Desert Slam

by Steven Barwin

  “I was out driving the truck,” said the tow-truck driver. “Business was slow, so I came back and just found Dale in here with her. Where’s the other one?”

  “I’m not buying it,” said the old man. “Wait a minute. There’s another one?”

  Dale jumped in. “Shut up, Joe! You know that’s a lie.”

  “No, it’s true, Pops. Like I said, I was driving the truck.”

  The old man pointed the baseball bat at me. “This little one was snooping around here before. I already warned you to stay off my property.”

  “I know I shouldn’t have. I’m so…” I didn’t know what to say. The last thing I wanted was to anger this guy any more.

  “And boys, you know what she accused me of?”

  Dale and Joe said, “What?” at the same time.

  “She told me that I was involved in some sort of crash-for-cash scam.”

  “Sir, I didn’t know what I was saying. Please forgive me for being so rude.” I was begging now.

  “I raised these boys alone, as best as I could. This wrecking yard is a family business. The boys work it, and one day it’s all supposed to go to them. It’s not easy making a living these days,” he continued. “The tow truck does okay, the car parts less so. But we work hard and do the best we can.”

  While he rambled, I kept praying Laurie had found some help.

  “So, boys, what I can’t figure out is why she would say something like that.” They both laughed clearly fake laughs.

  “No way,” said Dale. “Right, Joe?”

  Joe shook his head. “First I heard of it.”

  This was not going well. I had to get out of there. “Why don’t I leave so you can figure all this out?”

  “Oh no you don’t,” said the old man. “I want to sort this out now. When you came by with your friends—what’s your name?”

  “Maya,” I answered.

  The old man moved slowly, favoring one leg in particular. For the first time, I clued in on his having an injury. He turned to the boys. “So when Maya here comes by and accuses me of setting up crashes for money, I assumed she had the wrong place.” He found a chair to sit in. “But what she said really bothered me. It stayed with me. So I looked around a little.”

  What did he mean? I wondered.

  “It hasn’t been easy being off work. Getting old just isn’t any fun. The arms and legs stop cooperating. Luckily, I have my boys. Maya, do you mind stepping closer?”

  I took a few nervous steps toward him.

  “On behalf of my sons, I want to apologize for what they’ve done to you.”

  Both boys jumped forward in protest, but the old man shouted at them to shut up and sit down.

  I smiled for the first time. Now their escape was blocked.

  “What they’ve done is not only wrong, but also horribly illegal. I’m ashamed. My name’s Jerry. We need to get you back home—”

  Just then the door flew open behind him. Javier, Cristina and Ruby stormed inside, followed by Laurie.

  Ruby, Cristina and Laurie stayed by the door while Javier strode toward Jerry, shouting, “Stay away from her!”

  I put my hands out, palms up. “Javier, it’s—”

  “I got this, Maya.” He turned to Jerry. “You’re using the cars in this place to run an auto scam.”

  Jerry nodded. “Yes. I know.”

  “And I called the police. They’re on their way.”

  “Good. Thank you.”

  “And I’m writing an article, and everyone will know.”

  “Okay.”

  “Too bad—” Javier stopped, surprised. “Wait. What did you say?”

  Sirens blared in the distance.

  Jerry said, “I would’ve called the police too.” He looked at his sons. “They’ve made a terrible mistake and will have to face the consequences.”

  Dale and Joe sat, heads slumped. Their fates were sealed.

  Suddenly Ruby and Cristina had their arms around me, and everyone was talking at once. I felt the tension flush out of my body. I was going to be okay.

  “You know what I could go for right now?” I asked, smiling. “One of those smoothies from the Beach Cove Café.”

  Chapter Twelve

  It felt great to be back on the court.

  I tossed the ball with my racket and smashed it over the net and deep into the blue court.

  Ruby was quick with a big swing, followed by a loud grunt. The ball barreled at me, hit the ground and lurched forward. I barely got any racket on it, and my return collapsed into the net.

  “Nice return, Ruby! You had too much top spin on it for me.”

  She called out from the other side of the court, “Thanks!”

  We continued to play even though we both knew our time together was nearly up. While it felt great to be back to spending half my day at the pool and the other half on the courts, it was time to go home. And I missed home. My regular old boring life was fine with me.

  “One last one?” Ruby asked.

  “Okay.”

  Her serve came in fast and low over the net, and it took all my arm strength on the backhand to return it. Deep into a barrage of back-and-forth, I undercut a shot to land just over the net. Ruby ran for it and managed to flip the ball back onto my side. I was already in a full-sprint attack on the net, assuming she’d get it. I extended the tip of my racket but couldn’t get to it in time. As the ball landed I hit a half volley, deflecting the ball over.

  Ruby kindly lobbed the ball, giving me enough time to get into position.

  I faked an overhead slam and did another drop shot. She returned to the net, and we volleyed the ball back and forth until the heat and laughter got the better of us.

  Sitting on the bench next to Ruby, chugging down some water, I said, “Best game—”

  “Ever,” she finished.

  We walked and talked all the way back to my grandparents’ condo. It didn’t feel right to say goodbye just yet, so Ruby came upstairs to hang out a bit more. After a quick shower, I packed the last of my clothes. Heading into the TV room, I was surprised to see Cristina and Javier in there with Ruby.

  My grandmother said, “They were just telling us about all your brave efforts.”

  Javier handed me a rolled-up newspaper.

  “Is this it?” I asked, excited.

  “Yes.”

  I unrolled that day’s edition of the Desert Daily News. The title of Javier’s article stretched across the front cover—Desert Slam.

  Ruby sat next to me to read the two-page article. At the end, there was a small headshot of Javier after his name.

  “Congratulations! This is awesome.”

  “Thank you. I’m actually published. I couldn’t have done it if you hadn’t pushed me.”

  “You’re an amazing writer.”

  “I actually think you make a pretty good investigative journalist yourself.”

  As Javier and Cristina got up to leave, I handed back the paper. “So Dale and Joe have officially been charged?”

  “Yes. And the police are doing what they can to find the money they’ve taken from people.” Javier returned the paper to me. “Keep it. This is your copy. I also emailed you the web link.”

  “Please take it,” Cristina said, laughing. “We have lots more in the car!”

  Laurie stepped out of the bathroom in new clothes, her hair down. Relaxed was the word that came to mind.

  She turned to my grandparents. “Thank you so much for letting me stay here.”

  They exchanged hugs.

  “I hate to crash the party,” my grandmother said, “but Maya has a plane to catch.”

  “Yes,” Laurie said. “And I should be going too.”

  I grabbed my suitcase and rolled it to the front door.

  In the parking lot, Laurie tossed her bag into the trunk of a beat-up red car with a blue fender and hood. Jerry had provided the car, along with a first repayment of money to her. She stood with the front door open. “It’s not much, but it’ll
get me to Hollywood!”

  I waved goodbye and watched her disappear around the corner. She was finally continuing her journey, her dream to go to Los Angeles and become an actress. I really hoped it worked out for her.

  “Here we go,” I said.

  Cristina gave me a big hug. “See you online.”

  “Yes.” I tried to fight back the tears. Then I turned to Ruby, and it all came out.

  Ruby held me tightly. “Thanks for making my vacation…interesting.”

  Everyone laughed, and suddenly it was my turn to get into a car and drive off.

  Outside the main gates and on the open road, my grandfather asked, “You doing okay?”

  “Actually…do we have time for a stop at the Beach Cove Café?”

  He looked at me and smiled.

  At the airport, I checked in and chugged the rest of my smoothie before going through security. It was perfect. On the escalator to the gates, I soaked up one last view of the palm trees and inhaled one more big breath of the clean desert air.

  At the gate I pulled out the Desert Daily News from my backpack and read the article again. I smiled, thinking of all the unexpected good that had come from this trip. Was I actually responsible for this front-page article? I thought about what Javier had said. I had never imagined becoming an investigative journalist.

  But I liked the way it sounded. Maybe after I’d won a couple of Grand Slams.

  Author’s Note

  When I was 21, I moved to Los Angeles with a friend. On my first morning in the city, we drove to Beverly Hills. As I pulled into a parking lot, another car appeared out of nowhere, the driver apparently after the same spot I was clearly aiming for. Our cars collided. Even in my panic I remember thinking that the collision seemed staged. I couldn’t help but wonder: Was it on purpose? Had she seen that I was a young driver? One thing for sure was, there was no missing my red sports car with its out-of-country plates. When I contacted my insurance company, I was surprised to learn that the other driver reported that she had been badly injured. She had given no indication of this at the scene. Since we had her name and address, my friend and I decided to investigate. We saw her—gardening in her front yard and looking totally fine. Somehow, she still managed to receive a settlement for a lot of money from my insurance company. These days, this kind of scam has a name: crash for cash.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to Eric Walters for taking the time to help me with this project. I greatly appreciate your encouraging words, writing career advice and guidance.

  Thank you to my editor, Tanya Trafford. Your expertise was invaluable when helping to craft the characters and story. Your keen eye for detail helped to elevate this book into something I am very proud of.

  I am incredibly grateful to my wife. Naomi, you’re a well-read, inspirational teacher with a great ability to bring out the best in my writing. You expect nothing but the best from me.

  And finally to my niece, Maya. Sorry it took this long to get your name into one of my books. You’re the headliner in this one. This character is based on you—courageous, smart and athletic.

  This is my first book in the Orca Soundings series. I hope you enjoy it.

  Steven Barwin leads a double life as a writer and a teacher. He is the author of a number of sport-themed books, including the Orca Sports titles Hardball and Hurricane Heat. He has also written for numerous television shows and contributed to the creation of the NASCAR and World Wrestling DVD board games. Steven lives in Toronto, Ontario, with his family. For more information, please visit www.stevenbarwin.com.