Chapter 3: Smalls

Two weeks later we were waiting for Benny to go to the sandlot. The guys and I decided to wait for him outside of the corner store. As usual, I came with Mikey, and we sat down with the rest of the team. To pass the time we were all just talking about idle things.

Then Ham decided to entertain us a bit. He stood up quickly, took out a pencil and stuck it in his mouth. He used his body language to imitate someone famous.

"I'm the Wreat Wambino," I said with his pencil in his mouth.

"What?" I asked.

"The Hreat Wambino," he repeated.

"Huh?" the rest of us asked simultaneously.

"The Great Bambino," he said after taking the pencil out of his mouth. He was telling us he was Babe Ruth, the greatest baseball player of the 20th century.

"Who?" said a voice behind him.

Benny finally showed up, but this time he brought someone with him. He was accompanied by a boy who seemed to be around Mikey's age. The boy was wearing a purple shirt, khaki shorts, nice shoes with white socks, and his blonde hair was under a large brimmed cap. He didn't look like he knew he knew much about baseball, and the poor kid had a black eye. I started wondering what might have happened.

"What?" someone asked.

"Were you born in a barn or something?" Bertram said.

"Yeah, yeah, what planet are you from?" added Yeah-yeah.

"You've never heard of the Sultan of Swat?" Kenny asked.

"The Titan of Terror?" I chimed in.

"The Colossus of Clout?" said Timmy.

"The Colossus of Clout," Tommy repeated.

"The King of Crash, man," said Benny.

"The Great Bambino," Ham spoke up with wide eyes.

"Oh!" the boy said after a moment's silence. "Yeah, I know who you're talking about. I thought you said…'The Great Bambi.'"

"That wimpy deer?" Ham almost laughed.

"Yeah," the boy shrugged. "Sorry."

I chuckled at his bashfulness, but Benny gave me look that said I should stop. And I obeyed.

"Um, Scott," Benny said, "that's Timmy and Tommy Timmons. Michael 'Squints' Palledorus and his cousin Jewel 'Dixie' Dixon. That's Alan McClennen, we call him 'Yeah-yeah.' Bertram Grover Weeks, Kenny DeNunez, and Hamilton Porter. We call him 'Ham.'"

As Benny went down the line, each of us spit on the ground as a way to say hello. I knew it wasn't lady-like to spit, but I didn't have much of a choice. On the other hand, a lot of people in Alabama had their own spitting cup.

"Why'd you bring him Benny?" Grover asked.

"'Cause there's eight of us, and he makes nine," Benny replied.

"Yeah, yeah, so would my sister, but I didn't bring her," Yeah-yeah replied.

"Well, with nine guys we've got a whole team, Yeah-yeah."

"You mean nine of us and he makes ten?" I smarted off.

"No, I meant what I said."

I just rolled my eyes.

The guys then started talking about another guy they had before me. I asked Mikey who it was, and he said that he was a good baseball player but moved to Arizona shortly before I came.

Benny then commented on how he needed to practice, but the other guys and I objected by complimenting his skills.

Then they started on the subject that we now had Smalls, but they weren't sure about him. But I had just a little bit of faith.

"Come on, Benny, man," Mikey said. "The kid is a L-7 weenie."

"Don't be rude," I snapped as I nudged him.

Then started the laughing and calling names of Scotty Smalls. Well, almost everyone participated. Benny and I didn't even speak as we both looked at him.

"What are you laughing at, Yeah-yeah?" Benny smarted off. "You run like a duck."

"Well, yeah," Yeah-yeah started. "But I'm…"

"A part of the team," Benny reminded him. "Now, how come he don't get to be?"

"'Cause he's the geek."

"He can't catch."

"Man, base up you blockheads!" Benny replied, annoyed.

"If he gets to be part of the team," I started, not knowing what I was doing, "why can't I be part of the team?"

"You keep out of this, Dixie," he commanded. "You know where the shade is."

I did as I was told and sat with my arms crossed as I glared at Benny.

I felt bad for Smalls though. He didn't know what he was doing or where left center was. I wanted to go out there and help him, but the worst from Benny would be waiting to burst at the seams.

The first time Scotty didn't catch the ball he fell on his back. Knowing that Benny was going be mad at me, I went up to go encourage the kid.

"Maybe you should go give him some pointers," I said. "Encourage him, you know?" I shut my eyes and covered my mouth quickly in nervousness. I didn't want to see the anger emerge from beneath him.

"Sure," he said. Then he ran off.

"He didn't yell at you," said Ham.

"This time," I replied, even though I was still in a state of shock. "So don't hold your breath."

After a while Benny came back and I realized I was still on home plate. My feet rushed me back to my shade.

"Hurry up, Benny!" Mikey shouted. "My clothes are going out of style!"

"They already are, Squints!" Yeah-yeah responded.

"Hey, Smalls," he called to him. "Throw it to second!"

Smalls nodded as the rest of the guys just groaned. He threw the ball and Kenny caught it. I was impressed. Before I knew it, Benny swung his bat, hit the ball, and Smalls caught it. I cheered, and so did Benny. The rest of the team just denied it by saying he was alright.

"Hey, Dixie," Benny called over to me. "Wanna play some ball?"

"Sure," I hesitated, trying not to sound surprised.