Page 39 of Honeysuckle
“This is bullshit, Tucker. What’s the point of us being all messed up?” He complained, but he threw the ball and again it soared wide.
“Ask for instruction, Todd,” I said to his back instead of giving him a straight answer.
“Instruction?” He asked, only pausing to grunt as Van put the ball hard into the back of his mitt. “You’re fucking ten feet from me Mitchell. Soften up, man!”
“Throw a straight pitch, Todd!” Van yelled back. His arm wasn’t made for short distance throws, and he had a cannon on a bad day. I didn’t envy the sting that was no doubt spreading out like wildfire across Todd’s palm.
“Ask for help, Todd,” I said again, when the two stopped bickering.
He turned those shit-brown eyes on me and scowled, before turning to his newly appointed shortstop. “Help me,” he barked.
Josh chuckled and looked up from the dirt with a smug smile that was only going to cause another fight, but then he opened his mouth and “move back a step and aim for Arlo’s shoulder,” came out of it.
Todd looked unimpressed that Josh hadn’t pushed back more, but turned around, stepped back on full step, and did as he was told. By some miracle, the ball whirled passed Arlo, into Van’s waiting glove.
Todd glanced back at Josh, who just put his arms out and laughed.
“Not as easy as it looks,” he muttered, dropping back into ready position, completely ignoring Todd’s fuming glare.
The game continued with Todd finding a clumsy groove that looked similar to a toddler learning how to walk for the first time. But he figured it out with a few more pointers from Josh that sounded more like mocking than helping.
Cael didn’t catch a single ball all game, and it was hilarious to watch him get worked up every time Arlo scored a run. Jensen, on the other hand, was happy at third, spouting off nonsense about enjoying the backward view of the diamond. But then again, nothing ever bothered that guy.
“How many times are we going to run this fucking play?” Cael yelled finally, snatching his mitt off in frustration.
“You’re the only person that hasn’t caught a ball,” I called out to him. “So you tell me?”
“Is that what it’ll take for you to let us free?” He asked me with a loud groan. “First base is stupid and so is your face, Tucker.”
“Kitten’s grumpy,” Arlo mocked from the batter’s box.
“Shut up, Princess.” Cael whirled on Arlo with his finger pointed and shook it. “You’re having fun because you have torture kink. This is brutal–we all know I can’t play first and it’s cruel!”
“Switch then; play outfield.” Van shrugged. “Logan can take first, his reflexes are better, and Todd can move to shortstop because Arlo never hits left field unless he has to.”
Arlo scoffed.
“Where will you go?” Cael flipped his hat backward with the brim, seemingly frustrated but definitely listening to the plan.
In fact…everyonewas.
“Pitcher. Move Baker to catcher where he’s not in the way…” Josh cut in. “Put Dean at third–he’ll cover Todd in case Arlo switches hits, and fill the gaps in outfield with Jensen and Louis, Riley can play second.”
And Josh had learned everyone’s names…
“It’ll work,” Van said, surveying the field and nodding toward Josh in agreement. “Everyone switch!”
I caught Arlo’s expression as he crossed his arms over his chest and watched them all willingly switch their positions in the field.
Cael flipped me off as he wandered to right field, but I could tell he was instantly more comfortable in the position. Arlo waited until they were ready before taking a perfectly timed pitch from Van that flew over the infield heads straight toward Cael.
Todd hollered out before anyone else could. “First!”
Cael didn’t hesitate as the ball hit his glove. His fingers scooped it effortlessly from his palm and hurled it toward Josh, who was ready on base. Arlo pushed the pace, but he wasn’t fast enough. The sound of the ball kissing leather as Ella yelled Arlo out echoed almost simultaneously through the air.
It didn’t take them long to get back into the swing of things; Cael even started catching more balls. Logan’s voice carried cleanly across the bases, cutting through the noise with ease, which only meant good things for a loud stadium.
“They’re going to be ok, Tucker.” Arlo nudged me as he came to a slow stop at third. “If you can get Cael and Logan on the same page for the season…”
