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business." She paused for his response. When he gave none, her lips
tightened and she said, "Are you a relative? Ben's uncle?"
"I'm a friend," he said, his voice quiet and husky.
"A friend," she repeated. "Do you mean a friend of Kate's or "
At that moment the attention of everyone in the vicinity was drawn to the
Badgers' bull pen. The boys were clumped together in the center. Someone
shouted, "Fight! Fight!" while one lone voice was just as clearly yelling,
"Get up, Ben! Hit 'im again!"
Even though most of the parents left the bleacher at a run, David was the
first to enter the narrow enclosure. He didn't immediately see Ben, but he
quickly picked out his son's opponent, a boy who was taller and wider than
the others.
Reaching into the tangle of excited youth, he located and slowly began to
extract his son. Whenhe turned with the wriggling boy under his arm, he
almost tripped over the nosy woman who had been sitting beside him
earlier.
She was on her knees beside the other pugilist, and now she shot a
venomous glance up at David. "If you're going to be in charge of your little
friend," she spat out, "you'd better damned well learn how to control him.
Just look what he did to my Sonny."
Ignoring her, David carried Ben out of the bull pen and away from the
crowd. When they were several feet from the baseball field, he set the boy
on his feet and studied his face. It was still red with fury, his small fingers
still clenched into fists.
"Calm down . . . come on, Ben, it's over." Resting both hands on Ben's
shoulders, he looked into the boy's eyes. "Now, you want to tell me what
that was all about?"
"I showed my friends where you were sitting and told them you were my
best friend now." The words were tight with anger and slightly breathless,
his thin chest rising and falling rapidly. "Chad said the scars on your arms
made you look like a Ninja warrior. Then Sonny Boosier, who is nothin' but
a big ol' snot, said the scars made you look deformed. And .. . and that's why
I said Sonny's face makes him look like a geeky turd."
David pressed his lips together, controlling the urge to laugh. "And that's
when the fight started?"
Ben shook his head. "No, then Sonny said how'd you get the scars anyway,
and I told him you got them from ripping the heads off geeky turds. That's
when the fight started. Sonny pushed me into Jeremy, and Jeremy pushed
me back into Sonny." He shrugged. "I got tired of getting pushed, so I
punched Sonny in the stomach." He glanced up at David. "Sonny Boosier
sure is squishy."
David cleared his throat and somehow managed to keep a straight face as he
said, "I'm afraid your people skills need a little work."
Keeping a hand on the boy's shoulder, he went down on one knee. "Listen to
me, son. This next part's not going to be easy. I want you to go back over
there and tell Sonny you're sorry you called him a geeky turd."
"But, Mac "
David shook his head. "No buts. This is what you have to do. Because
you're a good kid. And because you're strong. Strong enough to handle the
tough things. I know Sonny was rude, but that doesn't matter." He kept his
gaze steadily on the boy's small face. "You see, Ben, you can't make Sonny
stop doing wrong things. You can only make sure that what you do is right.
Understand?"
Ben didn't answer right away. He swung around and kicked at the dirt. He
punched the palm of his hand with his fist a couple of times. Then he drew
in a deep breath, his upper body rising in the process.
"Well... well, I'm not sorry I called him that. Sonny is a geeky turd and
everybody in the whole second grade knows it." He turned his head and
looked back at the field. "But I'll go over there and say it, even if it is a big ol'
lie. But it's only 'cause you told me to."
David followed along behind him and stood near the enclosed pen as Ben
went back in. Sonny's mother was still there, standing close to her son,
shooting venomous looks at both Ben and David as the former began to
speak.
Ben's words were low and they all ran together, but it was nonetheless an
apology. The look of satisfaction in Sonny's eyes made David want to
smack him, and the boy offered no apology in return, nor did his mother
demand one. It was some consolation that the other boys avoided Sonny and
each reached over to give Ben a sympathetic pat on the back. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]