Long Stretch At First Base by Matt Christopher

Author:Matt Christopher [CHRISTOPHER, MATTHEW F]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316095730
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2009-12-19T05:00:00+00:00

7

BOBBY stared. His face grew hot. He could hardly answer Tony. He had been sure that Tony was in his father’s car.

“Hi — hi, Tony,” he managed to say finally. “I just rode down to see if you were here.”

Tony smiled. His crow-black hair was combed neatly back. He was wearing blue jeans and a blue and white striped T-shirt. He came off the porch and looked at the mitt in Bobby’s hand.

“How do you like that mitt?” he asked proudly.

Bobby swallowed. He forced a grin to his lips. “It’s a beauty. I don’t think anybody’s could beat it.”

“I don’t, either,” said Tony. “Except your brother Kirby’s.”

Bobby frowned. “Kirby’s? This is better than Kirby’s. Don’t you think so?”

Tony shrugged. He took the mitt from Bobby and slipped his left hand into it. He tugged at the leather-laced web.

“Kirby’s doesn’t have a web like mine,” he said. “With a web like this almost anybody could catch a ball.”

“What’s wrong with that? It’s legal, isn’t it?” All of a sudden Bobby didn’t know what to think of Tony. Before this he had never talked much with Tony Mandos.

“Sure, it’s legal,” replied Tony. He shrugged again. “I don’t know. I guess it’s all right.” He turned and looked at Terry sniffing around the yard. “That your dog?”

Bobby nodded. “Yes. His name’s Terry. He’s a Scotty.”

“We heard on the radio that a mad dog was loose somewhere around town,” said Tony. He grinned. “Guess it wasn’t yours, was it?”

Bobby laughed. “Not Terry! How long ago did you hear that, Tony?”

“About an hour ago.”

“What kind of a dog was it?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t pay much attention. Mom and Dad heard it, and they spoke about it. Guess by now it’s caught, anyway.”

“Oh, sure,” said Bobby.

Bobby was thinking more about what he had come here for than about the mad dog. He felt guilty and ashamed. Tony was a lot different than he had imagined. Even though Bobby played baseball with him, he hadn’t known Tony very well. Now, just in these few moments of talking with Tony, Bobby had learned a lot about what kind of a guy he was.

Suddenly, Bobby was glad that Tony was home. It would have been terrible to have taken a mitt from a guy like Tony. Guess maybe it would have been terrible to take the mitt anyway, Bobby thought. The feeling of guilt grew worse, as if it were something that had come alive inside him. He hoped that Tony would not notice how he acted.

Maybe if they did something together —

“Want to go for a hike?” Bobby suggested. His breath came fast. He couldn’t ever let Tony know what he had really come here for.

Tony looked up. He grinned. “Down through the gully?”

Bobby’s face brightened. “Sure!”

“Okay!”

Tony tossed the mitt onto the porch. He ran toward the bridge where the kids swam. Bobby followed close behind. Once he looked back to see if Terry was following. But Terry had found something in the yard and was playing with it.

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