by KG MacGregor
A dozen more responded to her plea, juggling seat cushions and concessions to follow her. Carly had already swapped their front-row seats with Thaddeus and his mom.
“Any more trouble?”
“Nothing so far.” She pushed the tablet into Ninah’s hands. “Take this contraption back before I screw it up.”
A ground ball to Castillo at second base ended the top half of the inning, all of which Ninah had missed while she scrambled to deal with the possible threat.
She whispered to Carly, “I didn’t tell anyone these were the same guys that trashed their cars. I was afraid it would start a fight.”
“Britt would kill us. Although…it might be fun to sneak out and find their car. You wouldn’t happen to have a pocketknife on you?”
“You’re evil, Carly. I love that about you.” She glanced behind her to see Teri and her friends two rows up. “You’re aren’t gonna believe this. Guess who actually left her butt-ugly MAGA hat at home? I think I finally got through to her.”
“Leading off for your Leland Longdogs, right fielder Troy Cline.”
She shoved her tablet at Carly again. “Here, take this.”
“Wha—”
Ninah climbed to Teri’s row and crouched low on the steps. After making such a big deal about Teri’s hat, she had to give credit where it was due. “I just wanted to say thanks for jumping in. These guys over here, I’ve run into them before. They’re both assholes and they’re looking for trouble. Don’t give it to them.”
Robbi flashed her wallet to reveal her state trooper shield. “I never leave home without it. If they start something, I’ll be on top of it.”
“Great, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I’m gonna text Britt and ask her to keep a uniform nearby. What I’m worried about most is afterward. If you guys don’t mind hanging around when the game’s over, I wanna make sure all these kids walk out with somebody.”
“Sure, we got that,” Teri said. Shaking her head, she added, “This kind of shit’s getting out of control.”
“Yeah…what we need is more people who wanna be part of the solution, so thanks again.” Sliding back into her seat, she said to Carly, “I just had an out-of-body experience. Teri Kaufman has suddenly decided she wants to be one of the good guys.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Peering through binoculars, Britt located the trouble spot in right field. She’d had her eye on it all night, in between schmoozes with real estate agency in the VIP suite. Ninah and Carly had the situation under control for now, they said, and there also was a uniformed police officer stationed at the top of the bleachers in case something got out of hand.
The sold-out crowd was abuzz over McBride’s last game as a Longdog, not to mention their winning streak since last week’s brawl. Whatever issues simmered in the Pride section, they hadn’t spread to other areas of the park.
Her father looked over her shoulder. “Can’t we just have those hooligans escorted off the premises? Hard to believe no one’s gotten up and punched them in the nose.”
“JT says we have to be careful how we handle it. I texted him. He’s on his way up.”
“While we’re at it, tell him to send that church crowd packing too, with all their hateful signs. They’ve got no right to do that here. We’re a private business.”
“But we’re in a public park,” Britt replied. “That’s what JT said, that we can’t shut down a peaceful protest just because we don’t like what they’re saying.” She raised her binoculars again. “It’s still mostly quiet down there. Ninah says it’s just a few adolescent insults. We need to get through these last two innings.”
The suite door opened to JT and his son Trey. They greeted their real estate friends before joining Britt and her dad in the corner. “So what have we got here, Vernon?”
“I’ll let Britt tell you. She’s got a better handle on it than I do.”
They were interrupted by a deep blast to right field by the Longdogs catcher, a solo home run that tied the game with the visiting Dukes.
“Angel Alvarado and one lucky fan just earned themselves a combo meal from Tacos Chalitos. Join Angel for lunch at Tacos Chalitos, your taco stop in Leland. Now check your ticket stub for this number…”
When the excitement died down, she discovered another text from Ninah and directed their focus to the Pride section. “It’s the two guys sitting straight across the aisle from Ninah and Carly, early twenties. They’re brothers from Arkansas. Ninah says they’ve been around all summer, staying with their aunt and uncle out on Barnard Road and working at the boot factory. They’re also the SOBs who slashed all the tires last weekend. Except when the police questioned them, they denied it and that was the end of it.”
“I got an earful about that from Justine,” JT said. “Something about how the cops didn’t even search their car for a knife. What are they up to right now?”
“Ninah said they were yelling out slurs earlier, things like faggot, poof, lezbo. They’re just making fun of people, being obnoxious and trying to provoke somebody.”
JT grimaced and shook his head. “This is a tough one.”
“Wait a minute,” her dad said. “Are you telling me I can’t have somebody ejected if they’re sitting down there harassing my customers? They ought to be arrested for disorderly conduct.”
“It’s a gray area, Vernon,” JT said.
Trey, a younger version of his handsome father, cleared his throat. “What Dad means is we have to take into consideration what’s harassment versus free speech.”
“So they get to sit there and spew their vile garbage and we can’t do a thing about it?”
“The problem is they might sue. Their lawyers would argue they were only protesting against the LGBT community. That’s political speech, protected by the First Amendment. The court won’t care whether it’s offensive or not. Now if they were doing something else, something threatening…”
Britt couldn’t stand to think of losing a court case to those two bastards. “I was going to have security walk them out, but it sounds like I can’t do that. Ninah’s worried about when the game ends and they all crowd together on the way out.”
“The law’s a tricky thing,” JT added. “Makes it dang near impossible to pinch the fuse on a powder keg. Gotta wait till it blows up.”
“So basically you’re saying we need to suck it up and get through this.”
He patted her shoulder. “Don’t you worry, Britt. One of these days they’ll mess with the wrong person and karma will kick their pathetic butts.”
“I’m going to head down there for the rest of the game. Maybe I can get security to run interference, keep them busy while everyone else walks out.” She thanked their real estate guests for coming and promised to follow up in a couple of days to talk about a sponsorship.
By the time she’d spoken with the police officer on duty and reached the bleachers, the eighth inning was in the books with the score tied.
“At the plate for the Dukes, left fielder…”
“Scoot,” she said to Ninah, nudging her down the row. “Everything okay down here?”
Before Ninah could answer, the man across the aisle called out, “Don’t tell me you’re one of them, beautiful. ’Cause that would be a crime.”
She sneered across the aisle to see an overgrown child jostling his junk. “Christ, is that the kind of crap you’ve been putting up with?”
“Pretty much. I moved Abby McFarland all the way to the other end because he kept going on about how he had just what she needed.”
“You should have told me it was this bad.” She didn’t need JT’s legal advice to know that obscene gestures didn’t count as free speech. “I’d have had security take them out sooner.”
Ninah caught her shirt to stop her from standing. “Please hold off if you can. It’s been such a great night. No one on this side of the aisle is paying them any mind. Do you have any idea how dope it is for these kids to look out there and see an icon like Boom
er McBride wearing a Pride bracelet?”
“Of course I do, and I don’t want a couple of knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers to ruin that for them.”
“They won’t. What they want most is to get a rise out of us and ruin our night. We’ve denied them that for three hours. It’s just infantile drivel. Kids need to learn how to deal with that kind of nuisance. That’s why we all shuffled seats, so those of us who’ve faced it before could show the younger ones that it’s possible to handle it without being confrontational.”
Britt wasn’t sure which was more infuriating, the harassment or Ninah’s surrender to it. “But you aren’t handling it. You’re letting a couple of douchebags walk all over you. What’s the use of having a Pride Night if you don’t get to act proud?”
Carly leaned around to speak, “Trust me, Ninah’s just as pissed off as you are. I’ve been holding on to her shirt the same way she’s holding on to yours.”
“It’s like that drunk guy in Ashland, Britt. These kids are having a great time. I’d like nothing more than to send someone over there to crack heads, but I don’t want that to be anyone’s takeaway from Pride Night. Like you said, we all need to leave here with our teeth.”
Britt grunted her disapproval. “At the very least, we should sneak out to the parking lot and slash their tires.”
Ninah laughed and jerked her thumb toward Carly. “Great minds think alike. Carly said the same thing.”
Shawn Dunwoody, the Longdogs closer, recorded his fifth strikeout of the night to shut down the Dukes, giving Leland a chance to win if only they could score a run in the bottom of the ninth. Britt usually rooted for extra innings since it meant more concession sales. Tonight, she just wanted to be done with it and see everyone safely out.
“Leading off for the Longdogs, third baseman Boomer McBride!”
The crowd responded with its usual Boomer-mania, obviously aware this likely would be their last look at him in a Longdogs uniform. He’d been good for ticket sales, but his biggest contribution was in getting the youthful Longdogs to play as a team.
“I’d take a walk-off home run right now,” Britt said.
Ninah elbowed her. “Look, they’re leaving.”
She turned to see the Causwell brothers walking past security to the exit. As instructed, her uniformed officer followed to ensure there was no mischief in the parking lot.
“Peace at last,” Ninah said, stretching to trade high fives with several others sitting along the aisle. “Great job, y’all.”
“Am I imagining things or did you just slap hands with your ex?”
“I’ll tell you about it later. Apparently she’s—”
A curve ball came in slow and hung over the plate. Boomer crushed it, dead center, the walk-off homer Britt had wished for only moments ago. The stadium exploded in cheers as he trotted the bases and proceeded to slap the outstretched hands of fans sitting near the dugout. When he reached the Pride section, the adults stepped back and let the GSA youth storm the front row.
Ninah hugged Britt’s waist in a pleasantly surprising display of affection in front of her students and their families. “Talk about a storybook ending. Boomer’s now got fans for life in Leland.”
“Including me,” she admitted.
Carly squeezed past them into the aisle. “I’m off to find Justine and see how it went with Ike and Emmy. Want to come?”
“Sure, I watched them earlier with binoculars from the suite. Looked like they were having a great time.”
“What a relief. She was a nervous wreck.”
Outside, the parking lot was a mass of taillights as cars slowly crept toward the exit onto Main Street. Justine had texted she was waiting by her car.
Carly walked into a hug and delivered a peck on the lips. “How’d it go, sweetie?”
“I’ve been a total idiot. Ike’s such a gentleman and he’s obviously crazy about my daughter. If you ever catch me doubting my daughter again, you have my permission to smack me in the head with an egg.”
“Where’d they go?” Carly asked.
“Oh, they’re walking back to Emmy’s. Ike has to be at work at six o’clock in the morning. I hear his boss is a real harpy.”
“You better believe it.”
“How did it go with Pride? Did the kids have a good time?”
Before Britt could answer, Ninah said, “Couldn’t have been better. The crowd was a lot more enthusiastic this year, don’t you think? And the kids were super-excited that all the players took the field wearing Pride bracelets.”
“We were all so proud of you out there on the field. That was such a sweet gesture, giving that check to the library. They’re good kids, aren’t they?”
Outside the entrance, a rumbling vehicle suddenly revved and lurched from the sluggish line. A gray Dodge! With tires squealing, it skidded almost half a block in the oncoming lane before swerving onto the sidewalk, where its underside scraped the concrete curb. Then came a sickening thump, the unmistakable sound of the car striking something.
Screams, shouts.
“Oh my God,” Ninah gasped as they scrambled across the gravel parking lot toward the scene.
The car reversed and then veered back onto the roadway, accelerating past several stopped vehicles before spinning through an opening in traffic to disappear down a side street.
Yards ahead, people were leaving their cars to rush to the sidewalk…some already wailing in horror.
Justine suddenly broke into a dead run. “Emmy! Emmy!”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
With the parking lot at Friendship Christian Church overflowing, a handful of teenage boys had begun guiding newcomers into tight diagonal spaces along the grassy edge of Van Buren Street. Britt pulled into a slot, taking note of the people walking past. Young and old, black and white. A community coming together for two of its own.
“You okay?” her father asked.
She’d put the car in Reverse—not Park—her subconscious telling her she didn’t belong here. “Maybe I should just drop you off and you can text me when you’re ready to be picked up. Would that be okay?”
“Kip Barlow said he’d take me home after the service. He can’t do the march on account of his broken toe.” He opened the car door but made no move to exit. “What’s bothering you, honey?”
“I don’t know how you stand it, Dad. I’m not sure I can live in a place that hates this much.”
She’d been mired in fury for the last three days, raging at every word in the Gazette, every news clip of the shock and horror visited on their “idyllic small town.” In truth, towns like Leland nurtured such violence. It was baked into their gun culture, along with their embrace of a racist Confederate heritage and the misguided belief that God was on their side.
“I know this town, Britt. Leland’s got its share of problems, but there’s no welcome mat out for those boys. Go inside that church tonight and what you’ll see is the opposite of hate.”
“You know how I feel about churches.”
He nodded grimly and patted her hand. “Do whatever feels right, honey. I’m sure JT and Justine would appreciate you being there, but with all that’s going on, I doubt they’ll even notice if you aren’t.”
“That’s what I’m thinking.” They wouldn’t miss her at all given the size of the crowd streaming into the sanctuary.
“Sit here a minute and think it over. I’ll save you a seat just in case.” He got out but leaned back in to add, “Ninah’s heading this way. You want me to run interference?”
“Nah, you might as well send her over. I already told her I’d see her here.”
“Then I’ll save seats for you both.”
Like many others filing in, Ninah was dressed casually in jeans and comfortable walking shoes. The prayer service promised to be brief, as the main event was the candlelight march through the neighborhood to the site of the accident on Main Street.
Accident. There was nothing accidental about the savagery the Causwell brothers had inflict
ed on the town of Leland. That Ike and Emmy’s families would answer such violence with a peaceful show of faith left her both bewildered and in awe.
Ninah slid into the passenger seat and greeted her with a quick kiss. “I wasn’t sure you’d come. Are you going in?”
“I haven’t decided. I want to show support for what they’re going through but I don’t want anyone to think I’m being flippant about it.”
“Meaning?”
“Everybody knows how I feel about this church business. I’d hate it if Justine thought I was there under false pretenses.” She’d muddled quietly through her grandparents’ church funerals, but this was different. “I’m not trying to make this about me. I only want to be sensitive to how Justine feels. She probably won’t even notice if I’m there or not. I’m afraid if she does, she’ll think it’s disrespectful for me to come to her church at a time like this and act like I belong there.”
Ninah’s smile was sympathetic, but the shake of her head made it clear she didn’t agree. “Look around, Britt. Practically half the town’s here, including a lot of people who hardly ever set foot inside a church. If ever there was a right time for a nonbeliever to go, this would be it. It’s more about respecting Justine’s faith than expressing our own.”
“I just don’t want her to think I’m being insincere…even if I sort of am.”
“Let me put it this way. If this were a Muslim or Jewish service, I’d still go. I don’t think you’ll be out of place at all.
It was a fair point, and ultimately persuasive. “All right, I’m in. Dad’s saving our seats.”
Inside, soft organ music set the tone for what was sure to be a somber affair. The sanctuary was filled to capacity, with a large contingent of Justine’s lesbian friends from the picnic clustered in the back. Britt would gladly have joined them but for her father, who waved them all the way up to the second row.
