And Don't Bring Jeremy (10 page)

But we were back an hour later for our last baseball practice. Saturday was the last game of the season and if we won it we’d be in the play-offs. Then there was still the All-Star game next Thursday night. Mr. Gordon had to select four players from our team to play in the game. I had a pretty good chance of being one of the four players, but, as I saw it, it was a toss-up between Jeff and me, and Jeff would get it, being a better hitter and fielder than me.

I felt butterflies in my stomach, as Mom would put it, when I walked onto the field. Should I go over to Eddie as soon as he arrived and let him know that we
knew
he left the dead squirrel in front of our house for Jeremy, or should I ask him if he did it? I wasn’t good at face-to-face confrontations, but I had to do something.

Eddie came by a few minutes later with his father. He helped Mr. Gordon unload the bats and catcher’s stuff, then headed straight for me.

“Hey, how’re you doing, sport?” He threw one arm around me and waved at Danny.

“Hello, Eddie,” I answered, my heart banging away. Maybe Jeremy and I were wrong. Could Eddie actually have
killed
that small animal just because he was mad at my brother?

“Hey, cheer up, Adam,” Eddie said, grinning. “Someone would think you’ve seen a dead ghost.” He slapped his hands to his side and broke up laughing. That did it. That was all the proof I needed.

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” I demanded. “Killing a poor squirrel and leaving it for Jeremy.”

He shut up real quick. We stared at each other for what seemed like minutes.

“What are you talking about, huh?” He tried to sound outraged but didn’t quite make it. I pressed on.

“You know what I’m talking about. Just because you and Jeremy had a fight is no reason to do a sick thing like that.”

Eddie looked around. A few of the boys were watching us and his father was coming our way. He lowered his voice in a menacing tone so that only I could hear him.

“You better watch what you say, Krasner. You’re as dumb as your brother if you think you can blame me for killing a squirrel and leaving it for Jeremy.” He grabbed my arm and squeezed until it hurt. “And if you have any brains in your head you’ll know enough to stop spreading lies like that. If you know what’s good for you.”

I tried to shake his hand away but he was too strong. Before I realized what was happening, Danny had taken
a swing at him and jabbed him on the shoulder. Eddie winced and released his grip, ready to hit Danny. But his father reached out and shook Eddie by the neck like a mother cat shaking a baby kitten.

“Fighting again, eh?” he said through clenched teeth. “I’ll deal with you later.”

Eddie cringed away from his father. Why, he’s afraid of him, I realized, wondering why I’d never noticed it before.

“All right,” Mr. Gordon shouted to everyone standing in a circle watching what was happening. “Start jogging three times around the bases and home plate starting from here.” He pointed to the spot where we stood.

I got in place behind Danny and Eddie stood behind me.

“I won’t forget this, Krasner,” Eddie muttered.

“Neither will I,” I answered, making my voice sound as tough as I could. But in spite of my bravado, I was scared—scared of what Eddie might do next.

CHAPTER 9

That night Mr. Gordon called to tell me that I’d made the All-Star game.

“Gee, thanks,” I told him, tripping over my words. “I’ll make you glad that you picked me!” Ick! I could have kicked myself for saying such a dumb thing.

“I’m sure you will, Adam,” he answered kindly. “The game’s scheduled for next Thursday. At five o’clock at your school field. The play-offs are Monday and Tuesday evening. Hope it doesn’t rain, because if it does, everything gets thrown off schedule.”

I was all set to say good-bye when Mr. Gordon cleared his throat. “I couldn’t help noticing the fracas at practice today. You and Eddie looked pretty angry. I—er, hope you two are still friends.”

“Sure we are,” I answered quickly.

“Eddie’s a good kid,” Mr. Gordon said with a forced laugh, the kind adults make when they say something that really isn’t true, “but he gets upset too easily. Then he opens his big mouth and tells people off. He’s lost enough friends that way. But I know he really likes you, Adam. He’s told me so many times.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said politely. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him about the squirrel. “Well, good night, Mr. Gordon.”

“Good night, Adam. See you on Saturday.” I hung up wondering about Eddie and his father. That afternoon Eddie was definitely afraid of him. Mr. Gordon was the sergeant type, always serious and tough. I knew he was always hardest on Eddie during practice, but I’d never thought anything of it. Now that I thought about it, Eddie would cringe whenever his father told him to step into the pitch or hold his mitt lower. I wondered if Mr. Gordon expected too much from Eddie, the way Mom sometimes expected too much from Jeremy, thinking he’d be all right with time and tutors. Then I thought of all the bad things Eddie had done and wondered what his father would do if he found out about them.

* * *

Saturday’s game was the crucial one for us. If we beat the Starlight Delis, it meant that we’d be in fourth place and in next week’s play-offs. Our team got to the field early so we’d be warmed up and ready to play our best.

I was pitching to Richie when I heard a girl call out: “Hi, Adam.”

Then a familiar laugh.

I looked over to where the other team’s parents and friends were gathering and saw Patty waving. I don’t know why I was amazed to see her. Kerry, her brother, was the Starlight Delis’ catcher. I waved back, then threw a fastball to Richie. It was wide.

“Good luck!” she called out just as Richie yelled to me to watch what I was doing. I felt nervous, yet more determined than ever to pitch well today.

To make a long story short, we lost the game 5–4. We all felt bad but, as Mr. Gordon said afterward, we’d played a good game. I knew I’d pitched well, but the thing I was happiest about was that I didn’t let Eddie get to me. When he razzed me for walking two men in a row in the second inning, which I did, and for throwing wild when I was shortstop and he was pitcher—covering first on a play—which I didn’t, I just ignored him. Each time he shut up quickly when he saw he couldn’t get a rise out of me.

So this is the way to do it, I thought. How did I ever let him get under my skin the other times? I was too busy concentrating on the game to give it much thought, but I knew it had something to do with the fact that before his opinion meant a lot to me and now it didn’t. Still, it made me feel kind of sad. Like I’d lost something.

Since it was our last game as a team, we all decided to go for ice cream at Friendly’s with our families. Everyone was for the idea. Everyone, that was, but Jeremy.

“I don’t want to go,” he whined like a five-year-old. “They’re not my team and I don’t care about them.”

“Well, it’s my team and I want to go.” I turned to Dad, who had left work early to watch my last game. “We can go, can’t we?”

“I’m not going,” Jeremy insisted. “Take me home first.”

Dad tried to cajole him. “Come on, Jeremy. Since when do you turn down an offer of ice cream? I thought you loved the stuff.”

“I do, but not when that creep Eddie Gordon goes along.”

“But he’s part of the team; you know that,” Mom said patiently. She still couldn’t bring herself to believe that
he’d do a thing like that—not a well-brought-up boy who’d been to her house.

“Well, I’m not going,” Jeremy screamed at the top of his voice.

“Shut up,” I yelled back, ready to hit him. “You ruin every good time for me.” Everyone was heading for the parking lot. As usual, I was going to be left out because of my stupid brother.

Dad grabbed my arm to stop me from punching Jeremy. It was then that I noticed Eddie watching us from a distance, grinning. I felt sick.

I ended up going to Friendly’s with Danny and his family. Our group took over the whole place. It looked like everyone was having a good time laughing and talking. Not me. I just sat there, feeling awkward and strange. Whenever Jeremy threw one of his tantrums I was forced to own up to the truth—because of him my family was different from everyone else’s. You never knew when he’d get upset and carry on. Actually, it didn’t happen very often anymore. The trouble was, there was no predicting when it would happen. But when it did and other people were around, I wanted to murder him and disappear at the same time. Being Jeremy’s brother was a royal pain in the neck.

* * *

There were only two more weeks of school. We hardly did any work anymore, which was a good thing since none of us could concentrate with all the great activities coming up: the All-Star game, the play, the class party, and graduation. Now that the sets were finished, Danny and I fell into the habit of watching the play rehearsals after school. We didn’t watch, really, but talked with
Patty and Michelle until it was time for them to say their parts on stage. Monday and Tuesday evenings Danny and I went to watch the Little League play-offs. The Lawson Cleaners won, beating the Starlight Delis 7–5 in a very exciting game.

Wednesday afternoon we played softball after school. Eddie was there, too, but it was no problem. We simply avoided each other. Silently, I complimented myself for acting so “maturely,” as Mom would say. We both lived in the same neighborhood, didn’t we? I couldn’t very well tell him to get lost and he couldn’t tell me to, either. Once I caught him staring at me, a sneer on his mean little face all covered with freckles. Well, let him, I thought.

After dinner that evening Mom called to Jeremy to come and talk to her and Dad out on the terrace. He walked past me in the den, a funny expression on his face. I turned the TV down low so I could hear what was wrong. Dad was sitting in a lounge chair, looking sad. But Mom was boiling mad. She started lacing it into Jeremy for playing with Tommy Stein, after being told not to so many times. It seemed she happened to turn down Tommy’s street and caught them playing out front.

Even from a distance I could see that Jeremy had turned a bright red. “Aw, Mom, I had nothing to do so I went bike riding. Tommy just
happened
to be there so we started playing.”

“You shouldn’t be out bike riding. You should be home studying for your finals. You know that.”

“I did study. With Mrs. Dawson. I just needed a break.”

“I distinctly told you
not
to play with Tommy Stein, didn’t I? He’s much too young for you.”

Jeremy stood there with his head hanging. I felt kind of sorry for him. He had no friends besides Tommy. Just his garden and his Beatles records.

“If I find out that you’ve gone there again, you’ll be grounded. For a month.” She shot out the last three words like bullets.

Jeremy jerked up his head in surprise. “But Mom, I have—”

“That’s enough, Jeremy,” Mom broke in sharply. “I don’t want to hear another word about that child.”

Jeremy nodded. He looked like he was about to cry. Then he walked toward the glass doors. I turned quickly so he’d think I’d been watching TV all this time, but he didn’t even notice me as he passed through the den on his way to his room. I braced myself for the bang of his door but none came. Funny. Jeremy
always
slammed his door when he was mad.

The next day, Thursday, the temperature hit the mid-nineties. It was the hottest day of the year so far. The sun was still broiling in the late afternoon when I put on my uniform. I hated having to wear a baseball uniform in 90-degree weather. But it was worth it, to be in the All-Star game, even though I’d found out the day after Mr. Gordon called that the only reason Danny and I were in the game was because both Richie and Jeff couldn’t make it. Of course, Eddie and Mark, our team’s best players, would be there.

As soon as I got to the school field, Mr. Gordon saw me and handed me a new baseball cap for the game. Proudly, I put it on. Mom and Dad had promised to come and watch the game as soon as they got home from work. That was fine with me, since if I ever got to pitch it would be late in the game. I had no idea where Jeremy
had disappeared to. I certainly didn’t expect him to show up at the game.

It was a different experience playing in the All-Star game. First of all, all the boys on both teams were good players. In fact, I sat out part of the game. But, as it turned out, I got to pitch two innings and managed to get two strikeouts in a row each inning. The crowd cheered, especially Danny and Patty and my parents, who arrived just as I’d started to pitch, so everything was great—as far as I was concerned. Our team lost the game but I didn’t care. Just playing in the All-Star game was an experience I’d never forget.

After the game ended, a little after seven o’clock, we went home to get Jeremy and then went out to have dinner at a diner. I just loved walking into the diner in my All-Star cap. The place was pretty full. I spotted a kid wearing an All-Star cap sitting with his family. I hardly knew him, except that his name was Darren and he was in seventh grade.

As soon as we sat down at our booth, Dad started telling me what a great pitcher I was. The waitress brought our menus but he didn’t stop praising me. He mentioned the possibility of my going to baseball camp in August. I really ate it up, since Dad didn’t usually get this excited, and the idea of getting away for two weeks sounded great, until I noticed Jeremy staring at me. Glaring at me, I should say, with something like hate in his eyes.