In the last chapter, I forgot to translate punta rabia. Basically, it means toe-rag. So Ria was calling Tommy an arrogant toe-rag.
Faith Love Courage: Haha yes you are the first. Thanks. I'm hoping I don't use Spanish too much but just a little bit. Yes I really hope it goes further, and after that, maybe a sequel. But I don't want to get too ahead of myself.
I ate my cereal carefully as Mama moved around the kitchen looking like thunder. Benny had gotten drunk last night with Squints and said something mean to Mama, and so far, he hadn't come home yet either.
"So who were you with last night Maria?" Mama sat down, looking a little happier. I looked up and swallowed my cereal.
"Uh Tommy and the boys. Why?" I replied, sipping a glass of orange juice she handed me.
"Oh a boy." She perked up and I groaned internally.
"Mama. Just because I'm a girl and they are guys, does not mean I fancy one of them. I'm nothing like that." I said, frowning. Mama raised an eyebrow.
"What did he look like?"
"Blonde hair, brown eyes, name's Wings." I said with absolutely no hesitation before standing up and dropping my bowl in the sink. The doorbell rang and I straightened my jean shorts before flicking my hair out of my eyes as I opened the front door.
"Hey Santorelli. What'd you want?" I asked, leaning against the door frame.
"Is the cute boy there Maria?" Mama called and I flushed beet red.
"Mama! No, no lo estásino porqué te importa?" I replied before picking up my mitt from the umbrella stand and shutting the door behind me. "Let's go before she tries to set me up with one of the boys." Tommy sniggered as we headed down the front lawn to where the rest of the boys were waiting.
"What did you just say?" Wings asked as soon as I was within hearing distance. "It sounded cool."
"I was telling her to mind her own business." I said, heading to the Sandlot.
"Why?"
"Because she wants to set me up with one of you." I replied, sending all the boys into a chorus of disgusted groans, or in Tommy and Wings' case, they turned bright red. "Hey, I'm not that bad am I?" I asked, feigning hurt. I even scuffed the ground for effect and they all burst out, shaking their heads. "Good, because now I'm gonna hurt you." I said as we arrived at the Sandlot.
"You pitching?" Timber asked, looking downtrodden, and I shook my head.
"Nah I mean accidentally hurt you, because I wanna try and bat." I said. Tommy winced and I sniggered.
"Okay, to be honest. How badly do you suck at batting?" Two-ton asked, glancing at Tommy.
"Okay, to be honest," I said, mocking him. "I have a hard time hitting air." Dead silence after my statement before DP groaned.
"Wings or Tommy, teach her." He said as the others spread out. "You two are the best and fastest." Tommy swallowed and edged towards me as Wings handed me a bat. I walked up to the home-plate, swinging the bat, and Tommy discreetly slid towards the dugout. I stuck my tongue out and took my stance.
"Okay, Wings, you teach her how to stand." He called out and I swallowed the blush that threatened to creep across my face as Wings moved up.
"Spread your legs a bit farther apart." He said, bending down and sliding my ankle out a bit. "Now bend at the knees and keep your eyes on the ball." He said, demonstrating how to stand. I copied him as best I could and he nodded.
"Tommy what the hell? She looks like she could hit it perfectly." He called out, moving back into his spot. Timber threw the ball and I swung. Bat hit ball and Wings yelped, throwing himself to the ground, as the bat went flying over his head. I jumped, hands over my mouth, as he looked over his shoulder at me before fainting.
"I'm sorry!" I called before turning on Tommy. "Te he dicho que no bat!" Nearly everyone looked at Roll for a translation while I hurried over, kneeling next to Wings. His eyes were shut and I looked up at Tommy.
"Wings pulled a Tommy!" I shouted. Tommy scowled while the others crowded around.
"Is he breathing? Give him CPR." DP said, pushing my back. I shot back, landing on my butt, and scrambled back as my face turned red.
"Ni siquiera lo pienses!" I growled. Roll sniggered and I crawled forward, poking his face. "Yo Wings. You alive?" Tommy cuffed my head and I swatted his leg before folding my knees underneath me and gently tipping Wings' head side to side. Suddenly, he lunged up and planted a kiss on my cheek. I squealed, falling back, as he sat up laughing.
"Maria, you're bright red." Tommy said, snorting. I scrambled up and took off, running into Squints, just outside the Sandlot. Without thinking, I burst into tears and threw my arms around his middle.
"Hey what's wrong?" He asked. I sniffed and looked up.
"Wings just kissed me." I hiccupped and Squints chuckled. "On the cheek. But I thought I'd knocked him out and I was scared and then he was just faking it and-and…It wasn't funny." I wailed, bursting back into tears and he rubbed my back before tucking me under his arm and leading me back into the Sandlot. The guys looked up and Wings looked sorry enough, but I hid my face behind Squints jacket.
"Wings, do you have something to say to Maria?" Squints asked and he scuffed his feet awkwardly.
"M'sorry Ria." He muttered, looking up. "It was just a joke." Squints detached me from his jacket and pushed me forward encouragingly.
"It wasn't funny." I said. "I thought I'd hurt you." He looked down and the boys looked decently apologetic so I stepped forward and awkwardly wrapped my arms around the older boy's middle. He jumped before sliding his arms around my shoulders.
"Aww aren't they just the cutest?" Two-ton whispered loudly. I stepped back and stuck my tongue out at Two-ton.
"Sólo porque Wings puede a una chica?" I asked innocently. Roll lost it and fell down; heaving in deep breaths before letting them back out in great big belly laughs. Tommy sniggered while Wings and the others looked confused.
"Man you just got owned." Roll choked out before composing himself. He still let out sporadic giggles every now and then, but Squints cleared his through.
"I have some news, for Tommy." He said. My best friend stepped forward and Squints led him away a bit, talking in low voices.
"It was kind of funny though." Wok said, resting his arm on my shoulder. "I mean, you totally weren't expecting it. You went bright red." I hit his arm hard and he jerked back.
"It wasn't funny. I actually thought I'd hurt him." I hissed. "Imbéciles" Roll sniggered as Squints came back over. I looked back, seeing the back of Tommy's shirt, as he raced out on his bike.
"Maria, boys. You might wanna go with him." Squints said. I nodded and we started running out, collecting our bikes.
"Ria, come on mine." Wings called and I climbed on the handle bars, thankful for once of my height. We followed the green shirt through the streets until it came to a stop outside his house. I gasped and leapt off the handle bars, even though Wings hadn't fully stopped, and I skidded to a stop next to Tommy as they wheeled his Mama out and into the waiting ambulance. One of the officers appeared, looking down on us.
"Is my Mom gonna be alright?" Tommy asked quickly. The officers looked lost.
"I'm not sure son. We received a call from her, saying she felt sick and she explained her illness before our operator lost contact. You're welcome to ride in the back with her." He said and Tommy practically flew in. The doors shut behind him and it seemed like a second before everyone was gone. I sat on the sidewalk, staring at the road, as the other boys crowded around.
"What's wrong? Why'd they take Mrs Santorelli?" Two-ton asked.
"Obviously Mrs Santo-" I cut Q off.
"Miss. Miss Santorelli." I said. "She's gone to hospital because she's feeling sick." I stood up and started towards my house. "I'm gonna get Mama to take me to the hospital because Tommy's gonna need me." I said, breaking into a run. I crossed the road and threw open the door.
"Ria is that you?" Benny called. I ignored him and headed for the kitchen.
"Mama, I need you to take me to the hospital now." I demanded, dimly hearing Benny welcome the others in. Mama turned around, hand poised to chop tomatoes, and she raised an eyebrow.
"Why, what did you do?" I shook my head.
"Not me, Tommy. His Mama went to hospital and I'm worried." I said, shifting from foot to foot. She sighed.
"Benny, could you drive Ria to the hospital?" She called and I practically zoomed out of the kitchen and into the sitting room.
"Please Benny, please? I wanna go, I need to see Tommy." Benny shook his head.
"No sweetheart. This is a time for Tommy and his mother. I'll take you up later." He promised and I scowled before stomping up the stairs and slamming my door shut before throwing myself onto my bed. A soft knock sounded and Wings' voice floated through, accompanied by the muffled curses from Two-ton.
"Hey Maria? Can we come in?" Wings asked. I grunted and I guess they took it as an affirmative because all the boys trouped in and arranged themselves around my room.
"Wow, is this Benny's room?" Two-ton asked. I shook my head and sat up.
"Hey you really should let Tommy and his Mom have their time." Ryan said quietly. "I mean, you'll see him later. She probably won't." I nodded slowly and Roll started giggling. We all looked at him like he was nuts and he snorted.
"I'm still remembering what you told Two-ton." He said, hiccupping. I started to shake with laughter and Two-ton looked annoyed.
"Hey, we should give you a nickname!" Wings said. "Like Benny is The Jet, Tommy is Santa, I'm Wings, Q is short for IQ." I tilted my head and the boys nodded.
"Well, what's your full name?" Timber asked as Wok amused himself with swinging around on my desk chair. "We can use something like that. Like Wok and Roll are shorts of their actual name. Or something that describes who you are, like Wings is Wings 'cause he's fast."
"Or Two-ton is Two-ton 'cause he's fat." Wok muttered. I threw one of my stuffed animals at him and he ducked, getting hit in the face.
"I honestly don't care as long as it ain't anything like Baby Jet or Little Spain or anything offensive. And my full name is Maria Angel Rodriguez." I said, rolling over to lie on my stomach. Roll suddenly buried his head in Wok's shoulder and Wok look like he was torn between being disgusted and being amused. I rolled over and Wings snapped his head back up to look out the window, whistling innocently. I smacked his leg and sat up, leaning against the end of my bed so I could keep an eye on him.
"You, my friend, are now my hero." Wok said casually, ducking yet another stuffed animal. "Dammit, where do you keep getting them from?" I stuck my tongue out and shrugged.
"Hey how about Hotshot?" DP said. "Cause you know, she's hot and she's got a hot shot as a pitcher?" Several objects hit the kid on the head and he scowled. "What? It's the truth." He mumbled and I rolled my eyes.
"Why don't we just call her Ria?" Q asked. I shook my head.
"Um, no offence, but I kinda only like Mama and Benny calling me that, maybe Tommy if it's a good day." I said. They shrugged and I looked out the window, only just noticing the sunset. "Hey you guys should get going." I said. "I think it's nearly six." The boys shrugged and Wings looked wounded.
"You wanna get rid of us that quickly?" He asked. "Remember its summer holidays. Parents don't want their kids home until like seven, seven-thirty."
"Oh yeah. Well, go home and think of a nickname." I said, pushing them out. "I'll see you tomorrow, after the hospital."
Now if you have an idea for Ria's nickname, tell me in a review. Because I'm not sure. I have a few choices and of the ones below, you can tell me what you like best, or pitch in your own one:
Angel (because of her middle name)
Ace (Because that's what my brother suggessted)
Bulls Eye (Because she hits the bat every single time)
And translations (in order of appearance)
No he's not but why do you care?
I told you I couldn't bat!
No, don't even think it!
Just because Wings can get a girl?
Idiots