Chapter 1: Don't Play Baseball

A neighborhood was a very different environment from the country. There was grass, but it was only your lawn or someone else's. there were animals, but it was only dogs or cats. There were houses, but they were made of bricks instead of wood. The neighbors were definitely noisier than chickens, but at least they were nice enough to acknowledge you.

If daddy moved his office to another country town, then I wouldn't hate the moving process. The good thing about moving is that we had family living here in the Los Angeles suburbs to help us get settled. Mikey lives here, and I can play baseball with him all of the time.

I remember when he would visit us out in the Alabama countryside. He and I would always have a game of baseball with my friends whenever we could. We would try to get my sister to play, but she would never budge.

"It's too childish, Jewel," she would excuse.

Since we moved to this town, Jenna's been even girly than ever. Rather than putting her hair in pretty braids, she wears headbands. Instead of wearing yellow, she wears pink. Not only has she been acting strange, the town life has changed her entirely.

"Here it is," Mikey said as we approached an old baseball field after school one day. "Take a look."

I looked, alright. The field was nothing but sand and a baseball fence with faded signs and ads. On the field there were seven boys playing baseball. Two of them looked like brothers, and they were playing on the outfield. One kid had light brown hair and tan skin and had a glove in hand. There was a fuller and freckled boy playing umpire, a tall boy with glasses on outfield, and a colored boy as the pitcher.

The batter on home plate caught my attention, though. He was Hispanic looking with dark brown eyes and a handsome face. He wore a white shirt with another shirt over it reading RODRIGUEZ on the back with the number 30. His jeans were blue and well worn, and on top of his dark hair was a blue baseball cap. I was starting to like him, but I wasn't going to let Mikey know just yet. Actually, I wasn't sure what to think. I was still taking it all in.

"Hey, Squints," the tall boy with glasses calls Mikey. "Who's he pretty redhead with the white shirt and suspenders?"

"This is Jewel Dixon," Mikey says as he reaches up to pat my shoulder. "She's my cousin. She just moved here from Alabama. Does that help you understand her style?"

The Hispanic boy motioned for a time out. Everyone approached Mikey and me in a curious but welcome manner.

"Jewel this is everyone," said Mikey as he pushed up his glasses.

"Do they have names?" I asked.

"They can introduce themselves," he replied sternly.

"Well," the tall boy started, "Bertram, for starters."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm Alan," the tan boy said. "They call me 'Yeah-Yeah.'"

"I can see why," I muttered.

"I'm Timmy Timmons," the kid with the brother spoke up. "This is my brother Tommy, we call him 'Repeat.'"

"They call me 'Repeat,'" the brother repeated.

"Kenny DeNunez," said the colored boy with a smile.

"And I'm Hamilton Porter," the fuller kid said, "but I go by 'Ham' for short. I like your accent."

"Thank you?" I was a little scared of this one.

"Don't scare the girl, Ham," the Hispanic boy spoke up. "She just got here."

"I'm just trying to be nice," Ham innocently replied.

I shifted my gaze to the Hispanic boy and said, "What about you...Rodriguez?"

"My name's Benny," he corrected. He had a little bit of an accent, but it wasn't heavy. I thought it was precious. "Benny Rodriguez. Since a lot of us have a nickname, what should we call you?"

"Uhh...," I shrugged.

Benny looked up at the sky, then at the ground, trying to think of a nickname for me. "Dixie?" Was all that came out of his mouth as he snapped his finger and pointed to me.

"Sure," I replied.

"Can we play ball now?" Mikey asked impatiently.

"Yeah," Benny nodded.

"Everyone dispersed to their positions. When I tried to go to left center Benny stopped me by grabbing my arm. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"To play baseball," I answered as if his question was so ridiculous I wanted to laugh.

"But you're a girl."

"Is that a problem?"

"Well, it's just that we've never had a girl play before," he explained, trying not to stutter. "And the girls around here don't play baseball."

"That's not my problem," I shot back. "If you don't want me to play, just say so."

"Alright," he scoffed as he let go of my arm. "Dixie, I don't want you to play."

"Why not?"

"Because you're a girl," he spoke slowly for me to understand. "Girls don't play baseball."

"But she does," Mikey protested.

"You stay out of this," Benny commanded.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked as I crossed my arms stubbornly. "Play with dolls all day? I don't think so."

"Then you can sit, be quiet, and watch us," Benny said. "The shade is over there." He motioned towards a little area with a roof over it.

"Generous," I smiled sarcastically. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," he said as he made his way back to home plate.