“Ah-woooo!”
“Ah-wooooo!”
“Go Wolfpack!”
Ophelia and I roll down our windows.
“AH-WOOOO!”
I scream as loud as I can, my howls harmonizing with hundreds of excited Exeter fans. By the time we locate an empty spot, I’m having so much fun, I’ve almost forgotten why I was dreading coming to this game in the first place.
Almost.
Chapter Fourteen
ARCHER
“Getyour head out of the clouds, Reyes!” Coach yells from the dugout as we run back onto the field to finish the final inning. “Let’s show these boys that fastball you’ve been working on all season long! No more free passes!”
He sounds frustrated.
Hell,I’mfrustrated. I’m playing like a Little Leaguer instead of a future MLB rookie. My pitches are uneven. My pacing is off. I’ve let more batters hit tonight than any other game of the season.
The stakes are too high for these kind of mistakes. Everything is riding on my ability to deliver consistent wins in front of the scouts.
My future.
My way out.
My dream.
Get it together, Archer.
Perhaps sensing my nerves, the crowd roars encouragement from the bleachers. If I search the blur of faces, I know I’ll see my parents out there somewhere. Pa munching Cracker Jacks, cursing under his breath each time I mess up a pitch; Ma clutching her rosary, praying for a miracle.
But I won’t see the one person I need to the most.
I grip the ball tighter, summoning focus. No matter how I try, I can’t seem to locate it. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me tonight.
Actually… I do.
My head is a downright mess — even worse than it was on Tuesday, after Rico and Barboza’s unexpected visit. I think I was still in a certain amount of shock when they walked out of my house. Because instead of freaking out, falling apart… I simply tossed my duct tape bindings deep in the garbage pail where my parents wouldn’t see them, changed into my baseball uniform, and drove to the field.
I played, but my heart wasn’t in it — throwing pitches on autopilot, just trying to make it through each inning without thinking too much. And… trying not to notice the blonde head missing from its normal spot in the bleachers.
We squeaked out a narrow victory, thanks in no part to my efforts. Coach assured me everyone has an off game, now and again. The guys on the team slapped my shoulders in the dugout, telling me to let it roll off.
Little did they know, baseball was the last thing on my mind.
That night, I lay in bed feeling unsafe in my own home for the first time, flinching in the darkness at each creaking floor board and falling tree branch. I held my aluminum bat beneath the sheets, finding some small solace in the makeshift weapon.
But what good is a bat against a gunshot?
I couldn’t bring myself to close my eyes, afraid of what I’d find when they opened again. Instead, I prowled the house, checking the locks a hundred times. As if any lock could actually keep the danger out.
They got in before.
They can do it again.