Hotbox

by Delia Delaney

  Hotbox

  By Delia Delaney

  For those who take a chance for the right reason…

  Copyright © 2012 by Delia Delaney

  The characters and events portrayed in this work are entirely fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or deceased, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  PART ONE

  Chapter One

  “Hey, Ty! Telephone!” Lou hollered from the office.

  “I’m kind of in the middle of something here!” I yelled back.

  It was just the engine roaring until Lou’s voice returned. “It’s your dad!”

  I sighed. Now what? My father only found the time to call me when he needed something, and I really wasn’t in the mood for another one of his stories. Last week’s excuse was just about all I could take. The hardest part was that he actually believed that I believed him.

  I turned off the engine and wiped my hands off the best I could. Lou gave me a sympathetic frown as I took the phone from his hand.

  “Yeah, Dad, what’s up?”

  “Hey, son! How are ya?”

  “Uh, just fine. How are you? Did you settle all of that stuff with Lenny?”

  “Oh, uh, Lenny? Yeah, sure, sure—”

  I shook my head, knowing he didn’t.

  “—Anyways, kid, about your game tomorrow…”

  It was the same thing, week after week. He had used every excuse in the book throughout my life; I’d heard them all. I was most surprised that he actually called to tell me. Normally he’d promise an appearance, but never show.

  “Sure, Dad, don’t worry about it. Maybe another game, huh?”

  “Oh, yeah, I’ll be at the next one for sure. Hit one outta the park for me, would ya?”

  “Sure, Dad.”

  I hung up the phone and avoided Lou’s look of pity. Even he had seen more of my games than my own father.

  “Hey, fifteen more minutes, okay?” he called after me. “I gotta get home to the wife.”

  “I’m done. I was just trying to get a jump on tomorrow.”

  I closed the hood of the car and cleaned up my workspace. It was eight o’clock on a Friday night; a night that I didn’t have a game and Lou was willing to keep the shop running just so I could get some hours. Baseball season didn’t offer me much income—I was too busy with school, practices, and games—but Lou was easy to work for because he really liked me. I was his best mechanic, even if I wasn’t around much in the spring.

  Luckily I had a scholarship to help me out. I would never be able to afford college otherwise. My dad never saved a dime; if he did it was for cigarettes and alcohol. He had never been much of a father to me, but a small part of me (a very small part) was still hoping he would someday change.

  I’m originally from Tacoma, Washington. I was born and raised there, and attended junior college to play baseball. My goal was to play ball for fun, maybe let it help me get a college degree. I was fortunate enough to be seen by the right people and I got a scholarship offer to transfer to a four-year university. I’m finishing my senior year right now and I’ll be graduating with a degree in business.

  My father seems to think I’ll make it to the Big Show—the majors. It’s not really something I’m in the position to pursue right now, but the idea of being done with baseball kind of bothered me. Even just playing on a low minor team would have suited me just fine, but with the way my life was right now, that didn’t look like a possibility. Professional baseball wasn’t something I was counting on or anything—I just wanted a way to continue playing ball. Coach Tucker said if I were ever available, he would take me as another coach in a heartbeat. Surprisingly, even with all of the problems in my life, I was somehow blessed with options.

  “See ya tomorrow,” Lou said after locking up and walking to his car.

  “Goodnight, Lou.”

  I got into my own rig, a ‘98 F250. It was more than a dozen years old, but I guarantee I had it running better than anything new.

  It took fifteen minutes to get home to a three-bedroom house I shared with two other guys from my team. Sometimes privacy was tough since a lot of friends liked to hang out, but rent was cheaper and that helped me out. I wasn’t exactly broke, but I tried really hard to be smart with what I did make. During the off-season I worked in Lou’s auto shop quite a lot. I saved what I could for a rainy day and ends met just fine.

  When my father hinted that he needed money, I sent it to my Aunt Sue. She used it to help him with “necessities.” Although I knew his own money went to the wasteful things in life, at least I knew that the money I gave him didn’t. It wasn’t the most logical reasoning, but I tried to convince myself that it was.

  “Hey, Ty! Come spot me a twenty!” Aaron said the second I entered a full house. “Jesse’s just on a lucky streak, but I got him on this one.”

  Aaron and Jesse were my teammates, second base and center field. They were complete opposites. Jesse was a junior; he was pretty quiet and kept to himself, but he would usually participate in whatever the rest of us were doing. He was your all-around nice guy. Aaron was a senior and made sure the other guys remembered that. He was a loud mouth and always had something to say. He was usually the one to be disciplined for rattling off his own opinions to the coaches.

  Foul and offensive were two words that also described him well.

  “I’m not spotting you anything,” I told him. “You still owe me ten bucks from last week and I know I’ll never see it again.”

  “You give me twenty and I promise you’ll get it all tonight.”

  I shook my head. “Sorry, bro. Find another sucker.”

  They continued their game of cards as I took note of who was in the house. The usual lineup was there—Jack, Trent, and Alex—and their girlfriends Megan, Taylor, and Macy. There were a few on the couch watching a movie, but the second I saw Holly, I groaned. She was already on her way to greet me before I could escape down the hall.

  “Hey, Ty,” she smiled.

  Holly wasn’t exactly unattractive—she would actually be nicer looking without so much makeup—but there was something about her (maybe a lot of things) that just didn’t click with me, and I found myself always trying to avoid her.

  “Hey,” I replied.

  “Have you been at work?” she asked.

  “Uh, yeah, which is why…” I started toward the hall “…I’m gonna go shower.”

  “Can I join you?”

  I hated the way she thought her smile was actually seductive. I was sure she used it quite a lot, and I felt sorry for the fools it actually worked on.

  I didn’t reply and left for my room. It was so worth it to pay a hundred bucks more just to have my own bathroom. I locked the bedroom door first before heading into the bathroom, shutting and locking it too.

  Holly and I went out one time, mainly because Aaron tricked me into. Rule number one: never let Aaron Jenson set you up on a date. I think I wanted to get rid of her after five minutes. She was very shallow, always wanting to know how she looked, and always expecting to be complimented constantly. It wore me out. Can’t a guy just say “You look really nice” and that be enough?

  After showering, I stretched across my bed for a while, completely exhausted but unable to sleep even if I wanted to. The noise from the front room was too loud. Luckily we had one neighbor that worked nights, so he was never home, and the elderly woman on the other side of us was hard of hearing. Plus she likes us. Well, me anyway. She thinks I look like her son (from forty years ago).

  A knock sounded on my door and Jesse hollered, “Hey, Ty! Holly’s gone.” I got up and opened the door and, laughing, he said, “What’d you do, lock her out?”

  “Basically.”

  I followed him down the hall and became social for th
e next hour before curfew. Yes, curfew. One of the many rules we have to follow as a team; school night curfew, weekend curfew, game night curfew, no drugs, no drinking, no smoking, and no sex within twelve hours of a game. I suppose the coaches could easily find out if we’re breaking any of the rules, but I don’t think that last one has ever been officially challenged. It’s more of a code of conduct, I suppose. I was fine with following any one of those guidelines. I agreed with curfew, I banned drugs and alcohol from my life because of my father’s example, and I avoided girls during baseball season anyway.

  It made my life clean and simple.

  When the last person left at ten-oh-five, the phone rang.

  “That’s all you, Ty!” Aaron yelled, taking off for his room.

  Jesse looked at me and shook his head with a smile.

  I picked it up and answered, “Yeah, Coach?”

  “You boys in for the night?”

  “Yes Sir, we’re good.”

  “All right. See ya tomorrow.”

  “Goodnight.”

  Chapter Two

  Saturday. Home game. I woke up at seven and hollered at Aaron and Jesse to get up. Our game was at noon and we had to be there early to prepare the field and warm up. Aaron went straight to concocting his protein drink in the blender. He and Jesse are good with downing one of them, but I always need something more, so I prepared some toast and cereal to go with it.

  Jesse rode with Aaron to the field and I drove myself. They were used to me going from one place to the next and never bothered discussing it anymore. The sun was out and it was supposed to be a nice day. It was the second weekend in April and we hadn’t lost one game this season. So far most of the teams we had played were ranked below us; today we would be playing a much tougher team.

  As the home team we took our place to field first. I put my catcher’s mask on and squatted down to take some pitches from Everett. Before we ran through our fielding warm-ups, I took my mask off to make a quick glance into the stands. I always scanned the crowd for my father, even though I knew he wasn’t there.

  Something else caught my eye instead, and I watched a little longer to indulge my curiosity. She was beautiful, tall and slim, with golden hair that went several inches past her shoulders. I would have assumed she was someone coming to watch for the visiting team because I’d never seen her before, but she was up behind our dugout, talking to people that I thought went to my school. She was with another girl, shorter with dark hair, and a guy, and they sat about six rows up.

  “Ty, hey.”

  I turned my attention back to the field, realizing Coach Farland was staring at me.

  “We’re ready when you are,” he said. He gave me a look, one much like Lou’s sympathetic frown. I didn’t want him to think I was pining for my father, so I was ready for the game to begin.

  The first inning went fast with three quick outs. We hardly did any better with our turn at bat, but our second batter got on base. As fourth batter I made my way to the plate. I was so used to hearing my name announced that I normally didn’t notice, but today I couldn’t help but wonder if she was paying attention. I hit a single, but our next batter struck out before Jack could get around to score.

  The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when the other team got a hit and brought their runner home. I always loved the battle at home plate when a runner was coming to score and it was my job to prevent it. But I didn’t get such opportunity this time since the ball was just getting into the infield.

  Before putting my mask back on I glanced into the stands. She was looking my way… Was she looking right at me? I could have sworn she smiled. I think I smiled back, whether she was smiling at me or not.

  Get your head in the game, Ty.

  We finally scored two runs in the sixth inning. Our opponents were only able to score once more after that, but we scored another two in the last inning, winning 4-2.

  It was another great day at the park. I loved baseball.

  I watched the stands but I didn’t see her again. People were moving everywhere; if she was still there, I couldn’t tell. We praised the other team and packed up our gear. Before heading into our batting barn for a team meeting, I looked for her once more.

  She was gone.

  “What’re you looking at?” Aaron asked me.

  I glanced at him, feeling a little stupid. “Oh, uh… I’m not sure. I saw someone, but I don’t know who it was.”

  “You mean a chick? Describe her,” he smiled arrogantly. “I bet I know her.”

  “Uh, I don’t think she goes to this school,” I chuckled. “I’ve never seen her before.”

  “Ha! My manhood reaches well beyond this school.”

  I shook my head at him as we joined the rest of the team inside.

  For the next week I looked for that girl. Everywhere on campus I scanned all the girls I could, particularly looking for that honey-colored hair. I couldn’t believe how much I thought about her; a girl that I saw from twenty yards away and never even talked to. I thought I was losing my mind.

  After practice on Friday, I spent some time on my own in the batting barn. It was kind of a tradition for myself, and I truly believed the extra discipline made all the difference on game day. I came home that night to the familiar scene from the week before.

  “Ty! Spot me ten bucks!” Aaron hollered.

  I shook my head and made my way to the kitchen. I threw together a sandwich and leaned against the counter to eat it. My dinner was ruined when Holly stepped through the doorway.

  “Hey, Ty. I could have made that for you.”

  “No, that’s okay,” I replied with my mouth full.

  I was hoping I could repulse her away, but she smiled and came closer to me.

  “I’m coming to your game tomorrow. It’s at noon, right?”

  I was tempted to tell her another time, but I knew she was already sure. I only nodded my head, shoved the rest of the sandwich in my mouth, and motioned that I was going to take a shower.

  “Ty! Play the next game, buddy!”

  I nodded on my way by, glad to have something to do when I returned.

  Holly was getting to be a pain. I was hoping she would take the hint and just leave me alone. How many times did I have to skirt conversation with her before she finally got the point? I wondered if I should take Aaron’s advice and just be an ass. That’s what he did whenever he wanted to get rid of a girl.

  But I guess I wasn’t as bold and shameless as Aaron since I had a conscience.

  “Play ball!” the umpire shouted.

  She wasn’t there and I was mad at myself for being so distracted. I looked all over the stands—both sides—and she wasn’t there. Holly waved at me, and I really hoped she didn’t think I was looking for her, so I pretended I didn’t see her and focused on the game.

  We were ahead 3-1 in the third inning when I finally saw her. But I silently groaned when I noticed she was with that same guy. He had to be her boyfriend. I returned my attention back to the game, hitting a double in the fourth inning to bring a runner home, and a single in the sixth, bringing another runner home.

  We won 6-3.

  I glanced into the stands just to make myself miserable, but I actually smiled when I saw that the brunette was sitting with her now, and the guy was gone. To my total surprise, the dark blonde returned my smile.

  “What?” Aaron said at my side, following my gaze. “Oh, hell no. Sorry Ty, but you might as well piss against the wind.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Her?” he asked me, subtly motioning with his head. “Not a chance, man.”

  “Who is she?”

  He laughed. “Someone you can’t touch. Her name is Jayden Adams.”

  I repeated her name in my head. Jayden Adams. I didn’t think I had ever heard of her.

  “Look, buddy, I don’t want to, you know, crush your hopes and dreams but… She’s untouchable. Literally,” he added with implication.

  “How do you kn
ow her?”

  “I don’t, really. But a friend of mine went to school with her. We saw her at Zero once, and, like you, I thought she was pretty hot.”

  “She turned you down!” I laughed.

  He scoffed. “No. Well, yeah, but that’s not the point. That’s because she’s—”

  I started to walk toward the dugout to gather my gear. “Yes, it is the point. You’re just bitter.”

  “No,” he said, catching up to me. “She’s a stuck up snob.”

  “I don’t want to hear it. You were turned down. That means I throw your judgment completely out the window. You can’t be impartial.”

  “What are you guys yakking about?” Jack wanted to know.

  “He thinks he’s got a chance with Jayden Adams,” Aaron laughed.

  Jack looked at me with raised eyebrows and studied me carefully. “Jayden? She’s pretty cool, actually. Really nice.”

  I turned to Aaron and said, “Ha! See? His opinion counts; yours does not.”

  “Okay,” he shook his head. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He took his bag and left, turning around to smile and shake his head one last time at my stupidity.

  Jack looked at me again and asked, “How do you know Jayden?”

  “I don’t. I was just wondering who she was,” I replied, nodding toward the stands. “How do you know her?”

  “Oh, since my freshman year here. She was a junior.”

  She was two years older than me? I wasn’t too keen on that. “So she graduated two years ago?” I asked reluctantly.

  “Yeah, but she’s our same age. She finished two years while she was still in high school, and then completed her bachelor’s after that.”

  “You can do that?” I asked. I had no idea.

  “Yeah, it’s a special program you can apply for. But you have to be either super genius, or super driven.”

  “And which is she?”

  He laughed. “Both, I think. And she’s not a snob like Aaron convinces himself she is. She just plays a defensive game. I was her lab partner for half a year and I think every guy in that class tried to get a date with her.”