genius, Football Hero, Kid Owner, and Left Out. Tim graduated covaledictorian with a degree in English Literature from Syracuse University before earning a law degree with honors. He has been an NFL commentator for FOX Sports and NPR. Tim and his family live in upstate New York.
PHOTO BY MAUREEN CAVANAGH/JETER PUBLISHING
DEREK JETER played Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees for twenty seasons, during which time he won five World Series. Considered one of the greatest shortstops of all time, Derek has been a role model to young people on the field and off—thanks largely to the work of his Turn 2 Foundation. (For more information visit Turn2Foundation.org.) Though he grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, he often envisioned himself playing shortstop for the Yankees. Derek knows the power of a dream.
Learn more about Jeter Publishing at JETERPUBLISHING.COM
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ALADDIN
SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
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First Aladdin hardcover edition March 2017
Text copyright © 2017 by Tim Green
Jacket illustration copyright © 2017 by Tim Jessell
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Jacket designed by Jessica Handelman
Interior designed by Mike Rosamilia
The text of this book was set in Centennial LT Std.
This book has been cataloged with the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4814-6864-0 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-6866-4 (eBook)