𝐑 𝐔 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄?¹ - juan soto

4.

the bronx sun shone mercilessly over the cracked asphalt of a neighborhood little league diamond, where a group of young, wide eyed little league players scrambled for juan soto's attention. today, lyra was shadowing juan as he visited a little league team in a mostly dominican neighborhood in the bronx. she pulled out her notepad as she leaned against the the chain link fence, watching him intently as he interacted with the children.

lyra tried her best to not let her love for kids impede on her judgement as they excitedly showed juan what their new skills. initially, she viewed this whole visit as a direct rebuttal to what she had said about his charitable acts in her article. a cheap meeting set up by james to attempt to melt her heart, but as she listened to the kids' chatter with a level of familiarity with juan, she quickly realized that this was not the first time they had seen him.

she jotted in her notepad:

Very familiar with little leaguers. Was James not behind this?

lyra looked up, finding juan crouching beside a boy whose glove looked like it had survived too many seasons. gone was the swaggering star she'd written about, replaced with a man whose every word seemed to carry the weight of what the kids were up against. he adjusted the grip of the kid's ball, and when the kid finally sent a pitch over home plate, juan's smile lit up as if it was yankees stadium itself. lyra's pen hovered over the page, her sharp observations not fitting neatly into her original narrative.

lyra heard the boy ask, "¿piensas que podría jugar pa los yankees un día?"

she didn't hear what juan said, but she saw the boy react with the biggest smile on his face.

what she was watching felt like a scene in a cheesy movie, but it was real. the kid's struggles were real, his dreams were real, and it probably meant the world that someone at soto's caliber said that to him. lyra sighed.

she discreetly opened her phone before reluctantly snapping a photo of the two. she had one, just in case she needed it for her piece, but she felt immediate guilt. her taking a photo of the moment felt like it cheapened the moment.

juan wrapped this all up by signing autographs and taking photos with the kids. the team's coach thanked him profusely, and he waved it off, asserting he was, "just doing his part."

lyra fought a visible reaction as she heard the words come from his mouth. was that modesty? humility? his face tightened as he glanced at her, their eyes meeting. he said his goodbyes to the kids, who looked sad to see him go. as he walked away, he lowered his hat and his smile faded away.

he looked at lyra yet again, and then turned his attention to his suv as he walked straight past her without a word. she rolled her eyes, following him out. her blood boiled at the rude gesture. and that was the juan she was used to.

lyra decided to ignore him as well, checking the itinerary for the next location they needed to meet at. just as she was about to pay for her uber, juan pulled up beside her on the concrete. he rolled down his window

"i'm feeling chivalrous today. do you want a ride?" he called from his car.

lyra crossed her arms. before she could reply, she saw the price that shone from her uber app. did she really want to let her pride make her pockets hurt? she sighed, staring at juan and his cocky smile. "fine."

neither spoke on the car ride, lyra deep in thought. why wasn't this side of juan documented anywhere she looked? why was he trying to hide what could've been a pr victory? juan's eyes were on the road as he pulled up to yankees stadium for practice. she mumbled a quick, "thanks," as she got out of his car.

lyra trailed behind juan to the locker room. the sound of her heels and his cleats clicking against the tile with the hum of overhead lights and scent of sterilized equipment was a big jump from the little league field they had just left.

the large locker room was strangely empty. juan walked down the rows for his locker.

lyra finally broke the silence, "is this your usual routine? with the kids?"

juan didn't look at her, "what, are you going to say this was a pr move? like my donations? that all was supposed to be private by the way."

"no... i—" she was at a loss for words.

"you can't even acknowledge anything good i do without trying to expose cracks that you make up in your head." lyra was thrown off by the genuine bitterness in his voice.

before she could even think about how to respond, juan continued, "but that's your job, right larosa? to tear people down and call it journalism."

she inhaled deeply, "soto, i am tired of having this conversation. i wrote the article, i don't regret it, can we please move on?"

"it's easy to ask someone to move on when you're not the one being slammed." he pulled his bag out of the locker.

"can you please answer my question, juan? the kids?"

juan swung his bag over his shoulder, "the kids have nothing to do with whatever you're trying to portray in your article. they come from the same country i come from. they need someone to believe in them, not journalists like you snooping on their lives. you think they care about your clickbait headlines?"

he tried to leave, but lyra stood in front of him, blocking his way. her tone was soft, "then why hide that side of yourself? why do you do things to give people like me ammunition?"

his eyes narrowed on her. "because nobody wants that. they want the swagger, the arrogance. so i give them what they want." his tone was sharp.

lyra paused. why was he all of a sudden so defensive? how could he switch his demeanor so suddenly? this skill of his scared and intrigued her at the same time. she looked up at him, staring straight into his eyes, "maybe if you stopped performing, people could actually see you."

he let out a harsh laugh, "like you see me? tell me, larosa, what do you think you know?"

she stepped closer to him, sudden bravery empowering her, "i think you're scared of being real because it's easier to be the guy everyone loves to hate."

he shook his head, furrowing his brows. "you are impossible," he said. juan bumped her shoulder as he walked away from her. juan paused at the doorway, glancing back at her with an unreadable expression.

he closed the door behind him, leaving lyra standing in the locker room, her confidence rattled.