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Two weeks later, the nine kids stood in the sandlot after school. Benny was hitting and Ella stood a few feet away waiting for her turn to bat. She had only started playing with the boys a year and a half ago, when she and Benny had gone out to hit and the boys decided to show up early. At first they were confused to seeing a girl hitting, or on the field at all, and then they accused Benny of being a traitor, ultimately deciding it would be nice to have nine players since one of them was moving away.
"Bertram!" Benny called out, pulling the girl from her thoughts. She looked over to her friend who was grabbing the ball and throwing it to first. Ella walked over to home and took the bat out of Benny's hands and teasingly ushered him away. He held his hands up in mock defeat and laughed quietly. Ham tossed the ball to Ella who caught it bare handed.
"Yeah-Yeah, all you," Ella announced before tossing the ball up and hitting it to Yeah-Yeah. They quickly got it back to home and Ella hit a line drive to Yeah-Yeah, they turned two and threw it back to home. "Squints!" She hit a popup to Squints, he caught it and returned it to Kenny.
"Nice catch!" Ham yelled, nodding at Squints.
"Yeah!" Benny agreed. Ella warmed up her swing before stepping in the box.
"Come on!"
"Come on!"
"Hit a homer, El!"
"Yeah, hit a homer!"
"Swing, batter batter batter, swing!"
"Here comes my heater, man, I dare you to hit it," DeNunez warned.
"Bring it dollface," Ella narrowed her eyes. He began his windup and the next thing she knew the ball was flying to left field. A boy, the new kid, was turned around facing the fence as the ball flew at him.
"Watch out!" Ham warned. Ella didn't bother running, she just watched the ball and the boy. Benny jogged to stand next to her, holding his glove. The kid threw his gloved hand in the air before falling back and yelling. Benny looked down and shook his head, Ella took a few steps forward, and all the others began laughing loudly.
"It's okay, I'll get it!" He yelled once he stood back up. Ella looked the boy over as he grabbed the ball and as he sprinted away from the bushes.
"We are waiting!" Squints sassed, throwing his arms out. Both 14 year olds couldn't help but feel bad for the boy.
"Come on! Throw it in already!" The shouting continued as he began to attempt to throw the ball in.
"Oh, boy," Ella whispered, looking at his stance. He threw the ball, although it only went a few feet away from him. Everyone laughed again. Ella got into a low squat and sighed. Benny looked down to the ground before watching the small boy run off. The older boy looked over all the others in disgust for laughing at the clueless kid.
- - - -
"Should we go grab him now?" Ella asked from Benny's window, leaning out of it slightly. Benny nodded from the far end of the room before realizing she wouldn't be able to see him.
"Probably yeah," he agreed, picking up the extra glove from his room and shoving it in his belt.
"Okay, well, what are we waitin' for?" Ella asked, throwing a soft rubber ball at Benny from his room. He felt the ball hit his back and turned quickly, but she was gone and most likely waiting in front of his house.
And she was, she stood there, bat and glove in hand, a bored expression on her face.
The two begin walking down the sidewalk, a comfortable silence fell before they reached a sad Smalls.
"Hey," Ella smiled warmly, raising her hand with the bat.
"We're gonna go play some ball. We could use an extra guy. You wanna go?" Benny asked, earning a questioning look from Scotty.
"But you have a full 9?"
"An extra guy in the outfield never hurt anyone, besides, Benny and I take places hitting, which means it's one less position to sub in and out of," Ella shrugged, flipping the bat over her shoulder.
"No, it's alright, thanks," Scotty declined, looking down at his busted glove.
"Why not?" Benny questioned, "don't ya' like baseball?"
"Oh, yeah, but uh..."
"But what?" Ella asked, egging the boy on.
Scotty Smalls stood up, looking at his glove before looking at the two, "but my glove, it's busted. Uh, see, no, I can't go. Thanks, though."
"Oh, boo hoo, it's plastic," Ella laughed nudging Benny.
"It's okay, I got an extra one," Benny tossed the glove over to the younger boy. "Come on. Let's go."
Ella took a step backwards, watching as Scotty ran into his house, chucking the broken glove in.
"Mom, I'm gonna go play some ball!" Scotty called, earning a small laugh from Ella, "I'll be back in a little while."
"Come on. Let's go," Benny repeated, with that the three took off running towards the market to make sure they had a baseball.
