Page 120 of Payoff Pitch
She sighs. “I always preferred to be treated like an adult. Remember that dumb fuck on the cereal commercial we did once who tried to give us a lesson on how to hold a spoon like we were two, not ten?”
“I remember you taking said spoon and flicking the cereal all over his face and then saying something along the lines of,is that how I’m supposed to hold it?”
She lets out a laugh. “I’ve always been so iconic, even back then.”
I can’t help but smile. “You’re something, that’s for sure.”
Her face lights up. “Ooh, your first smile in three days. Progress.”
“I suppose. I’m fresh out of tears. It’s time to put one foot in front of the other.”
“I’m glad you feel that way because I made plans for us tomorrow night.”
“I have Harper tomorrow night.”
“You have Harper until seven. You’re coming. Don’t think about fighting me on this. We’re going out with Vance and crew. There’s a new Camel, and they want to introduce him to people and show him a good time.”
I sigh. “Fine. Put on a bra and let’s go. I don’t want to be late.”
“Why do I need a bra?”
I point to her bedroom. “Bra. Now.”
“Sapphire,get your ass down. Bend those knees.”
I snap my head toward Kam. “Mouth.”
She throws her hands up. “Ass isn’t a bad word. It’s a part of the body.”
“It is a bad word, and you can’t tell a little kid to get her ass down. Her parents will throw a fit.”
“Her parents gave her a stripper name. They must expect things like this.”
Fuck’s sake. Why did I bring her? Admittedly, the girls on the team were beyond excited to learn that she’s the new assistant coach but keeping her in check will be a full-time job for me.
Kam shouts, “Alright, let’s work on turning two.”
“Kamryn! They’re eight. There’s no chance that they’ll ever turn a double play in a game. We need to work on fundamentals.”
She shakes her head. “We’ve been doing that the whole time. Since Harper moved to second base, I think there’s a chance. She has a really good arm.”
Harper has decided that she wants to be like me and play second base. I almost burst into tears when she told me.
“Fine. We can end practice with that as a fun activity.” I turn to Harper. “It’s different than when you play shortstop. At short, you swipe the bag with your right foot. At second, you tap it with your left before planting and throwing.”
She enthusiastically nods her head. “Got it, Coach Bails. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.”
I go on to show her how to do it before giving her the opportunity to do so. Kam shows Sapphire the proper way to toss the ball to Harper from shortstop.
After only a few attempts, they actually do a good job. It would take a perfect throw from Sapphire at short and a super slow batter for them to get it in a game, but it’s not out of the realm of reason.
I call them all into an end-of-practice huddle. “Great practice girls. We’ve got a big game this weekend. What’s the best way to prepare?”
Andie raises her hand, and I point to her. She happily answers, “Get lots of sleep and eat healthy.”
I nod. “Excellent. Throw your hands in the middle.” They do. “Snakelets on three. One, two, three,” and they all shout, “Snakelets!”
Kam mumbles to me, “Snakelets is a shitty name. Who wants a small snake?”