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  So when Coach Swanson called them all in, huffing and gasping for air, with sweat pouring down their faces and hands on their knees, Josh felt a pang in his gut.

  “Okay, men,” the coach said. “We’re one man heavy. I watched you all carefully tonight, and I’ve made my decision. It’s not an easy thing to do, but if we get an injury somewhere down the line, we’ll call you back up.”

  Josh looked at Benji. Benji panted but gave him a confident wink as if he had it in the bag. Josh wasn’t so sure. He didn’t trust Coach Swanson.

  He didn’t trust him at all.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  SWANSON LOOKED AT BILLY Duncan and lowered his voice. “Sorry, Billy. It was a tough decision.”

  Duncan bit his lip to keep it from trembling and concentrated on not bursting into tears. The right fielder stood up and hurried away. Everyone, including Coach Swanson, watched Duncan in silence for what seemed like a long time.

  “Lido,” the coach said, “I’m switching you to right field.”

  “Right field?” Benji asked, in shock. “I’m being demoted?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” Coach Swanson barked. “All right. Bus leaves here at 1:00 p.m. sharp tomorrow. You miss it, you know what happens. Now bring it in. No guts, no glory.”

  They did their chant and broke up. Josh didn’t linger. He wanted to get away as fast as he could. Benji was in no hurry and decided to chat with Esch about their prospects in the Harvard tournament. Jaden and Josh waited in silence, then rode home that way.

  “All’s well that ends well, I always say,” said Mrs. Lido when she dropped Josh off in front of his new apartment.

  “Yeah, that’s true,” Josh said. “Thanks for the ride.”

  “We’ll pick you up tomorrow about twelve thirty,” Mrs. Lido said.

  “I really appreciate you giving me rides all over town.”

  “You’re a good boy, Josh,” Mrs. Lido said, smiling. “Benji needs all the good influences he can get.”

  They pulled away with Benji making a face at him, stretching his mouth wide and waggling his tongue. Josh chuckled and stood still for a moment looking up and down the street. Shadows lurked around the edges of the brick apartment houses and in the doorways. Josh scampered up the steps and hurried inside. His mom had about half the boxes unpacked but said she’d leave the rest for the morning if he wanted to watch Spirited Away with her. “Laurel’s asleep, and I found the DVD when I was unpacking.”

  “I thought maybe I’d read before bed?” Josh said.

  “I know. You read all the time. You’re good like that,” she said. “But this used to be your favorite, remember?”

  He nodded. “I love that movie.”

  “So let’s watch, you and me. Like we used to, okay? I’ll make popcorn.”

  She did make popcorn, and the two of them sat on their couch, surrounded by boxes, watching. Josh rested his head on her shoulder, and she put her hand on his head and gave it a pat every so often. Josh sighed and began to doze.

  The movie ended, and his mom helped him into his bed. He fell right to sleep, and his final thought was that tomorrow was the beginning of the most important thing he’d ever tried to do.

  It was still pitch-dark when Josh woke to the sound of a gunshot.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  JOSH’S MOM FLIPPED ON the light. Laurel was crying. Josh felt choked by panic.

  “Josh!”

  “Mom! What was that? It sounded like a gun.”

  “I think so.” She appeared in his doorway hugging Laurel tight, calming her. “Did you lock the door?”

  Josh couldn’t remember. His mom darted toward the front door, checking to be sure it was locked. Police sirens began to wail in the distance. The idea of the police heading their way gave some comfort. Josh got up and went to the front window, peering around the edge of the curtain. “There’re people out there.”

  “Get away from that window!” His mother’s scared voice made Laurel begin to cry anew. “There, there. It’s okay. Mommy has you.”

  Josh backed away. He didn’t say anything to his mom. He didn’t have to. They knew what they were both thinking. They were only twelve blocks from the place they used to call home, but they might as well have been on another planet.

  Josh returned to bed, but his sleep was ruined. His tattered nerves didn’t allow anything more than a yawn. When the red and blue lights of the police cars flashed alternately against the living-room curtains and bled through to the corner of his wall across from the open door, Josh sneaked out of bed and peeked around the curtains again. An ambulance had come and gone, and still the police cars lined the street.

  When the gray of dawn finally seeped in through the curtains, diffusing the police lights, Josh got up, peeked again, saw nothing new, and sat on the couch to read more of the Tolkien trilogy. It was the only thing that eased his mind in the least, and reading it would pass the time until his mom got up.

  She appeared shaken and went right to the curtain. “They’re still here.”

  Josh looked up from his book, reluctant to leave the dangers of Middle Earth for real life.

  “Maybe we should put on the news.”

  “Don’t!” His mother had a look as wild as her hair, then her face relaxed. “I’m sorry. Not seeing it won’t make it go away, right?”

  Josh shut his book. “I’m going to get us out of here. It’ll take the next eight weeks, but I’ll do it, Mom.”

  “Josh, please. Don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself. I will get another job. I just . . . I need some time, and I can’t take just anything. It needs to work with Laurel, right?”

  Josh thought of Florida. There he went again, the human yo-yo, up and down. He hated it and knew Florida was a dead end anyway. It would take more than a runaway son or a gunshot to get his parents back together.

  Josh stood up and offered his mom a smile. At least they were in it together. “Let me help you get the rest of this unpacked. I bet we can finish before it’s time to leave.”

  “You’re a good boy, Josh.”

  Together they worked. Laurel jangled about between their feet. Josh’s mom spoke in the singsong voice Laurel’s teacher used in preschool, doing her best to paint a rosy picture and restore some of the magic the two of them had felt last night on the couch. But the magic was gone. Josh ached for the sight of Mrs. Lido’s rusty Impala. Finally it came and he was sprung, freed from Bricktown, freed from their tiny apartment and the police tape halfway down the street, blocking the sidewalk and the entrance to another apartment building.

  “What happened?” Benji turned around in his seat to stare as they drove past.

  “Some trouble,” Josh said.

  “I bet. Look at that tape!” Benji huffed with the thrill. “The cops are still there. Anybody catch it?”

  “I have no idea.” Josh looked out the other window, away from the mess.

  They got Jaden and made it to the school parking lot twenty minutes early. They were still nearly the last to arrive. Coach Swanson stood outside the bus along with Martin, who had a clipboard and was checking people off.

  “Luggage underneath.” Coach Swanson nodded his head toward the bus’s belly as if this were their first travel game.

  They boarded the bus. Josh took a window seat in the back. Jaden took the aisle, and Benji spread out on the two seats across from them, leaning back and sticking two Twizzlers into his nose before chomping on the ends.

  “Do you have to be disgusting on top of unhealthy?” Jaden asked.

  “Here we go.” Benji didn’t sound disappointed. “Let the fall ball begin. Here. A peace offering.”

  Benji removed one of the licorice ropes from his mouth and handed it across the aisle, dangling the chewed and slobbered end for her to take.

  “Gross,” Jaden said.

  “Kidding.” Benji pulled a fresh piece from his bag and handed it across. “Peace.”

  Jaden took it warily. When she realized Benji mea
nt it, she smiled and took a bite.

  Josh opened his book. He wanted to talk to Jaden about the gunshot and the police, but he knew Benji would turn it into a circus. He preferred keeping it bottled up to that.

  They got to Cambridge by seven, checked into the Hilton Garden Inn, then had pizza as a team in the dining area. Afterward, Coach gave them an hour to swim before lights-out. During that time he, Martin, and Jaden went over some paperwork at a table set on the tiled floor near the pool. Josh went through the motions, doing cannonballs with Goldfarb, Esch, and Benji, but he was glad when the swim ended. He’d never been so tired in his life.

  Josh noticed on the way to his room that Sheridan and Martin were roommates.

  “Hope he brought his gas mask,” Benji said.

  “Come on, Benji,” said Josh. “Be nice.”

  “Well, I can’t help it if the kid smells funny.”

  “Lots of times people can’t help it. I think it has something to do with his brace. Maybe he’s gotta keep stuff on it to keep it from rubbing his skin.”

  “Well, I didn’t mean anything bad by it.” Benji used his key to open their door, sulking a bit and throwing himself down on his bed. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

  “Who do we play first tomorrow?” Josh asked.

  “Ask your girlfriend,” Benji said. “They’re all the same to me.”

  “Jaden’s not my girlfriend.”

  “How’d you know I was talking about Jayyy-den? Huh?”

  Josh threw a pillow at Benji’s head. Benji gave a war cry and jumped across the two beds, catching Josh off guard and body slamming him into the mattress.

  “You load!” Josh wrestled out from under him, and they rolled off the bed, each fighting for the upper hand. Josh started to tickle Benji. When Benji started to choke, Josh knew what was next and he bailed out quickly.

  “Hey, where you going?” Benji popped up off the floor. “I’m okay. I’m not gonna york.”

  “I’m going to talk to Coach,” Josh said. “See if he’s got some tips on any of their pitchers.”

  “Ah, strategizing. Like Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. I love that stuff.”

  “Yeah.” Josh closed the door behind him. He didn’t want Benji coming along. He really wanted to ask the coach for a favor.

  He knocked on Coach Swanson’s door.

  “Enter!”

  Josh saw that the coach had left the chain in the doorframe to keep the door from locking, and he pushed his way in.

  Coach Swanson spun around in the chair at his desk. “LeBlanc? What’s up?”

  “Hey, Coach. Uh, wondering about tomorrow.”

  “What about it?”

  “Just strategy stuff. You know, like The Art of War.” Josh forced a laugh because he remembered that Coach Swanson had been in a real war and wasn’t sure his choice of words had been the best.

  “War is nothing to laugh about.” Coach Swanson’s voice went cold.

  Josh wanted to crawl into a hole. He needed to ask for this favor. It had been haunting him. He had to get out of Bricktown. He had to do every single thing he could to win that house, and twenty home runs wouldn’t be easy. The look on his coach’s face made him think he should try another time, but he was out of time. They started fall ball tomorrow.

  Josh needed the favor now, so he took a deep breath, determined to plow ahead.

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  “SORRY, COACH.” JOSH FROWNED and put on his most serious face. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just . . . I told you about that house. I really want to win it, or at least have a chance.”

  “Twenty home runs is a lot. We only play thirty-two games.”

  “I know.” Josh saw his opening. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Coach. See, I’m thinking that if you could move me up in the lineup—maybe the leadoff—that’d be the ideal thing. Then I’d get like twenty to thirty percent more at bats in fall ball. Thirty percent, that’d be huge in helping me—”

  Josh fell silent at the sight of Coach Swanson’s hand raised in the air, signaling him to stop. The coach gritted his teeth and winced before he spoke. “See, the thing is, LeBlanc, I’m all about winning, right? Remember that part?”

  “Sure, but I—”

  Coach Swanson flashed his hand. “Before you say anything more, tell me this. Why did your dad have you batting fourth?”

  “Well, it’s cleanup.”

  “Yeah, what’s that mean?”

  “I hit a lot of homers.” Josh couldn’t help feeling proud. “If the first three guys get on and I bang one, it’s more scoring. Is that what you mean?”

  “Sure. It’s baseball 101.” Coach Swanson smiled painfully. “Your big hitters bat four and five. Your most consistent hitters are one, two, and three, to get into scoring position for the big bats. For us that’s Esch, Goldfarb, and Sheridan. I guess I’m just not sure why it is you’re coming to me with something like this. I guess I thought I was pretty clear about why I’m here. To win.”

  “Yes, Coach.” Josh’s head dropped. “Sorry. I get it.” Even though he was sick to his stomach, Josh really did understand. The game came down to a bunch of little things that all added up. Everything was a calculation of the odds. Swinging at any pitch on a 3–0 count because odds were in your favor. Cheating over just a couple feet toward first against a left-handed batter. Things like that.

  “Good,” Coach Swanson said. “Get some sleep. You’ll want to be rested so you can get as many home runs as you can . . . batting cleanup.”

  “Okay, Coach.”

  Josh returned to his room, watched a movie with Benji, and had another miserable night.

  Jaden woke the two of them by rapping frantically on the door like a woodpecker. Benji had set the alarm for 6:30 p.m. instead of 6:30 a.m.

  “Nice going, maestro.” Jaden sipped her orange juice in the middle of the dining room. “Lucky thing you two have me to help manage things.”

  “Manage this.” Benji thumbed his nose.

  Jaden ignored him and peered at Josh. “Not to be a total downer, but you look like somebody ran you through a washing machine without the soap.”

  “I look better than I feel,” Josh said.

  “Well, perk up.” Jaden tapped her spoon against her glass. “This is the day it begins. You’re on a quest. You’re like Frodo and Sam Gamgee.”

  “Hobbits?” Benji raised his eyebrows and stuffed his mouth with sausage. “Josh is a warrior. He’s Aragorn, fighting for the survival of his entire race.”

  “I feel like Gollum.” Nothing could bring Josh’s spirits up.

  He rested his eyes on the bus ride to the fields. The day was gloomy, but the forecast and the tournament officials who checked them in promised the rain would hold off until nighttime, then pass right on through.

  When he got off the bus, Martin leaned on his crutch on the curb, holding out his duffel bag. “Coach wants everyone’s phones in the bag. No distractions during the game.”

  Josh turned in his phone, then marched inside with the team. He watched Jaden hand over the folder with everyone’s registration form as well as the matching birth certificate, which the tournament official examined before returning to her. When the official got to the last one, he looked around and asked, “Where’s the certificate for Jack Sheridan?”

  Benji swelled up, looking ready to crow.

  Jaden shrugged and shook her head, but before she could say anything Coach Swanson stepped forward and handed the official a large manila envelope. “Jack just moved up from North Carolina, and we had some issues finding the original birth certificate, but I’ve got it now.”

  Benji’s mouth dropped open, and Josh had to admit he was also surprised.

  The official nodded and accepted the envelope. He looked only briefly at the papers inside. “I see. Of course. The Titans are on field three against the Louisville Lions. Good luck.”

  The team headed out of the field house and down the walkway to field three. Louisville was already there,
warming up in their black-and-gold uniforms. The Titans looked almost harmless in their dark-blue shirts and white pants as they milled into the dugout and deposited their gear. The Lions’ pitcher was warming up on the mound. He had a sidearm release and some kind of crazy action on his ball that Josh had never seen before. It looked like the worst kind of pitch to try and knock out of the park.

  “What are you thinking?” Jaden caught him staring from the dugout.

  “That’s just a nasty pitch.” He nodded toward the mound.

  “You can do it, Josh. You’re the best.”

  “Maybe when the game gets going. I’m a gamer, right?” Josh looked into her green catlike eyes.

  “You are a gamer, Josh; you’re the best young player anyone’s seen.” She had dropped her voice to nearly a whisper.

  Josh felt a charge of adrenaline. It meant a lot for her to say that. In all the tumult, he’d forgotten that at the bottom of all this, he was an outstanding player. “Thanks.”

  “Go get ’em.” She gave him a slap on the back, and Josh charged out onto the field.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  AFTER WARM-UPS THE TITANS took the field. Out on the diamond at second base, Josh muffed an easy grounder, and the batter reached first on his error. As quick as a blink, the confidence Jaden had inspired flew from his spirit. Sheridan threw a fastball on the first pitch to the next batter that got knocked over the fence. Just like that the Titans were down by two runs. Thankfully, Sheridan struck out his next three batters.

  The Titans jogged into the dugout.

  “You gotta make that play,” Coach Swanson growled under his breath without looking up from his clipboard as Josh passed him. Josh tried to clear his mind. Benji thumped him on the back. “You’ll get your mojo. You’re a heavy hitter. No worries.”