Chapter 2 - The Pirates

The next day, Amanda woke up feeling rested. She was glad she had agreed to put her leg in a cast because it definitely allowed her enough comfort so she could finally get some sleep. She got up and went downstairs to fix breakfast for the boys. A short time later, they both came running down the stairs trying to outrace each other. "Whoa Fellas, slow down! One person in a cast is enough for this house." Amanda scolded.

"Gee Mom; it would be kinda cool to be in a cast with you." Phillip said.

"Well except you wouldn't be able to play any of your sports until your foot healed." Amanda reminded him.

Phillip agreed that he didn't want to be in a cast. They ate the cereal that Amanda had put out for them and then ran to greet the bus that was pulling up at the corner. Amanda watched them go until they were safely on the bus and then went inside and closed the front door. She decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies to take to the game that night. As she was mixing the cookie dough, she couldn't help but wonder what this new assignment was going to be. She couldn't believe that all of this stuff was happening and that the average person had no idea that any of it went on. She was very proud of herself for asking to be a part of the agency. It made her proud to be serving her country and hopefully she was making the world a little safer for her sons. She was still a little concerned about her safety though. When she first began working for the agency, she seemed to have been brought in only as someone to go with Lee to make his cover look convincing but lately, she had become more involved with the cases and she still hadn't been given any kind of training. She wondered if Mr. Melrose just didn't know what kind of training she wanted. She needed to let him know about her foot so maybe at the same time she would bring up the fact that she should know how to hit. Yes, that is what she would do. If he realized that she wanted to learn that, he would probably be more willing to arrange training for her.

In no time at all, the cookies had been baked and were on cooling racks. Amanda spent some time working with her dieffenbachia plant. She had been gone for so long to CT and her Mother had tried to take care of her plants but accidentally over watered this one. Amanda had been spending time getting rid of all the dead leaves and cutting back the stems in hopes of keeping it from rotting. She was determined to save her beloved plant. It had been a gift years ago from a dear friend as a thank you. Amanda hadn't wanted any thanks. She had simply been in the right place at the right time when a drunk driver swerved into the path of her friend's daughter and Amanda had scooped her up and thrown them both to the ground, out of the way of the car. The driver kept going but at least Amanda had saved the child. Later on, that family had moved out of the neighborhood but they still stayed in touch by writing letters. The plant was an extra reminder of that friendship.

Amanda remembered that she needed to go to the store before the boys came home. Phillip had a birthday party to attend on Saturday and she still hadn't bought a gift for him to bring. The party was for Alan who was one of Phillip's closest friends. Phillip had asked his Mother to get some Spokey Dokey's for Alan's BMX Bike. Phillip was so excited about the party that he had told his fellow Bomber Teammates that he couldn't make the game on Saturday. The Bombers had been on a bit of a losing streak so hearing that Phillip wouldn't be there, didn't help their morale but they were determined to do well without him. Tonight's game would be against the Pirates and since they were one of the worse teams in the league, the Bombers had a good shot of winning against them.

Amanda quickly went out and purchased the Spokey Dokey's from the Bike shop and then returned home in time to meet the boys so they could head to the game.

When they arrived at the ball field, all of the team came out to see how Amanda was doing. The last time they had seen her, she had been demonstrating the hook slide and didn't flex her leg like she was supposed to which caused her ankle to get mangled and that is the reason she found herself in a cast. The boys couldn't believe that she was now in a cast and there was a lot of excitement as they examined it. The boys all wanted to sign it but Amanda knew it wouldn't look professional at work so she told them that she would love to have them sign it but that her Mother would be angry with her if she did. Everyone there knew not to cross Dotty. Soon it was time to play ball and the boys were excited. In no time they were ahead and were able to keep ahead by 3 points most of the game. After the game, Amanda congratulated the team on pulling off a 26 - 15 win against the Pirates. They definitely needed this boost so Amanda was determined to keep encouraging them. She passed around the chocolate chip cookies with bottles of water and soon all the boys were busy eating and laughing as they recalled the good plays from the game. They all raised their water bottles and toasted each other and then agreed to keep up the good spirits as they faced Saturday's game. Amanda was happy to see her team be so supportive of each other.

It was soon time to go home and all the boys said good night to Amanda and her sons and headed off to where their parents were parked. Phillip and Jamie helped load the car with all the equipment and soon they were heading toward Maplewood Drive.

TBC