Although Ana and Mali didn’t want to practice together, Mami and Mr. Kunchai agreed with Caitlin. Soon enough, Ana found herself at the park with Mali. After their parents dropped them off, both girls glared at each other.
“Well,” Ana said slowly. “I guess we should get to work so we don’t get in trouble again.”
Mali shrugged. Both girls silently put on their gloves. Mali pulled a softball out of her backpack. “Think fast!” she said.
She shot the ball hard and fast. Ana jumped out of the way, letting the ball whiz past her.
“You’re not going to get any better if you’re afraid of the ball,” Mali said. She rolled her eyes.
“I’m not afraid of the ball!” Ana yelled. “How would you like it if someone threw it at your face when you weren’t ready?”
“That’s what softball is!” Mali cried. “You have to be ready for everything.”
“Yeah, but in a game, you’re ready for it because you’re watching everything,” Ana said. “You’re paying attention. You can anticipate where the ball is going to go after the hit and whether you’re going to be a part of the play. Nobody just throws something at you for no reason.”
“I didn’t throw it at you for no reason. We’re supposed to be practicing!” Mali insisted.
“See? You even said ‘at’ instead of ‘to,’” Ana pointed out. “You should throw the ball to your teammate, not at them.”
“Fine,” Mali said. She took another softball from her bag. “Ready?” She lobbed the ball at Ana without waiting for an answer.
Ana put her glove up in a hurry. The ball bounced into her glove — and fell back out.
“Argh!” Ana cried.
“Don’t hold your hand like that,” Mali said.
“What do you mean?” Ana asked.
Mali jogged over to her. She showed Ana the difference between the way the two of them held their hands up when trying to catch the ball.
They tried again. This time, the ball stayed in Ana’s glove. “It worked!” she said, surprised.
Mali had a few more tricks up her sleeve. She gave Ana tips on how to hold her glove for different throws and pitches. She helped Ana with her stance so that she was more steady with the bat. She even taught her how to slide into a base.
“It’s not allowed in junior high sports,” Mali said. “But it’s fun to practice.” She grinned.
Ana grinned back. It kind of hurt, but it was fun.
Later on, Mali wanted to try pitching. She handed Ana a catcher’s mitt. “Use this instead of your glove,” she said. “I don’t have a mask, sorry.”
Ana took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure she wanted to catch for Mali. Her hard and fast throws looked scary. But she crouched down anyway. I hope she goes easy on me, she thought.
“I’ll go easy to start,” Mali said, as if she had read Ana’s mind. Mali wound up and pitched.
Ana reached her glove up to protect her face. The ball flew right into it and knocked her back. She fell on her bottom.
“That was easy?” she shouted. But it felt kind of good. She had caught Mali’s first pitch.
Mali laughed. Ana threw the ball back at her and they went again. Ana missed catching the second pitch, and for a second she saw a look of anger on Mali’s face. But it quickly went away. “It’s OK,” Mali said. “Next time.”
Ana hesitated for a moment and then said, “Hey, Mali?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m new at this, and it’s a little scary when you get angry. It makes me less confident,” Ana said.
Mali looked at her. “I’ll try not to get so mad,” she said.
Ana smiled at her.
Over time, Ana started to get used to how Mali threw the ball. Mali tilted her shoulder back for a second before winding up, and she sometimes went a little to her left. She would have to work on that so she didn’t hit a left-handed batter. Ana told her that nicely. Mali’s eyes flashed for a moment, but after looking at her dad, she said thank you.
By the end of the afternoon, Ana’s hand hurt, but she’d had a great time. And Mali hadn’t thrown anything or stomped her feet once.