“The other addition to the staff is Shigehito Yamamura. Shiggy has an extensive background with both playing and coaching over in Japan. He’ll be focusing on helping Coach Herndon with the pitchers, but will also work as our batting instructor.
“Speaking of batting, Range Sports has donated two pitching machines. They’ve also donated practice uniforms for everyone,” Moose informed us.
Sandy Range must have talked to Moose because we each had a duffle bag with ‘Lincoln High’ and our name and number on the side. I noticed the coaches each had one also. Inside there was everything from cleats to hats. It was funny to watch the guys as they each got their duffle bag and then began to go through it. They were like kids let loose in a candy store. I don’t think anything could have wiped the smiles off their faces.
I dug through my bag, put my briefs on, and then inserted the cup into the integrated cup-holder. I liked the feel better than the jockstrap I’d been wearing. I then put on my sliding shorts. They had padding to help prevent bruising and road rash when you slid as you stole a base. I found both a long-sleeve and a short-sleeve t-shirt in the bag. I picked the long-sleeve since it was still a little cool out.
The t-shirt seemed to have a layer of padding. I read the tag. It said the shirt was called ‘Impact-Skin.’ It was designed to absorb high-velocity baseballs that hit you in the torso. It also was purported to wick perspiration from your body and had a patent-pending airflow-cooling system. I hoped Moose and Coach Haskins hadn’t figured that out yet. They would have us digging in and being hit by pitches.
Our shirts had ‘Lincoln High’ on the front and our last name and number on the back. The practice shirts were blue pullovers with three-quarter-length sleeves. The white pants came with a blue belt that matched the shirt.
I found two different gloves. One was a batting glove set, with Velcro to secure the gloves in place. There was also a protective inner glove for fielding. It was a leather glove, designed to be worn on the inside of a fielder’s glove. It had special padding on the palm and first finger to help prevent bruises when catching a ball.
I got dressed in my new gear and felt like a million bucks. Looking around, all the guys looked sharp. We were in high spirits when we jogged out to the practice fields. Alan had Duke on his leash. When Duke saw me, he bolted. I took off running to let him chase me. Moose let me take Duke and the guys on a jog around the baseball field to warm up. When we were done, Alan came and got my hound.
We had a good practice. Everyone hustled. The coaches seemed to be well organized and kept us engaged the full time. Moose worked with the starting infield for the first half of practice. I then was sent to Shiggy for batting practice. Finally, I spent time with Coach Herndon, pitching. Practice finished up with Mike and me working with the outfielders and catchers. We worked on the outfielders hitting a cutoff man and Mike and I would then throw home. I think we all felt like practice had gone well.
AFTER DINNER, I WAS working on my reading assignment for English when a text from Harper to logon to video chat was announced on my phone.
“Hey, baby, what’s up?” I asked.
“I wanted to talk to you about last weekend. I feel bad about what all happened.”
“Why’s that? I’m okay with everything. I thought Jennie was enough of a reward,” I assured her.
“Well, I’m not. I talked to Mom on Sunday about you,” she said, and then laughed when she saw the look on my face. “Don’t worry, it was all good. What I need you to know is, I’m new at having a boyfriend. I know I dated Ray, but he was my best friend first, so it was different. I had Ray wrapped around my little finger, I’m ashamed to say.”
I could relate. A certain Tami Glade had had me wrapped around her finger when we were younger.
“I guess what I’m trying to tell you, David, is that I’ll make mistakes. With Ray, I would just make plans and he’d do them. I know you aren’t Ray. I’ll make an effort to talk to you before I make plans for us.”
“I take it we’ll be doing what you want, though,” I teased her.
“I never said you had a choice, ‘stupid boy.’ I AM the girl in this relationship, after all.”
“I admit I was a little bent out of shape Friday,” I confessed.
“A little?” she asked and raised her eyebrows.
“Okay, I told your mom on you,” I said, getting a snort of derision from her. “You have to realize I’ve let myself be bossed around by the women in my life for a long time. I’ve been working hard to stand up for myself. When you told me the plans had been changed, I felt like you were taking advantage of me. To be honest, I would have been fine going to a theater party, but I’d have preferred it if you’d asked me beforehand instead of springing it on me.
“Something else that irritated me was that you left me. I didn’t know anyone at the party; well, that’s not entirely true, but I hadn’t seen anyone I knew when you disappeared. I’m not saying we need to be joined at the hip—I’d hope we wouldn’t have to be that couple. But I would like to at least have you introduce me to someone before you take off to talk to your friends,” I complained.
“See, we did need to talk. I had to use the ladies’ room; that was why I took off. If I’d told you, I’ll bet you wouldn’t have been irritated with me. Was that why you left the party?”
“Yeah, that, and I was feeling claustrophobic with so many people there. I just needed to go gather my thoughts for a while,” I said and then sighed. “There’s something you need to know about me: if I get mad, and go quiet, leave me alone. I’ll need time to figure things out. Once I do, I’m okay. If you push me, I’ll say something that can’t be unsaid.”
“That’s good information. Just so you know, when I get mad I’ll yell at you. Let me get it out of my system, or I’ll hold it against you.”
“You and every girl I know,” I mumbled.
“What did you say?” she asked, giving me a stern look.
“Nothing, dear,” I said as I gave her my innocent face.
“Keep it up, Chuckles, and you’ll find out what yelling is. I’m sure Tami was an amateur.”
“No, she liked me more than you do,” I teased her.
“I’m sure she did, but you have me now, so be good.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Let’s get this conversation back on track. We were talking about communication. I understand why you’d be irritated. I didn’t tell you about the change in plans and then seemingly left you as soon as I got to the party. Looking back, it would’ve upset me too. I need to get used to the fact we’re a couple. I also want you to know I want that very much. I’ll work on it,” she assured me.
“I appreciate you talking to me about this. It did bother me at the time.”
“Now I need to talk to you about some other things that bother me. I’m not used to being as open with my parents as you are with them. I think my dad was in shock to see his little girl is growing up. I want to ask that in the future you let me take the lead with them,” she said.
“I can appreciate where you’re coming from. I want you to know I won’t lie to them. Your mom can tell if I lie anyway, and I respect her enough not to even try. I know you didn’t want her to know we were having sex, but believe me, she knew. I didn’t tell her in LA just to rub it in her face. I told her because she asked me a direct question. In the long run, we’ll be better off if we’re honest.”
“You might be right, but I want to be the one to decide what my parents know or don’t know. You could have just shut up like you usually do.”