Out of Left Field: Marlee's Story (8 page)

“How did you...” Marlee started to ask. She hadn’t mentioned Bobby, but after the Truth or Dare game she supposed he wasn’t any big secret.

“Lucky guess.”

“Oh,” Marlee said. “And, by the way, how’d you get my phone number?”

“Another lucky guess.” Marlee could almost hear Susie smile. “No, I looked you up in the phone book. You’re the only McAllister listed in Clarksonville. I took a chance.”

“Lucky.”

“Yup. Uh, listen. Would you guys like to come out here again next Friday? We’ve got a night game against Northwood at seven and we’re going to Christy’s after that.”

“Yeah,” Marlee said with way too much enthusiasm. She raked a hand through her short hair. “Uh, sure. We’ll come by your game after our game against Racquette.”

“Oh, no. I didn’t know you had a game, too. Maybe you guys’ll be too tired.”

“No!” Marlee cringed at her over-zealous response. “Uh, no, no,” she toned down. “We’ll be fine. I’ll talk to Jeri about it.”

“Okay, call me, uh, call me during the week. Or even tomorrow if you want. And let Jeri know that Christy had a great time with her. Really took to her.” Susie laughed loud into the phone. “But maybe from now on Jeri should stick to root beer like you.” She seemed to hesitate before adding, “And bring anybody else from your team, except, uh, it’s an all-girls’ thing so Bobby’d probably feel out of place.”

Marlee hadn’t even considered bringing Bobby, but she said, “Oh yeah. That’s cool. I’ll call you. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow would be cool. And you’ll have to tell me all about him sometime. Friday maybe,” Susie said softly.

They said their goodbyes and Marlee gently placed the phone back in its charger. She stood up and stretched, stiff from having stayed in one place for so long. She walked to the window to drink in the warmth of the late afternoon sun. Marlee didn’t think they’d be talking about Bobby on Friday. Not if she had anything to do with it.

A sudden chill broke her mood. Bobby. He hadn’t called her yet, but he probably couldn’t get through since she’d been on the phone forever. Funny thing, though, she hadn’t heard the beep of a call waiting. She turned on her cell phone. No missed calls. No messages.

Chapter Five

Dumped

“HE NEVER CALLED you?” Jeri took off her softball glove and plopped on the team bench. “Did you call him? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Marlee grabbed her batting helmet and said, “I was embarrassed, okay? But I’m telling you now. And yeah, I did call him. But he was out. Not home. Zilch. Nada.” She pulled on her batting gloves and said, “Listen, I’m on deck. I’ll fill you in after my homerun.”

“Ha. You already hit one of those today, Marlee,” Jeri called after her friend.

The Clarksonville Cougars were beating the Northwood Wolverines by a score of 10-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning in the Tuesday afternoon contest. The game had begun with blue skies and a temperature that hovered between needing to wear a sweatshirt and not needing to wear a sweatshirt. But dark clouds had rolled in forcing the sweatshirts back on.

Marlee took her practice swings in the on-deck circle and was almost sorry she’d mentioned Bobby to Jeri because now she couldn’t get him off her mind. Bobby hadn’t called on Saturday like he promised, so Marlee called his house. His mother said he was out and didn’t know when he’d be back. Marlee figured he was on his way to her house, but when he didn’t show up after an hour, she got worried. Maybe he’d gotten into a car accident or something. She called his house again and his mother, seeming a little impatient with Marlee, said he had gone to play ice hockey with his friends at the rink. Stunned, Marlee hung up the phone and decided that Bobby would have to call her. She was done waiting.

Even though she was pissed at him, she still had warm and fuzzy feelings for him. She loved his easygoing manner, his ready smile, his boyish good looks, and the way he had obviously taken to her. But her feelings for him had never turned into anything more. She wished those amazing feelings she experienced that night at Lake Birch had been for him. But they weren’t. Those delicious, tempting, powerful feelings had been for Susie and that was way too scary and confusing to think about directly.

With concentrated effort, Marlee forced her thoughts back to the game. Julie, their number two batter, promptly got hit by a pitch. The Northwood pitcher didn’t have much control so when Julie got hit Marlee wasn’t surprised. Marlee walked up to the plate feeling strong but angry. Angry that Bobby had stood her up on Saturday so she decided to take it out on the Northwood team. A slow pitch, right down the middle, came her way. Marlee waited just the right amount of time and exploded. Her powerful swing connected with the ball, and it landed in the right-center field gap she had aimed for. Adrenaline pumping, she sprinted to first and got waved toward second. As she rounded second base Coach Spears waved her on to third. She raced toward the bag and Coach Spears threw her hands up signaling Marlee to stop. Marlee slowed her stride and cruised into third base with a triple. The plate umpire called time.

“Nice hit, Marlee,” Coach Spears congratulated her with a clap on the back. “I had to stop you. It would have been a close play at home, and I can’t risk you getting injured.”

“That’s okay,” Marlee panted. “I’m tired anyway.” She took a deep breath and exhaled forcefully.

“And this way you hit for the cycle. Way to go, kiddo,” Coach Spears added. She stepped back into her coaching box and wrote something in her scorebook.

“The cycle? My dad told me what that was, but I forgot.” Marlee didn’t have time to get an explanation from her coach because Lisa stepped up to the plate and smacked a homer over the center field fence. She smacked the ball so far it hit the high school building, just like Susie’s grand slam had done. The fans, and Lisa had many, exploded in frenzied excitement.

In the top of the seventh and final inning, Marlee threw nine pitches to strike out the side. Game over, victory secured, Lisa ran to the pitcher’s circle and went nose to nose with Marlee.

Through her catcher’s mask Lisa yelled, “Nice win, Marlee.”

“Yeah,” Marlee snarled back. Lisa whipped off her catcher’s mask and her long dark braid swung wildly as they growled and bared their teeth at each other. Marlee threw an arm around Lisa on their way to the high-five line with the Northwood team.

Jeri jumped on Marlee from behind once they were through the high-five line. “All-County Pitcher!”

“Thanks,” Marlee said. “Nice base stealing today.”

Jeri nodded in thanks. “And girl, that was an awesome last inning. Three strikeouts in a row.” Jeri high-fived her.

Lisa added, “Yeah, but—”

“But I walked too many batters this game.” Marlee finished Lisa’s sentence. Lisa nodded in agreement.

Jeri persisted. “Yeah, but you hit for the cycle, too.”

“What is that?” Marlee asked perplexed.

“So naïve,” Jeri answered. “It’s when you hit one of each: a single, double, triple, and a homer. Too bad it wasn’t a grand slammer. You know, like...” she gestured in the general direction of East Valley, “what’s her name.”

“Uh, yeah,” Lisa teased. “What’s up with that, Marlee? Slackin’?”

“Oh, shut up. Both of you.” Marlee eyed each one in turn. “C’mon, let’s go to the locker room.”

Just as the words came out of her mouth, Coach Spears appeared.

“Marlee. Real nice hitting today.”

“Thanks, Coach.”

“Can you come by my office as soon as you get your equipment?” And then her coach purposely turned from Marlee and looked to the parking lot. Marlee followed her gaze and gasped. Bobby was in the parking lot lounging against the hood of his Camaro. She had not seen him earlier. Marlee was embarrassed that Coach Spears heard her reaction at seeing him.

“Okay, Coach,” she stumbled. “Can I talk to Bobby first? I’ll just be a second.” Maybe Bobby wanted to apologize for his no-show on Saturday, but Marlee didn’t know if she was ready to forgive him.

“Of course.” Coach Spears turned toward the school. “I’ll be in my office.”

The rain clouds made good on their threat. Marlee, Jeri, and Lisa picked up their equipment and jogged toward the girls’ locker room through the now-falling drizzle. Marlee veered toward Bobby while Jeri and Lisa headed up the steps leading to the locker room. Jeri and Lisa held their softball bags over their heads to ward off the light rain.

Jeri called back, “Marlee, do you still want me to drive you home?”

“Uh...” Marlee stopped and shuffled her feet. “Just hang out, okay?”

“Okay.” Jeri’s tone was guarded.

Marlee watched her friends go up the steps together. She turned toward the emptying parking lot. As she approached Bobby, he slid off the hood of the car and waited for her. In the twenty seconds it took for her to reach him, a thousand different thoughts went through her head. Why hadn’t he called? Why was he here now? And why was he hanging out in the parking lot and not sitting in the bleachers watching the game?

She shifted her softball bag to her other shoulder. Bobby looked good leaning against his Camaro, red letterman’s jacket unsnapped. His strawberry blond hair golden even in the light drizzle.

“Nice game,” Bobby said when Marlee got closer.

Uneasy, she answered, “Yeah, I finally got some strikeouts in the last inning.” This was small talk and Marlee knew it.

“Marlee?” He looked down at his shoes with sudden interest.

Marlee feared the worst. “What’s up?”

“Marlee,” Bobby began again, “I think we’re in different places in our lives.” He paused.

“Yeah?”

“Look. I hate to break us up, but we’re going in different directions.”

Marlee stared at him, too shaken to say anything.

“Look,” Bobby continued. “You don’t have time for me like you used to. You have softball and now these girls’ nights.”

Marlee heard the disdain in his voice when he said girls’ nights.

Before she could respond, he blurted, “Look, Marlee, I’ve met someone. A girl from Southfork. I can’t see you anymore.” He turned to go. “I’m sorry.” He got into his car, started the engine, and screeched his exit from the Clarksonville High School parking lot.

“Fine,” she murmured to herself. “Just fine.”

Marlee didn’t know what to do. She watched him roar out of the parking lot and out of her life. Her softball bag suddenly weighed 300 pounds. She shrugged it off her shoulder. What just happened? She needed time, time to process.
I can’t see you anymore,
he had said. She walked back toward the school and got angrier and angrier.
Well, fine. I can’t see you anymore, either.
Marlee fumed. She couldn’t believe he had just broken up with her. And now she had to face her coach about Lord knew what. And her friends were waiting for her, too. How could she face any of them now?

She reached the stairs, but lost her resolve. She turned and sat down squarely in the middle of the bottom step in the ever-increasing rain. The rain seemed a fitting accompaniment to the sudden shift of events. Tears welled up. She thought about all the time she and Bobby had spent together since they met in January. She remembered the fun they had hanging out with Jeri and Dave. And, of course, she thought sarcastically, all those wonderfully awkward moments at Lake Birch. Although she felt a thousand different feelings, she was surprised to find relief among them. She smiled when she realized she would never have to go to Lake Birch ever again. Still, even though she found comfort in that last thought, tears slid down her cheeks. She couldn’t stop them.

At that moment, Jeri and Lisa bounded out of the school. They must have been watching. And even though the rain fell in earnest, they plopped down like bookends on either side of her. Jeri grabbed Marlee’s hand while Lisa put a protective arm around her. She thought she had it together, but this show of friendship and support opened the floodgates. She put her head into her hands. “He broke up with me.” She sobbed without looking up. She slapped her thigh forcefully. “I just got dumped. Dumped!”

Jeri pulled her into an embrace and murmured, “It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

Lisa added, “Hang in there, Marlee.” She rubbed her back.

Marlee struggled for composure. “Crap. Coach is waiting for me. Can you hang while I see what she wants?”

Jeri nodded. “Sure. We’ll keep the Mustang warmed up for a speedy get-away to Stewart’s.”

“Yeah,” Lisa agreed. “You need ice cream, eh?”

Marlee laughed and swiped at her tears. She thanked her friends and attempted to get herself together for her meeting with Coach Spears.

Marlee took several deep breaths as she walked toward her coach’s office. She stopped at the water fountain right outside the office and took a long drink. She scooped up some water, splashed her face, and tried to look as if she hadn’t been crying. She hadn’t yet gotten herself under control so she sat on the bottom row of the bleachers in the gym.

With a sigh she dried her face on her already damp sweatshirt. To get her mind off what had just happened with Bobby, she thought about her call to Susie on Sunday. Marlee had been a little nervous about calling so soon, but Susie sounded happy to hear from her. Susie had just finished Sunday dinner with her family. Susie told her that even though both her parents worked, they always had Sunday dinner together. Usually Susie’s grandmother cooked, but sometimes Susie’s mother cooked, too. Marlee told Susie that she and her own mother rarely had sit-down meals together, but when they did, they usually ate in front of the television using TV trays.

Marlee inhaled and wiped at her eyes again. She smiled when she thought about Susie calling her back on Monday. For three days in a row, Marlee had talked to Susie on the phone. And the best part was that Susie hadn’t called for any specific reason, not really, she just wanted to talk. Susie said she liked talking to someone who wasn’t part of the regular drama in East Valley. And as Marlee sat alone in the Clarksonville gymnasium trying to get her head together after being dumped by her boyfriend, she finally figured out why she enjoyed talking with Susie so much. It was so simple. Susie was becoming a good friend because she wasn’t part of the same old routine at Clarksonville. Clearly, that was the reason Marlee had become so fascinated with her. Marlee breathed a sigh of relief and stood up to see her coach in the girls’ Physical Education office.