The Gangleader's Gem ✅

11.

"Okay so this is the wicket," Gavin said as he hammered in three sticks- each an inch apart. "If the ball hits these you're out."

I nodded as I held the bat in my hand, it was flat, a bit wide and had a slim, thick handle. Today we were going to play cricket. Most of the players were clueless to this sport so Gavin was teaching them.

"So to sum it up, there are two wickets parallel to each other. If you are batting you stand in front of the wicket but behind the marked line. When the ball is thrown you bat, if you don't hit a 4 or 6 points you run, any number of time you want to as long as your opposing team does not have the ball in their clutches. You run towards the wicket, hit your bat on the area behind the marked line and if you can run again you sprint afterwards. Is that clear?" asked Gavin.

The teams nodded and a boy rose his hand. I believed his name was Harry.

"Yeah?"

"How do you know if we hit a 4 or 6?" He asked.

"We estimate it... Like beyond the tree that Vanni was under is 4. Okay, so the team that gets the most points wins. Let's play!" he said as he clapped his hands.

The group - consisting of sixteen persons - broke apart and took their positions, Vanni was at one of the wickets he was going to bold/ throw. He juggled the small, padded, rubber ball - not the appropriate ball but it was all we had- in his hands expertly. He looked up and then winked at me.

I shook my head and walked to the wicket.

"Can I get a test run?" I asked.

Gavin laughed and nodded. Vanni stepped back, running up to the wicket and threw the ball. I swung the bat and it slipped out of my hand, the ball flying behind me.

"Crap!"

The children watching the game laughed and pointed at me.

The children were now watching the games like they did every week. Even Giovanni and the bitcheteers were watching and they rarely did that.

Giovanni was leaning over his balcony railing, the bitcheteers on either side of him.

I walked over to the bat, picking it up and came back to the wicket. "Again?"

Vanni hid his smile and stepped back.

"Wait," said Gavin and Vanni halted.

Gavin came up behind me and placed his hands on my hips. He turned me sideways, the wicket on my right. He guides the bat to the ground, causing me to bend my back and then he used his knees to pressure the back of my knees, bending them.

"This is how you position yourself," he said as he placed his hands over mine, his body on mine.

He swung the bat back and then forward. "That's how you bat a ball. There are more ways but we'll stick to that for now, okay?"

I nodded and he smiled. He pulled away his body and slapped my ass, walking off. "Hey!"

"What? You were asking for it positioning like that," he grinned.

I rolled my eyes turned around, positioned myself and looked forward. Vanni looked like he was ready to blow a fuse. If we were in a cartoon his scalp would lift and steam would puff out. Yeah that mad.

He gazed at me with a clenched jaw and I gulped. I had a feeling that my flirting was going to come back and bite me in my ass... and I believed this was one moment.

"You can do it SJ, babe," yelled PJ from under a tree, she was staring at Vanni but cheering for me.

Typical PJ, gawking at Vanni.