Chapter Twenty-Two
Hell Has Officially Frozen Over
ON SATURDAY MORNING, Susie stood in the mud room and opened the screen door to the house. "Sam's here. I'm going to my game."
Her father called back from the kitchen, "Do you have the check?"
"Yeah, in my bag." Good luck or divine intervention had been on her side when her parents gave her permission to ride back to Clarksonville with Marlee after the game. She had been all prepared to make her case about picking up her car from Aldwell's Auto Repair, so they wouldn't have to slog all the way out there, but her father gave her the okay right away. Her mother even told her to have fun. Maybe her mother's switch was flipping over. Susie could only hope, but she wasn't going to hold her breath.
Susie's father popped out of the kitchen. "If the bill is anything different than Mr. Aldwell told me over the phone, you call me right away."
"I will, Papi. I gotta go, okay?"
"Have a good game."
Susie smiled. "I'll try."
She shut the screen door to the house and got in the passenger side of Sam's Sebring convertible. "Top down. Nice."
"It's, like, ninety degrees today. What better excuse do we have to ride in style?" Sam chuckled. "I have the air-conditioner on, too." She pulled the car out of the driveway and headed for Sandstoner Fields.
"Thanks for being my taxi. Again." Susie hated having to rely on Sam for rides, but it was better than asking her parents.
"Any time. So you're going home with Marlee after the game?"
Susie's cheesy grin answered Sam's question.
"Ah," Sam said. "Lisa and I are going out to the yacht again."
"Your parents don't mind you using the yacht?"
Sam laughed. "My dad thinks it's great that I've finally shown an interest in it, but we don't take it out. We just, uh--"
Susie laughed. "Yeah, I get it."
"Hey, there's, like, no other place Lisa and I can go to be alone, you know?"
"Tell me about it. Lake Birch in Clarksonville is nice, and I think we're going there tonight, but, c'mon, there's no real privacy there."
Sam nodded. "Have you guys, uh--" She hesitated for a second. "Okay, you don't have to answer this, but have guys, you know, like, gone all the way?"
"Sam!" Susie hit her friend on the arm. "What kind of question is that?"
Sam's face turned bright red. "Sorry. I said you didn't have to answer."
"No."
Sam looked over. "'No' what? 'No' you don't want to answer, or 'No' you guys haven't."
"No, we haven't. How about you?" It was kind of weird talking to Sam about things so intimate. Especially since they had gone out once upon a time.
"Nah. We haven't found a place private enough yet."
"Yeah, us, too. I want it to be special, but, how is the back of a van at Lake Birch, where anybody can walk by and see us, special?"
"I know. My parents' yacht is cool, but it's docked in a slip with boats on either side surrounded by a hundred others. Anybody could walk by and hear, you know, things." Sam's cheeks turned an even brighter shade of red. "I'm working on something, though."
"Oh, yeah?"
Sam nodded and pulled the car into the Sandstoner Field's parking lot. She pulled into a space and then hit the button to put the top up.
"Hello?" Susie waved a hand in Sam's face. "What is it you're working on?"
"The lake house." Sam waggled her eyebrows.
Susie must have had a confused look on her face because Sam laughed and added, "Labor Day weekend. You and Marlee. Me and Lisa. I don't think my parents are planning on using it, so I've been hinting around about taking some friends up to Lake Bonaparte before senior year starts."
"Dios mío, that would be fantástico, Sam."
"Don't say a word to Marlee or Lisa, yet, 'cuz I don't know if I can pull this off."
"Okay. What about Helene?"
"I'll be eighteen in January," Sam said. "Do I really need nanny supervision?"
"Nope." Susie laughed. "C'mon, let's get out there. Coach Gellar's pacing already."
Just as Susie opened the car door, her phone jangled. She had a text message. She smiled when she saw it was from Marlee. The text read, "I told my mom this morning."
Another text from Marlee came in quickly on the heels of the first. "Ack!!"
Susie texted back, "Good 4 u. Can't wait 2 hear details! What's ur ETA?"
"10 min," came the speedy reply.
"c u in 10. Luv u." Susie sent the text, but waited an extra few seconds for Marlee's response. Sure enough Marlee texted back with her own, "Luv u 2."
Ten minutes later, as promised, Marlee and Lisa pulled up to the fields in Marlee's van. Susie gave each of them a quick hug, and after they put their cleats on, went out to left field to stretch. Susie plopped down on the newly mowed grass and inhaled the sweet smell. "Aay, I love summer."
Marlee sat down next to her and started stretching. "Me, too."
"Same," Lisa and Sam said together and laughed. Lisa added, "I can't believe we've only got two weeks left of softball. I feel like I just got here. How am I supposed to get my hand in shape, eh?" She held up her recently fractured hand that had taken weeks to heal.
"Oh, I know," Sam commiserated. "And school will be here before we know it."
Susie groaned. "Dios mío, don't remind us." She looked from Lisa to Marlee. "You guys should transfer to East Valley."
Marlee's jaw dropped open. "Uh, that would be no. You guys should transfer to Clarksonville." Lisa nodded in agreement.
"I would if I could, mi vida. In a heartbeat." Susie glanced at Coach Gellar. "C'mon, you guys, we have to at least pretend to be stretching." She put the soles of her feet together and pulled them in for a butterfly stretch. The others stretched, too. "So, tell us," Susie said to Marlee. "What happened this morning?"
"Oh, man. You told me to wait for a good opportunity and this morning, Mom was making pancakes, and she turned around and said, 'Daddy would have liked Susie.'"
Susie's mouth dropped open. "Aay, see? I told you she knew."
"I think she did." Marlee nodded in agreement.
Sam stretched her arm behind her head. "Then what?"
"Well, then after I debated in my head for a couple seconds on what to say, I said, 'I like her, too. A lot.' Then my mom smiled at me. You know that kind of smile moms have that tell you they knew all along?"
Lisa laughed. "Yeah, I've seen that look from my mom. The one that reminds you how wise they are and that they know and see all? Yeah, been there."
"So then she says," Marlee continued, "'I'm happy for you.'" Marlee's cheeks turned bright red as she relayed more details. She added, "She seems cool about it, but she did ask me one thing, though."
"What's that?" Susie asked.
"She wanted to know if I was sure."
The look Marlee threw Susie almost knocked the breath out of her.
"And?" Susie drank in Marlee's blue eyes, not able to look away.
"I'm sure."
"Hey, break it up, you two." Sam nudged Susie with her foot. "Here comes Coach."
Susie began stretching in earnest as their coach walked up.
"McAllister? Brown?" Coach Gellar pointed to the pitching area. "Go warm up."
"Okay." Marlee leaped to her feet. She and Lisa scurried back to the dugout for their gear.
Coach Gellar briefly glanced at Sam, but then looking directly at Susie, "Torres, I hope you've snapped out of your funk, because these teams are gunning for us. We're undefeated, and it needs to stay that way."
Susie nodded as if she knew what the hell her coach was talking about, which she didn't.
"I'm glad we understand each other." Coach Gellar's face never gave the barest hint of a smile or friendly overture. She turned on her heels and headed back to the dugout.
Sam stood up and whispered, "What the hell was that?"
"¡Maldita sea!" Susie shook her head. "I have no freakin' idea." She leaped to her
feet, and they ran their warm-up laps around the field.
When the umpire called for the home team to take the field, Susie sprinted out to left. She threw her glove on the ground, and whipped off her hat. She redid her ponytail and tucked it under her hat and put her glove on her hand. Even though Coach Gellar seemed to be giving her shit for some reason, no one could bother her in left field. This was her own personal territory for seven whole half-innings.
"C'mon, Marlee," Susie called. "Fire it in there."
Just as Marlee was getting ready to throw her first pitch, Susie's eye was drawn to the stands. "Mierda," she spat. Bree had settled herself on the first row of the bleachers on the Nor'easters' side of the field.
After getting two quick strikes on the first Mohawk batter of the game, Marlee struck her out on the third pitch. Marlee made quick work of the next two batters as well, striking them both out, to end the top half of the first inning. Susie sprinted toward the Nor'easters' dugout. She felt so proud of Marlee. Susie wished they could play their senior year together on the same high school team. "Aay," she muttered under her breath as she reached the dugout gate, "maybe in college." She and Marlee had only talked about college in vague terms before. Christy had been right when she said that Susie was going, going, gone over Marlee, and Susie couldn't imagine only seeing Marlee on vacations from school.
Susie patted Marlee on the back. "Nice pitching."
"Thanks. Nice, uh, standing around in left field getting a tan." Marlee flashed Susie a big toothy grin.
"I'm gonna let that one go." Susie wagged her finger and then pulled her batting helmet out of her cubby. "For now."
Marlee did her best to look scared, but when she started laughing, it kind of ruined the effect.
Rachel, the Nor'easters' lead-off batter, hit a single down the left field line to reach first base. Sam stepped into the batter's box, and Susie headed for the on-deck circle. Unfortunately, the on-deck circle was right in front of Bree. Bree stood up and hooked her fingers through the chain link fence.
Doing her best to ignore the pestilence from Southbridge standing five or six feet behind her, Susie shouted, "C'mon, Sam, get a hit."
"This ain't over, you know," Bree hissed.
Susie ignored the comment and took her practice swings.
"She knows I'm better for her than you."
Anger boiled in Susie's gut. She almost wished the fence wasn't in between them, because she'd use her two-by-four of a bat to take a practice swing that would knock Bree all the way back to Southbridge.
"Not in your wildest dreams, sister," Susie growled at Bree. She turned in time to see Sam bunt her way on base safely.
Susie got ready in the batter's box and took a deep breath focusing on the Mohawk pitcher. Not much speed, but she hit corners well. Susie let one pitch go by for a strike, so she could get an idea what she was looking at. The next pitch came in low, and Susie sent it soaring into left field for a line drive single to load the bases. Standing on first base, she was shocked to see her parents, grandmother, and brother making their way onto the bleachers. She had no idea why they were there on a sweltering Saturday morning. Not that she minded, but they hadn't said a word about going to the game. Thankfully they sat on the visitors' side and wouldn't be able to hear any of the crap coming out of Bree's mouth.
Lisa got up to bat next and hit a triple on the first pitch that scored all three base runners. Susie was a little winded by the time she sprinted all the way from first to home. Once her feet fully healed, she'd have to get in more cardio workouts.
After scoring, Susie turned and waved to her family. They all enthusiastically waved back. Susie pointed to the hat that her grandmother had on. It was one of Susie's old East Valley softball hats. Her grandmother whipped it off her head and waved it in the air chanting, "Go East Valley" several times. Everyone in the bleachers laughed. Susie scurried back to the dugout. Bree said something as she ran by, but Susie couldn't quite make out the words. Not that she wanted to.
Susie took a long sip of water from the water fountain. When she looked up to see how Marlee was doing up at bat, she caught Coach Gellar's fierce scowl. Apparently, Susie shouldn't have been waving to her family.
Susie, used to being in the doghouse, didn't have time to worry about Coach Gellar because Marlee hit a double into the left-center field gap sending Lisa home. The Nor'easters were now up by a score of 4-0 with no outs in the bottom of the first inning.
The game continued along in that fashion, and the Mohawk team who, according to Coach Gellar had been "gunning for them," simply crumbled and the Nor'easters won easily by a mercy-rule score of 12
0. After the landslide win, Susie packed up her gear. She said to Marlee. "Did you see Isabella in the stands?" Marlee nodded slowly, her eyes wide with fear. "Your mother petrifies me."
Sam and Lisa laughed.
Susie bumped Marlee with her hip. "Act natural."
"How? She freaked out the last time she saw me. I'll just wait here." Marlee plopped down on the dugout bench and clutched her bag tightly to her chest.
"C'mon, galena." Susie clucked like a chicken. "I'd wait in here with you, but Isabella can out-wait anybody. "
"You can't stay in here, anyway," Lisa added.
"Why not?" Marlee stuck out her lower lip.
"Bree's team is waiting for this dugout."
Marlee stood up so fast that Susie, Sam, and Lisa laughed.
"Let's get this over with." Marlee led the way out of the dugout.
Coach Gellar fell in line behind Susie and Marlee as they exited the dugout. Sam and Lisa were stuck behind their coach as they all headed toward the bleachers.
"Another fine pitching performance, McAllister," Coach Gellar said. "Any way I can get you to transfer to East Valley?"
Marlee flashed Coach Gellar a look that said hell would have to freeze over first.
"Okay, okay, McAllister. Just don't tell Dottie I asked. She'll have my head for trying to steal her New York State MVP pitcher."
"Okay, Coach. I won't."
With their attention diverted to their coach, Susie didn't realize that Bree was right in front of them. As they passed each other, Bree slammed her shoulder into Susie's. Susie, not expecting the contact, stumbled backward into her coach. By the time she realized what had happened, Bree had walked on and was out of reach.
"Sorry, Coach." Susie stood her ground and glared after Bree. "Some people don't have any manners."
"How long has this been going on?" Coach Gellar asked, a hand on her hip. When Marlee didn't answer, Susie said, "A couple of weeks."
"Are you still handling it?" She cocked an eyebrow.
Susie shrugged. "Yeah, for now."
Coach Gellar narrowed her eyes at Susie. "Tell me the second it gets out of hand."
Susie was paralyzed under the glare of her coach's piercing eyes.
"You hear me, Torres?" Her coach's question almost sounded like a threat.
Susie nodded. "Yes, Coach."
Coach Gellar reached around Susie and stuck her hand out in greeting. "Mr. Torres."
Susie's father shook Coach Gellar's hand. "Nice to see you, Coach."
Susie almost gagged at her coach's sickening sweet change in personality.
"Mrs. Torres." Coach Gellar didn't offer her hand, but smiled sweetly at Susie's mother.
Susie's mother nodded and smiled back.
"Ah," Coach Gellar continued, "Grandmacita and baby Torres, too." She ruffled Miguel's hair as if he were five years old. "It's so nice to see the whole Torres family out at the fields on such a fine sweltering day." She fanned herself.
Everyone, except Susie, laughed. Susie had never realized what a two-faced fake person her coach was.
Susie's father gave Susie a hug, "We figured we'd come out to see our all-star play."
"Ah, yes," Coach Gellar beamed at Susie. "She's a keeper that one."
Marlee whispered, "I think so, too."
Coach Gellar excused herself and heade
d toward the parking lot. Susie wondered how her coach was able to fool everyone into thinking she was a nice person. Up until a few weeks before, Susie had thought her coach was cool, too, just like everybody else. Not so much anymore. Susie was just beginning to realize that her coach was as human and imperfect as the rest of them.
Sam gave everybody, except Miguel, a hug in greeting. She bumped fists with him instead. He was, after all, a teenager and way too cool for hugs. Sam then introduced Lisa to Susie's entire family.
Susie couldn't delay anymore. "Mami, Papi, you remember Marlee?" Susie gestured to Marlee who had been hanging back. Susie caught the look on her father's face and knew that she wasn't the only one waiting to see how her mother reacted.
Susie's mother nodded. "It's nice to see you again, Marlee."
"It's nice to see you again, too." Marlee played it so cool, that Susie wondered if she had imagined their pre-Isabella nerves.
Susie's grandmother squeezed Marlee in an overlong hug. Susie almost got jealous when the hug Marlee got was almost twice as long as the one she had gotten.
"Hey, Miguel" Marlee pointed to Susie's brother. "I have something for you."
"Me?" Miguel smiled.
Marlee nodded and unzipped the outer pocket of her softball bag. She reached in and pulled out a stack of baseball cards. "These are for you." She handed him the cards.
"No way," he said thumbing through them. "Look, Susie." He held out a card for her to see.
"Aay, she found a David Wright for you. Very cool."
"What do you say?" Susie's mother said to Miguel.
"Oh, sorry. Thanks, Marlee."
"You're welcome," Marlee said.
Susie beamed at how bright pink Marlee's cheeks had gotten.
"Marlee?" Susie's mother began. "Would you like to come to dinner at our house next Saturday? After your game?"
Susie almost choked.
"Uh, sure. That would be nice," Marlee said.
"Please invite your mother, too. It would be nice to meet her."
"I will. Thanks for inviting us. Is there anything we can bring?"
"Just bring yourselves."
Susie felt kind of numb all over, as if what was happening in front of her was some weird alternate reality that she'd wake up from any second. She snuck a peek at her father, and he smiled reassuringly at her. Her mother's internal switch must be flipping over.
Barbara L. Clanton - Going, Going, Gone - Suzie's Story Page 19
