The Big Field by Mike Lupica

Author:Mike Lupica
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2008-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

17

HE TOLD HIS MOM ABOUT THE FIGHT WITH DARRYL AS SOON AS HE got home, just because he knew he was going to have to tell her sooner or later.

Hutch hoped his dad wouldn’t stay in the room, so he could tell it his own way. But his dad sat right next to her on the couch in the living room, showing about as much expression as he did when he was on that couch watching baseball by himself.

When Hutch was done, Connie Hutchinson looked at her husband and said, “It happened that way?”

“Pretty much. I didn’t hear what Darryl said to him right before. Our boy acted like an idiot after that, but he doesn’t lie.”

“I see,” was all she said.

“Can I go?” Hutch said.

What had officially become the longest night of his life wasn’t over yet.

“Not quite yet,” she said. She turned to her husband and said, “So what do we do about this, other than telling him nothing like it had better happen again?”

“Nothing,” his dad said. “Nothing could be a worse punishment than his missing that game tomorrow night. I don’t know a lot. But I know that.”

“No grounding then?”

“If his team loses and it’s even partly because he’s not there, it’ll be the worst grounding he’s ever gotten. Because he’ll have grounded himself from baseball for the rest of his summer.”

He wanted to defend himself, wanted to tell both his parents that he never lost his temper like this, never got into this kind of trouble. He’d never even gotten grounded before.

But all he said was, “We’re not going to lose.”

Like he was trying to convince himself of that more than his mom and dad.

“It would be a shame if you did,” his mom said. “But it would teach you a valuable lesson, Keith.”

“Keith” was never good. Keith meant she meant business.

“Keith,” his dad said, making it almost sarcastic, making it sound like Darryl calling him “Captain,” “is lucky he didn’t get kicked off the team.”

His dad didn’t mention boarding school nor the trip to Emerald Dunes, and neither did Hutch, not even when Hutch’s mom asked them why they were so late. His dad just said, “We drove around a bit and talked,” and left it at that.

“Can I please go to my room now?” Hutch said.

“Fine with me,” his dad said. “I’ve got nothing more to say, anyway.”

He got up and walked out of the room. When he was gone, Connie Hutchinson leaned forward and said in a soft voice, “I’m sorry.”

“Me, too.”

“You don’t know what I’m sorry about.”

“Mom, can’t we just call it a night?”

“I’m sorry it hurt you so much, seeing your dad on that field with Darryl.”

“I’ll get over it.”

He went upstairs, closed the door, turned on his dinky fan, flopped on the bed. He tried to close his eyes, but as soon as he did, he saw himself charging Darryl again. So he got up, got out one of his favorite DVDs, the Yankees highlight DVD from the 2001 postseason.

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