Center Field Read Free Page B

school kid. Oscar grinned and raised his eyebrows. A silent drag-race challenge. He put on a burst of speed.
    Mike knew better. This was a training run, not a race. A cold morning a few days before the season began was the perfect time to wreck your ankle, pull a hamstring. Be smart and cool, Mike. Let the hotshot go.
    Mike took off after him.
    Kid’s fast, Mike thought, but baseball fast, not Olympic fast. I can take him. Never quit, young baller . He zoned into the race, concentrated on bringing his knees up, leaning into the sprint, getting his arms into a rhythmic pump. He heard his teammates cheering him as he pulled up to Oscar.
    Coach Cody was standing in the middle of the track near the locker-room entrance, holding up the bat to signal the end of the race.
    They finished in a dead heat. Mike was breathing hard. He couldn’t tell if Oscar was winded, too. He was smiling at Mike. Friendly-like.
    Mike didn’t feel like talking to Oscar, but he thought,What Would Billy Budd Do? He stuck out his hand and said, “Welcome to Ridgedale. I’m Mike Semak.”
    â€œThanks, man.” Oscar smiled and pumped his hand. He had an accent. “Oscar Ramirez.”
    â€œWhere you play, Oscar?”
    â€œCenter field.”
    He said it as if I should have known already, Mike thought.
    â€œSee you later.” Mike forced a grin and headed for the lockers.
    Andy fell into step beside him. “Making nice with the illegal? Gonna give him amnesty?”
    â€œKnock it off,” snapped Mike. “He might be on the team.”
    â€œMight be?” echoed Andy. “Why do you think he’s here?”
    Mike walked away, showered and dressed quickly. Coach grabbed his arm on his way out of the locker room.
    â€œI liked the way you welcomed Oscar. That’s something a team leader does.”
    Mike felt a warm flutter. Billy was the Yankee captain. In a few weeks Coach would be talking to the seniors about next year’s captain. The seniors made the final selection during a secret ceremony in which the candidate would be blindfolded and run through a gauntlet. Not so secret. Itwas a tradition, everybody knew about it.
    He remembered Oscar.
    â€œOscar’s on the team?”
    â€œNice kid. Dominican. He can play.”
    Mike’s mouth was so dry, all he could say was “Thenter field?”
    â€œMaybe. Two practices till opening day,” said Coach. “We’ll see who deserves center field.”

FIVE
    The ankle buzzed with pain as he walked to homeroom trying not to limp. Anger bubbled up to his chest. He’d waited all his life to start in center field for the varsity and now some new kid shows up to steal it. Immigrant. Probably illegal.
    Slow down, you’re starting to sound like Andy. You don’t know anything about this kid. And who says he can take center field away from you?
    â€œGot a minute for the planet?”
    At first he thought it was one of Andy’s riffs. He liked to mock environmental activists. Mike was in no mood for Andy’s crap today. He said, “Bite the planet.”
    As he said it, he saw the clipboard with a pile of papers and Zack Berger’s tangle of curly black hair.
    â€œIt’s your planet, too, Mike, and unless we…”
    The anger was in his chest. “I’m late for class.”
    â€œIt’s late for Earth,” said Zack. He had a deep, older voice that Mike had heard for years in political debates and election speeches, and in announcements for the Cyber Club. Mike could usually shut it out, but today it scratched his nerves.
    â€œYou’re in my way.”
    â€œThis is really important,” said Zack. His eyes were boring into Mike. He had the clipboard inches from Mike’s face. He was almost as tall as Mike, but he was narrow, a skinny neck and no shoulders. You could tell he never played ball. As usual, he had his dorky black bag slung across his chest.
    â€œImportant to