Published: 21 Apr 2022

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Mark had Billy explain that Rule to him some more. They then talked about the exercise book, but before long, Billy said he was going to bed and would see his little ‘brother’ in the morning.

After his foster brother left his room, Mark smiled at knowing a secret that he wasn’t going to tell Billy about until his friend came to visit him.

It was a quiet night in the Goldersons’ household that Wednesday night.

During breakfast that morning, Miriam told the boys that when they returned from playing ball, she needed them to go with her to the grocery store to buy the things they needed for Saturday’s cookout. The boys asked her if they could swim for a little while first. Miriam told them no. She told them they could swim when they get back from the store.

Billy then remembered it was Thursday and tonight was Mark’s last Little League baseball game of the season. So, he told his little ‘brother’ he couldn’t swim anyway. Mark got a strange look on his face when he heard that. Then he said, “Dang it!” That was all. Miriam and Billy didn’t say anything for a few moments, then they both burst out in laughter. Mark even joined in.

Kieran showed up about nine, as he usually did. Now that Mark had the exercise book his dad ordered, they could look through it and get a better idea of how to do the exercises and understand why they were done. Today, they did a few of the ‘new’ exercises to try them out.

When the two boys were finished with their exercises, they rested for a few minutes, before starting up their pitching and catching. The foster teen was there with them and made sure they didn’t over-do the exercises and then that Mark didn’t throw too much and ruin his arm.

After the boys finished pitching and catching, the three went over to the playground to see how many showed up to play some ball. Tanner was there, but his older brother, Taylor, wasn’t. Seeing the troublemaker wasn’t there relieved the teenager. Without Taylor there, Billy knew there wouldn’t be a repeat of the other day.

The regular boys were there, but today they brought along a few other boys from other streets in the sub-division. The boys knew one another, but they didn’t hang out together, as a rule. Today there were enough boys for two full teams, even without Billy playing.

As the teams were picked, Billy reminded Mark that he already pitched for about an hour and that forty more pitches should be enough. Plus, the boy’s ‘big brother’ reminded his little ‘brother’ he had his last baseball game of the season tonight and he shouldn’t tire himself out.

When it came time to play, Mark told his team he wasn’t going to pitch a lot today. He told them he had a game tonight and he’d already pitched for an hour with Kieran, and he didn’t want to tire his arm out before the game.

His teammates moaned they would lose the best thing about having Mark on their team. Mark told them that he wanted to be a pitcher, and that he wasn’t going to ruin his arm so everyone could win. Mark told them to take it or leave it.

Billy was proud that Mark was standing up for himself. The teen knew he would have stepped in once his little ‘brother’ got to forty pitches, but now he wouldn’t have too. Mark had told his team that he was pitching for three innings or thirty pitches whichever came first. Billy smiled.

Mark did as he explained and when he reached thirty pitches in the middle of the third inning he finished pitching to the current batter and then said he needed to go to a different position. Some of the boys moaned, but the youngster stuck to his guns.

Mark and his foster brother headed home when their game was over. Miriam was waiting on them so, when they arrived, she had their lunch ready for them to sit down and eat. They talked to Miriam about their day so far, and then they asked her what they would be buying at the grocery store.

It was going on 1:30 when the three headed to the grocery store to buy what they needed to supply for the cookout on Saturday. Miriam drove over to one of the big warehouse grocery stores where they got better prices when you bought in quantity.

They were getting the chicken breasts, sodas and some baking potatoes for their family, as each family would provide their own. Miriam also told the boys they needed to get a large container of sour cream, as the other families were getting the butter, cheese and bacon bits for the baked potatoes, as well as the fresh corn on the cob. Miriam also picked up a large apple pie to add to the dessert table for the cookout.

As the trio shopped in the large warehouse, Mark asked his mom why they didn’t go tomorrow, Friday. The boy’s mom had to remind her son that she taught on Friday night and doing it now didn’t make her hurry and forget something.

Mark then asked why they couldn’t go on Saturday morning. The boy’s mom told him that the grocery store would be an even busier place than it was then. The boys just went along with the woman, pushing the oversized cart and putting in whatever she told them to, as they walked the large aisles.

The boys helped Miriam bring everything they bought into the house. Then, while she put the cold items in the refrigerator, the boys also put the sodas out in the garage before heading up to their rooms to relax before it was time to go to Mark’s game.

Because it was his son’s last Little League baseball game for the year, Levi Golderson came home early from the bank. He did that so he and his wife could be there at the start of the game, instead of arriving in the middle of the first inning as they usually did before.

Billy rode Levi’s bike, which sort of now became his, along with his little ‘brother’ as they headed to the ballfield for the young boy’s last game. When they arrived, Mark had his ‘big brother’ park the bikes together, and then told Billy he’d watch for him and his parents up in the stands.

Mark’s coach warmed the team up, had them do batting practice and, when it was time, he had his starting pitcher for the game warm up. He also had Mark warm up, as he had the past few times, without telling the boy he would pitch the last two innings. None of the boys on the team knew what their coach had planned later in the game.

Mark batted fourth in the lineup, which is considered the clean-up position, because he was batting so well, as of late. The young Golderson did very well for himself batting in the position he was, as he got on base the first two times he batted.

Mark’s team was lucky to be the Home Team that night, so when the top of the fifth inning started, and the starting pitcher threw one pitch the coach asked for time, and it was then he brought Mark in to pitch.

Mark was shocked that he was getting the chance to pitch. The coach told the boy that he showed him some promise, with all his warm up pitching, and he wanted to give Mark some real experience before next year.

Mark’s pitching started off lukewarm. After four pitches he had a count of 3 balls and 1 strike and was behind the batter. Mark called time to talk to his catcher.

“You got to give me different targets to throw at,” said Mark.

“Yea, but I don’t know how well you can throw, so I’m just giving you a basic point to throw at,” replied the catcher.

“Look, Kieran and I, … we practice inside, outside, up and down pitches, so I am used to throwing that way. Just give me something better than straight down the middle. OK?” asked Mark.

“But if you hit him …” was all the catcher got out before Mark stopped him.

“Yea, yea, I know, so I hit him. Maybe he won’t crowd the plate the next time,” laughed Mark.

“Look, if I pitch another ball, he’s on first anyway, so let’s see what I can do. Yes, I am new and an unknown, but the coach wants me to try this, so give me a chance. OK?” implored Mark.

The catcher went back to his position and this time gave Mark an inside target. He knew the batter would either swing at it, get hit with the pitch, or watch it go by and if it was called a Ball, he’d be on first because the umpire called it that way.

Mark threw his pitch to the inside target his catcher gave him. The batter looked at it as it passed by him thinking it was a ball and would now be on first base. So, the batter threw the bat towards the Visitor’s dugout. But before he could begin his trot to first base the umpire called it a strike. The batter was perplexed and gave the man a look that said, “What?”

This time the catcher gave his pitcher an outside and low target. Mark wound up and threw to where the mitt was located and the batter went for it and struck out. The catcher smiled at Mark as he threw the ball back to him and told him he did good.

That was all Mark needed to settle himself down. The boy faced four batters that inning and he struck out three of them. The other batter got a lucky hit over the second baseman and got on first and that’s where he was when the inning was over.

Levi and Miriam had their video camera with them that night and they caught all of what their son was doing for his last game of the year. They videoed Mark’s plays out in the field, his hits and now his pitching and they were just as proud as they could be of their son.

Billy was sitting with them and heard everything they had to say about his little ‘brother’. He could tell they were seriously proud of the way Mark was playing tonight, and even he was impressed with the way Mark was performing tonight.

In the dugout, the coach patted Mark on his back and told him he did an awesome job out there, but had one more inning to go. Mark smiled at the man, thanked him and then went and talked to his catcher, so they could get their signals worked out.

At the top of the sixth inning, Mark took the mound and proceeded to strike the other side out. He didn’t throw nine straight strikes, but he did a great job of getting the batters to swing at pitches that could very well have been balls,

When the game was over, Mark’s teammates patted him on his back for doing such a great job of pitching. The coach also congratulated him for doing such a good job and he told the boy to keep up his practicing and that next year he would definitely be a reliever, if not a starter. Mark had a big smile on his face when he went out to meet his parents and Billy.

The Goldersons went out for a late dinner to celebrate how well Mark performed tonight and to observe the last game of the season. The group decided to go to a local restaurant for a Mexican dinner. Billy enjoyed going out, and he was also getting the opportunity to see how well this restaurant’s food was.

As they ate, the teenager couldn’t help but compare this Mexican restaurant’s food against what Momma Maria made for them back at The Cove. Even though the food was good, to him Momma’s food won out hands down. The teen didn’t say anything to the Goldersons, as they loved going there, because it was close by, affordable and what they thought was very good.

Conversation at the table centered on the game tonight and how well Mark did. The boy’s parents were so proud of their son. It was then Mark learned they videoed everything he did during the game and he couldn’t wait to get home to see it.

Levi, Mark’s dad, told his son that his coach talked to him Monday night about his pitching tonight and that he gave him his OK. That surprised Mark and asked him why he didn’t tell him. The dad told the son that the coach didn’t want Mark to know and then overthrow his arm in trying to get ready for tonight. Mark thanked his dad for doing that for him.

It was going on 9:30 when the Goldersons and their foster son arrived home from the game and then dinner. Mark asked if they could watch some of the video, so he could see how he looked as he batted, fielded and pitched.

Miriam told her son to get ready for bed before they began watching the video. Mark began to argue, but when his ‘big brother’ coughed, he knew he needed to do what his parents asked him to do. Levi inwardly chuckled at what just happened, but Miriam still wasn’t thrilled the way her foster son interacted with and got her real son to do what he should do.

Mark quickly changed into his pajamas and was downstairs in nothing flat and ready to watch some of the video of him in the last game of the season. The boy sat with his dad as the four people watched the game.

Levi made sure they watched all of Mark’s at bats and his fielding prior to him being asked to pitch. When they got to that part, Mark wanted to watch all of his pitches. He knew what he did and how he and the catcher began to work together.

After they watched Mark pitch to the first batter, he ever faced in a regulation Little League game, and they saw Mark and the catcher speak, the boy told his parents and ‘big brother’ what the conversation was all about. That gave them some perspective on what they talked about. Mark then gave them a pitch-by-pitch narrative.

Before long, Miriam told the boys they needed to get up to their rooms and get ready for bed. Miriam told Mark she’d be up there soon to say goodnight.

Upstairs, in Mark’s room, Billy told his little ‘brother’ that he noticed how well his playing and batting improved ever since he started watching the games. Mark asked his ‘big brother’ if he was taking credit for how well he did.

Billy laughed and told his little ‘brother’ that it could all be just a coincidence, or that because he was now more focused because he was working on his pitching and it just gave him more confidence out on the field.

Mark thought about that for a moment and then asked his ‘big brother’ if he really thought that was why he was doing so well. All Billy could tell his little ‘brother’ was, that if he wasn’t so good before he began learning to pitch and he improved after he started, then that probably had something to do with it. Mark smiled at hearing that.

Miriam was outside the bedroom door and also heard what her foster son told her son and she was happy the two were becoming friends. She also saw the subtle changes in her son over the past week that told her that the addition of Billy had been a good thing for their family.

The woman had her reservations about the teenager at first, and she didn’t like the way he stuck to what he thought was right and wasn’t afraid to voice it. On the other hand, she saw that Mark looked up to the teen as his ‘big brother’ and that Billy had watched out for her son and protected him from the older boys. That thought put a smile on her face.

“Mark, honey,” began Miriam, “I’m here to say goodnight to you.”

Billy told Mark he’d talk to him in the morning and left the mother and son alone in the bedroom to say their goodnights to one another. The teen was surprised when Miriam knocked on his door and called out a goodnight to him. He returned the greeting.

Billy then wished he still had that one-on-one interaction with Mr. Ken before he went to bed. The teen thought back to all the times he and the man talked at night before bedtime and that brought about a few tears to fall.

The teen still wondered who set him up that he was forced to be sent away from The Cove. He didn’t sleep all too well that night thinking about who set him up, and how they did it.

Mark woke that Friday morning feeling very good about himself. He’d done very well last night at his game and he pitched in his first game ever. He couldn’t wait to tell Kieran and the rest of his friends. The almost ten-year-old used the bathroom and then knocked on his ‘big brother’s’ door.

“Yea, I’m awake,” called out the teenager, to whomever was knocking on his door.

“Billy, it’s me, Mark. Can I come in?” asked the teen’s little ‘brother’.

“Yea, come in,” yelled back Billy.

“I can’t wait to tell everyone that I pitched in last night’s game, and that my parents videoed it,” spoke up Mark, as he entered Billy’s room.

“Yes, you did very good. I was proud of you as were your parents. All that practicing helped you, didn’t it?” commented the teen.

“Yes, it did. And you making Kieran move the catcher’s mitt around, so I had targets other than right over the plate, was the best advice anyone has ever given me,” replied Mark. “Thank you for making me do that!”

Mark then went over to Billy and hugged him. The youngster then told his ‘big brother’ that he’d better get a move on, so he’s down in the kitchen for breakfast before nine. Billy threw the covers off of him and went to the bathroom dressed only in his boxer briefs. Mark chuckled as he saw his ‘big brother’ had a large bulge in the front of them.

Mark waited for the teen to return from the bathroom, put on his nylon running shorts, a t-shirt and his crocs and then the two went down for breakfast together.

“Good morning, you two,” said Miriam, as the boys entered the kitchen and sat down. “And what have you planned for today, now that baseball season is over?”

“Well, mom, Kieran will be over here soon, and we’ll do those exercises in the book dad bought for me. Then we’ll practice my pitching and his catching. And after last night, I need to get my arm, shoulder and legs in shape for next year,” explained the woman’s son, with a big smile on his face.

Billy told his foster mom that he would watch his little ‘brother’ and then they’d probably go over to the playground to see if the others show up to play some ball. He added that after that they’ll swim since they didn’t get a chance to do that yesterday. Mark agreed with what his foster brother said.

Kieran came over right after nine o’clock, and the two boys went out to the garage. Billy went out there right after he helped clean off the breakfast table. When the teen went out into the garage, he heard Mark telling his friend how he pitched last night.

“Did Mark really pitch last night?” Kieran asked Billy, when the teen arrived out in the garage.

“Yes, he did. The last two innings of the game. And, he did really well,” replied a smiling Billy.

“That’s why I need to do the exercises every day to get ready for next year,” spoke up Mark.

“Yea, I hear ya, but my dad … he says we’re doing them too often. He said we need to rest the muscle groups before we strain them,” countered Kieran.

“That’s what I told you two,” spoke up the teenager. “You do different exercises every day to rest the muscles you used yesterday. That way they have a chance to recover. You just need to decide which ones to do on which day,” offered the ‘big brother’.

After the two boys did their exercises and pitched and caught, the three went to the park to see if there was going to be a pick-up ball game today. The same number of boys that showed up yesterday came today, and they figured they’d have fun playing ball.

But before the boys could pick sides, Mark had to tell them about how he pitched the last two innings of last night’s game and how good he was. The boys who didn’t know Mark all that well, laughed at how the boy explained how he pitched the previous night.

Billy heard the boys snickering, so he jumped into the conversation. He told the new boys that his little ‘brother’ had been practicing the past few weeks and the coach gave him the chance to see how good he was at pitching to batters. The teen said that Mark struck out the last three batters. That silenced the naysayers.

The boys played until almost one o’clock they were having so much fun. And even though the Little League baseball season was over, Billy still wouldn’t let Mark pitch more than forty pitches when he practiced pitching in the morning.

Today was Dana’s turn to host the swim. So, before they went over to swim, Mark and his foster brother went home for lunch. Mark told Miriam about how some of the boys from farther streets away didn’t believe him when he told them about how he pitched last night. Billy then added how he set them straight.

When Mark and his ‘big brother’ arrived at Dana’s the swim fun had already begun. Billy went over to talk to Alexa, and she wasn’t having anything to do with him. She blamed him for her having to make some sort of strawberry dessert for the cookout tomorrow night.

“Alexa, it wasn’t my idea that us kids had to plan the menu and cook on Saturday. It sounds like something the parents would do, so they can get out of doing it themselves. Ask Mark. He’ll tell you all he did was ask if they could have a cookout, and then some night swimming. It was his parents who made this all happen,” offered Billy, as a way to get Alexa to talk to him.

Briggs came over just then to talk to the other teens about the cookout tomorrow night. He told them he and his mom were going out later to buy the sausage. He explained to them they were only getting beef Kielbasa sausage for the cookout and they were also providing pinto beans to go along with the sausage.

Billy told the teens that Miriam nixed the idea of baked beans, but was OK with the grilled asparagus, baked potatoes and corn on the cob and that she also bought a big apple pie for the dessert table. He then asked Alexa what type of desert she was making.

Alexa told the other teens that she and her mom were going out later to the big box store to get lots of strawberries and pound cake. She said they were also going to add blueberries to the dessert they were making for tomorrow night. The pretty teen said she wasn’t much of a cook, so she and her mom would make it together.

Briggs then asked Billy if he could help him take their grill over to the Goldersons tomorrow. The older teen said it had wheels, but it would be easier if they carried it there, or if they could find a small kid’s wagon or trailer that they could load it onto and use that to wheel it over to the house. Billy said they better ask the boys who were swimming.

After their talk, Alexa warmed back up to Billy. She liked that he was new and handsome and had a good physique about him. She felt that going back to school in August, with him on her arm, would make all the girls jealous that she found him before they had.

Mark saw the two teens talking and wanted to go over to Alexa and tell her he was his ‘big brother’, not her boyfriend. But he didn’t feel that was right and figured his ‘big brother’ would probably be pissed at him for doing that. The youngster knew though, when swimming was over, Billy would be going home with him and not her.

What Mark did do, to get his ‘big brother’ away from the pretty young lady, was to go to him and coax him into the water for a while. The almost ten-year-old told his foster brother that he hadn’t played any games with them yet and he was due.

Billy smiled at Mark, and excused himself from Alexa and went over to the pool and got in with the rest of the boys. He then asked them what game they were paying. When he heard what it was, he asked them if they were ready to play something different and new.

The boys asked him what else they could play, as they played everything they knew of. Billy smiled and thought back to what Russell and Jordan had them do back at The Cove. So, the new teen explained to the group they needed to split up into two equal sized teams.

Once they had done that, Billy made sure the teams had equal numbers and he also made sure they looked equal in size and age. He then explained what they had to do. Some of the boys balked at hearing how stupid the game sounded. Billy told them to wait and see.

Since the Wrockman’s pool was deeper at the middle than at the ends, he had each team start at opposite ends. He gave the first person a ball they had to take with them as they walked to the opposite side and back. The wrinkle was that the older boys had to walk backwards.

Briggs laughed at that and said he’d do it with no problem. When each team was ready, Billy whistled and the first person had to walk as fast as they could to the other side, touch it with their ball and walk back.

When it was the older teens turn, they had to walk backwards. Believing it would be easy, they found themselves weaving back and forth as they walked to the opposite end. Their teammates were screaming at them to walk straighter and, of course, the teens bumped one another to try to slow their competition down.

What sounded like a ‘stupid’ game turned out to be fun for all of them. It didn’t matter which team won as they were laughing and complaining that their teammates couldn’t walk straight.

Kimberly Wrockman heard all that racket out at the pool and she thought a fight had erupted between the older boys. But when she got out there, she saw the boys were urging on their teammates, some who were walking backwards, to get back to the starting point.

When the game was over, she walked over to her son, Dana, and asked her what that was all about. Dana had Billy explain the game to her. The woman thought it was ingenious to think up such a simple game that had everyone cheering on so loudly and enthusiastically. Happy there wasn’t a fight, Mrs. Wrockman then went back inside.

The boys asked Billy if he knew of any other neat games they could play. Billy told them about a relay game they might be able to play, but they had to figure out the route. He told them they don’t have a jumping ledge to use, so they needed something else to add a twist to the game.

Someone suggested they put something in the middle of the pool and the person coming off the end has to retrieve it and leave something different and take it to their teammates. The boys discussed how they could do that and if both teams start from the same side or opposite sides.

With Mark’s ‘big brother’s’ input, the boys figured out the game themselves. They decided on what they would change out on the bottom of the pool and how they had to take it to a teammate and exchange it for another item, who then repeated the exchange. And then they played their game with Billy as the referee.

Again, the boys got into the game. They were yelling and hollering at their teammates to go faster, do it better, change out the item and then the next team member to take his turn. Mrs. Wrockman heard the commotion. She looked out the window to see the boys lined up along the side of the pool and waving their arms trying to get their partner to do better. She smiled.

The boys played that second game and after it was over, they talked about how much fun it was to do something so simple, but yet so hard at the same time. Billy told them that it was their first time which probably made it difficult for them, but if they play that every day, they will find ways to do it faster and easier and cheat. The boys all laughed at the cheating comment.

When it was time to go home, Mark and Billy thanked Mrs. Wrockman for hosting them today. She in turn thanked Billy for making a game that really got the boys involved and the older boys playing with the younger ones. Billy blushed and said it was something they played where he used to live. The woman knew there was more behind that statement.

As soon as the boys arrived home, Miriam told them to take showers. Mark wanted to tell his mom about the games Billy helped create at the Wrockman’s pool today, but he knew not to argue and just go upstairs and get his shower over with. Billy told his little ‘brother’ to knock on his door when he was finished.

At dinner Mark got to tell his mom and dad about the games his foster brother devised for them to play at the Wrockman’s pool today. He went through the games and how everyone couldn’t walk backwards and then how some boys couldn’t get down to the bottom of the pool on their first try to change out a toy.

Miriam told the boys that Kimberly Wrockman called her after the first game and told her how much fun the boys were having. Levi was surprised at how a simple game could change the boys’ outlook and create something that both older and younger boys would play together and without animosity.

After dinner, when they all went into the Family Room to relax and talk some more. Billy told his foster dad that Briggs asked him to help bring their grill over tomorrow. The teen asked the man if he knew of a small trailer, or wagon, they could use to make it simpler to bring over.

Levi told the teenager there was a small flat furniture dolly out in the garage they could try to use, but he wouldn’t guarantee it would work for them. The teen thanked the man for at least giving them something to try.

Mark asked his dad if he could take them to the Skate Park again on Sunday. The boy’s father told his son that they would see what the weather was like then, and make the decision at the time. The dad then asked his son if he was going to get ready for the fall soccer season.

Mark asked his ‘big brother’ if he ever played soccer. Learning he hadn’t, Mark said he’d teach him, and laughed. Billy told his little ‘brother’ he’d go out with him and see what he could do, but that he had two left feet and would probably be really bad at the game. The teen then asked if they played at the park as they did with baseball. Mark smiled and said they did.

After they talked themselves out, the boys headed up to their rooms. Mark talked with his ‘big brother’ about soccer and the positions and rules. The teenager again told Mark that he’d give it a try, but added that if he feels he can’t do it, he’ll sit down.

The boys told one another good night and visited the bathroom before going to bed. It was a quiet night in the Goldersons that Friday night.

The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhound at CastleRoland dot Net

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