Page 75 of On Fire Island

“What are you, golfing?” Eddie quipped.

Ben swung again.

“Strike two!”

“C’mon, son, get some wood,” Shep encouraged.

“You got this!” his new friend Josie piped in feverishly from the stands.

It made Ben smile. A hush came over the crowd. The next ball was pitched and then—Ding! Boom!Right over the tree in right field! The crowd went crazy, shouting more joyous ballplayer lingo as Ben ran the bases.

“It’s a moonshot over the bush.”

“Two in a row!”

“A back-to-back!”

As Ben rounded home, he and Matty jumped in the air and bumped back-to-back in victory. Josie stood and clapped vigorously for Ben, who clearly got a kick out of her unbridled enthusiasm.

Shep got up to bat. A young kid, his designated pinch runner, stood to his right. As always, Shep ignored the first pitch completely. Then came the second:

Pitch—swing—zing!And miraculously the ball flew just over the house in right field.

It was a big deal, a man of Shep’s age hitting a ball like that. When he was younger the guys would yell “Big stick” and “Move back” when Shep approached the plate. But it had been years since he’d even gotten a double. He told the pinch runner, “I got this one, kid.”

And he jogged the bases, milking it for all it was worth. It was worth a lot. The crowd on both sides went nuts, and Beatrix clearly had tears in her eyes. Our side was wild, yelling, “Three-peat” and “Back-to-back-to-back!” and “Trifecta!” The other team was comically countering with calls of “Steroids?” and “Get me the first aid kit—I want to do a urine test!”

Shep strode past home plate, and the three men bumped their backs together in victory. As they separated, Josie came down from the stands and approached Ben.

“Wow, that was great!” she said, clearly meaning it.

“Yeah—that happens all the time.”

“Really?”

Ben laughed. “No, absolutely not.”

They both laughed some more. Josie glanced at her watch.

“I wish I could stay for the rest of the game, but we’re catching the next boat out.”

“That’s OK,” he said.

“Wait, I almost forgot.” She reached into her pocket and discreetly slipped Ben a tutti fruity condom.

“Amazing! Thank you so much.”

“See you next summer?” she asked, looking straight into his eyes.

His pupils widened, and his eyes lit up in the way they did when tasting the perfect bite of steak or when he figured out the ideal word or plot twist.

He answered, “I hope so,” before adding more confidently, “Yes, that would be great.”

A warm, wide smile erupted on her face in response.

I don’t know if I can pin it all on Josie’s beautiful smile; I suspect the other events of the day: the dolphin sighting, the home runs, and the hope that comes with those first sparks of a new idea all came into play. His expression softened, and his shoulders released as he placed down the sack of boulders, my visual for his pain and suffering. It was only a brief moment before he picked up the miserable load again and threw it back over his shoulder, but in that moment, I made my escape.

“Julia!” Nana Hannah called out, madly waving at me from behind the bleachers.

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