We Come Alive 5

Whiteboard Lineup

Friday morning, it was a school holiday so all the Grand Ridge High School students were out enjoying their free day. That included the eight star football players and their coach's daughter who loaded Ricky's Jeep and Diego's pickup truck to go to the movie theater across the city that was much nicer than their local one.

Diego stopped behind Ricky's Jeep at the red light, listening to Jacob, Andrew, and Stephen talking in the back seat while Manny was beside Diego in the passenger seat.

"I feel like I'd be an amazing father." Stephen shrugged. "The rest of you'll be shit. My kids will be so happy."

"You can't even make a grilled cheese." Andrew snorted. "There's no way you'll be able to keep another human being alive."

Jacob motioned to Manny in front of them. "Manny's got a kid. Let us borrow her for a day."

Manny shook her head, putting her hair up in a bun. "I love my daughter far too much to let any of you be alone with her for longer than an hour. Maybe not even that."

Diego smiled and laughed at the boys ranting in the backseat about it not being fair that Manny wouldn't let them watch Esmeralda. He looked at the back of Ricky's Jeep so he didn't miss a turn.

Ricky glanced at his phone that was in his right hand while he drove with his left. He made sure he was following the GPS directions and didn't go the wrong way.

"So, when y'all getting married?" Ethan asked, leaning on the center console in between Clover and Ricky.

"Lean back," Ricky mumbled, nudging Ethan with his shoulder.

Ethan slid back while Clover answered. "Not for a very long time. I don't want to get married anytime soon. Just have a nice relaxing relationship."

Jose frowned, putting his hand on the back of Clover's seat. "Weren't you engaged? Why the sudden change?"

"I didn't have a choice." She shrugged one shoulder, looking up at Ricky who seemed to be ignoring the topic. "I was proposed to. I couldn't just say no. That's rude. That's mean."

Ricky looked at her then to the road. "Would you say yes to me?"

Clover shook her head. "You're different. I could just tell you I'm not ready and we'll be cool. Other people aren't like that, you know."

Ricky nodded his head, understanding. He turned the corner and shifted his eyes to his rearview mirror to make sure Diego turned too, which he did. Ricky looked back at the road and slammed the brakes when he saw a little brown haired boy running into the street.

Ricky let his phone go, allowing it to fly across the car as he threw his arm across Clover's chest despite her wearing a seatbelt. As he did, he let her go and put his hand up so Ethan's forehead ran into it when he came flying forward.

Clover and Jose both groaned from their seatbelts tightening up against their chests while Ethan screamed when his body jolted forward. His scream turned into a small whimper when he felt blood trickling down his nose. He looked up and saw Ricky's knuckles hit the middle of his forehead, the impact breaking both their skin.

Ricky put the car in park and glanced in his side mirror to see Diego stopped behind them. He took off his seatbelt and looked back at Ethan.

"Put on your seatbelt." He scolded him.

Ethan clicked on his seatbelt lightning fast and was settled in by the time Ricky got out the car and met the boy's mother who had picked up her son, in shock of what happened.

"Oh my god! Don't do that ever again!" The mother yelled at her son, but still cradled the little boy in her arms. She looked up at Ricky and let out a soft breath. "Oh my goodness. Thank you so much for stopping. I...I wouldn't know what I would do if anything happened to him. Is everyone okay?"

Ricky glanced at his Jeep then to the woman. "Yeah." He smiled. "I'm just glad this little guy's okay. I had just seen him too. Came out of nowhere."

The woman put her son down and pointed to their home with a stern expression on her face. The little boy ran off while the woman thanked Ricky again, allowing him to get back in his Jeep. When he got in he heard Jose on the phone with Andrew explaining what happened.

Ricky looked back at Ethan who was using napkins that were in the glove compartment to stop his bleeding. He looked at Clover and grabbed her chin with his thumb and forefinger.

"You okay?"

Clover nodded slowly. "Yeah. Shaken up, but okay." She held up his phone that had fallen on the floor. "Here." She whispered, putting it in his hand instead of her face. "It cracked your windshield."

Ricky looked at the bottom corner of his windshield and saw there was a crack in it. "It's fine. Much better than a little boy getting hurt."

Jose cleared his throat, ending their side conversation. "They're glad the boy's okay, but we have five minutes to make it on time to this movie."

Ethan groaned beside the Mexican boy. "Is it possible to stop for stitches before then?"

Ricky looked back at Ethan and shrugged a shoulder. "You'll be fine. Put some dirt in it."

The Egyptian boy drove off when Diego honked his horn behind him. He continued to lead the group to the movie theater so they could enjoy the rest of their day.

~**~

Later in the day, Mateo, Sam, Victor, Danny, and Hurst were sitting around Mateo's living room with a whiteboard. In the middle was a diagram of a baseball field with names written in all the positions except for one. Down the side of the whiteboard was magnets with the names of the players for the batting line up. All of the names were in some type of order, except for two players who wouldn't be playing in their championship game.

Mateo looked at the empty spot on the board. "We need a first baseman."

"Nobody's as good as Baylor was." Hurst replied quickly."If I'm honest with you, I doubt we're gonna win. He carried the team."

Victor leaned back in his chair, resting his hands on his stomach. "These kids are resilient. They'll play with their all until the games over. There's still hope."

Danny put his notes down on the coffee table that they were all sitting around. "You'll need a new pitcher, too. Clover's hand won't hold up throughout the game. Wrapping her finger will only do so much. She can't wear the splint during the game or they won't allow her to even step on the sand. How do stitches hold up when you throw an 80 mile per hour fastball?"

Mateo thought about a solution to the problem, but Sam's voice beside him killed all of his ideas.

"You can't discolor the ball. The second a drop of blood hits that ball, she's out." Sam reminded them. "So we need a new first baseman and a new pitcher. And some type of idea on how to win this game."

Mateo looked across the table at Hurst. "It's your team. Your decision."

Hurst rubbed his hands over his face, scratching his beard as he did. He looked at the whiteboard beside him at the end of the coffee table with his fingertips at his lips.

"Keep Clover. If we need a new pitcher, we throw in Stephen. He has a decent arm. On first base...Jacob. Great catcher." He chose. "We have no star batter, we have no wild card, we have no leader. But to win this game, they'll do it. I don't have to say a single word to them for them to know what they need to do. Baylor lead that team to where they need to be now. They have enough passion among them to win. There's no doubt about that."