Taiven Parmiga

Chapter 11: Home Run!!!

"Snow cones! Get your snow cones! 5 dollars a cup!" a man in a white and red striped shirt with a blue box hanging in front of him passes us by.

"Five dollars for a tiny cup of flavored ice?! That's just a little insane." I shake my head as the man's shouting begins to fade behind us.

"Baseball concessions are always more expensive." Evan replies still watching the Indian batter strike out. "But, nothing interesting is happening. So how about we walk around a little?" He looks over at me pleadingly.

"Bored already?" I ask laughing.

"Can't help it. The Indians do that to me." He shrugs.

"You sure we won't miss anything?"

"Nope. Unless you find countless strikeouts exhilarating." He sarcastically emphasizes exhilarating.
I smile and nudge him. "Come on. Let's go."

We walk up the cement stairs to reach the top platform. The bright sun shines, but the red ballcap Evan gave me shades my eyes from the bright rays.  The fans placed randomly around the platform spray a light water mist as we pass by. The scent of German roasted nuts, popcorn, and ice cream wafts into my nose and instantly makes my mouth water. I breathe it all in and smile. I couldn't imagine a better way to spend my weekend.
We stop by a small frozen yogurt stand and ask for a few samples before deciding on mango for Evan and coconut for me.

"When I was a little girl, my dad took me and my sister Vera to a game. We found a frozen yogurt stand like this one, and after tasting a sample, we begged our dad to buy us a cup. But he wouldn't budge. So we decided to change our clothes and fix our hair differently, and we kept going back for more samples." I rambled on, not knowing what else to talk about.

"So how many samples did you end up getting?" He asks taking another big bite.

"7 different samples." I proudly stated.

"Wow! Shouldn't that be a world record somewhere?" He jokes.

"Of course after the first time, the lady at the cart caught on. But each time, she played along with it. I think she knew nobody was going to be willing to pay that much for it anyways. And she didn't want to ruin the fun, I guess."

"Yeah, seriously. 7 samples is about as much as I got and I still had to pay  4 dollars for it. Total rip off." He half-heartedly complains.

"Hey. You're the one who wanted it. And it looks to me like you're enjoying your seven samples very much." I laugh.

When the Reds are up for the last inning, we're losing 6-4. Evan and I have spent most of the game shouting at the Indians and cheering for the Reds. Our seats weren't the best, but good enough to see. We were towards the back in between first and second base.

Then, Zach Cozart comes up to bat. The bases are loaded and he's the last batter of the game. The billboards all glowed, encouraging everyone to get on their feet and cheer for the home stretch. We're already standing at that point.

Throw. Miss. Strike.
Throw. Miss. Foul.
Throw. Miss. Strike.

I'm furiously fumbling my fingers to calm the nerves, even though it isn't helping at all. Evan looks over and laughs at my anxiety. He reaches down and slightly squeezes my hand. We look at each other, then back to the batter. The crowds are roaring with excitement by now.

Throw......HIT!!!

It was high up and far out. All the players ran with lightning speed. I watched as the one on third almost hit the home plate and...

BAM!!!!!!

*Not sure if ending it like this is suspenseful or just stupid and predictable...please let me know what you think so far! Really need some feedback at this point.*