Page 3 of Caught Stealing Your Heart
“Well, I’m at every home game and most away games, so I don’t need to explain myself.” Paisley chimed in, snickering. We did our secret handshake, and I winked at her.
As the oldest, I always made it a point to set an example for my siblings, as if my parents didn’t pressure me enough. I owed my success to them, but I also held some resentment for howhard they pushed me, which was why my relationship with them was rocky. It didn’t stop them from supporting me nor me from taking care of them. Blaise and Alyson Callahan made it a point to be at every single game, no matter where or the weather. It had been like that since I played T-ball.
“Damn, Aly. I guess we’re not standing here, are we?” Dad asked with his hands out.
Mom tossed her salt and pepper curls over her shoulders with her thin lips tightly pursed together. “I guess not. We don’t get this kind of love, and we’ve never missed a game. Maybe we need to start missing a few to feel loved.”
“No reason to be dramatic,” I stated, falling into my mother’s five-foot-two frame and kissing her forehead. “Hey, Mom. You look good all decked out in my gear.”
Alyson Callahan went all out for her children. Everyone knew exactly who she was at my games. She would have on the team colors of gray and royal blue with my name, number, or face on it. Dad kept it simple with a replica jersey, but Mom had all types of outfits to show her support.
Mom spun around and smiled while my sisters hyped her up. Leave it to them to get her acting up.
Coach came over and got me, so I gave my family love and went to get myself together mentally. While Coach gave us a pep talk, I had one earbud in, listening to some R&B. While most of my teammates would blare rap music, I was more on the soulful side. I loved me a good hype beat, but there was something about R&B that soothed my soul and got me in a different headspace. I believed it had a lot to do with the way my mom would wake us up to slow jams on the weekends to clean up.
Game time.
I practiced some more warm-up pitches until the umpire called ball in. Since we were the home team, the Barons were the first to bat.
“Strrrike!” the ump called, and the crowd went wild.
Keep them like that, Boss. Straight down the mound into Aaron’s glove.
After each pitch, I took a deep breath. It helped me shake off whatever vibe I felt from the previous pitch, good or bad, so I could focus on the next. I’d been doing it since I pitched my first game at eight. Some habits never broke.
“Strrrike!”
Good, good. You’re the Boss, man. Keep making this shit look easy.
“Strrrike! You’re out!”
“Aye, don’t embarrass them too bad, Boss. You already got them sweating,” my friend, Forest, teased from short stop.
I chuckled and quickly focused again. The top of the inning ended with me striking out two batters while I got four hits off me. The Barons ended up with two runs, so we needed to go out and get four.
“Great pitching, Boss. I need you to go out and bring your teammates on the bases in. I have a feeling this is going to be a close game, but there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll come out on top. Keep leading us,” Coach said, roughly patting my helmet before I went on-deck.
I was sixth in the batting lineup, right after Forest. Carefully, I watched their pitcher while practicing my swing. We had a lead runner on third and another one of my teammates stole second. If Forest could get a triple, it would bring them both in for us to score four.
The pressure was on. Forest hit a single, only bringing in our lead runner. We had two outs, so I would be the one to change things. I drew the number seven in the batter’s box and got in position. Once again, I drowned out the noise around me as if it was only me, the pitcher, the catcher, and the ump.
“Ball!” the ump called, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Strike.
Ball.
Ball.
Three balls, one strike. I could either watch the next for a ball or swing. Something told me the pitcher wouldn’t make the same mistake, so when the ball left his hand and got close enough, I pivoted my foot. With all the movement in my hips, the ball connected with my bat and went soaring.
I didn’t bother watching where it went or if it was caught. I headed for first base. Once I was there, I noticed the outfielders running after the ball, so I took off. I kept going until I was headed for home base. The catcher was positioned for the ball to come his way, so I picked up my speed and slid in just as the ball hit his glove.
“Safe!”
Like Coach said, the game was close, but we came out on top, winning ten to seven. After praying with the Barons, we headed to the locker room to celebrate.
“That’s what the fuck I’m talking about, Boss!” Forest yelled, slapping my hand three times then saluting.
