THE FOLLOWING SATURDAY, THE last weekend in October, Jaden’s dad took them to the airport and escorted them onto the plane before departing for the hospital. Qwik-E-Builders gave the derby finalists a plane ticket for themselves and one guest. Josh gave his extra ticket to Benji since Jaden was being flown down to Houston by the newspaper. Bud Poliquin, the editor she’d worked with before, was betting her story about Josh’s quest would be award winning. He planned to publish it on Monday, November first.
They made their connection in Atlanta, with Jaden navigating the enormous airport like a professional traveler. Josh’s dad picked them up at the Houston airport, looking leaner and with tanner skin than Josh ever remembered him having.
Josh shook his father’s hand. “Hi, Dad.”
“Come here, you.” His father pulled him into a bear hug that took Josh’s breath away, then his father held him at arm’s length. “Look at you. You look good. Taller too.”
Josh’s dad greeted his friends, then took them all to the Omni hotel downtown. After checking in, they went out to the Astros baseball complex hosting the derby. He knew there were thirteen finalists from around the country, and he saw four of them in the shuttle van on the way out to the field.
While the winner of the derby who hit the most home runs got a five-thousand-dollar scholarship, the red bathtub just beyond the center-field fence, propped up at an angle for all to see, was all Josh could think about.
An official who wore a dark-blue blazer with a Qwik-E-Builders Home Run Derby name tag explained the rules of the practice round. “Once you start, you’ll get a pitch from the machine every fifteen seconds, four a minute for five minutes. Good luck today and in the main event tomorrow.”
Benji and Jaden watched from the seats behind home plate while Josh’s dad went with Josh out onto the field. A kid named Dale Schwamman from Turkey Valley, Iowa, banged every other pitch over the fence before Josh got his chance.
When Josh finally dug in, he hit a line drive on the first pitch that bounced off the machine.
His father laughed. “Okay, you’ll get it. Don’t try and dip under it. You just have to get used to the machine.”
The next pitch Josh hit deep into right field, then he put one over on the third pitch. The fourth went over the wall as well, both center right, a good ways away from the bathtub. He huffed in frustration.
“Relax,” his dad said.
Josh tried. The fifth hit went to deep left field. He kept hitting and drove seven of his twenty over the fence. The seventeenth bounced six feet from the bathtub, causing Benji and Jaden to scream as it dropped. The next three were closer, but none even dinged the tub.
“Better you didn’t waste it on the practice round.” Josh’s father clapped a big hand on Josh’s neck as they walked off the field toward the stairway leading into the stands.
Josh shook from exertion and nerves.
That night they ate at Brennan’s, a fancy old place that served Creole food more common to New Orleans. Benji ordered a second bread pudding and declared it the dessert he knew he’d be eating in heaven one day.
“What makes you think you’re headed up and not down?” Jaden asked with a mischievous smile.
Benji didn’t miss a beat. “Anyone who’s kind and patient enough to be friends with a grump like you gets an automatic spot in heaven.”
He showed his pleasure by stuffing a spoonful of pudding into his mouth that was big enough to leave whipped cream skid marks on his cheeks.
Later that night Josh had trouble getting to sleep. His father snored in the bed next to his. Jaden and Benji each had beds in the connecting room. Josh got up and softly opened the door to their room. Benji had his mouth wide open and his eyes closed in a peaceful sleep. Jaden sat propped up on pillows typing away. He knew she was excited about her interviews with the Quik-E-Builders people.
She looked up at him and blinked. “All I need now is the happy ending. You ready?”
Josh sat down on the edge of her bed and kept his voice low. “Yes and no. How can you ever be ready for something like this? But I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. . . .”
Jaden covered his hand with her own and gave it a squeeze. “Even if you don’t, it’s a sensational story. Not every quest ends with the Holy Grail.”
She paused and seemed uncertain about what she was going to say next.
Josh felt his muscles tighten.
Jaden shook her head as if ridding herself from all thoughts.
“You should sleep the sleep of a hero,” she said. “You’ve done everything you can think of to help your family.”
“I wish he’d do everything he could to help our family.” Josh nodded his head toward the room where his father slept. “That stupid Diane.”
Jaden sighed. “He’s here. He loves you a lot, Josh. That’s more than a lot of kids can say.”
“Really?” he asked, squinting at her.
“Really,” she said.
Josh thought about that, then in a whisper he said, “I gotta win this thing.”
Jaden whispered back. “You might. I keep saying that.”
He looked right at her. “I think it’s my destiny. I really do.”
The next morning Josh didn’t want to talk to anyone. It was game day times a million to him. He was concentrating. He was visualizing that ball and that big red bathtub he planned to drop it into. They boarded the bus, and all thirteen contestants and their guests rumbled out to the field. They changed into their respective uniforms in the visitor’s clubhouse. They drew numbered balls from a bag to determine the order. Josh reached into the felt sack, got hold of one ball, but switched it for another at the last second and pulled out thirteen.
Dale, the kid from Iowa, looked at Josh’s number. “Last, that’s lucky.”
Someone behind them barked with laughter. “Lucky? Thirteen is as unlucky as you can get.”
Josh never figured out who said that, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it as they marched out onto the field in a small parade. The stands weren’t full, but the TV cameras for ESPN 3 added plenty of excitement.
The Qwik-E-Builders president, a man named Bert Bell, gave a speech about excellence in baseball and home building, comparing the two. “Finally, while the winner who hits the most balls over the fence will receive a five-thousand-dollar college scholarship, the prize we’re all here for is a U-Built-It three-bedroom Streamline Ranch. Any player who hits a homer into the big red bathtub you can all see resting just beyond the center-field fence and that ball stays in the tub wins a free Streamline Ranch home for his family. The Streamline Ranch is the model we at Qwik-E-Builders call America’s Dream. Good luck, boys.”
Everyone clapped politely, and the derby began.
Josh sat in the dugout, watching and waiting. He couldn’t see his friends and father from where he sat, and he’d never felt more alone in his life. The warm air and sunshine seemed to choke him. He began to sweat. Three boys hit balls that came close enough to the bathtub to draw cheers from the crowd, but each one dropped just to the side or behind the tub. Dale from Iowa hit eleven home runs, but none of them even close to the tub. Josh began to think about Jaden’s words when they first talked about the derby at the end of the summer. She called it a scam, and Josh couldn’t help but wonder if that’s what it was.
It took forever, but finally Josh’s turn came.
He stepped up to the plate and could pick out Benji, Jaden, and his dad cheering from the seats behind the backstop. Josh took a deep breath and stepped into the box.
He gave the official a nod. The official nodded back, pressed a button on the remote in his hands, and the machine starting pitching.