Page 84 of Wild Hit
His hackles rise. “Are you threatening me?”
I go back to ignoring him and crouch for the next kid. “Hey, buddy. Are you having a good time today?”
“Yeah!” The boy’s face, already open and happy, all but explodes from excitement. “I got a picture with two Hall of Famers already,two!Can you believe that?”
“Wow, that’s so cool. Who were the lucky guys?”
He uses his fingers to count them. “First it was Derek Jeter, and then Pedro Martinez. But I also met Andres Gal—Galg…”
“Galarraga?” I ask, my Venezuelan accent coming out in full force.
“Yeah, my dad was his fan!”
“So was I.” I start working on an autograph for him, using my thigh as a table. “He’s one of the players I looked up to when I was a kid in my home country, dreaming of being pro one day.”
Andres Galarraga, Omar Vizquel, the legendary hero Luis Aparicio from my hometown. These are some of the guys that make me believe in myself when I was a kid. That I could go somewhere with this sport.
“Whoa!” he exclaims.
“What’s your name, buddy?”
“I’m Jimmy! It’s so cool to meet you.” Then he leans a little bit toward me, hands gripping the armrests of his wheelchair. “Wanna know the truth?”
I look up with interest. I’m not against being trusted with a secret. “Of course, what’s that?”
“You’re actually my favorite player of all,” he says in the loudest whisper I’ve ever heard. That, and the fact that he looks like he just won the lottery, make my chest bubble with joy.
I pretend like I’m very serious, though, and I also lean forward to share a big secret. “Well, don’t tell anyone, Jimmy, but you’re my favorite fan.”
“Yes!” He pumps a fist in the air and we pose for a picture with him holding the autograph.
I’m grinning from ear to ear when I make the mistake of straightening up and making eye contact with Williams. “You’re my favorite player,” he mocks with a high pitched voice.
From the corner of my eye, I confirm that Jimmy’s far enough, surrounded by other kids, and shows no signs of having heard the mockery.
Unfortunately, I’m only human. All the happy go lucky feels I had part like the ocean to give room for anger. Slowly, making full use of the nine inches I have on him, I say, “Another rhinoplasty’s in your damn future if I catch you making fun of a child again.”
Williams snaps his mouth shut.
There, there.
When I turn back to find the coordinator, I instead meet a different one approaching me. This one’s a fairly young guy and he looks like he just went through something traumatic. “Um, excuse me, Mr. Machado, but Mr. Cox is looking for you.”
Audrey’s dad? Whatever for, I think sarcastically. I think she’s starting to rub off on me.
A flashback of her rubbing up on me in my team captain’s car goes through my head. I shake it to clear the incredible memory away.
I clear my throat. “Let’s check with the event coordinator first.”
“Of course.” The guy nods rapidly.
I glance back at Williams, who is still glaring a me with unmatched fury. It makes my lips quirk. “Turns out your nose lives to see another day.”
“You—”
Whatever he says next is drowned by the kids, because the coordinator gives the other staff member a thumbs up that I’m good to go, and starts guiding me away.
“I’ll be back,” I say in my best Terminator voice to the kiddies, and they react entirely the opposite way my own child would. Like they’re excited about the idea. No one is a prophet in their own land, after all.
