It's Going, Going, Gone!

Chapter Two

"Hey, Benny, is it okay if I come over to stay the night?" I asked him.
"Yeah. We're gonna watch the game."
"Awesome, I'll be over before too long."
"All right, I'll see you in a bit."
I reluctantly walked back to my house. Benny noticed and waved me over. "What?" I asked.
"Just come over now, you can wear Harper's old clothes."
"Thanks!"
I followed Benny to his house. As soon as we walked in, his black Labrador retriever, Luna, jumped all over us. "Hi, Skye!" Benny's older sister Harper smiled at me.
"Oh, hello Skye! I didn't know you were coming over." Mrs. Rodriguez smiled.
"Hey. I didn't even realize I was coming over now, either. Is Luna always this jumpy?" I asked nervously.
"Luna! Down!" Benny commanded as I inched away from the dog and behind Benny.
Mrs. Rodriguez laughed, "Sorry about her. She's always this way when Benny gets back from the sandlot."
"Yeah, because of the Beast." Harper said.
I whimpered and hid behind Benny. "Harper, don't be so insensitive." Mrs. Rodriguez scolded.
"Come on, Hurricane. Let's go upstairs." Benny said, already moving towards the stairs.
I followed him closely as we walked up to his room. I sat on his bed and basically curled into a ball. Benny sat down next to me and rubbed circles on my back, "Hey, hey, hey. It's okay." He whispered comfortingly.
I tried and tried to hold back my tears, but they flowed down my cheeks as I relived the moment the Beast bit my collarbone. Just after I moved here, Benny and I were playing catch at the sandlot when the beast broke free and bit me on the collarbone. "Benny, I can't do it. I can't keep living in fear. We have to do something." I muttered.
"It's okay, we'll do something."
"But what can we do?"
"Something's gonna change, something to do with the new kid."
"But, Benny, what if it's not for the better?"
"It's okay. We'll figure something out."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
"All right, Benny, I trust you."
"Thank you. Do you need a minute?"
"Yeah, just a few seconds to calm down."
Benny got up and walked away, leaving me alone, sitting on his bed. I ran my fingers along the jagged scar on my collarbone. I got up and paced the room, wiping my eyes. This vulnerability that I have, that only Benny understands and knows about, is hindering my ability to play outfield at the sandlot.
When my eyes were dry and there weren't any signs that I had been crying, I walked downstairs to find Harper and Benny arguing about something. "Hey." I muttered quietly, sitting down on the couch next to Benny.
"Sorry." Harper mumbled.
"What was that?" Benny asked.
"Benny, it's fine." I said.
"No, it's not fine. She knows that's a sore subject, yet she brought it up anyway."
"Benny! Do you hear yourself? You talk about me like I'm not here." Helper yelled.
"Maybe if you were more careful to avoid stuff that upsets me and my friends, I wouldn't talk about you like you weren't here."
"Just shut-up! Both of you!" I shouted.
"Sorry, Hurricane." Benny apologized.
"Come on, Benny. Let's go play catch."
Benny followed me out the back door of his house and we played catch in silence, just focusing on the mechanics of throwing and catching. Finally, Benny said something, "I really am sorry, Hurricane."
"I reluctantly accept your apology."
For the next hour, that's all we do, play catch and talk about life.

***

It was Tuesday, meaning that Benny would let us take turns at bat. Ham was currently up to bat. "Hamilton 'the Babe' Porter. 'Long-ball' Porter. Come on, DeNunez." Ham said before pointing at center field.
I rolled my eyes while my teammates laughed. Benny decided that I could play third to help my anxiety about You-know-what. "Yeah, okay. Yes, I see it. Yes." Benny said from his catcher's position.
DeNunez pitched the ball and Ham got a strike on his count. Benny caught the ball and stood up, "Whoa!"
I snickered lightly while my teammates continued laughing. "You call that pitching?" Ham asked.
"Ham, it was right down the middle." I told him.
"This is baseball, not tennis." Ham responded.
"Give him a tennis racket." Squints joked.
"Give me something to hit."
"All right, Ham. This is my Heater. I dare you to hit it." DeNunez bet.
I groaned, this wasn't going to work out for anyone except Ham. I ignored the things everyone said and focused on the ball, watching as it left the pitcher's hand and hit Ham's bat and flew over the back fence. Ham started rounding the bases and people started hitting him with their gloves. "Wait a sec, I'll get it." Rookie said, turning around to go climb the fence.
"No." I whimpered.
My teammates noticed and started shouting, "No!"
They ran after him and grabbed him by the waist and pulled him down. They put him down and I stayed far away from the fence, hiding behind Benny. "Holy crap, you could've been killed." Squints declared.
"Yeah-yeah, truly. What are you doin'?" Yeah-yeah asked.
"Well, you guys were all leaving, so I thought I'd hop the fence," Rookie tried.
Squints cut him off, "If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that."
"You can't go back there, Smalls." Benny warned.
"Then how do we get the ball back?" Smalls asked.
"We don't." Timmy said.
"We don't." Tommy mimicked.
"It's history."
"It's history."
"Kiss is good-bye."
"Kiss it—"
"Shut-up, Tommy."
"It's gone, man. Gone." Bertram told him.
"Game's over, man." Benny concluded. "We'll just get another ball tomorrow."
"We'll never see it again." I muttered from behind Benny.
We started walking away. "Why not?" Smalls asked.
"The Beast." My teammates muttered in unison while I whimpered.
"What's that?" Rookie asked.
I gripped Benny's arm in terror. I whimpered when we pulled away to walk over to Rookie. Yeah-yeah came over next to me and held my hand. I smiled, he'd always be there for me. "Smalls, listen to me." Benny started. "Go over to that fence... real slow and quiet."
"But I-I think—"
"No, no, no. No, no. Just go and peek through that hole."
"But I— But I saw something. What's back there?"
"It's okay. Just go. Just go."
"Go. Go." My team said as Benny returned to my side.
I held onto Benny's arm for dear life. Smalls reluctantly walked over to the hole in the fence and peeked through. I gripped Benny's arm tighter. I heard movement behind the fence. Benny protectively put his arm out in front of me. Suddenly, Smalls ran away from the fence, "Something got the ball. What was that thing?"
My team and I rolled our eyes in unison, "Camp out."
We all went home and grabbed our overnight bags before walking to Squints' house. Per usual, I was the first to arrive. Everyone knew my home life wasn't stable. My mom was dead and my dad was an alcoholic. Benny arrived shortly after, assumingly to comfort me and help my anxiety.
Benny and I took our places at the back of the treehouse and held his bat to our chests. Not too long after, Squints brought up a box of pizza. I took a piece of pepperoni and tried to bite into it without spilling grease all over Benny. "Ah, crap. Sorry, Benny."
"It's okay."
"No, really, I'm sorry."
"It's fine, you didn't mean to."
I grabbed a paper towel and started wiping off his jeans. Slowly, everyone arrived. Ham walked over and placed a s'more in my hands. "Thanks, Ham." I smiled.
"Give me some of that." Benny demanded.
I rolled my eyes, "Now, is that how we ask for things?"
"May I please have some of that?"
"Yes."
I broke the s'more in half and handed half to Benny. He smiled and took a bite. "Squints, toss me a water bottle." I asked.
He tossed me one. I took a sip before putting a little water on a paper towel and wiping off my marshmallow goo covered shirt. I saw Benny lick his thumb and wipe the chocolate off my cheek. I felt warmth creep across my cheeks as I looked down. "Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late. My mom made me put on my jacket. And then she made me do the dishes." Rookie explained.
"Aw, your poor little mommy made you do the big, bad dishes." Bertram teased.
Rookie sat down next to Ham as everyone else kept teasing each other. "Okay. Quiet, you guys. Quiet! Are you trying to wake it up? It just went to bed." Squints scolded.
I whimpered and held the bat tight to my chest. Benny pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I didn't object, in fact, I leaned in closer. "What just went to bed?" Rookie asked.
Everyone except Benny and I shushed him and said, "The Beast."
"Oh, yeah!"
He was shushed again. "Jeez, man." Benny mumbled.
"Now quiet." Squints started.
Benny held me tighter. "The legend of the Beast goes back a long time..." Squints continued.
I whimpered when he said the name. "Before any of us could even pick up a baseball. Back to a place called Mertle's Acres. It all started about, hmm, 20 years ago, when thieves kept stealing junk from Mertle's Acres junkyard. So Mr. Mertle, the guy that used to own the place, got him this new pup from the dog pound. He fed him whole sides of beef and turned the pup loose in the junkyard. And the pup was grateful. And so, in a few weeks, the pup grew into the Beast. And he grew big, and he grew mean so that he could protect the junkyard with only one thing on his mind, to kill everyone that broke in. And he did, and he liked it a lot! The Beast was the most perfect junkyard dog that ever lived. A true killing machine. But after a while, the cops started getting phone calls from people, reporting all the missing thieves, the ones the Beast had killed. It added up to about 120– 173 guys. It's true. But they never found a single body, not one. Some people say they all got away, but we all know what really happened. The Beast ate them. He ate them bone and all. The Beast was too good at his guard dog job, so the police said he had to be retired. My grandpa, Squidman Palledorous, was police chief back then. And he ordered Mr. Mertle to turn his backyard into a fortress and chain up the Beast and put him under the house where he could never get out to eat children and stuff. And that's where he's been for 20 years. And that's where he'll be for the rest of his life, because when Mr. Mertle asked the cops how long he had to keep the Beast chained up like a slave, they said until... F-O-R-E-V-E-R. F-O-R-E-V-E-R. F-O-R-E-V-E-R. And so, the Beast sits there under that lean-to, dreaming of the time when he can break the chain and get out, dreaming of the time he can chase and kill again." Squints finished.
I hugged Benny and buried my face into his neck, thankful for his protective embrace. "See, man? That's why you can't go over there. Nobody ever has. Nobody ever will." Bertram told Rookie.
"One kid did, but nobody ever saw him again." Ham said.
"That ain't true." DeNunez argued.
"Yeah, it is. It was my brother." I mumbled into Benny's neck.
I could feel everyone's heads turn to look at me. I took a deep breath and turned to face them. It was time to tell them. "Just after I moved here, I was playing at the sandlot with Benny and my brother Freddy. The Beast got out and," my voice caught, "and killed my brother. He bit me and Benny narrowly avoided his razor sharp teeth."
I pulled down my collar and revealed my scar. Benny held me tight as I forced back my tears. "I was only five. My mom left soon after and my dad started drinking. Now you know the whole story."
"Nuh-uh." Rookie protested. "No. None of that's true. You guys are just making this up to scare me."
"Do you see how she is?" Benny shouted.
"Oh, yeah? Stick your head out that window and look down." Squints demanded.
Smalls got up and looked out the window. Benny hugged me tightly as I cried into his shoulder. "It's okay. It's okay." He muttered quietly.
"Thank you, Benny." I whispered.
I heard thumping outside and Benny pulled me closer. Suddenly, Smalls screamed and jumped away from the window. Benny pulled me closer. "He's down there." Rookie whisper-yelled.
Benny pulled me even closer when I whimpered. "You bet he is." Squints confirmed.
"Whatever goes over that fence..." Ham shuddered and blew out a breath, "stays there."
"It becomes the property of the Beast, forever." Squints added.
And with that, everyone fell asleep clutching bats or big sticks or friends. I was the last to fall asleep, too worried about the nightmares that were sure to come. As I looked around, clutching Benny's bat, I accidentally hit him in the head with it. "Ow! What the?" He whispered.
"Sorry, Benny! I didn't mean to."
"Just come to bed, Hurricane."
"Yeah, you're right."
I laid down in my sleeping bag and clutched the bat. Benny rested his head on my shoulder and wrapped his arms around me. I was thankful for the lack of light because I blushed so hard.