JOSH KEPT HIS MOUTH shut, thinking. If he asked now and got a no, it would be over. It just didn’t seem the right time or place to ask. He felt he had to trust his instincts. “Yes, I’m all set. Thanks, Coach.”
“Hey. Any time.”
Josh turned away, wondering why in the world he had thanked Coach Swanson. He hadn’t even gotten to say what he wanted, let alone get it from his new coach. Josh took off at a jog to catch up to his friends.
“What was that about?” Benji asked. “Secret handshakes or something?”
“I wanted to see if he had any tips about switch-hitting.” Josh could bat with either hand, and he knew any talk about switch-hitting impressed Benji enough to distract him from the real story.
“Yeah.” Benji gave a knowing nod. “I gotta ask him that myself.”
“Lido, you bat like James Bond from the other side of the plate,” Jaden said.
“Bond?” Benji raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, like 007. That’d be your average.”
“Funny, wisenheimer. Real funny.”
“Well, don’t sweat it, big guy,” Jaden said. “There aren’t many people who can switch-hit like Josh. He’s like Mark Teixeira, and how many of those guys are around?”
“I don’t need to hear about your Yankee Tex.” Benji held up a hand like he was stopping traffic. “It’s Big Papi or bust for me. There are no other hitters.”
“Here we go. . . .” Jaden rolled her eyes. They all knew Benji was a die-hard Red Sox fan.
When they were loaded into Benji’s mom’s car and under way, Josh looked back at the parking lot, where Martin was struggling to load the trunk of Coach Swanson’s car. “I feel bad for that kid.”
“No one deserves to be treated like that.” Benji sat hunched over in the front seat, still grumpy thinking about the coach.
Benji’s mom wrinkled her nose. “You smell like throw up.”
“For a reason, Mom,” Benji said, before turning to Josh and changing the subject back to Martin. “Don’t feel too bad. You said thanks for the paper, and he didn’t even give you a grunt. That’s no way to behave, not in my house anyway, right, Mom?”
Mrs. Lido gave a big nod worthy of a woman with a son like Benji. “Saying ‘you’re welcome’ is a must, Benji; you know that. I’ve always taught you.”
“See?” Benji swung around to make sure Jaden was paying attention before turning back to his mom. “Manners can take you farther than brains, right, Mom?”
“Oh, I always say that, and you know it, Benji. Look at your uncle Mert. Lucky to get a C on his school report card, but the boy had manners out the ying-yang, and he’s got a house in Hilton Head on the beach.” Mrs. Lido glanced in the rearview mirror at Josh. “On the beach.”
Jaden said nothing, but rolled her eyes and grinned at Josh as they rode on in silence.
At home, Josh’s mom had already put Laurel to bed and was sitting with a book in the TV room.
“How’d it go?” she asked.
“Good.” Josh sat and picked up the remote.
“Can we not have the noise, Josh?” his mom said. “It’s been a long day.”
“The Yankees are playing, Mom.” He gave her a wounded look.
“Fine.” She opened her book back up. “Keep the volume down.”
Josh put the set on. Laurel had been watching a DVD. He switched the input and got nothing. He switched it around again before he got up and wiggled the cable in the box below the TV. “Mom, the cable’s not working.”
She looked up from her book, closing it, and bit her lower lip. “Oh. Uh, well, it may be off.”
“Like someone hit the wire or something?” Josh asked.
“Well, Josh, honestly, I haven’t paid that bill in some time. I don’t really watch TV, and Laurel has her DVDs.”
Josh didn’t think before he spoke. “Yeah, but I gotta watch the Yankees. They’re playing the Tigers.”
Her spine went rigid. She pinched her lips and opened her book. “You ‘gotta watch the Yankees’? You play enough baseball. I don’t think you have to watch it too. I’ve had to make choices, Josh. Trust me; it hasn’t been fun.”
Josh felt a bit bad. “I get it, Mom. I know. I’m sorry. I’m just tired from practice. But you can turn it back on now, right? I mean, with me back, you’re going to get the money you need from Dad. You said everything would be fine, right?”