Playing Fastball, page 15
Whizz.
Caught the hulk staring.
Timmy put his mitt up for the return ball and smiled. He was on his way to another no-hitter and a Cy Young Award for sure.
Slap. The ball bounced out of his mitt, and Coach Hudson yelled from the side of the bullpen. “Pay attention, Li. That ball was as wide as the iceberg that hit the Titanic.”
There was no crowd in the bleachers. No hulking power hitter at the plate. No father in the stands, and definitely no girlfriend sighing with her hands clasped in front of her, melting at the blur of his blazing fastballs.
Timmy was in the bullpen with Josh working on his delivery.
“What did I get?” he asked, tilting his chin at the radar gun Hudson was holding.
“It doesn’t matter what the numbers were,” Hudson grumbled. “It was outside the strike zone.”
“Ah, come on, Coach. You know it was over a hundred.” He shrugged his shoulders and picked up the ball. “How about letting me start tonight’s game?”
“Four innings max. Now show me some control, or I’m benching you again.”
Timmy gave Josh a thumbs-up and went back to pitching practice. The stretching exercises were paying off, and the tai-chi exercises he did made his windup fluid and smooth.
He couldn’t wait to text Tina and invite her to the game. Oh, and he’d add a ticket for her mother, too.
“Is this all you have?” Tina dug through her mother’s grimy duffel bag.
“What do you expect?” Dana snorted while inhaling her runny breakfast eggs. “It’s not like they give us a shopping budget on release day.”
Tina picked through a pair of faded jeans, dingy underwear, and a few stretchy knit tops. “We’re going to have to get you something halfway decent.”
“Now you’re talking.” Her mother’s eyes lit as she pushed from the rickety card table. “How much did you make last night?”
“Not as much as I could have,” Tina said. “Remember? I had to go home early because of you?”
“I’m not talking about your bar tips.” Dana rolled her eyes. “The rich Asian dude in the Mercedes.”
“He doesn’t pay me,” Tina said through gritted teeth. “You embarrassed me yesterday, but I chalked it up to you being drunk.”
Her mother’s mouth dropped, and she lifted one hand in a questioning gesture. “You’re doing him for free? Are you out of your mind? I know the Chinese are stingy and tight, but you shouldn’t sell yourself short. They have the cash, Tina. They come here and pay cash, cash, cash for everything. I know these things.”
“You don’t know anything,” Tina said. “We’re dating. As in properly dating, and I’m not sleeping with him. At least not yet.”
“Ah, good girl. You’re holding out for a higher price.” Her mother narrowed her eyes and nodded, calculating. “Good job covering up those tattoos. I never understood why you let that trashy scumbag ink you.”
“He took me off the streets because I had nowhere to go. Thanks to you being in the clink,” Tina said. “Not that you took care of me when you were out.”
“I gave you a roof over your head.”
“Right. You locked me in the closet.”
Dana raised her hand and swatted it at her face, but Tina ducked and caught her wrist. “You hit me again and you’re out of my life. Got it?”
“Wow, so prison has made you tougher.” Dana jerked her arm from Tina’s grasp. “My little mouse thinks she’s a badass. How many fights you get in? Did you join any gangs? Did you have a girlfriend who protected you?”
“I was a loner,” Tina said. “I didn’t need anyone.”
“They must have beaten you up a lot.” Dana touched the fading bruises under Tina’s eye.
“Not really. I was good at staying neutral. Playing all sides. I knew stuff about everyone, and I didn’t get into their catfights.”
Dana nodded approvingly. “Not bad. Trading information for safety. I always knew you were a smart cookie.”
“You do what you have to do to get by,” Tina muttered. “So, what are your plans? Are you going to get a job?”
“Who’d want to hire someone like me?” Her mother ran her sticklike fingers through her dry and brittle hair, losing a couple of strands on each comb through. “I figure you owe me at least eight years. How old were you when you went to the foster home?”
“Eight and a half. You promised me a birthday party, but your friends ate my cake.” Tina hated that her voice came out so childish, so whiny, making her feel like she was back in that closet listening to her mother’s friends party and eat her cake.
“Isn’t your birthday coming up?” Dana scratched her head, unleashing a volley of white, flaky dandruff. “What was the date? March something?”
Tina wasn’t going to remind her if she couldn’t remember her only child’s birthday.
“Let’s go get you some clothes, and no, I don’t have a ton of money. Just enough to buy you an outfit to go job hunting.”
“No way. I’m retired, and I’m going to enjoy the good life. I need clothes and party dresses, and we’re going to do all the fun things I promised. We’ll have a grand ol’ birthday party for you, go to the zoo, and the amusement park. Remember how you always wanted to go on a pony ride? We can do that, too.”
“I’m not eight years old.” Tina stomped her way to the door and opened it. “Let’s get you some decent clothes first. As for staying with me, there are going to be some rules.”
“Rules? Like what?” Her mother slipped her feet into a pair of high-tops with holes and trudged up the stairs to ground level.
“No drinking in the apartment. No smoking. No drugs. No friends I don’t approve of. You get a job, at least part time.”
“Or what? You can’t put your own mother on the streets, can you?”
“Like you did to me?” Tina huffed, feeling her upper lip curl.
“I left you with foster parents. George and Karen,” her mother said primly. “They lived in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. This is a dumpy neighborhood. Looks sketchy to me.”
“It’s all I can afford.”
“But, you have a boyfriend. What’s his place like?”
Tina’s nostrils flared, and she gave her mom the stink eye. “Don’t mess it up for me.”
“Right. Right.” Dana raised both her hands as if to ward her off. “You have to get situated first. Don’t make him suspicious. Reel him in nice and slow. Does he spend money on you? Buy you clothes? Shoes? I saw some pretty swanky stuff in the closet.”
Timmy’s father had bought her those clothes, but she wasn’t going to explain that to her mother. No way. If Dana knew she was friends with a billionaire …
Nope, it was the reason she could not be friends with Yan. First there was the Lennie threat. Thank goodness he hadn’t been lurking around this morning. Maybe he’d noticed Tina was occupied with Dana and decided it would be slim pickings with one leeching bloodsucker already attached.
If her mother knew how loaded Yan and Timmy were, she’d pressure Tina into turning tricks with both of the men.
She might even try it herself. Gross.
“What are we going to do after we go shopping?” Dana asked.
“You still want to go to the zoo?”
Dana’s eyes lit up, and she hooked a scrawny arm around Tina’s shoulders. “Yes, I do. I spent years wondering about all the things I could do when I wasn’t high and looking for the next hit.”
“Okay, but we have to be done by four. I’m working this evening, and I don’t want you hanging out at my work. Got it? I might get fired if you cause problems for me, and then we’ll have no money.”
“Fine, fine. Maybe I’ll meet a nice gentleman and go out with him.” Dana blinked, fluttered her eyelashes, and primped her rat’s nest of limp, tangled hair.
“Let’s think positive,” Tina said. “Did they have you in any rehab and detox programs?”
“Yep, the counselor told us not to hang around with our old friends. I moved here because I don’t have anyone here but you. Wouldn’t know anyone to buy drugs from even if I wanted any.”
Not that it was hard to score drugs. Addicts always knew where to find a supply.
“I’m glad you’re turning a new leaf,” Tina said as the bus glided to a stop in front of them. All she needed now was for her mother to admit she was a bad mother and to apologize.
Then, maybe she could forgive her. Maybe the dreams would stop, and maybe the angry pit inside of her would stop poking her stomach.
TWENTY-SIX
“I’m pitching tonight,” Timmy told his father as soon as he had a break in practice. He’d gone back to the clubhouse to find a rubber band to tie his hair back, and there was his dad waiting for him in the lounge. “I was wondering if you could bring Tina and her mother to the ballpark.”
“Wait, Tina has a mother?” Baba put down the magazine he was thumbing.
“Yes, she just arrived in town, and she’s staying at her basement apartment.” Timmy felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. He didn’t know how much Baba knew about Tina’s family.
“Which jail did she spring out of? How do we know she’s no longer a criminal? Is she on parole? American jails always release people too early to make room for others.”
Here came the tirade, and Timmy didn’t have time for an interrogation, especially since a few of his teammates were filing in to take their breaks.
“She’s Tina’s mother,” Timmy said, tying his hair back. “If you don’t want to give them a ride, then meet them at the ballpark. I’d like them to not have to sit by themselves.”
“I’ll be with Skye,” Baba said.
“So? I thought Tina’s your friend. Are you still upset she had to work and couldn’t go skydiving with you?”
“That was only an excuse,” Baba said. “She dropped me flat. Doesn’t want to be friends with me. Maybe she thinks I’m a boring, old man compared to you. I don’t know, but you shouldn’t get too close to her.”
“Why?”
“I told you already.” His father’s voice was strained. “She’s too different from us. She had a bad family upbringing. She won’t make a good wife. For goodness’ sake, she’s been in jail herself. Can’t you see? Their family is very familiar with going in and out of prison.”
“But you were friends before. You treated her like a daughter. How can you drop her like that?” Timmy raised his voice, then lowered it when his teammates looked over. Luckily, he had been speaking in Chinese. Except the name “Tina” probably stood out.
“I didn’t drop her,” Baba said, also lowering his voice. “She decided to put her interest on you, and if I’m not mistaken, she’s trying to get you to fall in love with her.”
“No, she’s not,” Timmy said, also whispering. “She only wants to be friends.”
“But you want to sleep with her.” Baba poked Timmy’s chest. “And I told you to leave her alone. I don’t want you to hurt her.”
“You’re not making any sense.” Timmy backed away from his father’s pokes. When was he going to stand up for himself and tell his father no more physical punishment? He’d told Tina to make rules for her mother. “What do you have against me dating Tina?”
“Everything. She’s wrong for you. Her culture is not good for us. She won’t make a good mother or a good wife. She’s too wild, and she’s done everything wrong. No college. No career. She’s a bartender who’s been in and out of jail, and she has a mother who was a drug addict and spent most of her life in prison.”
“But she’s a good person. You know that. She’s fun and you liked her so much, I thought you wanted to date her.”
“You thought wrong.” Baba’s eyes glinted with a fierce anger. “I enjoy her company. Yes. Because she does things older women won’t do. Like monster truck, ATV, whitewater rafting, and all sorts of dangerous stuff.”
“I thought Skye said she’ll go skydiving with you.”
“She said she would only if my doctor approves. I don’t need a doctor to tell me what I can or cannot do.”
“You told me I can’t go because I have to save my arm and shoulder.” Timmy pointed out. “You embarrassed me in front of my teammates.”
“You shouldn’t go.” Poke. Poke. “Don’t they have a clause in your contract not to do dangerous things? You want to risk your million-dollar arm? End your career? So early?”
Baba had a point. Skydiving could come later. If he landed wrong, he could break a bone and be out for the season. No season, no Cy Young Award.
Every year had to count in the major leagues, especially when young pitchers burned out their arms, and all the world cared about was the speed on the radar gun.
“We’ll worry about skydiving later. I’d like you to take Tina and her mother to the ballgame tonight. It’s the first time I’m starting in more than a week.” Timmy glanced at his teammates who were on their way to the pregame meeting. “I have to get going. Let me email their tickets to you. Can you call her and let her know? I’m due for a meeting with the trainer and reviewing videos before the game.”
“Okay, leave it to me,” Baba said. “But if it’s a wife you’re looking for, my business associates have very pretty daughters back in Taiwan. Graduates from the very best homemaking schools. Women like your mother. Good cooks, put on great parties, and know how to look and act like a lady.”
“I’m not looking for a wife.”
“Then have your fun and sow your wild oats, but don’t get entangled with someone unsuitable. It will be to your sorrow and will bring my gray hairs down to the grave to see you unhappy.”
“I wouldn’t do that to you,” Timmy reassured his father. “I won’t be unhappy. I promise you.”
“Good. Remember you promised your mother you’d marry a woman just like her.” Baba patted Timmy’s shoulder. “Do well tonight and make me proud. She’s looking down from heaven at us right now. You know she’s never missed a single game.”
Timmy swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded, pressing his lips together. “I’ll do my best, Baba, to make you happy, but I like Tina for now, and I’m going to get as close to her as I can.”
“Why?”
Timmy let that question hang in the air as he replaced his baseball cap. It was rude not to answer his father, but the honest truth was, he didn’t know why.
She aroused him.
She made him curious.
He wanted to protect her and make her happy.
He couldn’t get enough of gazing into her eyes. Eyes that had seen too much for such a young child.
Most of all, he wanted to know how a kind and beautiful heart survived in the dry, hot desert under the scorching grit of abuse and neglect.
Tina had her faults, but Tina still loved and cared about others. She had a tender heart, not yet hardened, and he wanted to win it because nothing worthwhile was easily gained.
“Oh, look, a rhinoceros,” Tina’s mother said. “Make sure you take a picture.”
Tina sighed and dutifully pointed her phone at the lone white rhinoceros. “Do you want to be partially in the picture?”
“Sure, especially with my new clothes.” Dana primped her hair, patting it down. She was wearing a floral patterned knit top and white denim jeans, and despite her weathered face, she looked sprightly.
Tina snapped several pictures as the tram passed the enclosure.
“Let me take your picture in front of your favorite animal,” Dana said. “Which one is it? A monkey or an elephant?”
“You don’t remember?” Tina craned her neck at the next enclosure where the guide pointed.
“I have large blanks.” Her mother tapped her own skull. “Disappeared.”
“Do you remember my first day of kindergarten? You gave me a new dress and tied ribbons in my hair.” Tina wasn’t sure why she tortured herself with the glimpse of the good times before her mother turned into a drugged zombie.
Dana shook her head and blinked, wide-eyed. “What else did I do?”
“I had a pink Mulan backpack, and you packed me cupcakes for lunch.”
“Peanut butter cupcakes?”
“Yes, peanut butter,” Tina said. “I got in trouble when I gave another kid a piece and she got sick.”
“I don’t remember.” Dana scratched her head and looked at the next enclosure. “Elephants. You liked elephants?”
“I do, but there’s an animal I liked better,” Tina said. She got her camera phone ready and snapped a picture with her mother partially in the frame.
“I don’t remember, but I’m sure you were a very pretty little girl,” Dana said, touching Tina’s flyaway hair. “You always wanted to go to the zoo to see your favorite animal. I wish I could remember what it is.”
“It’s okay,” Tina said. “Maybe when we see it, you’ll have a light bulb moment.”
She swept her hair back and took a deep breath. “I need a lot more than that.”
Tina waited for her to elaborate, but when they disembarked the tram and walked by the photo display, Dana said, “Will you buy the picture of us? I want to remember taking you to the zoo. We’ll get cotton candy, won’t we? You always wanted cotton candy.”
“Sure, let’s get a caramel apple, too,” Tina said, forcing a smile onto her face while squelching a growly feeling in her gut.
Tina was no longer that wishful little girl who thought her mother was the most beautiful angel alive. But now, so belatedly, Dana wanted to make it up to her, or pretend everything was okay, as if all the years of neglect and putting her drugs and men above Tina had simply disappeared or never existed.
Poof.
Her mother claimed she didn’t remember.
Must be nice.
TWENTY-SEVEN
“Strike three!” the umpire drawled and did a happy dance with his thumbs-up.
Timmy punched inside his glove and looked up at the stands. The fastball clocked a smidge over one hundred, and the fans were chanting, “No-hitter, no-hitter.”
