Double Play at Short by Matt Christopher

Author:Matt Christopher [CHRISTOPHER, MATTHEW F]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316094795
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2009-12-19T05:00:00+00:00

8

The morning after the third game, Joel swung by the Walker house right after breakfast. Danny was still sitting at the table after everyone else had gone off. He was pushing a spoon around his cereal bowl and staring at the lines it made in the thin film of milk at the bottom.

“Yo, slugger, how’s it going?” Joel asked.

“Slugger, hah!” Danny muttered.

Joel grabbed a chair, twisted it around, straddled it, and sat down.

“Yup, just what Dr. Joel figured. The patient is in a rotten mood. As part of the team that is now one down in a crucial series, the patient is cracking up,” he said.

“Very funny, Joel,” said Danny. “Don’t start in on one of those Dr. Joel routines.”

The two boys had grown up in the same neighborhood and had known each other forever. All the Jackson kids went to the same school as the Walkers, and they had started out playing in the same sandboxes. Danny and Joel had been best friends for years.

When they were in second grade, Joel had gotten a doctor kit as a Christmas present, and he took it very seriously. For a while, Danny had gone along as his “patient” and let Joel wrap long strips of gauze around his head and slap bandages all over his arms.

The doctor kit got put aside when Joel discovered other kinds of medicine. For the last year or so, he had decided that he might become a psychiatrist. So now he walked around spouting words that he thought might come from a shrink.

Luckily he had a sense of humor about it. He didn’t mind when Danny and the others ribbed him about his doctoring. Joel could take it as well as dish it out.

“Zo, Danny,” said Joel, putting on a fake accent, “if you don’t vant to come to ze doctor, zen ze doctor has to come to you. My prescription for zis ailment of ze brain is fresh air and exercise.”

“Oh, great,” said Danny, laughing despite himself. “Very original. What would you have said if it’d been raining right now?”

Joel shook his head. “Vell, it isn’t, so don’t get smart viz ze doctor.” He grinned. “Get cleaned up and shake a leg. I’ve got my bike outside. Let’s go for a ride over to the mall and see if the new Dagger of Death video is in. We can watch it later on — if it does rain. Or tonight after dinner. What do you say?”

“Might as well,” Danny answered.

“Come on,” said Joel. He pointed at the table. “Though first, you’d better clean up that mess you made. Hey, you weren’t just —”

“No, I wasn’t crying over spilled milk, Doctor!” said Danny. He threw a dish towel at Joel and ran out the door.

On the ride over to the mall, Joel tried to keep Danny from mulling over the game.

“It wasn’t an error,” he said, referring to Danny’s throw to home. “You didn’t waste any time. Neither did I. It was a great hit and a terrific run.

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