Throw Away Teen (22 page)

“’
Well, duh,” I said. “Think about it. Ringo gets taken out when some pervert hits him over the head and you get raped. I don’t think a baseball game is worth that, do you? Gabe told me I had to stop hitching when I was ten and got boobs.”

“
Who’s Gabe? Your boy-friend?”

“
Oooh. Ick.” I choked on my cola. “You about made me hurl. Gabe and I spent ages in the same foster homes.”

“
So, he’s like a brother,” Dallas said. “That’s cool. And he bosses you around.”

“
He tries,” I said. “I usually tell him to mind his own business. And he freaks about stuff like hitching rides. So, I always try to make sure I have bus fare.” And when I had to hitch, I just didn’t tell Gabe.

“
Yeah, well, we couldn’t get here by bus either.” Dallas wiped at a tear. “We’d missed the one that would’ve gotten us here on time.”

“
Will you get off the cross? Somebody else needs the wood. So, your dad’s a jerk. You dealt. Okay? Now, let it go. Ted already has.” I watched the nine players from the Academy jog onto the field. “I hope Ringo’s in better shape than you are. If he blows this game, I’m so making fun of him for the next month.”

Dallas shot me a glare, but she quit blubbering. I figured she probably would cut me dead at school, and I was good with that. She wasn’t one of my favorite people, but I wasn’t going to give her a hard time when somebody else beat me to it. The other team was from a private school, too, Saint Patrick’s. Dallas said they were the Academy’s arch-rivals.

I sighed. These folks so needed to get a life. Sarah and eight other cheerleaders came out and got the crowd cheering. They yelled and hollered as if it was the World Series and freaked whenever a player from Saint Pat’s actually hit the ball, which happened a lot during the first inning. They could hardly miss with the way that Ringo pitched. He’d be lucky if the coach didn’t pull him off the field.

A big dark-haired guy played center field and he was incredible. He jumped, caught a fly ball. First out. Strong and agile, he ran like a deer. Damn, he could throw, too. And the second baseman nabbed the ball before the Saint Pat’s guy got there, but the player made it back to first. Barely. With the way that the Academy team played, it was guaranteed he wouldn’t get much further. Next ball, a grounder and the Saint Pat’s dude was out.

Everybody yelled and the cheerleaders broke into some kind of boot-scooting country dance. More shouting and hollering from the crowd. These people were beyond strange. It was just a high school ball game.

I nudged Dallas. “Who’s the Center Fielder?”

“
Timber Watkins,” Dallas said. “He’s from Pine Ridge. The Academy offered him a full scholarship to do sports for us. This is his first year on the baseball team. He took the football team to State last fall.”

“
He’s good.” I watched him scoop up the ball and throw it to Ringo who got it to the catcher. Third strike and the teams switched places. If Ringo didn’t get it together, the Academy was going to lose big-time. He couldn’t keep counting on Timber to save the day when the pitching was below par.

Baseball was Gabe’s favorite sport and when he got the remote, we were all stuck watching it. Nothing else to do but learn something about the sport since talking was only allowed on commercials. And Ringo was ruining a perfectly good game as well as my afternoon. Irritated, I stood up. “Hold my soda. I’m going to the rest-room.”

On the way there, I saw Chance and her dad sitting with an older guy. When Chance waved at me, I paused. The kid ran up and hugged me then grabbed my hand. “Hey,” I said.

“
Hi, B.J. Do you like baseball too? I like baseball.”

“
Love it,” I said and hugged the little girl back. She seemed to think everyone was her friend. I nodded at Zach and the old guy. “Hi. Liz and Ted are up at the top of the bleachers and there’s room if you want to join them.”

Zach nodded. “Thanks, B.J. We’re waiting for Jocelyn and my mom to come back from the refreshment stand. Maybe later.”

The silver-haired guy next to him studied me for a moment. “Have we met before?”

I shook my head, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure. He looked familiar for some reason, but I knew he wasn’t one of my previous foster parents. Before I could figure out who he was, Jocelyn arrived, accompanied by a woman about Liz’s age. Jocelyn ignored me but the woman gave me a friendly smile so I said, “Hi.”

“
Well, hello.” She was tiny with white hair and wore jeans and an Academy sweatshirt. “I’m Zach’s momma, Rhonda. What’s your name?”

“
This is B.J.,” Chance said, towing me closer. “She lives with my gramma Liz. And B.J. has a puppy and she says I can play with him. His name is Guard and he kisses her all the time. He doesn’t kiss me yet, but Grampa Ted says it’s ’cuz he don’t know me.”

Rhonda laughed and bent to hug Chance. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll change that soon. We all know how you feel about puppies.” Rhonda looked like she’d hug me, too, in a moment so I eased my hand out of the kid’s hold and took a small step back.

Jocelyn shook her blonde head, pasting a regretful look on her face. “I just hope that my parents haven’t made a mistake giving a puppy to a girl like B.J. She’s never had a pet before and...”

“
She’ll be fine,” Zach interrupted. “And so will the dog.”

“
Well, at least now we know why Ringo can’t pitch today,” Jocelyn purred. “He has his mind somewhere else and I bet I can guess why.”

Fury built up inside me and I glared at her. “What does that mean?”

Zach stood and stepped between us. “It means I think you better go find your friends, B.J. We’ll stay down here so we don’t ruin your afternoon.” He put his arm around Jocelyn’s waist and pulled her back a step, closer to him. “Sweetheart, she’s not used to your teasing so why don’t you wait till B.J. knows you better?”

I nearly said that I knew the bitch well enough, but I didn’t. Reciting the mantra that Gabe taught me when I was barely older than Chance, I turned on my heel and stalked away.
I’m B.J. Larson and I’m tough. I’m B.J. Larson and I’m tough.

At least, I hadn’t lost it and popped Jocelyn in the mouth, but oh how I’d wanted to. I found Sarah among the cheerleaders who were watching the Highlanders at bat. I couldn’t get to Ringo, but she might be able to pass the word.

She grinned at me. “How’s it going up there? Tell Aunt Liz and Uncle Ted I said Hi. Oh, and a word to the wise. Don’t tell Jocelyn anything. She’s so evil.”

The anger seeped out of me. “Thanks, Sarah.” I paused then whispered so the other cheerleaders didn’t hear. “Tell Ringo that the Center Fielder is really hot and I’m going to ask him out. I like winners, not whiners.”

“
You bitch.” Sarah didn’t sound mad, but awestruck. “Why was he late? The coach said he was going to have Timber pitch, but then Ringo finally showed up with Uncle Ted.”

“
His old man stood him up.”

“
Oh, for Gawd’s sake.” Sarah fisted her hands on slender hips. “By now, you’d think they’d be used to Smarmy Marvy and his head games. He pulls this crap all the time. Okay, B.J., I’ve got your back and I’ll tell Ringo and Timber that you want him.” She winked at me.

I blinked at her. “How did you know Ringo’s dad’s name?”

“
Because the guy’s a legend in his own mind,” Sarah said. “And I’ll bring you up to speed on my family soap opera later.”

I laughed and headed for the bathroom, then went back to watch the game with Liz, Ted and Dallas.

CHAPTER 13

After church on Sunday, Liz said it was our turn to help at the local homeless shelter so we headed there for breakfast after a quick stop at the house for me to walk Guard. Then we were off to Everett and a rundown building at the north-end of town. I ended up peeling what seemed like tons of potatoes for hash-browns. As soon as I had a tub ready, Warren would chop them, rinse them, and then start cooking spuds.

Sarah and Rita kept up the supply of clean plates, cups, and silverware. When I peeked out in the main room, I saw Father John organizing the rest of the crew from our church. When had it become
our
church? Why did I feel like such a part of this? Before I moved to Stewart Falls, the closest I came to a homeless shelter was when I cadged a meal.

Back in the kitchen, Liz scrambled vats of eggs and fried bacon and ham on a giant grill. Ted ferried big pans of food out to the steam-table while other people served. They sent me off to eat and kept on working. Then, Ted took over the grill so Liz could have a break.

“
How often do you do this?” I asked her when she sat down beside me in the crowded dining area. “We didn’t do it last Sunday.”

“
It changes around.” Liz sipped some coffee. “This week we’ll do breakfast. Then, next week I’ll pop in and help make sandwiches for lunch. And in two weeks, we help with Sunday supper.”

“
All right.” I forked up more eggs. “So, what are we making?”

“
I don’t know yet,” Liz said, shaking out her paper napkin. “The menu changes with the donations. It depends on what people give us. We have to clean up the kitchen here so we’ll have a late dinner that night at home.”

“
Weird,” I said. “Why don’t we just eat here? I mean if there’s enough food. If supper’s anything like this breakfast, it’ll be better than some of the places I ate in Seattle when I was on the street.”

Liz gave me a long look. “Are you serious, B.J.? Jocelyn never liked eating here so—”

“
Hello.” I held up my hand and stopped her. “Totally different kid here. Okay? And I’m not her. Like I said, it’d be awesome to have dinner here. And it’s not fair for you to have to cook a whole other meal after you already cooked a humongous one for all these people.”

A smile dawned in her eyes and she nodded. “Okay, honey. It sounds like a great idea.”

When we finished eating, she headed back to take over the grill, and I went to wash dishes with Rita and Sarah. It was a lot more fun than doing them at home.

***

On Monday, the school was still buzzing about the way Ringo pitched. Everybody knew he’d led Saint Pat’s on in the first inning. Then he didn’t allow them to score a single run for the rest of the game. It was the first no-hitter of the season. When I walked into Algebra, he was the only one in the room. He was writing three problems on the whiteboard—our usual Entry Task.

He glanced over his shoulder at me. “You can’t ask Timber out.”

“
Really?” I strolled up to face Ringo, wondering if he was doing some kind of macho thing. “Why not?”

“
Because he’s stuck on Sarah, not that she can see it.”

“
Fair enough.” I looked up at him, trying not to smile. “Anyway, I only said it to piss you off. I wasn’t serious.”

“
I know.” He cupped my chin for an instant then let me go. “I still have Ted’s truck. Can I drive you home today?”

I nodded. “But don’t expect me to be nice to you.”

“
I wouldn’t know what to do if you were.”

***

When he took me home after school, Ringo stuck around for a while and helped me with my Algebra. After he left, Liz said Carol was on the way out from Seattle and would be there around five. So, that meant karate and my tutor were cancelled and I’d have both on Tuesday instead. Gawd, this woman kept me busy. And I thought I was the one who was supposed to have ADD.

I knew what my caseworker wanted. She would talk to me and give me the “Life is great if you try” crap. Then she’d make a big show of wanting to know my problems as if I’d tell her anything important.

Well, at least I didn’t have to wait inside or clean up an already perfect house. I played with Guard and worked on training him to wear his collar and leash without freaking. Liz had baked a cake and made coffee. When Ted got home from work, he headed for the little shed in the back yard and pulled out tools to work on one of the cars.

Carol didn’t arrive alone. Gabe was with her, looking mean and scruffy in his torn faded jeans and black T-shirt. Guard ran barking at the car as soon as I let him go. Carol opened the door and my puppy yipped at her and Gabe.

I went over and picked up Guard. “Hey.”

“
Hey, yourself.” Gabe reached over and took my dog. “I’ll carry him. Then you won’t break your back.” He leaned down and kissed me, just a brush of his lips on mine. “Missed you, babe.”

“
Yeah?”

When he winked at me, I knew Carol had been hassling him all the way out from Seattle.
Bitch
! That was my job. He was my token big brother, not hers.

I tucked my hand in his back jeans’ pocket, and Carol gave me the evil eye. I smiled back innocently and patted Gabe’s butt. “Next time, brush your teeth. You taste like an ashtray.”

“
Love you, too.” Still carrying my puppy, Gabe put his free arm around my waist. “So show me around Podunk, U.S.A., and get my coat while you’re at it.”

Liz acted pleased to see Gabe. She poured him a cup of coffee, cut him a slab of cake and talked to him like he was an adult. He totally went for it. Carol tried to apologize for bringing him, but Liz just smiled at her, too. “Relax, Carol. B.J.’s friends are always welcome in her home. Besides, Ted and I expected Gabe would come out to check on her sooner or later. They’re very fond of each other.”

“
Can I show Gabe around?” I asked as soon as he finished off his cake.

“
It’s your home, honey. Go ahead.”

I grabbed Gabe’s hand and we headed out of the kitchen with Guard and the other dogs trailing behind us. We were barely out of the room when I heard Carol go off.

“
We’re trying to put a stop to this romance, Liz. We don’t want B.J. getting pregnant.”