Page 60 of The Battery
I had my back pressed against the wall to cool myself down. Arms crossed. Looking down. Cody came into the periphery of my vision.
“You guys serious?” he asked. I looked over and up at him.
What a smile, I thought. “As a heart attack.”
I had pitched to the skipper that we should leapfrog Cody over the next step of setup man and throw him right into closing. There was no better time than an easy game against the Diamonds where everyone was having a good time. It was the perfect pressure test. And coming from me, it carried more weight. Besides, our usual closer was out due to a muscle pull.
“Holy shit. This is amazing. All right. Let’s do this.”
“Damn right.” I pushed off from the wall and turned to walk with him the rest of the way.
“You still owe me a candlelight dinner,” he said.
I stopped in my tracks and turned slowly. Distantly, I heard them call the third out. We had to get on the field ASAP. “I seem to recall life going to shit for me after I said that.”
Damn him. He kept that grin on his face as he strolled right past me. “All the more reason to make up for it.”
“Next break. Let’s do it,” I said a lot faster than I intended to. “Okay, stop grinning so much. Let’s get on the field.”
One fist bump later and we were walking to our positions. This time, it was Cody who punched our new fun song into PitchCom. In the outfield, I saw Rome pumping his fist in the air. Freddie bounced from foot to foot. Cody was bobbing his head.
Buncha weirdos.
I loved them for it. I nodded my big, masked head to the beat.
I got into position as the first hitter started his walk to the plate. I leaned side to side to stay spry. My eyes were on Cody. The way he grinned at something Freddie said. The ease in his walk. The way his shoulders rounded out. The cock in his walk. The man was so comfortable up there, despite what we laid out for him.
I felt the easiness, too. I sensed the spirits that surrounded me. I imagined my mother cheering me on. My father’s encouraging words to enjoy the game. Archie, giving me pointers. And Uncle Andy. Right beside me. Telling me not to forget my third promise as I watched Cody.
I called for a curveball. Cody’s throw dove away for a swing and a miss. Strike one. The batter made a silly comment about the rookie showing off. Next came a fastball on the outside corner. Swing and a miss. Strike two. The hitter stepped outside the box and feigned an angered “what the hell” look. The crowd laughed. When he stepped inside, Cody sent a changeup that the batter swung under. Strike three.
He lobbed the bat away and looked right at me. “Where the hell did you guys find this guy?” he asked through a smile.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said in a light tone, “get going.”
Cody threw a slider that broke sharply. The second batter fouled it off. He stepped out of the box and joked about how he needed glasses, then stepped back in. Cody sent a fastball, high in the zone for a swing and a miss. Next, he threw another slider that dropped out of the zone at the last moment. Swing and miss. Two strikes. Cody sent me another fastball, practically the same throw. Swing and a miss.
I stood to stretch before the third batter came up to the plate. Cody shot me a smile as he rolled his shoulders. He was practically floating on the balls of his feet.He’s loving this, I thought. Living for the pressure, like he was born to be a closer.
I wish I savored that moment a fraction longer.
I recognized the third hitter, Lawson. My height and just as big, though he exuded a friendlier air than me. We nodded to each other.
Cody sent a fastball inside that Lawson fouled off. I asked for a curveball, it was called as a ball. Lawson shook his head as if disappointed. Out on the mound, Cody laughed it off.
I then called for a slider but Cody rejected it, wanting to send a fastball right down the middle. I didn’t disagree.
I wish I did.
Cody threw.
Depending on the speed, it takes a ball roughly half a second to reach home plate. Cody had thrown a fastball at ninety-five miles per hour. Lawson knew it was coming the second it left Cody’s hand. He swung and made solid contact.
I watched numbly, in time that appeared to slow, as the ball returned directly to Cody’s position like the perfect ricochet…
… and made direct contact with him, square in the chest.
Cody immediately collapsed to the dirt like a marionette with its strings cut.
