CHP26

Unfortunately, it being Saturday, Paula and I had a game to play. Beth and I watched the soccer game with Jeff and Pete. Jeff was cool toward her at first but loosened up when he found out she was my sister.

We had discussed this on the way to the game and decided that, as far as anyone else would know, at least for now, that's all she was.

The girls won handily as usual, and we headed to our game.

We were developing our own cheering section. Every time Pete, Jeff, or I did anything, we could hear the girls over the rest of the crowd. It may have been a good thing in this particular game.

The team we were playing was undefeated and very good.

When I came up in the ninth with one out and the bases empty, the game was still scoreless. I had been walked every time I was at bat, and I wasn't expecting anything else this time.

I was so surprised when I saw the first pitch headed toward me that I didn't move in time and caught it flush in the ribs. I stood looking stupidly at their pitcher for a moment, not knowing whether to be angry or not.

The umpire stood and stepped in front of me and told me not to get any ideas and to take my base.

While I was explaining that I wasn't dumb enough to get tossed from the game when I was pitching in the bottom half of the inning, their pitcher came in from the mound.

"Sorry dude, I didn't mean to do that; it got away from me," he said.

I accepted the apology and shook his hand, telling him I was just glad it was a change-up instead of a fastball. I trotted to first, and the relieved crowd cheered.

I wasn't going to let him off the hook entirely, though.

While he was concentrating on Pete, I got a good lead. As soon as he started his delivery, I took off for second. I was pretty fast, but it would have been close if their catcher hadn't screwed up and threw too high.

When I saw the ball go past, I popped up and headed for third, making it easily. It was the first time either team had a runner past second in the whole game. It looked like it was up to Pete to pull the game out again.

It wasn't going to happen, though. This team knew about him, and he was intentionally walking. It set up a possible double play and eliminated our second-most dangerous hitter.

The next guy up was Ben. He was really good at third but barely adequate at the plate.

I don't think the pitcher believed he was much of a threat, and he paid the price big time. Ben had looked foolish the entire game against him, striking out every time, and he was mad.

He's strange in that when that happened, he seemed to concentrate better.

He got the same pitches he had been seeing all day. This time he was ready for them and ignored the high fastballs he had been waving futilely at every other at-bat until the count was 3-1.

Obviously, the pitcher didn't want the bases loaded, so the next one was lower.

It was still a good pitch. It was on the inside of the plate where Ben didn't like them. He was mad enough to guess where it was going, though, and smoked it!

I watched it hit third base and carom into the outfield before taking off.

Not only did I score, but Pete did as well. Ben ended up with a stand-up double. The next two guys struck out, so we went to the bottom of the ninth up 2-0.

After informing the coach I was okay after getting hit, I grabbed my glove and headed for the mound. Unlike their pitcher, I took every one of these guys seriously.

I would throw stuff that could go nowhere but foul if it was hit but looked too good to lay off of until I was ahead in the count before throwing either a high fastball or a slider low and away. I walked one like that but struck out three.

After the celebration and mobbing of Ben, my girls and I headed back to my place. Dad had a truck ready, and we moved Beth in one trip. All it consisted of were pictures, clothes, and a stereo.

After we got things set up, we enjoyed a nice but not so leisurely shower, after which the girls looked at each other and nodded as if agreeing to something before each took an arm and led me to the kitchen table. "What's up? I asked, "Is something wrong? You two look worried.

We, or really, I want to ask you for a big favor." Paula said. "I already asked Beth, and she said she was fine with the idea, but it's up to you." I told her that I would do about anything they asked me to, as long as it was legal and okay with both of them.

Paula continued by saying, "You might not think so when I tell you, but like I said, it's your decision. It's about my cousin. She's who I'm supposed to be spending the weekend with.

We're really close and are more like sisters than cousins. We talk about everything."

At my raised eyebrows, she said, "Yes, that too. The thing is, she has some real problems, and you could help her a lot. She's sixteen and built differently than us in a lot of ways.

Linda has been with a couple of guys and has some problems with size. By that, I mean that she's bigger than most girls down there, and if things get far enough for a guy to figure that out, they dump her pretty fast.

I guess it makes them feel small or something. She's a really sweet person, and I hate to see her so sad. She thinks that she'll never be able to have a serious boyfriend because of her problem.

Beth and I thought that if she realized that there were guys who were big enough in the right places and also nice, it would help her a lot."

I looked at them in amazement. "You didn't actually ask her if she wanted to have sex with me, did you?"

Paula gave me that "what an idiot" look and said, "Of course not! Beth and I did have an idea, though. We thought that if I had Linda come over, we could arrange it so that it could happen if you agreed."