Page 26 of The Battery
I exploded forward and put myself in Quinn’s line of sight with Cody. “Back the fuck off, man,” I said and got right in his face. I lifted my mask and let him see the seriousness on my face.
“Or fuckin’what, Leo? Or fuckin’ what?”
I gave him an answer. I centered my weight just right and, with ease, I pushed Quinn away from me with my right hand. My center of mass was enough that he stumbled. As he recovered, suddenlyCodywas right there. Quinn made to come back at me, but Cody intercepted before I could defend. He used the same motion as me and shoved Quinn backwards enough that the man stumbled, tripped, and his rump hit the dirt. I stared in wide-eyed amazement. Cody’s posture, his fists. He was ready to fight beside me.
Damn.A swirl of pride and sex and hunger hit me all at once.
That came crashing down as the umpire interjected, pointed at both of us, then gave the universal gesture for us to get the hell out.
*
While I crashed into a leather recliner in the clubhouse, Cody stared into space. He spat his nicotine pouch in a trash can and wrung his hands as he burned a line into the carpet.
“Sit,” I told him with enough grunt in my voice that he stopped moving to stare. “You did what you did. Now you gotta live with it.”
Cody crashed into the recliner next to mine. “I’ve—”
“Never been ejected,” I finished for him. “Well, welcome to the club, newbie.”
He then leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Do you think—”
Another easy interruption. “We’ll find out.”
His cheeks puffed as he blew out air, then leaned back into the chair. After ten seconds, he leaned forward again, then made to stand.
“Cody,” I said and looked over at him. “Stop fidgeting. Remember what I told you about that?”
He gave me a sharp nod, sat up straighter, and said, “Right, right. Cool. Calm.”
I waited a minute to make sure he had settled before breaking into the next conversation. “You need to let me handle my own fights.” I spoke carefully and not in my usual gruff manner. Over the past two weeks I had come to read his reactions to what I presented. This time around, and this subject, required a more delicate touch. “I’ve done this plenty of times. You’re still a rookie. You shouldn’t be getting into fights.”
“He pissed me off,” Cody said. “And I… I…” He looked away from me. “You can handle yourself. I know that. But I wanted to stay next to you.”
I was expecting this. I needed to shut it down. “I can handle myself,” I said with more bite in my voice. “I don’t care if you want to help me out. What’s important is your career. Don’t make me think I’ve been wasting my time helping you.”
That snapped him out of whatever sentiment he cared to share.
“You’re more important in this equation. You gotta understand that,” I continued. “There’s a reason they call catchers the field generals, all right? Don’t risk things because you think you need to stay at my side. Okay?”
Something pinched inside me.Lock that shit up, I told myself.Lock it up and throw away the key.
“Yeah,” Cody eventually said. “Got it.”
Romo and the skipper walked down the hallway after Cody and I fell into an uneasy silence. I braced myself for the berating from the skipper and prayed that Cody wouldn’t break easily.
However, to my surprise, our bushy-mustached walrus of a manger was all smiles. The skipper regaled us with how he almost got ejected himself after running out to argue with theumpire. I felt the tension leave Cody as he realized we weren’t in as much trouble as we could have been. After the skipper finished his story, he gave us both a pat on the shoulder and told us to keep up the good work, then went back to the field. Romo stayed behind.
“Well, that was unexpected,” I said when the three of us were alone.
“He loved it,” Romo admitted. “You two have been showing us the goods the past two weeks and you solidified today what we’ve been hoping for.”
I nodded in understanding, but the look on Cody’s face revealed his confusion. I wagged my finger to gesture between him and me. “Us, Hill.”
“Hiroshi’s bond with our pitchers was a key element to our game,” Romo explained. “Getting that back is everything. A solid battery is what we need and seeing the two of you have each other’s backs means we’ve got something good going. Whatever it is you two are doing, don’t stop. In fact Leo, we wanna see that in action with the other pitchers, too. Good job, guys.” He fist-bumped us, then left.
I looked over at Cody and held out my fist for him. He withheld, lips pursed. I pushed my fist farther out. “C’mon, Cody.” Couldn’t he divide like I could? The game and relations were two separate identities.
He blinked, then halfheartedly bumped my fist with his own. “Now what?” he asked as he sank into the recliner.
