Date: Tue, 31 May 2011 06:38:49 +0000
From: Douglas DD DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Perfect Game  Chapter 25

Since this is supposedly a baseball story I thought it might be a good idea
to get some baseball in, even if it doesn't directly involve the
Titans. But the chapter does involve some young boys looking for sexual
advice from somebody older and more experienced.  And it also poses the
question: Did they hold hands, or didn't they hold hands? Douglas at
thehakaanen@hotmail.com wonders what you think.

CHAPTER 25
THE NOONER

The Nooner was always a big affair in Mayfield. Every year during spring
break the high school Mustangs played a power from another part of the
state, a team they wouldn't see during the regular season, even in a
non-league affair. They always picked a team that wasn't in their
district. This season they scheduled the Grant Valley Jackrabbits, a
perennial power on the east side of the mountains. The Jackrabbits had a
couple of state tournament trophies in their school trophy case. Last year
they had finished third in the A Tournament and this year they were 6-0 to
the Mustangs' 6-1.

The game always drew a big crowd to Mustang Field, a state of the art high
school field.  The grass field was well manicured, the concrete and steel
stadium was lighted, the dugouts were large and the stadium had its own
dressing room and shower. It was often the site for high school district
and regional tournaments. The grandstand could seat 1500, which was more
than enough for most games in a small town like Mayfield. The field was
enclosed and there was room for temporary seats to be erected for a big
tournament.

Even though The Nooner started at, well, noon, it always drew a big
crowd. Some townspeople and parents planned days off around the game and
many businesses closed for the afternoon. A crowd of around 1000 was
planned on.

The spring day was bright and sunny with a high forecast in the
mid-sixties. The boys on the Truman Middle School team showed up to watch
batting practice, with some of the eighth graders bringing their gloves and
shagging flies, a Nooner tradition.

Jack Collins, the head coach, watched as a couple of alumni as well as
Coach Sanders took turns throwing batting practice. The mood of the team
was a bit subdued after the team meeting that had been held that
morning. The topic was the annual party at the Hotchkins Farm. The message
was different than in the past. There was, of course, the usual disclaimer
of Coach Collins not knowing who was there, but that anybody found out to
be partying during the rest of the season would face a suspension. The
difference was that Coach Collins had talked to Abner Hotchkins and
informed him that what he did with the baseball alumni wasn't any of his
business, but that there would be consequences for him as well as his
players if any high school kids attended in the future.  Pretending
ignorance, he said he was upset that active players were allowed to
attend. He was also upset about players from the middle school showing up,
something he had truly been ignorant about. Coach Collins had thought about
having a talk with Abner soon as the entire affair seemed to be getting out
of hand with more and more active players attending. It was his learning
that middle school players were also attending that was the last straw. For
all intents and purposed, the alumni party on Saturday was the last that
any active player would attend without penalty. Abner Hotchkins took the
news graciously, because during the last party he sensed he was losing
whatever control he had been maintaining. He seemed almost relieved the
affair was finally over. But despite the problems, Abner Hotchkins was at
the Nooner. He never missed a Mustang game.

When infield practice started the middle school players sat in a section of
the stands behind third base, the traditional spot for team members. The
varsity sat separately from the JV team.

 Eric and Scott sat next to each other as did Bobby with Noah with Danny
sitting between the two pairs. The twins sat next to each other and so did
Vince and Adrian, two long time buddies. Everybody was surprised to see
Marty and Rich arrive at the stadium together. Nobody had known they were
friends, or even friendly with each other. Yet they came up in the stands
and sat as a pair just as if they had been buddies forever.

Coach Collins liked to use The Nooner as a way to introduce some of his
underclassmen to tough competition to see how they fared under pressure. As
a result Mike "The Donkey" was given the starting pitching assignment and
Ryan "The Dawg" started at second. The Donkey had played some first for the
varsity but had pitched only for the JV team. The Dawg had started four
games at second and played off the bench in the other three. Already they
were getting a lot of experience as sophomores.

The first batter for the Jackrabbits bounced out to Ryan at second,
prompting Noah to say, "and the Rabbits start out the game with a
two-hopper," causing more than a few groans from those around him. The
Donkey ended up getting the number two hitter to pop up to left and struck
out the three hitter. It was a good start for the big sophomore.

"A Donkey should dominate a Rabbit," Noah pointed out. The Mustangs got a
walk from their number two hitter but failed to score. The boys were into
the game and ready to cheer loudly.

The Jackrabbits wrapped a couple of hits around a walk and scored the first
run of the game in the top of the second. This time the Mustangs went down
in order, with the Donkey grounding out to second.

As the third inning started Eric and Scott noticed something that surprised
them. In fact, the wondered if they had seen things properly. Eric was sure
he had seen Marty and Rich touch fingers, and not by accident. It was a
quick motion, which made him not so sure.  He looked at Scott and his
boyfriend nodded that he had seen something as well.

Eric thought the gesture was very interesting. Marty was, after all, a
self-proclaimed lady's man. He did not know Rich all that well except as a
teammate. He had found him to be a solid, but quiet, player and person. He
would have to find out more about him from Scott later on.

The Mustangs picked up a couple of runs in the bottom of the third to take
a 2-1 lead. A close play at first in the top of the fourth had the
Jackrabbit coach briefly arguing with the umpire.

"I thought it was a good call," Noah said. "He was obviously out by a
hare."

"Would you stop with that," Kevin said. Noah's reply was his broad friendly
grin.

When the next batter send a Donkey pitch flying over the left field fence
Noah said, "Wow, he really Jacked that one."

This time it was Scott who spoke up. "If you want to live to see your 11th
birthday you need to stop now," he said as he sent Noah and Bobby into fits
of boyish giggles.

"Even worse," Eric said, "you won't live to see the Easter Bunny come
hopping down the bunny trail."

"Oh, that's very bunny," Noah said with a high-pitched little boy cackle.

With Chris Culver, a senior, warming up in the Mustang bullpen, everybody
knew that the fourth would be the last inning for the Donkey. Also, those
who followed Mustang baseball religiously, and that included much of the
town, knew that the underclassman who started The Nooner never went more
than four innings.

The Donkey hit the first batter on the ass to start the fourth, but
promptly picked him off, causing the Jackrabbit coach to argue that he
balked. The coach lost the argument, as coaches usually do.

The Donkey finished the inning with no further damage, prompting Noah to
remark that he had pitched well and managed "not to make an ass of
himself," which got him a friendly punch on the arm from Danny. With the
score tied at two, the Mustangs would need to score in the bottom of the
fourth to give Mike the Donkey his first career varsity win.

Coach Collins let Mike hit to lead off the bottom of the fourth and was
rewarded when the Donkey lined a shot into right field for a solid
single. He had Evan run for the not so swift Donkey. Evan promptly stole
second base then watched as the next two hitters went out. That brought up
Ryan the Dawg, who wanted badly to see his boyfriend get the win.  He took
the first pitch and lined it into the gap, scoring Evan with the go-head
run.

"He sure wasn't dogging it on that pitch," Noah said. Bobby tapped Noah's
hand with his own as the groans rained down around him.

"I know what all those Rabbits are going to do on the bus ride home," Noah
said during a break in action.

"I'm afraid to ask." Kevin said.

"They're going to sit in the bus and masturbate," Noah said proudly.

The response he got was a chorus of boys saying, "Huh?"

"Yeah, then they can become JACKing off Rabbits."

Scott put his hands around Noah's throat and pretended to strangle him as
Noah pretended he was choking. The boys around him howled with
delight. Noah had never felt more a part of the middle school crowd.

Chris shutout the Jackrabbits over the next two innings and the Mustangs
added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. The run was needed as
Paul pitched the final inning, giving up a run on a walk and two hits as
the Mustangs won 4-3, giving the big lefty Donkey his first varsity win.

After the game the middle school JV boys hung around the field. Scott and
Eric were waiting to talk to Ryan and Mike, while the other just hung
around because it was the place to be seen. Eric was about to say something
to Scott about the gesture between Rich and Marty when he noticed a couple
of girls from the softball team approaching the two boys. He strained to
hear what was being said. One of the girls said there was nobody home at
her house if Marty wanted to come over. He noticed Rich's wasn't mentioned.
Marty said that he and Rich had other plans so he couldn't make it over.

"Did you hear that?" Eric said. "Marty turned down going to a girl's empty
house to be with a boy?"

"I heard," Scott said, "but it's not like Marty hasn't like played around
with a boy before."

"So you saw the hand thing."

"I did, but that might have been nothing, like just an accident."

"But I don't see Marty turning down a girl to go someplace with a guy."

"Truth be told, I don't either. But he just did it."

"Very weird," Eric said as Noah and Bobby sidled up to them, standing very
close together.

"Are you all finished punning?" Eric asked.

"For now," Noah said with a mischievous grin. "Did you see what we saw in
the row ahead of us?"

"I don't know," Eric replied. "I don't know what it is you saw?"

"Yes you do, because I know you saw it."

"If you know we saw it, why did you ask? And what is it you know that I
saw?"

Noah blushed slightly. "Um...it was Marty and Rich holding hands."

"Well, they weren't exactly holding hands. They just touched them for a
moment. It could have been an accident," Eric said, repeating what Scott
had said earlier.

"It was too long to be an accident."

"And now long would too long be?" Scott asked.

"Hmmm, about this long," Noah said as he took Bobby's hand into his, trying
to hide the gesture from anybody but Scott and Eric. He kept holding it as
both he and Bobby looked at the other two sixth graders.

"That's a long time," Scott said. "If you hold hands much longer people
might think you were boyfriends or something."

Scott expected the two boys to blush and let go, but they still held each
other's hand tightly. "Yeah," Bobby said, speaking for the first
time. "They just might," as the two boys kept holding hands.

"And Marty and Rich weren't the only ones touching each other. We could see
you two doing it when you thought Danny wasn't looking," Noah said.

This time Eric and Scott blushed in unison. "Somebody could think you were
boyfriends, too," Noah said with a grin as he and Bobby dropped hands and
walked away.

A couple of minutes later some of the high school players started coming
out of the dugout. They were all carrying their equipment bags and some of
them looked like they had showered. Eric and Scott looked for Mike and Ryan
and weren't disappointed as the two sophomores came up out of the
dugout. Mike was big for 15. He was 6'2 with a stocky build. His dark hair
was cut short, his ears and neck clean, but with some bangs still hanging
over his forehead. Ryan was shorter, around 5'7, with longish blonde hair
that went to his ears and neck. Both boys till had damp hair from their
shower.

"Hi, Mike," Scott said, greeting The Donkey like he was a long lost friend.

"Hey," Mike replied with a smile. "It's Scott right?"

"Yeah," Scott said, pleased and surprised that Mike knew his name.

"I remember you from a couple of summer baseball camps. You are a pretty
good player." Scott blushed. "And you know the Dawg, right?"

"Yeah. He's Ryan." Scott pointed to Eric saying, "This is my friend
Eric. He's new."

"I heard about you," Ryan said. "Everybody says you're a really good second
baseman.  That makes you really special." This time it was Eric's turn to
blush.

"Looks like you were waiting for somebody," Mike said.

"Yeah, we were waiting for you," Scott told him.

"Oh?"

"Um...we heard about what happened last week..." Scott said, suddenly not
quite sure how to get the conversation going in the direction he wanted.

"It was gonna happen some time. We were just hoping it would wait a couple
of years.  We're both gay, and we're boyfriends, and I hope you're not here
to say that is a problem for you."

"Oh no...no, it's not a problem. Not at all..."Scott stammered.

"Yeah," Eric chimed in, not sure he wanted to take the plunge, but he went
ahead anyway. "We just wanted to ask you something about, um, well...about
being...you know..."

"About being boyfriends?" Mike said with his disarming grin. His easy going
manner helped the two younger boys feel at ease. Mike looked back and forth
between the two, figuring out quickly what was on their minds. "And you two
think this is important to you because you think you might be..."

"...boyfriends," Eric concluded with a whisper.

Mike smiled again, and then turned to Ryan. "Looks like these two good
looking boys want some advice from a Dawg and a Donkey. Are up for it?"
Mike was over a foot taller than each of the two young boys, but didn't
seem the least bit intimidating.

"I think we might be. But you know it can't be today."

Eric and Scott looked crestfallen. It had taken all the courage they could
muster to get this far. They didn't want to wait to pour out their
feelings.

"The Dawg and I are going with my parents to Seattle for a couple of
days. We'll be back for practice on Saturday." He reached into a pocket of
his equipment bag, pulling out a small notebook and a pen. "Donkeys are
like Boy Scouts. Sexy, and always prepared."

He scribbled some numbers into the notebook, tore off the page and handed
it to Scott.  "Here's my phone number. Call me Saturday afternoon or Sunday
and we'll see what we can set up. I don't know how much we can help you,
but we'll sure try."

"Cool. Thanks," Eric said. "Can we ask you one question before you go?"

"Ask away. One question and one Donkey answer."

"How long have you been boyfriends?"

Mike grabbed Ryan's hand and gave another of his big grins. "Since sixth
grade." Eric and Scott seemed a bit stunned at the answer. "Talk to you
guys soon."

He and Ryan picked up their equipment bags and headed out of the
ballpark. Scott and Eric slowly made their way out as well.

"Wowsers," Eric said. "They've been boyfriends since they were our
age. That is so cool.  It kinda makes me feel really good."

"Me too," Scott said.

"And Bobby and Noah holding hands...do you think maybe..."

"It wouldn't surprise me. They kinda have that look. You know, like
us. Like being more than friends since they got to be friends."

"What about that thing with Marty and Rich?" Eric asked.

"I'd think it was an accident if Marty hadn't turned down going to a girl's
house. But still, Marty just isn't that way even if he does like to play
around. Everybody knows it."

"Yeah."

As they got out into the parking lot they were met by the twins who were
straggling out as well.

"Hey," Kevin said. "We saw you talking to the Dawg and the Donkey and them
holding hands. What did you guys ask about?"

"Just stuff," Eric said evasively.

"I bet I know what kind of stuff. Me and Kraig were looking around today at
more than the game. Lots of interesting stuff going on between lots of guys
who thought nobody could see. Seems almost everybody is doing gay like
stuff on the JVs."

"Is that a problem if we were?" Scott asked, betting a little uncomfortable
with the conversation.

"Not for us." Kevin said.

They looked down the parking lot and saw Danny chatting with a group of
girls. "See," Eric said, "There's Danny chatting with the girls. That means
not everybody. You guys got good imaginations. Besides, almost everybody
would include you two."

The twins looked at each other and giggled. "Yep. It sure would. See you
guys later."  Both Eric's and Scott's jaws dropped and they stood
slacked-jawed as they watched the twins, and their identical sexy butts,
saunter off in the direction of their house. Eric and Scott stood in the
parking lot thinking about what a weird and interesting day this was.

Next: Happy Birthday, Noah