“Daniel told you to leave.” I remained calm only because my nails were digging into my palms.
Shelby turned around. Her face went from mock innocence to angry bitch as soon as she saw me. “Go away,” she said. “He’s spoken for, loser.”
“You got it right that he’s spoken for, but I’m not the loser.” I stormed into the room and grabbed her hair. She squealed when I yanked her away from Daniel and used her nails to scratch the back of my hand.
Daniel moved in between us before I could beat her ass. He grabbed my hands and wrapped my arms around his waist as he faced Shelby. “Do I need to tell you again?”
I stretched to see around him. Shelby glared at Daniel then walked out the door. Personally, the satisfaction that I’d won was amazing. After the door closed, Daniel turned and looked at me like I’d just escaped the mental ward.
“What?” I asked.
“That was hot.”
I pulled away from him, laughing. “You’re such a jerk.”
“Nope, I’m a guy and two chicks fighting over me? That is hot.”
I shook my head. “Dork.”
He pulled me back against him. “Yep.”
I led the way back upstairs, stopping outside his bedroom door. He kissed me with such caution, such patience; I knew we weren’t going to finish the movie.
I woke up the next morning feeling more alive than ever. Then I remembered I had a game. For the first time all summer, I didn’t look forward to getting to the field.
The park was as packed as it was Tuesday. Wakefield waited for me in the parking lot. When I pulled in, he started toward me. Adam, Calvin, and Reggie became my entourage and escorted me to the dugout.
“Nice. I have my own posse,” I joked as I tied my cleats.
“Like being a celeb, Vic?” Calvin asked. He smiled so I knew he was kidding. “We can take you out clubbing so you can look scandalous. Maybe even get you into a tabloid or two.”
“No, thanks.”
He leaned down so only I could hear. “Then don’t get used to the posse.”
I took a swing at him, but he leapt out of the way and ran onto the field. He told Reggie something. They looked at me and started laughing.
“Glad I’m here to amuse you,” I mumbled to myself. It was nice though. My team never took themselves too seriously.
Daniel and I didn’t want to flaunt our relationship in front of Wakefield. Plus, we agreed to be “just teammates” on the field. It wasn’t easy after last night. He was looking especially nice in his baseball pants.
Just before we took the field, Daniel surprised me by whispering, “Vic, you may be able to ask us to keep quiet, but there are lots of other people Wakefield can talk to.”
He nodded toward the stands. Shane’s parents were engaged in a lively conversation with the reporter.
“I can’t worry about that now.” I smiled. “We’ve got a game to win, Cho. Get your ass out there.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He put on his mask, then blew me a kiss.
“Alrigh', team,” Coach bellowed. “Take the field, boys.” He smiled as I glared at him. “And girl.”
There was no way that damned reporter was going to ruin the rest of my season. Jayden smirked as he tossed a few grounders my way. It bugged me, but I didn’t know why. Maybe because he never smirks, or smiles, or anything.
The first half of the inning went fast. Walter threw three pitches and the other team, the Ravens, hit three grounders to short. At least T.C. had a little fun. I was set to lead off our half of the inning. Wakefield stood at the backstop, waiting for me with his new photographer at his side. The guy snapped away like he was a paparazzo while I swung the bat to warm up.
“Batter up,” the umpire yelled.
I dug my heels in and waited. Their pitcher called time and I stepped out of the box.
What’s he playing at?
The Ravens coach jogged out then motioned for the umpire to the mound. I glanced toward our dugout and Coach joined me in the on-deck circle.
“What’s up, Blue?” Coach asked as the umpire headed back behind home plate.
“Just a problem in the stands, Bernie. I got it under control.” The ump walked to the backstop and told Wakefield to sit down or leave, before telling the photographer to stay out of the line of sight of the pitcher or he’d get booted from the park. Both of them protested with the standard First Amendment argument but eventually moved. There isn’t a story if you can’t see it.
But they were crafty. They’d find a way.
I nodded to their pitcher and he responded the same.
Then he threw me a nasty curveball for strike one.
Oh, game on, baby.
Another curveball outside for a ball and a fastball up and out for ball two.
Inside. I adjusted my back leg just an inch.
He threw an off-speed pitch that wasn’t supposed to hang in the middle of the plate. But it did. And right where I liked them. I turned on it, pulling it down the left field line and just over the third baseman’s head. They weren’t playing me to pull. The left fielder had to race to get to the ball before I could get to third.
I won.
Ollie knocked me in to make it one to nothing in the bottom of the first. Jayden came up next and made it two to nothing by hitting Ollie in on a double into right.
In the second, the Ravens realized that they could hit the ball to other positions and left T.C. alone. Reggie and Calvin got a couple of pop outs, but not before Walter gave up a double then a single. Two outs with runners at first and second. Walter threw a very good fastball. Their third baseman turned on it and hit a hot line drive my way. There wasn’t time to think, only react as the ball came whizzing at my head.
My feet slid forward and my butt headed for the dirt. I stuck my glove up. The ball slammed into it, almost knocking the glove off my hand. I rolled into a backward somersault, raising my glove to show I caught the ball. The ump called the out and I tossed the ball to the mound. My hand started throbbing the minute I took the glove off.
“WooHoo, Hudson,” Adam shouted.
We jogged into the dugout. All the guys slapped my arm or head, but Daniel smacked me in the butt with his glove. I didn’t think twice about it. Ball players do that stuff all the time.
“Nice catch, kid,” Coach added.
I walked my next at bat but didn’t score. Then I struck out and flied out. Other than a couple of soft grounders, nothing else came my way in the field. We ended up losing by one run after Walter broke down in the fifth. It was a tough loss.
“Miss Hudson, can I have a word?” Wakefield asked as we left the dugout. My teammates circled around me like vultures and led me to the parking lot.
“No, bubba, you can’t,” Ollie said.
“Sure he can, Ol.” T.C. turned to face Wakefield, walking backward. “Here’s your word, ‘no comment.’”
Wakefield fell back from the group before anyone else could tell him where to shove it. That was suspicious.
“What’s he up to?” I asked no one in particular.
“He’s probing, Vic. Don’t worry about it.” Adam opened my door for me. He leaned in the window after I got in. “We won’t talk.”
“I know. Thanks though.” I smiled at Adam as he backed away from the car.
Daniel jumped in the passenger door and slid beneath the windows. He put his hand over mine on the gear shift. “Can I drive?”
“Not like that.”
He squeezed my hand and laughed. “Then let me drive once we’re out of the park.”
I started the car and backed out. “Why?”
“What fun is that? Can’t a guy surprise his girlfriend?”
My phone rang before I could answer.
“Ah, saved by the crappy ringtone,” Daniel said, sitting up straight.
“We’ll discuss that comment later.” Before answering, I checked the caller ID. “Hi, Mom.”
“Oh, Vicky, there you are. I haven’t seen you in over a
week. Come home for dinner tonight,” Mom said without taking a single breath.
“I … uh … kinda got plans,” I stuttered. It’s not like she hadn’t come to some of my games. Daniel raised his eyebrows at me and I pulled the car over on a side street.
“So bring this new boyfriend of yours. Your grandmother told me all about him already.” She sighed that my-daughter-doesn’t-love-me-anymore sigh. “Although I wished you would have shared this.”
“Um …” I tried to think up an excuse, any excuse, but my mind was as clean as a chalkboard on the first day of school.
“I won’t take no for an answer. Dinner is at seven. You can bring him by around five. The pool has barely been used all summer. To think we are throwing our money away on that useless pool boy.”
“Marcus isn’t useless, Mom. He’s –”
“I’ll see you around five.” She dropped the handset as she tried to hang up the ancient rotary phone that she kept more for style than use.
I bit my lip. “So, guess what?”
He slid back down in his seat.
“We’re going to dinner at my mom’s.”
“No choice in the matter, huh?”
I dropped my phone in my lap and started driving toward Daniel’s house. “Nope. We’re expected at five. Dinner will be served at seven. And you must bring swim trunks. She mentioned the pool.”
He looked out the window.
I tried to lighten the mood. “You going to tell me where you wanted to take me?”
“Nope.” He didn’t turn around. His shoulders were tense.
“What?” I should’ve known he wouldn’t want to go.
“Nothing.”
“You don’t want to go?”
“It’s not that …”
My voice cracked. “Then what?”
He sat up and motioned to the side of the street. We were a block from his house. “Pull over.”
“Why?”
“Just do it, Vic.”
The street was packed, but I managed to squeeze into a spot. He stared out the windshield, expression unreadable.
“What?” I asked for what felt like the millionth time. “Just tell me, for God’s sake.”
He turned to face me. “This is going to be awkward, isn’t it?”
“What? Dinner? It’s just my mom, not the Spanish Inquisition.”
He didn’t say anything.
“My father won’t be there.” I hope.
He took my right hand. “You didn’t tell her about us?”
God, please tell me he couldn’t hear her big mouth. “No.”
“Why?” He brushed his thumb over mine.
“I haven’t talked to her.” It was the truth. I hadn’t really talked to her all summer. With work on the Habitat house and baseball, it felt like I never had time for anything else.
“She’ll hate me.” He dropped my hand.
“Shut up. She won’t hate you.” I jabbed my finger in his side to make him laugh. It didn’t work.
“I’m not from your world –”
“Get over yourself, Daniel. She doesn’t care about where you’re from. She already knows who you are.”
“She does?” He looked doubtful.
“Yeah, Grandma told her about us.” I slapped his legs a couple of times. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
He smiled and it reached his eyes. “So she knows you’re dating a Korean?”
I sighed. “No. I can’t say that.”
His face dropped. “See, there might be an issue.”
“She knows you’re Asian, but I doubt she knows exactly what the country of origin is. Just relax.”
“Have you dated Asian guys before?” he asked.
I stared at him for a second to see if he was serious or not. I couldn’t tell, so I deadpanned, “No, but the Korean maid we had last year was like family.”
He waited for me to smile. “Seriously, Vic.” He glanced away from me for a moment. When he turned back, his eyes were too intense. “Look, when I was a freshman, I asked Amanda Nell to the homecoming dance. Dad drove me to her house to pick her up. I stood on the front steps sweating like a pig in an oven, holding a single rose in my hand. As soon as the door opened, I knew I was in trouble. Her dad smiled until he looked at me.” Daniel paused, and I sat frozen. “He told me there was no way his daughter was going out with a chink and slammed the door in my face.”
His pained expression tore me up, but there wasn’t anything I could do about the past. “Look, I’m sorry that her father was a prejudiced jerk, but not every person out there is like that. Regardless of what you might think about my father’s politics, he isn’t a racist. Neither is my mother. If they were, he’d never gotten elected to anything.”
He nodded.
“It’ll be fine, Daniel. I promise.”
He opened the door to get out. “You were kidding, right? About the maid?”
I rolled my eyes, such a girly thing to do. “Yes. Lilly’s worked for us forever. She used to be my nanny. And she is like family.”
That finally made him smile. He brushed his lips across my cheek.
He sprinted the final block to his house. I drove home, but Grandma wasn’t there. I dropped my equipment bag in my room and took a shower. I stood under the almost scalding hot water, thinking about what my mother was up to. Maybe she did miss me, but that didn’t make a whole lot of sense when she was never home anyway. Maybe this was a surprise visit from the Senator. In that case, Daniel and I were equally screwed. I hopped out when the water started to cool.
Ten minutes later, I heard the front door open and Grandma yelling, “Vicky?”
“Yeah?” I yelled back. I walked down the short hall knowing that “come here” would be her next words.
She had four reusable shopping bags in her hands and looked like she was going to fall over. I took three of them and led her into the kitchen.
“Oh, thank you. I thought my arm was going to snap for a moment.” She noticed my perfect ponytail, bikini top, and shorts. “Going somewhere?”
“I’ve been summoned to Chez Hudson.” I took the bananas and apples out of the bag. “Mom said she wanted to meet Daniel. How’d she know about him?”
Grandma laughed. “Maybe because I told her. That’s probably why she called me earlier.” She scuffed her feet over to the phone, and then touched my arm sending a jolt of electricity through me. “I better call her back.”
“Not funny, Grandma.” I looked at the shag rug that lay between the hall and kitchen. How she got enough static electricity off of that was a mystery.
I finished unpacking the groceries while she talked to Mom in the other room. I didn’t hear any bit of conversation, but I didn’t think I needed to. When I shoved the broccoli into the crisper, Grandma came back into the kitchen. She didn’t look so great.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, succeeding in forcing the nasty green veggie into the overstuffed drawer.
“Vicky, sit down.” Once I did, she started pacing the room. “Did you mother tell you this would be a dinner party?”
I shook my head no.
“Apparently, she learned about your falling out with Andrea –”
“No –”
“And she invited Andrea over –”
This was turning into a showdown. “No –”
“And her parents –”
I stood up. “No –”
“And the Perdays –”
“Oh God, no –”
“And the Tudors –”
“What?” I started shaking.
She sighed. “And the Fords.”
“I’m not going.” I fell back into the chair and hid my face in my hands. This was a disaster.
“Honey –” Grandma knelt before me.
“Don’t ‘honey’ me, Grandma.” I stared at her so she would know I was serious. “I. Am. Not. Going.”
“You have to. You already agreed.”
“I don’t have to do anything.” I pushed her away
from me gently. This wasn’t her fault after all.
She sat back on her heels. “What if the Tudors were uninvited?”
“First, Mom would never do that. Second, she also needs to uninvite Andrea and the Perdays too.” God, not Erik Freaking Perday. I hid my face in my hands again.
“She thinks you might miss your friends.”
“She doesn’t even know why I broke up with Theo.”
“No, she doesn’t. She just knows that you’re dating a boy on your baseball team.”
“Wait.” My head shot up. “I thought you told her I was with Daniel.”
Grandma pushed herself up and shoved my hand away when I tried to steady her. “No. I just let her know you were seeing a boy from the team.”
“Oh shit.” I put my hand over my mouth. Grandma didn’t like me to cuss. She glared at me. “She doesn’t know it’s Daniel?”
“Does it matter?”
“To him it does. He’s afraid she’ll freak out because he’s Korean.” I stood up and started to pace Grandma’s usual path. “And he thinks Mom knows it’s him because I assumed you told her.”
“Never assume anything,” she muttered. She walked to the sink and began cleaning the lettuce she’d left there.
I ignored her. “And why even invite Theo?”
“I don’t know, Vicky. She probably thinks that you guys just aren’t dating anymore. Plenty of people stop dating but remain friends.”
“I’m not going.”
“Look, I know this will be uncomfortable. I know it will be hard for you, but you already agreed to go. She’s acting like this will be a big surprise party for you.” She waved a dishtowel in a circle. “I’m not telling you any of this. It just didn’t seem right for you to go in and get ambushed by your mother.”
My shoulders sunk. I was defeated. “Who else?”
“The Gallaghers, the Marshalls, the Mosbys, the Trones, the Walkers, the Smithtons, and ten of your friends.”
“They aren’t my friends.” It felt weird to admit that, but once I said it, I knew it was true. None of them knew the real me.
“They were.”
“Is this a formal dinner party? Do I need to call Daniel and tell him to bring a suit?”
“No. Just nice pants and a polo.”
Extra Innings Page 11