The Purple Heart (13 page)

Minami reached up and
Hiroshi met her lips once more. Hiroshi was so enthralled by her that he
reached behind her neck and drew her in closer, pulling her body into his. His
kiss was warm and Minami’s emotions fluttered in excitement as his tongue
delved into her mouth to find hers. His other hand massaged her back eliciting
a warming sensation throughout her chest that Minami had never felt before. It
felt as if her body was melding into his. Slowly, Hiroshi released her and
placed a few more kisses on her soft lips until he simply placed his forehead
on hers. Her eyes were still closed as a flood of emotions floated through her.
She sighed and smiled, then gently patted his chest with her hand and simply
said, “Okay, play ball.”

The one prized possession
that Hiroshi was able to take with him was his baseball glove. It was given to
him as a present by his father during his high school days, and he had kept it
ever since. The army wouldn’t let him take his bat, which he had carved himself
from a piece of oak, because it was deemed a potential weapon. He was very
disappointed to leave it behind.

He was first introduced to
baseball as he watched the baseball teams from his high school play. Because
his father constantly needed him on the farm, he never had a chance to play on
a real team. But this didn’t stop him.

He was able to find an old
baseball that probably flew astray when someone hit a home run. It was half-buried
in the dirt, but once he scraped off the caked-on mud, it was like new. This
was the baseball he practiced with. He marked up the strike zone on the side of
the barn to practice his pitching and to his surprise, found that he was quite
good at it. His trusty dog, Lefty, would retrieve every ball and bring it back
for the next pitch. He sometimes even made it out to the baseball field on an
early Sunday morning when no one was around, and with Lefty, he would bat a
few. Even his batting was impressive. He hit a good number of balls way into
left field, letting Lefty fetch them afterwards. When he managed to hit a home run,
sending his dog way into left field, he ran the bases and imagined the fans
cheering for him.

A few of his buddies would
get together and they would play baseball, though there were never enough
players. But it was their version of baseball nonetheless, and it was just a
great feeling to play. When he wasn’t farming or playing baseball, he would be
listening to games on the radio when they were on. He imagined himself being
there.

So he found it ironic that
of all places, the prison camp was where he finally had the chance to play real
baseball. Over the next couple of weeks, a warm spring moved into the valley,
and it boded well for the two teams of soldiers. When he told his parents that
he would be playing with a bunch of the white soldiers, they thought he was out
of his mind. His father thought it was nonsense to play with the very men who
were keeping them imprisoned, but Hiroshi ignored them. Playing at home with a
few friends was one thing, but playing on a team with a real baseball diamond
was another.

The first few days weren’t
easy. The white soldiers really didn’t appreciate Hiroshi being on the team and
showed their disapproval by ignoring him. On the first day, Hiroshi sat by
himself on the end of the bench. It seemed the coach raised quite a furor among
his players by putting Hiroshi on the team. Whenever the opportunity presented
itself, Private Kiddache would sneer at Hiroshi as if to remind him that he was
simply a bench warmer. Hiroshi, for the most part ignored him. He knew that he
got the better of Private Kiddache on that first day.

Minami didn’t make it out
to the first two games, and Hiroshi was relieved. He didn’t want her to see him
sitting on the bench when he gloated how he would be playing better than all
the white soldiers. He also didn’t want her to see how the other soldiers were
treating him. More often than not, his own teammates would try to trip him as
he walked by the bench, but Hiroshi was quicker and outmaneuvered them. He also
had to endure the taunts of being called “Jap” usually prefaced with some other
expressive adjective. The coach was usually on the other end and for the most
part ignored Hiroshi. Hiroshi was no longer sure about the coach’s intent and suspected
his attitude was one of derision toward Hiroshi. He just wasn’t sure. But
Hiroshi was sitting on a bench and he was watching a baseball game, with men
chasing balls going deep into the outfield, fly-balls, pop-ups, and pitches
that whizzed by batters’ swings. It was as close to real baseball that Hiroshi
would ever get.

It was on the third game
and into the bottom of the sixth inning when their pitcher was letting up hit
after hit. The bases were loaded and already, Hiroshi’s team was down three
runs. The pitcher had only accomplished one out and the count was three and one
on the current batter. It wasn’t looking good at all as Hiroshi watched from
the end of the bench, which was a few feet from the fence. Hiroshi leaned back
and turned his head and unexpectedly saw Minami sitting on a blanket that she
had laid out on the parched sandy ground. She had a little boy with her; he
figured that he was probably her little brother, Yoshi. He wasn’t sure how long
she was sitting there, but she offered a wave and a smile. Hiroshi smiled back
and thought how impressive it was for her to watch him sitting on the bench.
But as if Hiroshi’s call was answered, the coach looked over in Hiroshi’s
direction and yelled out, “Hiroshi, get in there and let’s see you pitch.”

Hiroshi was astounded, but
he bounded up from the bench and fitted the glove into his hand. As he walked
up toward the pitcher’s mound, many of the other soldiers on both teams booed
him. Hiroshi focused and kept his emotions to himself. The relieved pitcher was
walking toward him and clumsily tossed the ball in Hiroshi’s direction hoping
Hiroshi would drop the ball but he caught it effortlessly. The pitcher gave him
a scornful look as he passed.

Hiroshi took to the mound
and the jeers subsided. Hiroshi found himself a bit nervous and took a few
steps forward. He stared down the path of the pitch and saw the batter take a
couple of practice swings. Hiroshi quickly loosened up and stretched out his
right arm to get a good loose feel and then he assumed the pitcher’s position.
The catcher brought down his mask and instead of indicating a pitch, simply
gave the middle finger to Hiroshi. Hiroshi’s blood boiled in anger but instead
of letting it consume him, he decided to remind the catcher how to play nice.
The batter was ready and Hiroshi wound up his pitch as his left leg lifted
upward. His arm arced over his body and he unfurled the ball down the pitcher’s
path toward the catcher’s mitt. The catcher’s mitt resounded with a loud snap
and sent the catcher off his feet and onto his behind. The batter didn’t even
swing the bat when the umpire yelled out, “Strike Two!”

It excited Hiroshi: This
was his first pitch and his first strike. The catcher shook his head for a
moment, threw the ball back and got back onto his haunches. The catcher looked
up at the bewildered batter, then back up at Hiroshi, and padded his mitt. The
catcher then signaled for a fastball the traditional way and readied his
catcher’s stance. Hiroshi nodded to acknowledge the pitch, wound up and unleashed
another fastball that raced down the pitcher’s path. This time the batter tried
to swing but missed as the ball found its mark sending the catcher off his feet
once more. The catcher had to pull his hand out of the glove and shook it to
dissipate the dull throbbing pain. The umpire yelled out “Strike three!”

A few grunts of
encouragement came from his teammates, who were amazed at Hiroshi’s talent.
This emboldened him even more. The next batter came up with only one out left
to close out the inning. He eyed the catcher, whose eyes trembled as he waited
for the pitch. The next batter didn’t stand a chance: In three quick pitches he
was out, and the sixth inning drew to a resounding close. There were three more
innings to go and the coach decided then to keep Hiroshi in.

Hiroshi jaunted back to the
bench with his mitt under one arm and looked over to Minami who was clapping
with joy. Hiroshi smiled and winked in her direction when he heard the coach’s
voice. “Good pitching, son.”

“Thanks coach,” replied
Hiroshi.

“Now let’s see if you can
really hit like you claim,” he motioned Hiroshi to the batter’s box.

Hiroshi raced up to the
other end of the bench and looked at the selection of bats when one caught his
eye. He slowly pulled it out and held the bat in his hands. It reminded him of
the bat that he had at home and for a moment, the entire bat seemed to glow. He
walked up to the batter’s box, which was outlined in white chalk, and took up
his position. He looked up at the pitcher’s mound and saw the soldier he had
humbled a few days ago. It was Private Kiddache. He stared down at Hiroshi. He
turned his head to the side and let out a copious wad of spit that splattered
along the pitcher’s mound. Hiroshi took a couple of swings and then readied
himself for the pitch. Kiddache wound up his pitch and sent it down to Hiroshi.
Hiroshi had to duck as the catcher raised his mitt and caught the ball where
Hiroshi’s head was. Hiroshi straightened himself up and heard a few chuckles
coming from the opposing team and Kiddache snickering as he caught the
baseball. Hiroshi stepped back into the batter’s box and took a couple of
swings and prepared himself. Kiddache thought he’d have another attempt at fun
with Hiroshi and let out another pitch toward Hiroshi’s unprotected head. But
instead of ducking, Hiroshi caught the baseball firmly in his left hand.
Hiroshi didn’t even flinch as the catcher’s jaw dropped in awe. Hiroshi stared
down into Kiddache’s eyes and then turned to look at the catcher. With a grin,
he dropped the ball into the catcher’s mitt and said, “Tell him to throw me
something I can hit.”

The catcher nodded in
astonishment and got back into his crouched position and signaled for a
fastball. Kiddache was more annoyed than anything. The Jap made him look like a
fool a few days ago and he just made him look like a fool all over again.
Kiddache was determined and wound up his pitch. No more playing, he thought. He
would strike out the Jap and send him back to the bench where he belonged. But
that wasn’t the case, as Hiroshi hit the next pitch squarely sending the ball
into left field. The left fielder ran back and attempted a half-hearted lunge
for the ball that was out of reach as it fell unchallenged onto the ground.
Hiroshi ran as fast as he could and slid into third by the time the left fielder
threw the ball in. His teammates gave out a few cheers of encouragement and
finally Hiroshi felt his luck was changing as he dusted off his jeans. He
looked up at Minami and saw her standing up, clapping her hands with Yoshi.
Hiroshi smiled and concentrated on getting home. That was easy, as the next
batter sent the next pitch into right field, allowing Hiroshi to give another
run to his team.

As Hiroshi doubled back to
the bench after touching home plate, his teammates nodded in muted approval of
his efforts. Hiroshi nodded back and then took his seat. As he made himself
comfortable, the coach came down to the end of the bench. Hiroshi was about to
rise when the coach said, “At ease son, no need to get up.” The coach continued
in his low voice, “That was some fine pitching and batting you did out there.
You think you can hold down their batters and help us score at least three more
runs to win this game for us?”

In a confident voice,
Hiroshi simply stated, “Yes Sir!”

“Okay, you’re in the game
now. But it’s up to you to stay in the game,” advised the coach.

“Yes Sir,” replied Hiroshi.

The coach walked away as
his next batter got ready.

Hiroshi looked up at the
pitcher’s mound and saw Kiddache staring back at him as if he was going to send
the pitch down to Hiroshi instead. Hiroshi glared back at him without flinching
and Kiddache let out another brown stream of spit that splattered forth from
his vile mouth before he sent another pitch down to the batter. It was another
hit to right field sending the man on second home, scoring another run for the
team. Hiroshi clenched his fists in approval and let out a low “yeah.” His mind
was totally focused on the game–it was finally getting exciting for him.

Minami watched on with
Yoshi. She was so impressed with Hiroshi sending those balls moving so fast that
were barely noticeable. She gasped when Hiroshi had to duck from that
deliberate pitch at his head. But she grew even angrier when she realized that
the pitcher was the same soldier who made those rude suggestive remarks to her.
In her mind, she just wanted Hiroshi to rush up to him with that bat of his and
teach him a lesson. Then Hiroshi caught that second pitch barehanded, and she
was stunned. She never could have imagined Hiroshi doing something like that
and realized that maybe there was something more to Hiroshi. She and Yoshi let
out a cheer when Hiroshi was batted in scoring one for the team, even though
she had no idea how the game was played. She just knew when Hiroshi did
something good that it was good for the team.

Over the next three
innings, Minami watched as Hiroshi made quick work of the batters. Kiddache regained
his composure and delivered some good pitches as well. Kiddache had to use a combination
of sliders and curveballs, but Hiroshi simply stuck to his hurtling fastballs.
It was a scoreless eighth inning as the dueling pitchers shut down the batters.
It was in the ninth inning with one man on second when Hiroshi sent a curveball
from Kiddache hurtling into the stratosphere of left field to give Hiroshi his
first home run and his team a one-run lead. As Hiroshi ran down the third
baseline toward home, a few of his teammates got up and extended their hands to
congratulate him. Hiroshi gladly slapped their hands. Kiddache’s team still had
a chance to either tie it up or bring in a winning run in the bottom of the
ninth, but that didn’t happen. As expected, Hiroshi’s pitching shut down the
batters of the opposing team, giving the win to Hiroshi’s team.