The Home Run

Benny and The Guys.

Izzy's POV

       I woke up at 7:30 and grabbed clothes from my drawers and began to get dressed. I pulled out a grey shirt and tucked it into a pair of light blue high waisted jeans. I pulled on my old faithful black and white Chuck Taylor high tops. I put my hair in a ponytail and put on my baseball hat. I put on mascara grabbed my glove and walked into the kitchen of my house.
        "7:53. Not too bad on time." I said to myself. I looked outside and saw that my dads' car was gone. Thank God.
"What are you doing up this early?" my mom asked behind me.
"I'm going to go play baseball with some friends," I said, pulling my hair to make my ponytail tighter.
"Do I know any of these friends?" she folded her arms.
"Yes." I copied her, "Benny."
"Okay." she smiled at me, "Have fun, and please don't get yourself hurt."
"I'll try not to. Bye, mom!"
"Bye, sweetie," she said and with that, I walked out the door.
I looked around for Benny but didn't see him. I messed with my glove a bit when I saw a door open across the cul de sac and the new boy walked out. I looked at the Rodriguez house but Benny didn't walk out so, I walked over to the new boy.
"Hey. I'm Isabel Juarez. But you can call me Izzy. Welcome to the neighborhood." I said, holding out my hand.
"I'm Scott. Scott Smalls. Thank you for the welcome." he said, shaking my hand.
"No problem." I said, looking around, "You like it here?"
"Yeah. It's nice. It's quiet."
"Were you excepting party central?" I smiled a bit.
"Oh. No, no." he shook his head.
"Hey, what time is it?" I asked.
"8:10," he said, looking at his watch. Just then Benny walked out of his house.
"It was nice to meet you, Smalls. Oh, one last question. Do you like baseball?"
"Nice to met you too. And yeah I uh... love baseball," he said, unsure.
"Good to know. Bye, Smalls." I said, walking away.
"Bye, Izzy," he said.
"It's about damn time Benny. I made a friend and I think my hair grew a couple of inches." I said, bumping him with my hip.
"Haha very funny," he said, sarcastically.
"Well, I did actually make a friend." I nodded towards Smalls.
"And?" we started walking to the sandlot.
"Seems like a good kid. Said he likes baseball but didn't sound too sure."
"Doesn't look like the kind who would," he said, glancing back at Smalls.
"Don't judge a book by its cover, Benny. If I'm remembering correctly, you wanted me to be your cheerleader."
"I am never living that down, am I?" Benny sighed.
"Not as long as I'm around." I smiled.

*~*

We got to the Sandlot after a few minutes of walking and talking. All of Benny's friends were there. I recognized them from school and I knew some of their names but not all of them.
"Hey, guys," Benny said walking up to the boys.
"Benny, aren't you gonna introduce us to the pretty lady?" Ham said, wiggling his eyebrows at me. A small laugh escaped my mouth but I quickly covered it with my hands.
"Yeah, yeah, c'mon Benny." a boy said.
"Izzy, this is Hamilton Porter we call Ham," he spit, "this is Michael Palledorous we call him Squints," he spit, "this is Alan McClennan we call Yeah- Yeah," he spit, "This is Kenny DeNunez." he spit, "this is Bertram Grover Weeks," he spit, "and this is Timmy and Tommy Timmons." they both spat at the same time, "Guys, this is Isabel Juarez."
"You can call me Izzy," I said and spit. All the boys looked at me wide-eyed, "What you've never seen a girl spit?"
       "Yeah, yeah we have but, not one that Be-" Yeah- Yeah got cut off by Squints punching him in the arm, "Ow! What was that for?"
       "You know what that was for, bonehead!" Squints said.
       "Is there something I'm missing?" I asked, adjusting my hat.
       "No. Let's play ball." Benny said, handing me the bat, "Show us what you got."
       "Gladly," I said.
       "Ham you take left center, for now, I'll catch," Benny said. Ham nodded and went to his spot. Benny put on the mask and squatted behind home plate. I stood at home plate and took my stance, "Ready?"
       "What do you think?" I said, jokingly
       "Play ball!" he yelled.
       "Hit me with your best shot," I whispered. I took a deep breath and watched DeNunez. He pulled his arm back and pitched. For a moment everything went in slow motion. The ball came right at me. I swung and then...

*CRACK!*

       "Holy shit," Benny said. I started running the bases as fast as I could.
       "Benny!" Bertram yelled from third as he threw the ball to him. I ran faster and slid home.
       "Safe?" I asked, panting.
       "Uh, yeah. You made it before I even caught the ball." Benny said, holding his hand out to me.
       "What a gentleman," I said, taking his hand and he pulled me up.
"Wanna hit one more then we'll rotate?" he asked as I dusted off my leg.
       "Sure," I said, picking up the bat.
"Don't run this time. We won't tag you out." Benny said, squatting behind me.
"Got it," I said taking my stance.
"Give her the heater, Kenny!" Timmy yelled.
"Give her the heater, Kenny!" Tommy repeated.
Again I watched Kenny and waited. His arm drew back and he pitched. I swung the bat and...

*CRACK!*

We all watched the ball fly. Then saw a kid standing at the edge of the Sandlot looking at the fence. Benny stood up and took off his mask.
"Watch out!" Ham yelled. He turned around but too late. The ball hit him right in the face. Everyone started laughing except for Benny and me.
"Oh. My. God." I said, looking down, "I am a horrible person."
"Don't worry about it. It's not like you knew he was there." Benny said, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"I know, but still," I said as we watched the kid.
"It's okay. I'll get it!" the kid yelled. He sounded familiar.
"Is that Smalls?" I asked, watching him get the ball, "Oh, my god. It is."
"Throw the ball back!" Bertram yelled.
"Yeah, yeah, hurry up!" Yeah- Yeah yelled.
It was all eyes on him. He hesitated then quickly ran away from the fence.
"C'mon kid, don't mess this up for yourself," I whispered.
"We're waiting!" Squints yelled.
"C'mon, throw it!" Kenny yelled.
He looked right at Benny and me. Benny rubbed the back of his neck while I messed with my hair. The boys continued yelling and Benny shook his head with concern in his eyes.
"C'mon, Smalls," I said, looking at him concerned.
Smalls tried to throw the ball but it went about two feet and hit the ground. All the boys started laughing at him.
"Oh, my god!" Squints yelled, falling down laughing.
"Crap," I said, facepalming as Smalls ran off.
       "I still got hope in him." Benny said, "He can learn to play."
"I hope so," I said, adjusting my hat

*~*

       I started walking home with Benny and the boys as the sun was setting. We laughed and talked as we made our way to our houses. As we walked we said bye to each other when one of us made it home. By the end, it was just Benny and me left. All in all, it was a good day and I made friends with the guys easily.
       "You going to church tomorrow?" Benny asked.
       "I have the most Hispanic parents in the world, what do you think?" I asked, sarcastically.
       "Hey, I'm just asking." he threw his hand up in defense, smiling.
       I smiled looking around the cul de sac when I saw Smalls. "I'll see you tomorrow. I gotta go apologize."
       "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," he said as I jogged over to Smalls.
       "Hey, Smalls," I said. He was sitting on the front steps of his house.
       "Hey, Izzy," he said, looking down.
       "You okay? What's wrong?" I asked, sitting next to him.
       "I was such a doofus at the Sandlot."
       "I didn't help," I said, taking off my hat.
       "What do you mean?" he asked, confused.
       "I was the one who hit you with the ball. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I didn't even see you. I didn't-"
"Don't worry about it." he said, cutting me off, "It's okay."
"Yeah?" I asked, standing up.
       "Yeah. Wait, you hit that ball?" he asked.
       "Yeah," I said.
       "That was a great hit," he said, amazed.
       "Thank you."
"Are you guys gonna play tomorrow?"
"No. We gotta go to church. But I'll probably see you anyway. Later, Smalls." I said, jogging up to my house.
"Bye, Izzy," he said, faintly.