Man Out at First (3 page)

Then his good mood vanished as quickly as it had come. He'd messed up again.

Coach had told him to hit easy grounders to the infield. Turtleneck looked to where he'd hit the ball. It lay way out in left
field. No one was there to catch it. The outfielders were still doing laps.

Bus had to leave his position at shortstop to retrieve the ball.

“Nice hit, T,” Bus said dryly. “Next time try hitting it to the
infield
.” He threw the ball back to Sparrow.

Turtleneck felt awful. Even when I try not to, I mess up, he thought. He kicked at the dirt around second base.

Zero Ford, the substitute pitcher, was next at bat. He bunted. Sparrow Fisher charged in and scooped the ball up. He whipped
it to Jack Livingston, but his throw was wild. Jack couldn't get a glove on it. Zero was safe at first.

Coach Parker called the outfield in to take their turns at bat. Barry McGee came to the plate.

“It'll be hard for me to keep the ball in the infield, but I'll see what I can do,” he joked. Then he hit a hot grounder between
second and third.

Turtleneck took off for third. T.V. rushed to cover the base. Bus Mercer ran to get in front of the ball before it rolled
into the outfield.

T.V. stretched out his glove, his toe squarely on the bag. Turtleneck knew he'd have to put on a burst of speed to beat the
ball. He heard Coach yelling for him to slide.

Turtleneck suddenly panicked. I'll run smack into T.V. if I slide! he thought wildly. But maybe Bus's throw will hit me if
I don't!

Turtleneck froze.
Thud
! The ball landed solidly in T.V.'s outstretched mitt. Turtleneck was out.

“What's the matter with you, T?” Bus asked. “Why didn't you slide?”

“Maybe he only remembers how to fall down, like he did yesterday!” T.V. said.

Coach Parker just shook his head and told Turtleneck to take Jack Livingston's place at first.

But things seemed to go from bad to worse. Every time a teammate tried to make a play at first, Turtleneck shied away from
the ball. He spent more time chasing it after it flew past him than he did making outs.

By the time Jack took over at first again, Turtleneck was a wreck.

He wasn't much better at bat. Whenever a pitch looked a little wild, Turtleneck jumped out of the batter's box.

Finally, the practice was over. Coach Parker called the team together.

“We're playing the High Street Bunkers tomorrow. I expect to see all of you here bright and early. Here's the lineup. Outfield
from left to right: Barry, José, and Alfie. Infield: T.V. at third, Bus at short, Nick at second, and Jack at first. Sparrow,
you'll pitch, and Rudy will catch.”

Turtleneck's heart sank. Just what he was afraid of—Coach was replacing him at first base.

Turtleneck was silent as he walked home with Rudy and Nick. He mumbled “See ya” to them when they reached their houses. Then
he continued on alone to his house.

He was walking up to his front door when he heard Mr. Shaw call to him.

“That you, Theodore? Ready to take a stab at the old porch steps?”

Turtleneck was about to answer but then closed his mouth. He suddenly felt like shutting out the whole world.

Besides, he thought dully, I don't know anything about carpentry. I'd just get in the way. Or else I'd mess the whole thing
up. Then Mr. Shaw could hurt himself again and it would be all my fault.

Mr. Shaw called again. “T? Are you there, son?” He sounded a little uncertain this time.

He doesn't know for sure that it's me, Turtleneck reminded himself, and I don't have to tell him.

As quietly as he could, Turtleneck opened the door to his house and slipped inside.

Turtleneck went to his room and lay on his bed. He picked up a comic book and started leafing through it. He heard the phone
ring and his mother answer it.

“I think he's in his room, Mr. Shaw,” his mother said. “Hold on and I'll check.”

His mother opened his door. Turtleneck closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

“He must be worn out. He's fast asleep,”
his mother said into the phone. “It's not like Turtleneck to forget a promise. I'll send him over when he wakes up.” She hung
up.

A moment later, Turtleneck heard the sound of hammering coming from next door. It went on for a bit, then all of a sudden
it stopped. Turtleneck got up quietly and peeked through the window.

Mr. Shaw seemed to be feeling around on the porch for something. “Doggone it!” Turtleneck heard him say. “Where did I put
that tape measure?”

From where he was standing, Turtleneck could see the tape measure. It had fallen into the grass beside the porch.

Turtleneck felt awful. He had promised to help Mr. Shaw but had chickened out just because he was afraid of messing up!

I'm letting everybody down, he thought. No wonder Coach Parker put Jack in my place. He knows I'm just a big 'fraidy cat.

He lay back down on his bed again.

Turtleneck didn't realize he'd fallen asleep for real until he felt his mother shaking him awake.

“Mr. Shaw is here to see you, T.”

Turtleneck sat up. Mr. Shaw came in and sat on the edge of his bed.

“Your mom told me about your injury yesterday, Theodore. It must still hurt a lot,” he said.

Turtleneck didn't know what to say. “It—it's not so bad anymore, Mr. Shaw,” he finally mumbled.

Mr. Shaw was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “Did you hear me calling you earlier today, Theodore?”

Turtleneck hung his head. “Yes,” he whispered. There was no use in lying to Mr. Shaw. Even though he was blind, he seemed
to see everything.

“Do you mind telling me why you didn't answer? And why you decided not to come over and help me?”

“I was afraid I'd mess things up!” Turtleneck burst out. Then he told him all about the horrible practice he'd had that day.

To his surprise, Mr. Shaw started laughing.

“When I heard you'd been hit, I figured it was something like that. I know exactly how you're feeling, Theodore. Things that
once seemed easy now seem impossible—and anything new is too scary to try, right?”

“Right!” said Turtleneck, amazed. “How did you know?”

“I've had those same fears myself. And I can tell you that the only cure is to face them head on.”

“I don't know…” said Turtleneck. “What if I get hit again?”

“Hey, if I had that kind of attitude, I'd be locked up in some nursing home. You've got
to keep trying. The longer you put it off, the worse it'll get.”

Turtleneck thought for a moment. Then he grinned. “You mean like that rotten old porch step ?”

Mr. Shaw laughed again and rubbed his sore leg. “Exactly! Now what do you say we go and tackle that problem head on together
?”

For the rest of the afternoon, Turtleneck helped Mr. Shaw rebuild his steps. He hammered a few nails in crooked by mistake,
but most of them went in fine.

That night Turtleneck slept soundly. He woke up refreshed and ready for the game against the High Street Bunkers. He went
to the kitchen and poured himself a big bowl of cereal. He flipped through his comic book as he ate.

Then he remembered that Jack Livingston was starting at first. And he remembered how lousy he'd played at practice.

Suddenly he wasn't so sure he wanted to go to the game after all.

He pushed his half-eaten bowl of cereal aside, grabbed his comic book, and went to sit on the front porch.

Superheroes flew and ran across the pages in front of him.
They
didn't look like they ever messed up or were afraid of anything.

Turtleneck heard a sound and looked up. Nick Chong and Rudy Calhoun were walking toward him. They were wearing their uniforms
and carrying their gloves.

“Aren't you ready for the game, T?” Nick asked.

Turtleneck was silent for a moment. “Listen, guys, I'm—I'm not feeling very good. Could you tell Coach Parker I won't be able
to make it today?”

Nick and Rudy stared at each other in amazement.

“But we're playing the High Street Bunkers today and we need you!” Rudy cried.

“Jack starts today. I'd just be sitting on the bench anyway,” Turtleneck reminded him.