Extra Innings

by Stevens, Lynn

  “Are you here with anyone?”

  “Oh, my grandmother.” I pointed to her. She waved at me before a construction worker scooped her up in his arms. I never heard Grandma squeal like a teenager before and I wasn’t too sure I wanted to hear it again. She was loud enough people could hear her down by the Arch.

  “Charles should be more respectful.” He looked between me and Grandma for a moment. “You’re Mary Falls’ granddaughter?”

  As I nodded, I saw a hint of recognition in his eyes. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but something told me he knew who I was. It wasn’t like I was trying to have a secret identity, but I wanted to be a normal girl. One that played baseball but was otherwise normal. I wanted to spend one summer of my life not being Victoria Hudson, daughter of U.S. Senator Warren Hudson, potential presidential candidate.

  Then it dawned on me that he used Grandma’s maiden name. And she probably never talked about the Senator’s politics around here. Maybe he didn’t know.

  “Come on, Daniel. Your mother’s making mango curry.” He bowed slightly to me. “Nice to meet you again, Miss Hudson.”

  Yeah, he didn’t know.

  “See you tomorrow, Vic,” Daniel added as he followed his dad.

  Grandma’s eruption of laughter stopped me from responding. One of the other guys had taken a water cooler and dumped the cold water over her head.

  “That’s what you get for dumping ice down my back, Mary,” he laughed.

  Shaking my head, I walked toward her. Sometimes grandparents can be just as embarrassing as parents.

  TOP OF THE 2ND

  The charity event was a thousand dollar a plate dinner with a silent auction followed by dancing. Since Grandma organized the entire thing, she’d be on her best behavior. She definitely wouldn’t act like she had at the Habitat house early in the week.

  The car pulled up at six-thirty with Theo. He looked sharp in his tux. Theo was handsome, plain and simple, but he’d combed his hair into a side part and gelled it down so it wouldn’t move in a hurricane. It was a bit over the top.

  Theo lifted my hand, kissing the tip of my thumb. My thoughts drifted to Daniel for a moment and the way he’d removed the log of all splinters. Theo’s fingers felt cold in comparison. His rich dirt brown eyes glowed golden flecks with mischief, unlike Theo’s serious green ones. I shook my head to get Daniel out of my mind.

  I smiled at Theo, but he didn’t notice. The Senator was telling him something about Capitol Hill that didn’t and wouldn’t interest me. Theo acted like a puppy getting a treat.

  We rode along in the limo while my father continued educating Theo about all things Senate related. Mom interjected her two cents here and there, but Theo was mesmerized and gave my father his undivided attention.

  I was bored.

  The Palace Renaissance Hotel was the epitome of elegance. The valets wore black slacks with white shirts and red sateen vests and stood at attention outside the entrance to the lobby. The Senator exited first, then Mom, me, and Theo. I must have slouched too much for my mother’s taste since she prodded my lower back. I stood straighter and linked my arm through Theo’s. Once we entered the hotel, the press would pounce.

  “Ready for this? I asked him out of the corner of my perfect smile.

  “I’ve been to charity events before, Victoria.”

  I suppressed a laugh. If he was going to get all cocky, I wasn’t about to warn him about the impending press attack.

  We followed my parents inside, and Theo was immediately blinded by a photographer. He pinched his nose between his fingers, squeezing his eyes shut. I let out a very unladylike laugh as I led him toward the ballroom. A society reporter from the Ledger named Wakefield asked me a question I ignored. Mom talked to him at every opportunity, but he gave me the creeps.

  Grandma stood at the head table with the mayor and several members of the city council. Everyone shook the Senator’s hand, even if they didn’t agree with his political agenda.

  Theo started to comment on the room, but I shushed him. Rule number one with my father: don’t talk to someone you’re with while shaking hands with other people. It’s rude and you can talk to your companion later.

  By the scowl on his face, Theo didn’t like to be shushed.

  He’d have to get over it.

  When we finally made it to our table, Grandma tapped on the mic at the podium. She talked for a minute about how we needed to fight cancer and win. Then Grandma introduced somebody. I wasn’t listening, but I smiled like I was, as the guy blabbered on about research progression. Everyone clapped.

  Grandma took the podium once again and introduced my father. Now I had to listen, or at least half listen. If he said my name or pointed me out, I needed to be ready for heads to turn my way. My name came up in the first minute as he talked about Grandpa and his battle with cancer.

  Apparently, I was the sad survivor who never knew her grandfather because of this horrible disease. I hadn’t planned on that angle. I forced myself to look sad and heartbroken, which is a lot harder than it sounds.

  Twenty minutes later, it was over. Finally.

  “I’m starving,” I whispered to Theo.

  “Oh, so I can talk now?”

  I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. “Of course.”

  “Good to know. Are there any other things you forgot to tell me?”

  “Beside the picture in the society section of tomorrow’s paper? No, not that I can think of.”

  “As long as it isn’t the one of me throwing my hand up in shock, I don’t care.” He pulled at his vest as he sat straighter. “After all, I’ll be in a photo with Senator Hudson.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. It isn’t all that. Believe me.”

  “Your dad’s speech was great,” Theo said as I spotted Andrea Hoffpauir in a corner with her parents. I resisted the urge to wave. Unfortunately, the Perday family sat at the same table. The night was already full of suck without Erik Perday around. On Andrea’s first day at Xavier, Mr. Landerson stuck us on a science project and that was that. We became inseparable, much to the chagrin of my former best friend, Erik Perday. Andrea was interesting and listened to me like what I said mattered. Erik had taken to hitting me in the arm like I was his personal punching bag.

  The first course arrived, carrot fennel soup. Why couldn’t they serve burgers and fries at these things?

  “I really like the point he made about smoking bans.” Theo polished a spot from his spoon.

  “What point?” I stared at the soup. It looked like baby poop, and I wasn’t that hungry.

  Theo shook his head. His hair didn’t move. “I don’t understand you, Victoria. You father is one of the most powerful men in Washington –”

  “Politics don’t interest me.”

  “And yet you do the most political things –”

  “Like what?” I didn’t like where this conversation was going.

  “Well for one, the baseball thing.”

  I grabbed his arm. “Shush it, Theo.” I glanced over and the Senator was deep in conversation with the mayor. No way he heard the loudmouth boyfriend. “Why do you insist that it’s political?”

  “I just don’t understand. You could play softball like you have every summer. You could go to Europe with the rest of us. You could visit colleges. You could go to a spa –”

  “Baseball’s not ‘girly’ enough for you, is that it?” I snapped.

  “That’s not what I said – ”

  “Just stop.” I shook my head. God, he was pissing me off. “Like I’ve said before, I don’t want to play softball. I’ve been to Europe. I’m going to Mizzou. And I don’t like spas. Does that clear everything up?”

  He reached for my hand. “I don’t want to fight. I just don’t want to go a month without seeing you.”

  I nodded like I knew he was sincere. But he wasn’t. Something told me he was lying and it nagged at me as the waiter set a salad plate in front of me. It dripped with oil and vinegar. Gross.
My stomach rumbled loud enough to get Mom’s attention. She handed me a roll. Theo started chatting with the man on his left, a city councilman on his way out of office. I nibbled at the roll until the main course arrived. Duck. Great. I’d be raiding the kitchen later.

  As soon as the meal was over, I motioned for Andrea to join me in the restroom.

  I collapsed on the tiny couch in the most unladylike fashion with my head resting against the cheap pleather. Mom wouldn’t be happy with me and that thought made me smile.

  “Theo still mad at you?” Andy asked as she sat properly beside me.

  I rolled my head to face her. “He hasn’t said so, but …”

  Andy glanced around before whispering, “He told Colby Bender that he couldn’t wait to get you alone in a hotel in a foreign country before you dropped the baseball thing on him.”

  “What?” I bolted up, staring at her like she’d grown a third head. “We’ve only been going out for three months. You seriously can’t mean that he thinks he’s going to get laid just because we’re in freaking France.”

  “Who knows with boys.” She flipped the flap of her clutch open and closed. “Colby said Theo’s getting a little tired of being teased.”

  The weight of the past few months fell on my shoulders. It explained so much. “Oh good God. How does he think I’m teasing him?”

  Andrea gave me the look that said everything.

  “One little indiscretion and I’m doomed for life.”

  “I told you to stop drinking like a million times that night. You didn’t listen.”

  The door opened, ending that part of our conversation. While Andrea and I touched up our makeup, she asked about my practices.

  “Coach Strauss is a hardass, but pretty cool,” I said after gliding lipgloss on.

  “Any hotties on the team?” She wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

  I laughed but stopped when Daniel’s face floated into my head. “How would I know? I’m spoken for, remember?”

  Andy scoffed. “Just because you’ve got Theo doesn’t mean you can’t look at the merchandise, Vicky.”

  She tossed her hair over her shoulder and strolled out of the restroom. I followed her as we headed back into the ballroom. Erik stalked toward us with a sneer creeping over his lips. I was about to turn and run the other way when someone gripped my elbow, spinning me around.

  “Victoria, I don’t believe you’ve met John Barton.” My father beamed as he motioned toward the city councilman.

  Of course I’d met him like five freaking times in the last year. I smiled like a good daughter and shook my head no as I shook Mr. Barton’s hand. Andrea scooted away toward her parents and Theo.

  “Ms. Hudson, so nice to see you.” Mr. Barton gave my hand a slight squeeze.

  “I believe you have a son about Victoria’s age.” The Senator chuckled like he knew something the rest of us didn’t. “Doesn’t he attend St. Pius Academy?”

  “Yes, he’ll graduate in December.” Mr. Barton smiled with pride. “A semester early. We’ve arranged for him to take a few classes online until he starts at Mizzou in the fall.”

  “Victoria’s going to Mizzou.” He was in full political mode now. The gears in his head were churning.

  What am I even doing here? I forced myself to smile. Even the waiter could see it was fake. He raised his eyebrows at me as he scooted by with a tray of champagne. I glanced around quickly. Andrea and Theo were on the dance floor. Erik sat with his parents, glaring at me. This night just keeps getting better.

  “Maybe we should introduce them.” My father chuckled. Mr. Barton joined in.

  Yeah, that was going to happen. I laughed anyway, playing the role of the perfect daughter. Totally nothing like the real me, but I come from a long line of fakers. And I acted like them for the rest of the night.

  My body still ached from practice and working on the Habitat house, but not to the point where I couldn’t play for our first game on Tuesday. I showed up at the field ready to ride the bench anyway. Coach Strauss didn’t give me any indication that I would start, much less play. It was easier to have no expectations.

  I dropped my bag at the far end dugout and laced up my cleats. A few of the boys were warming up. I hustled out to join them passing Coach as he hung the lineup card on the fence. I didn’t dare peek. When I headed back to the dugout with Adam in complete silence, I expected the worst.

  The guys huddled around it, but none of them said a word as they got ready to play. I tripped over a bat to get a glimpse. Not only was I starting at third, I was leading off. Daniel stood behind me, looking over my shoulder. His sandalwood scent had become all too familiar after just a few practices.

  “Huh,” he huffed.

  “Surprised?” I asked as I peered over my shoulder at him.

  “Nope.” He ran his hand through his disheveled hair and pulled on his catcher’s mask. “Come on, Hudson. Get on the field. We’re the home team.”

  I forced back my smile as we ran out. Jayden tossed me some hard grounders from first. I bobbled the first two but settled down. Adam warmed up on the mound. Everyone was in game mode.

  Then the umpire yelled, “Play ball.”

  My heart jumped into my throat before sinking to the pit of my stomach.

  It’s like any other game. Nothing to be nervous about.

  I took three strides off the third base line and crouched low. When Adam threw the first pitch, I balanced on my toes, ready to move left or right, up or down.

  The first batter struck out swinging. The next one grounded to T.C. at short. A fly ball to left center ended the top of the inning. I headed toward the dugout when their third base coach stopped me.

  “You’re a girl,” he said obviously surprised.

  “Good observation skills you got there.” I slapped my glove on my thigh and kept going. Good idea. Piss off the other team’s coach.

  I grabbed my bat from the dugout and took a few warm up swings. My eyes were locked on the pitcher: the way he stood on the mound, the way he threw the ball, where his release point was. There was no way in hell I was going to strike out in my first at bat.

  “Batter up!” the ump bellowed.

  I made my way to the plate. The guys shouted for me.

  “Get us started, Vic.”

  “Come on, Vic. Let’s go.”

  “WooHoo. Alright, let’s go, Vic,” Daniel yelled, followed by an ear-piercing whistle. Other than Daniel, I had no clue who said what. Didn’t really care, either.

  Lock in. Don’t take your eye off the ball.

  I dug into the batter’s box. The pitcher leaned in to get his sign, and then jolted upright. I winked at him. Cheesy, but I couldn’t resist. He took another signal from his catcher and threw a fastball right down the middle.

  The pitch had more heat than I anticipated. I fouled it back, which was already more contact than their lead-off guy.

  I reset myself in the batter’s box. The next two pitches zoomed too close to my knees.

  Two and one.

  There was no way he wanted to walk me. One, because I’m a girl, and two, because you just don’t walk the lead off hitter. That’s not how you start a game.

  Fastball. Has to be. He won’t go down the middle. As soon as he threw it, I realized how wrong I was. His curveball caught the outside corner.

  Two and two.

  The brim of my helmet shaded my eyes from the afternoon sun. Since I didn’t even swing, he might throw that again. Or a fastball. I knew one thing for certain. He would come at me inside. I waited.

  The ball hurled toward me in slow motion. It inched toward the inside and I turned on it, ripping it over the third baseman and down the line. I sprinted around first on my way to second, finding the ball as it rolled toward the left field fence. The outfielder chased after it, but I knew I could get to third. My feet pounded into the hard infield dirt as my heart thudded the same rhythm in my ears. I rounded second and caught Coach Strauss.

  He held up both hand
s, and I skidded to a stop, hurrying back to second. The throw hit the cutoff man.

  I had third. It was mine. I glared at Coach Strauss, but he focused on Ollie, giving him the signs to hit away. I kicked the dirt and took a decent lead. Coach rubbed his thighs and tapped his elbows: the steal sign.

  The catcher set up on the inside. There was a good chance the pitcher would toss a fastball to Ollie. The catcher extended his leg. There was no way he’d throw me out from that position. He didn’t think I’d steal.

  Talk about insulting.

  You’re gonna regret this, Bubba.

  The pitcher began his windup, and I was off. I slid into third without a throw. I should’ve already been there, but that wasn’t the point. My first hit. My first stolen base. The day was going great so far.

  I took a shorter lead from third. Ollie grounded out hard to second. I stayed put. Jayden brought me home with a long fly ball into right center. By the bottom of the first, we were up two to nothing.

  The rest of the game went just as well. I fielded a few grounders at third, making the plays without an error. We were winning six to one in the bottom of the eighth. Freddie hit a soft grounder to short, but the shortstop threw wild and Freddie ended up at second.

  Coach gave me the signal to swing away before I stepped into the batter’s box.

  Their reliever looked more like a linebacker for a professional football team than a high schooler. He also had a massive unibrow, which was very distracting. I’d seen pictures of prettier Neanderthals.

  That should’ve been my first clue.

  The first pitch whizzed over my ear as I dropped to the ground. I jumped back up as fast as I went down. The guys in the dugout shouted that it was intentional. Coach stepped out of the dugout, but I shook him off. This battle was between me and Brutus. If he hit me, I’d get first. If he didn’t hit me, I’d get on base somehow.

  Keep your head in the game. Don’t let him win.

  He threw three outside, all of which I fouled off.

  Then he came back inside again. I moved, but not fast enough. The ball smashed into my ribcage. I crumbled like a paper doll.