hard knock life ◇ sandlot

✖ | chapter ten

"...YOU FEEL BAD, don't you?" benny smirked, elbowing bertram in the ribs. bertram made a small face, and rubbed where benny's jab had hit.

"feel bad? about what?"

benny chuckled and shook his head, that shit eating grin spread wide across his face.

"about what happened with the big chief, man. how everybody had to go home because of you." he teased. bertram rubbed the back of his neck. benny knew damn well he'd never actually admit that he did indeed feel bad, but it was obvious on his face.

"...i just...wanted to make up for it...y'know?" he shrugged, returning benny's smile. benny gave him a knowing nod of the head, before jogging over to smalls, who still looked as if that rotten milk hadn't quite left him yet.

"you doin' okay, smalls?" he smirked, draping an arm over his shoulder. the boy's reply was a queasy grin, and he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"this is...bad." he whispered, looking up to benny with concern. benny halted, stopping smalls with him.

"come on, man! this is...a once in a lifetime chance. learn to live a little."

***

"uh oh. what's up with you?" kenny snickered, lightly punching timmy on the shoulder. he threw his hands in the air, before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

"why does everyone think that something's wrong? that's just how my face looks!"

kenny couldn't help but snicker, before he felt two hands yank his shoulders back, rather aggressively. he nearly toppled to the ground, taking the other person with him.

"denunez! c'mon, man, help me raid the prizes!"

god dammit, hamilton porter.

kenny rolled his eyes and motioned for the fat kid to follow him. two other guys had already beaten them to it.

yeah-yeah and squints suddenly popped up from behind the counter, yeah-yeah seemingly too busy cramming cotton candy into his mouth to answer on how much they had stolen exactly.

"hey, buzz off. this is our stand." squints frowned, bushing his glasses up the brim of his nose. yeah-yeah cackled obnoxiously, shoving another fistful of cotton candy into his mouth. denunez grabbed the bag, shaking his head as he pushed it into ham's eager grasp. yeah-yeah whined loudly, leaning over the counter.

"jeez, man, you're gonna eat your hand." kenny frowned, shoving his hands in his pockets as he wandered towards the funhouse.

ham, on the other hand, was very entertained with waving the candy in front of yeah-yeah's face, before cramming it into his own.

"awww, d'you want it back?" ham pouted, shaking the bag mere inches from yeah-yeah's grasp.

"yeah yeah, c'mon, ham!"

"well, too bad." ham snickered, finishing off the bag before jogging after kenny.

***

"...where's your brother?" bertram questioned, leaning against the structure. timmy shrugged his shoulders, and kicked a small rock. it skidded across the hardened dirt, before coming to a stop a few feet away.

"...probably bein' a pain. but at least somewhere else." the two chuckled, and timmy shook his head, removing the cap from his head. his hat was rather old, and the once bright black color was faded from the dust and dirt from the sandlot. the hat itself tattered and worn. timmy raked a hand through his hair, letting out a long sigh.

"what's up, man?" bertram smirked, crossing his arms across his chest. timmy looked like a mess this past week. of course, bertram knew how often he would strain himself over his grades, and he could just be stressing over school starting once again.

however, something in his gut was telling him it was not the case.

timmy opened his mouth to say something, when a sudden thundering voice seemed to echo throughout the entire park. bertram and timmy froze, like deer in headlights.

"who the hell is here?"

security.