Falling - On the Banks of Lake Saint Clare (Falling - Book One) (42 page)

Brad did his wind up, looked at Derek on second, and pitched it
to
Michael
,
right at the head, but Michael stepped back, swung and hit the ball way out in right field, making it to third.

He looked at the dug out where my Dad was standing and said something. “Oh, I want to know what he said. I really want to know what he said,” I smiled. “Brad is so mad.”

Our team scored 8 points to end the inning.

Michael went up to the mound and started warming up. I saw Brad was on deck. It was like a showdown at the ok corral. I wanted Michael to beam him in the head like he had tried to beam Michael. A ball thrown as fast as Michael was throwing could really seriously injure someone. Hmm, I thought, and damn it, felt guilty for wishing pain on him.

Brad called time out and walked over to third base to talk to my Dad. Michael walked up to the fence and motioned me to join him. “You want me to hit him?”

“Yes. But No! Just strike him out.”

“Shit. I wanted to hit him,
”
he laughed.

“Play nice.”

Michael walked back up to the mound. Brad was still warming up. Michael yelled to Derek, “How long does it take someone to warm up to just get struck out?”

“Oh, no he didn’t,”
Abbie
laughed. “Oh, dang, he is going to be mad!”

After the umpire warned him, Brad finally stepped up to the pl
ate.

Strike one!

Strike Two!

Foul ball!

Strike three, you are out of here!

Then the bat went flying straight to the pitchers mound. Michael jumped out of the way and missed getting hit by two inches
,
if that much.

“Accident!” Brad threw his arms up. “Swear
it was an
accident.”

“Don’t throw him out; please don’t throw him out
.
”

Kaitlyn
looked confused. “He needs to be kicked out.”

“I know, but I want him to suffer and be totally humiliated.”

Every inning was pretty much a repeat of the inning before. Michael striking out 3 players in a row and his team scoring one run right after the other against Brad. Brad kept up his
“
trying to beam Michael in the head
”
, every time Michael was up to bat.

“I have no idea why the umpire hasn’t kicked him out yet. It’s obvious he’s aiming for his head.”

Michael walked up to the plate and I got so nervous. I knew Brad was going to try to hit him. I watched the first pitch, right at the head.

“Come on, Ump!
”
I yelled. “This is getting ridiculous.”

Michael looked at me and smiled, looked at Brad
,
touched his helmet and said, “Right here! It’s an easy target, right here.”

Brad was furious. He pitched the ball
.
Michael jumped back, but the ball was thrown so inside the plate that it hit Michael on the stomach.

“Ouch,” I cringed, “
t
hat hurt.”

“Walk!”
T
he umpire
yelled, calling a
timeout.

I watched as my Dad r
u
n up to the mound with the umpire and Brad. A minute or two later, Brad walked off the mound
,
went to first base and Travis got on the mound to pitch.

The coach lifted Michael’s shirt and looked at his stomach. I tried to see
,
but I couldn’t. Brad was standing three feet from him. I wanted to see Michael punch him in the face.

Brad said something to Michael. Michael laughed and responded. I could tell they weren’t telling jokes. Brad was furious and said something back to Michael which in turn said something back to Brad and
Michael
laughed
again
. “Oh Michael, please stop, please stop. He is so pissed already. Don’t smack talk anymore
.
”

Michael turned toward the coach and Brad charged at him, knocking him to the ground.

“Oh!” I screamed. “Stop him!”

Brad was throwing punches hitting Michael in the back of the head. Michael rolled over and punched him square in the face. Brad’s nose started pouring blood. One coach grabbed Brad while the other coach ran to
help pull him away. The umpire
ran over and kicked Brad out of the game.

“Is Michael okay? He better not get kicked out.”

“He’s fine,” his Mom said. “He’s smiling and talking to the coach.”

I watched Brad walk across the diamond, his face and shirt were covered
with
blood. Dad walked over to him and patted him on the back like he was proud of him. I could not believe it! Had he told Brad to hit Michael? Was he in on it or was it all Brad? I watched as Brad went in and sat in the dug out
,
holding a towel to his face. I looked at Rachel and saw she was filing her nails, oblivious that the guy she “Loved” was bleeding out.
Maybe Erica was right. Maybe they did break up and she doesn’t care. Why do I care anyway if they are dating?
I watched Brad take
off his shirt,
and angrily throw it in the corner. He was so mad. He walked over and started digging through a gym bag. I couldn’t stop watching him, although the game had started back up. He turned around, and started putting on a different shirt when I saw his back. I could see the
marks
on his back. The
marks
from the alley.

I started thinking about clawing his back while he was on top of me. I could hear him screaming at me, calling me a cunt. I looked away, wanting to shake the memory. I hated him for doing this to me. I hated him for scaring me and making every day full of the painful memories. He controlled a large percentage of my thoughts in a day and I was beginning to think that it was worse than the physical attack in the alley.

I looked
at
the bases and didn’t see Michael. I was so absorbed in watching Brad, I didn’t get to see Michael make a run.

The game ended with a final score of 34-0 with Michael pitching a perfect game. The teams lined up to shake the other team’s hands. I sat on the edge of my seat waiting to see my dad shake Michael’s hand. The hand that destroyed his dream of winning the championship game.

“Awe Travis gave Michael a hug,” I said to
Kaitlyn
watching as he moved down the line.

Brad, out of nowhere, came charging at Michael, shoving his chest so hard I heard the impact from the stand. I knew I screamed or someone screamed, maybe
Kaitlyn
screamed.

Michael stepped forward and pushed Brad. He flew back two feet knocking 2 players over. Brad jumped up with his fist up and started swinging at Michael. Brad was yelling, “Go fuck your lying whore girlfriend you fucking pussy!” Travis grabbed him from behind and held him until after what seemed like an eternity, he calmed down enough to walk away. And my coward father turned around and walked away, not shaking Michael’s hand.

Michael walked over to the bleachers. I gave him a huge hug and kiss. “Michael Williams, you just won your championship game! What are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to fuck my lying whore girlfriend,” he laughed.

“Michael Scott Williams!” his mother spanked him and looked around, “It’s a good thing no one heard that
.”

“With love, Mom,” he winked.

“Let’s go celebrate,” Jack said, putting his arm around Michael. “Very proud of you, Michael. I’m a very proud Dad.”

I looked back and saw Mom and Dad talking to Brad and his Mom. I stopped and watched them. I wondered what they were saying and didn’t want to care, but I did. I felt sick to my stomach knowing that my Mom might not ever speak to me again. All over a stupid game. I saw
her look at me and she smiled a
t me with her eyes and gave me a small wave.

“Come on,” Michael said
,
taking my hand. “Don’t let them get to you.”

I nodded, knowing I couldn’t speak.

I got into the car and Michael started it up and looked at me. “I couldn’t let them win, you know. It might have been better in the long run or easier on you to lose, but I couldn’t do it. I won it for you. I wanted them to remember that I told them that I would fight for you and win every time. And I will.” He leaned over and kissed me, “Because you are my lying whore girlfriend and I love you,” he smiled.

“You are going to pound that one into the ground, aren’t you?”

“Absolutely,” he
laughed
.
“For some reason, it just cracked me up.”

My phone started ringing on the way to the restaurant where everyone was meeting. Michael’s parents were treating the entire team to a victory dinner.

“My mom,” I sighed. “I really don’t want to talk to her.”

Michael reached over and took the phone. “Hey, we are getting ready to go eat dinner and enjoy the rest of the night. Unless you want to tell Alex something other than how she doesn’t understand your feelings or how she needs to just accept the fact that Brad will get away with everything he does, she really doesn’t need to talk.”

It was silent while he listened.

“Well I think it is my business and I am really tired of this emotional game you are playing with Alex. So, unless you can just call and say you hope she has a nice day
,
or do you need anything like a fucking restraining order put back in place, then don’t call.”

I watched as he listened, his expression not changing. “Your
d
ad now,” he mouthed and smiled while he listened.

“That’s fine. And I will have you arrested for child endangerment for allowing her attacker to be in her house. So if you really want to play a game here, you are playing with the wrong person, because, as you could see tonight, I’m pretty damn good at games.”

“H
m
m,
”
he looked at the phone
,
“h
e hung up. Weird,” he smiled. “I thought we were getting along great.”

“What did he say?”

“He said you needed to be at the cabin in ten minutes or they will have you reported as a runaway.
Screw
him,” he said. “Sorry, I just hate threats that are meaningless.”

“Maybe he was serious.”

“He won’t do anything. Mom and I talked to the police officer while he was clocking me. I told him what was going on and that you weren’t safe at your house especially since they dropped the restraining order. That Brad
has been
dating Rachel and he is coming and going all the time to their house. He was pretty ticked about that. I told him that you were staying at you grandparents house. That they were your guardians right now.”

We walked into the restaurant and the team yelled and hollered while we were walking to the table.

“Wow,” I smiled, “I really didn’t think I deserved that
,
but thanks.”

Michael pushed me behind him and said, “Don’t steal my thunder, Alex. I am warning you. I earned this thunder.”

We sat down and Michael went around the table introducing me to the guys I didn’t know already. I went to school with most of them
,
but there were a few I had not seen before. The coach sat down by Michael, “Are you planning a baseball career after high school?”

“I was leaning toward basketball actually.”

“There’s a higher per cent that you could get baseball. With that arm, I know you would get a college scholarship.”

“He’s already been offered basketball scholarships,” I interrupted.

“Very impressive,” he said. “It’s like one in a million that someone can have an opportunity to choose either sport. Just weigh your options. I had a friend at the game tonight watching. You impressed him a lot.”

“We’ll think about it,” he nodded, holding my hand. “Thanks.”

Michael drove me back to the cabin. My grandparent’s still weren’t home. I guess I better call and make sure they are okay. I called her number and put it on speaker while I made Michael and me some ice cream.

“Hey Grandma, it’s Alex.
Are you coming home tonight?”

“No
,
D
ear
,
Sylvia and Marcus asked us to dinner and it got so late that we decided to stay another night. Did your Mom not tell you?”

“Uh, no
, she
didn’t mention it.”

“I’m sure it slipped her mind. You girls just make yourself at home. You know you aren’t company. It’s home.”

“Have you been talking to Mom much?” I asked, wondering why she said “you girls
”.