SWANSON LOOKED AT BILLY Duncan and lowered his voice. “Sorry, Billy. It was a tough decision.”
Duncan bit his lip to keep it from trembling and concentrated on not bursting into tears. The right fielder stood up and hurried away. Everyone, including Coach Swanson, watched Duncan in silence for what seemed like a long time.
“Lido,” the coach said, “I’m switching you to right field.”
“Right field?” Benji asked, in shock. “I’m being demoted?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Coach Swanson barked. “All right. Bus leaves here at 1:00 p.m. sharp tomorrow. You miss it, you know what happens. Now bring it in. No guts, no glory.”
They did their chant and broke up. Josh didn’t linger. He wanted to get away as fast as he could. Benji was in no hurry and decided to chat with Esch about their prospects in the Harvard tournament. Jaden and Josh waited in silence, then rode home that way.
“All’s well that ends well, I always say,” said Mrs. Lido when she dropped Josh off in front of his new apartment.
“Yeah, that’s true,” Josh said. “Thanks for the ride.”
“We’ll pick you up tomorrow about twelve thirty,” Mrs. Lido said.
“I really appreciate you giving me rides all over town.”
“You’re a good boy, Josh,” Mrs. Lido said, smiling. “Benji needs all the good influences he can get.”
They pulled away with Benji making a face at him, stretching his mouth wide and waggling his tongue. Josh chuckled and stood still for a moment looking up and down the street. Shadows lurked around the edges of the brick apartment houses and in the doorways. Josh scampered up the steps and hurried inside. His mom had about half the boxes unpacked but said she’d leave the rest for the morning if he wanted to watch Spirited Away with her. “Laurel’s asleep, and I found the DVD when I was unpacking.”
“I thought maybe I’d read before bed?” Josh said.
“I know. You read all the time. You’re good like that,” she said. “But this used to be your favorite, remember?”
He nodded. “I love that movie.”
“So let’s watch, you and me. Like we used to, okay? I’ll make popcorn.”
She did make popcorn, and the two of them sat on their couch, surrounded by boxes, watching. Josh rested his head on her shoulder, and she put her hand on his head and gave it a pat every so often. Josh sighed and began to doze.
The movie ended, and his mom helped him into his bed. He fell right to sleep, and his final thought was that tomorrow was the beginning of the most important thing he’d ever tried to do.
It was still pitch-dark when Josh woke to the sound of a gunshot.