Rooting for Rafael Rosales by Kurtis Scaletta

Author:Kurtis Scaletta
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2017-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

Rafael’s first at bat came in the second inning. Maya thought he looked more confident than he had during spring training at Fort Myers, staring down the pitcher instead of scuffling around and looking over his shoulder. Maya stood up to cheer and Grace joined her.

“Down in front!” said a voice behind them.

“It’s his first at bat as a Kernel!” Grace shouted back. “We need to make him feel welcome!”

Rafael bounced a base hit down the first-base line. He zipped all the way to third base before the right fielder ran down the ball and chucked it back into the infield. Now everybody stood and cheered.

“Triples are hot,” said Grace.

At the end of the inning, a frizzy-haired woman with a camera came up the steps to their row.

“Hi, I’m Monica with the Gazette. I got a great picture of you two and want to use it in the paper, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind,” said Grace. “Are you a sports photographer? How cool.”

“I’m actually a reporter,” she said. “I have to take a photo here and there too. It’s a small paper.”

“Oh. My. God.” Grace got wide-eyed.

“She wants to be a sports reporter when she grows up,” said Maya.

“And it’s so cool to see a woman doing it,” Grace added.

“It’s pretty cool to be a woman doing it,” said Monica. “Anyway, I’ll need your names…”

After writing them down, she handed a card to Maya. “Email if you want a copy. And seriously, Grace, if you want to ask me anything about becoming a reporter, shoot me an email.”

“I will. Thanks!”

The rest of the game was lopsided. The Kernels scored a bunch of runs. The Lugnuts scored a few but were way, way behind. In the eighth inning, Rafael sailed a ball over the fence, and the crowd stood and cheered. Grace looked at her smudged-up scorecard, and her eyes popped open.

“Rafael hit for the cycle.”

“What’s that?”

Grace pointed at the row on her scorecard representing Rafael’s at bats. “He hit a single here, a double here, a triple in his first AB, and now a home run. That’s the cycle. It’s a big deal. As rare as pitching a no-hitter.”

“Wow.” Maya looked down and saw him by the home team’s dugout, waving at the cheering fans. She was mostly happy, but she also felt an inexplicable twinge of loss. Now she had to share Rafael with all of Cedar Rapids. It was like the fox all over again: he didn’t need her.

***

It wasn’t even dark when they got home, but of course the days were long in the middle of June. Mom got to them first, hugging them both the moment they walked in the door. She squeezed them like they’d survived a fire. Dad loomed behind her, seeming twice as tall as he normally did.

“We’re glad you’re all right,” he said. “But what you did was totally unacceptable. We thought about calling the police.”

“We would have in another hour,” said Mom.

“Maya shouldn’t be in trouble,” said Grace. “It was all my idea.

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