Can anyone hear us?

13

I snuck outside and went to Ted. He held up a puppy with an alligator suit on.

"Where did you get it?" I asked.

"Found it on the street. He's just a puppy."

"What's his name?"

"Prince. I named him that 'cause he looks like one."

Prince's fur was a rich golden brown and his fur was shirt and smooth, making him look like a prince.

Ted added, "And he's yours."

"What?"

"Yeah. Y'all seemed like you were goin' through somethin' so I thought you would need someone with you 24/7."

"Thanks, Ted but I don't have food for him. And my dad won't know about it."

"I subscribed to a dog food brand called PetChow. Y'all will get two bags of dog food per month for free."

"Wow. You sure?" I asked as Ted put the puppy in my arms.

"Yeah."

"Thanks, Ted. I really appreciate it, I'd invite you to stay but the coach and his wife is already staying with me."

"That's fine. See you at the game today." He said and began walking away.

I hid the puppy behind my back and went into the house. I made my way to my room and closed the door. I knew I instantly loved him. I rubbed his soft black fur and held him close to me.

"Ok, Prince. Stay in here until I get back." I said even though he probably couldn't understand me. I filled a plastic bowl with water and left it on the floor in my room. I closed the door and heard Prince whine when I left to the living room.

The coach was sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Hey, Aron." He said when he saw me.

"Sup, coach. Ready for the game?"

"Well, are you? Jake can't come in today because he is sick. We need you to pitch."

"Me? I'm a batter."

"I know. Ted is also a pitcher but you need to get your hand back in shape. I feel like it would be an ultimate test for you."

"But if we lose we are out. And we're so close to the championship game."

"Trust me. I know you and I know your strengths and weaknesses. Listen to your coach."

"Fine." I looked around for my dad but he wasn't here. "Where's my father?"

"He went out but things."

I highly doubt that since he is stealing my money. He is probably at a local bar or something. I went back upstairs to check on Prince one last time when I found my door wide open. Maybe it didn't shut all the way....

A trail of chewed stuffing led out of my door and across the hall into my dads room. I ran inside his room. Prince was on the bed chewing up pillows and blankets, stuffing everywhere.

"No!" I grabbed Prince and put him back in my room. "Stay in here until I get back! I'll lock the door this time." I locked a Prince in my room and went back to the disaster. How am I gonna fix this?

"Aron, come on! You're gonna be late!" Coach yelled up to me. I'm gonna have to fix this later and hope my dad doesn't come home...

I scrambled down the stairs and went out the door, the coach following behind me. Something caught my eye on the counter where we put junk mail. It was a yellow piece of paper. I went over to it and looked at it. It had my name over it and I knew what it was. Too afraid to open it, I went upstairs to out it on my bed.

Stepping out of the house I bumped into Elizabeth.

"Oh, hi Aron. I wanted to tell you that I am coming to your game today."

"That's great. You can walk with us." I replied. She smiled. The coach followed behind us. I began to tell Elizabeth about Prince.

"Does your dad know?" She asked.

"Shh be quiet. The coach doesn't know either."

Elizabeth thought for a moment before saying: "How can your dad force you to live with him? You're an adult! You can live wherever you want."

"I know, I know. It's just... He owns a gun and I don't want him using it. Plus he can get abusive."

"But you said that he was going to therapy."

"Well I guess it isn't working that well." The field came into view. It was an away game but at a field just five minutes from ours. It met halfway between the opposing teams field and ours.

Elizabeth went into the crowd that was forming to watch while I jogged up to Ted.

"How's Prince?" He asked.

"He's.. Fine." Ted looked doubtful but I waved it off.

"So coach wants me to pitch."

"What? No... You're batter."

"I know I told him that. He wants me to."

"You better do us good. If we lose, no pressure, but it's on you." He said.

"Got any news on Jake?" I asked. We are two minutes away from starting and this is our last chance for Jake to come.

"He's got a migraine."

And the other team looked like they were professional weight lifters.

Just before they game was about to start, I looked in the giant crowd for Elizabeth. She said to be in the front row but I couldn't find her.

"Gators, come here!" I heard coach say and with one last look in the crowd, I went to the huddle around the coach.

"I'm lookin' at those players out there and they look a lot tougher than any of us. We can't beat them. We are gonna lose. Those are the things that are inside your head. Get them out! We're a team and bonded together. We're family and that's somethin' they could never have. We can beat them. Together." He said.

We slapped each other's backs and did a little chant before returning to the field. I stayed with coach.

"Aron, I didn't know if you wanted to hear, but we've both been going to the doctors and yesterday when we went, he said we can have a child."

I smiled. "That's great!"

"I know. But I'm worried I'm not fit to be a father."

"Coach, worrying about your child is the first step to being a father. Trust me, you are. You're a father to me."

My name was announced and I jogged out in the field onto the pitcher's mound.