Beanball Read online

  Now, the batter swings and I hope.

  Andy Keller, Oak Grove third baseman

  Luke asked me if I’d drive him to Compton

  so he could talk to Dawkins.

  I told him I’d drop him off and come back later,

  if he wanted a private conversation.

  But he said no,

  there wasn’t anything he planned to say

  that I couldn’t hear.

  So I sat with them and drank one of the sodas

  Dawkins brought out.

  I hadn’t seen him since the game.

  He is one big dude—

  even bigger than I’d remembered.

  As he and Luke talked,

  I couldn’t help thinking how we had a great season,

  even without Luke,

  but Compton fell apart after Dawkins left their team.

  I wonder why.

  Kyle Dawkins, Compton pitcher

  Luke Wallace phoned me yesterday

  and said he wanted to see me.

  How could I say no? I owe him that much.

  I owe him whatever he asks of me.

  One of his buddies drove him over today.

  We sat out in my yard for almost an hour.

  Luke said he was going to work out all summer

  to get himself back in shape.

  He said he planned to play everything next year—

  football, basketball, baseball.

  He said he was going to try, at least.

  He asked where I’d be going to college,

  and I told him. I didn’t tell him

  I wouldn’t be playing baseball there.

  He said, “I know they’ll be glad

  to have you pitching for them.”

  He said, “I hope you have a great season.”

  After he left, I got out my duffle bag,

  the one with all my baseball gear.

  I didn’t know if I could bring myself

  to open it, but I finally did.

  I took out a baseball

  and wrapped my fingers around the seams.

  I held it for a long time.

  Luke “Wizard” Wallace

  By the time I got home from the hospital,

  there were just two weeks of classes left.

  My folks talked to Principal Jenks,

  and he said I didn’t have to go back to school

  unless I wanted to. I was glad of that.

  There’s not much wrong with my face now.

  I look normal, and I don’t have to

  wear an eye patch or anything.

  But with final exams coming up,

  it would’ve been too distracting

  for me to show up at school.

  Not just for me, but for the other kids, too.

  My teachers had been sending me assignments.

  I guess I did enough of them to get by.

  I’d gotten some good class notes

  from Andy and Sarah and a few other kids.

  And while I was in the hospital,

  Mom had read my textbooks out loud to me.

  It was cool, too, what Jenks did:

  he collected all my final exams from my teachers,

  and he told Mom she could let me take them at home

  under her supervision.

  I passed all my classes with a C or better.

  At least those are the grades my teachers gave me.

  Nobody said as much, but maybe it was their gift

  to try to compensate for the loss of my eye.

  I didn’t ask for that kind of gift,

  but if that’s what it was, I’m grateful.

  Sarah Edgerton, Oak Grove student

  “Sometimes I feel guilty,” I said to my dad.

  “If Luke hadn’t gotten hurt,

  we probably wouldn’t be dating now.”

  Dad just smiled and shook his head.

  He said that Luke’s injury

  had nothing to do with us starting to date.

  He said, “I see the way that boy looks at you,

  the way he brightens up when you come into the room.

  He would have noticed you soon enough.

  His accident was bad luck, no doubt of that.

  But it’s lucky for him he found you.”

  Well, what can I say? He’s my dad;

  he gets carried away sometimes.

  But I think he’s right.

  Luke and I would have found each other eventually.

  We can talk to each other, really talk.

  And we make each other laugh.

  If we were together because either one of us

  felt pity or some sense of obligation, I’d know.

  We’re together because we like each other.

  A lot.

  I don’t know what the future holds,

  but the present is plenty nice.

  I’m happy with that.

  Lisalette Dobbs, Oak Grove student

  Andy Keller phoned me and asked

  if I’d like to go to a movie with him

  and Sarah and Luke.

  I was so excited, I barely hung up the phone

  before I started whooping,

  and Mom gave me that look of hers—

  that slight shake of the head and the half smile.

  Andy Keller!

  All spring I’ve been hoping he’d ask me out.

  Andy Keller, Oak Grove third baseman

  Luke and I have been working out together

  almost every day since school ended—

  running, lifting weights, throwing.

  Usually Clarissa practices with us.

  I have to admit: for a twelve-year-old,

  she’s pretty darn good.

  She’s almost as good at catching fly balls now

  as Luke is.

  In a way, that’s sad;

  but I tell myself it’s because

  Clarissa is showing real talent,

  not because Luke is so much worse

  than he was before he got hurt.

  It’s obvious that catching a fly ball

  is work for Luke now.

  He just can’t glide under the ball like he used to.

  But he’s improving every day,

  and even though he says

  he’ll never be as good as he once was,

  I’d never bet against the guy.

  Not against Luke.

  Not against the Wizard.

  About the Author

  GENE FEHLER (1940–2013) was a widely published poet whose work has appeared in children’s books, poetry collections, textbooks—and more than 300 different magazines. He was also the author of seven books, including two for adults that feature interviews with former major league baseball players. Beanball was his first novel. An avid softball player, he lived with his wife, Polly, in Seneca, South Carolina until his death. His website is www.genefehler.com.