Books and Baseball

Tyler stumbled down the cement steps, barely managing not to fall to his knees as someone slammed into him from behind.

"See you next year, nerd," Josh laughed. He rammed into Tyler's shoulder as he shoved past him, sending him stumbling again. "I bet you'll be an even bigger nerd then."

"And I bet you'll be an even meaner bully," Tyler mumbled under his breath. He didn't really want to contemplate how that could be possible. The shoving and name-calling he had endured from Josh all year had been bad enough. The time Josh had gotten hold of his homework and torn it up had been worse. The handful of days that Josh had stolen and eaten Tyler's lunch had been the worst of all.

"How was your last day of school?" Tyler's mother asked him when he walked in the door.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"What's wrong, Tyler? Was Josh bothering you again?"

"He won't stop bothering me."

"Do you want me to talk to his parents?"

"No! Please don't, Mom! That didn't help last time and he just started bullying me worse after!"

"Well," she commented with a bright smile that didn't entirely mask her concern, "maybe fifth grade will be better."

"Yeah, I hope so," Tyler replied, but he had his doubts. At least tomorrow was the first day of summer vacation, which meant that he could stay up reading as late as he wanted.

The tantalizing aroma of frying bacon tempted Tyler into opening his eyes. He slipped out of bed and padded barefoot down the stairs in his sleep shorts and T-shirt.

"There you are, sleepy-head," she greeted him, turning away from the stove with a spatula in her hand. "How do blueberry waffles and bacon sound for breakfast?"

"Great!" He replied with enthusiasm. "Thanks, Mom." He walked over to the refrigerator and retrieved the carton of milk, pouring himself a glass.

After breakfast Tyler showered and dressed, then asked his mother if he could ride his bike to the library and get some books.

"Sure," she answered. "Just be careful."

"I will."

"Watch for cars."

"I will."

"Wear your helmet."

"I will."

"Don't talk to strangers."

"Geez, Mom, I know!"

"Okay. Have fun. And be home by two 'o' clock or I'm going to come looking for you."

"Okay. Bye." Tyler grabbed his bicycle helmet from the hook by the door and hurried outside to jump on his bike and pedal away before his mother could think of anything else to caution him about.

He loved everything about the public library, from the tall shelves full of books, to the high windows that flooded the entire building with golden sunlight, to the comfortable upholstered chairs where one could sit and lose themselves in a good book for hours.

After spending a long time wandering up and down the aisles of the Junior Fiction section Tyler found an unoccupied chair under one of the windows and sat down, placing the five books he had selected on the little table beside him. He picked up the book on the top of the stack and opened it.

"Hey nerd, why are you reading? It's summer!"

Tyler glanced up from his book and sighed. "Because I like reading."

Josh wrinkled up his freckled nose and stuck his tongue out like he'd just tasted something disgusting.

"If you hate reading so much what are you doing in the library?" Tyler asked him.

"My mom dragged me here. She wanted to look for some of the stupid romance books she likes." Josh rolled his eyes dramatically.

Tyler turned his attention back to his book without answering him.

"What's so great about books anyway?" Josh wondered, walking over to pick up one of Tyler's books. "Books are lame." He dropped it back onto the stack. "Just a bunch of words. Boring. Only nerdy nerds like that stuff."

Tyler sighed deeply and set the book upside down on his lap. It was obvious that Josh wasn't going to go away and let him read.

"What kind of things do you like?" He asked Josh.

"I like baseball," Josh answered. "I'm good at it, too. My parents signed me up for Little League again this summer. It's a lot funner than reading stupid books."

Tyler stood up, placing his book upside down on the chair so no one else would sit there.

"Are you walking away from me?" Josh growled.

"No. I'll be right back."

When Tyler came back he was holding a slim hardbound book in his hand. He held it out to Josh with a smile.

"What's that?" Josh questioned.

"It's a biography about Jackie Robinson. He was the first black guy to play in the Major Leagues."

Josh snorted. "What do you know about famous baseball players, nerd?"

"I read this book."

"Why? You sucked at baseball in P.E."

Tyler shrugged his shoulders. "I like reading about all kinds of things. Doesn't matter if they're things I'm good at or not."

Josh snatched the book from his hand and opened it to the first page.

"Boring," he declared after a few minutes, dropping the book on the chair next to Tyler's.

"Okay." With that Tyler picked his book up again.

Josh walked away, realizing that he was being ignored.

After he finished the chapter he was on Tyler dug his library card out of the pocket of his shorts and walked up to the front desk to check out his stack of books. It was still an hour before his mom had told him to be home but he was getting hungry.

As soon as he saw Tyler walk out the front door, Josh returned to the chair and picked up the book about Jackie Robinson before going to look for his mother in the Adult section.

"Hey Mom, can I check this out?" He asked her.

"Of course!" She agreed, surprised and delighted that her son was actually showing some interest in reading.

The next day Tyler walked the three blocks from his house to the public park with one of his library books. His mother had insisted that he couldn't just sit in his bedroom and read all summer, so as a compromise he had agreed to go sit outside and read.

As he was looking for a good place to sit he spotted Josh sitting cross-legged on top of a picnic table. He would have just walked past him except it looked like Josh was reading a book. Not believing his own eyes, Tyler approached him.

"Hey Josh," he said with a grin. His grin broadened when he noticed that the book Josh was reading was the Jackie Robinson biography.

"Hey," Josh replied somewhat sheepishly.

"How's the book?"

Josh shrugged his shoulders. "It's okay. I mean, it's kind of interesting, I guess. Um, thanks for finding it for me."

"You're welcome. You mind if I sit here and read with you?"

"Go ahead."

Before the two boys parted company to return to their own houses Josh commented,

"Hey, I have Little League practice tomorrow. You can come watch if you want. If you get your mom to drive you to the field my mom can drive you home."

"That sounds fun," Tyler agreed. He wasn't interested in baseball, but he liked the fact that Josh was actually being nice to him instead of making fun of him.

"Mom, can I go to Josh's baseball practice tomorrow?" Tyler queried when he got home.

"Josh?" She asked incredulously. "Isn't he the boy who bullied you in school?"

"Yeah but, I mean, he's actually okay."

"Do you want to go to his practice?"

"Yeah."

The next morning Tyler's mother dropped him off at the baseball field.

Tyler found the game a little confusing and hard to follow, but he cheered Josh on along with the other spectators.

After practice they all went out for pizza, and Josh surprised Tyler by introducing him to his teammates as his friend.

"Can Josh sleep over at my house tonight?" Tyler asked as Josh's mother drove him home.

"Please, Mom?" Josh chipped in.

"If it's okay with your mom it's okay with me," Josh's mother replied.

Tyler's mother agreed and the boys raced upstairs to Tyler's bedroom.

"Are you doing homework over summer vacation?" Josh laughed as his eyes fell on the black spiral bound notebook sitting on Tyler's desk.

"It's not homework," Tyler stated quickly. He walked over to his desk and picked the notebook up before Josh could open it.

"What is it? A diary? I thought just girls kept diaries."

"It's not. It's just...it's stupid. I wanted to try to write a story, but it's not very good." He could feel a blush creeping up his face.

"Can I read it?"

"No. You wouldn't like it. It's dumb."

"Come on, let me read it. Please? I let you watch me practice."

"If you really want," Tyler relented, handing the notebook to Josh.

"That was really good!" Josh exclaimed once he had finished.

"You're teasing me," Tyler mumbled.

"No I'm not. I really liked it. And I don't even like reading, remember? You should write more stories. You're good at it!"

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks!"

Josh sat down on the edge of Tyler's bed, looking up at him.

"Hey, Tyler, I just...I want to apologize for how I treated you in school last year. I'm sorry I was so mean. I promise I won't be like that anymore."

"Thanks," Tyler replied with a smile. "I forgive you."

For a week Tyler neither saw nor heard anything from Josh. He was starting to feel like the whole 'friendship' thing had been an extra mean joke that Josh had played on him. He didn't want to believe that was the case but he couldn't think of any other reason for Josh's sudden and unexplained disappearance.

Tyler walked to the park to read.

As he walked past the playground toward his favorite shade tree, he saw Josh standing with two of the boys on his Little League team.

I guess he decided he likes them better than me, he thought to himself with a sad shake of his head. I should have known.

Then he heard what the boys were saying and stopped to listen.

"What are you cryyyyyying about, Joshie?" Mike was teasing in a high pitched singsong voice.

"Cry baby! Cry baby!" Ben added, hopping from one foot to the other.

"Leave me alone!" Josh shouted. He pushed past them and ran off toward the trees that bordered the park.

Mike and Ben giggled and punched each other playfully on the shoulder but didn't follow after him to continue their torment.

"Josh?" Tyler whispered, approaching the tree Josh sat beneath with his knees drawn up to his chest. "Are you okay?"

"Leave me alone!" Josh sniffled, glancing up at him. His eyes were wet and red with tears.

"What's the matter?"

"I said leave me alone!" Josh rubbed at his eyes with his fists.

"You can tell me what's wrong," Tyler pressed In a gentle tone. "We're friends, aren't we?"

Fresh tears were sliding down Josh's cheeks. He wiped them away with the palm of his hand.

"My grandma's been really sick," he wept. "That's why I haven't been out. She had to go to the hospital today and I'm really really worried."

"I'm sorry," Tyler murmured. He sat down beside Josh and gave his shoulder a comforting pat. "Hey, I know it won't make it better, but will you let me buy you an ice cream cone? My mom gave me some money for washing her car."

Josh sniffled and rubbed his face with his hand.

"Sure," he agreed. "Thanks."

Two days later the boys went out for ice cream again to celebrate the fact that Josh's grandma was feeling better and was home from the hospital. This time Josh bought the cones.

Tyler's mother offered to throw him a birthday party but he declined, claiming that he was too old for that kind of thing. The truth was that he didn't really like parties, with all the noise and kids running around everywhere. Instead he wanted to have Josh sleep over.

The three of them had a quiet celebration in the back yard. Tyler's mother fired up the barbecue and grilled hamburgers for them while Tyler and Josh had a water balloon fight.

When it was time for presents Josh handed Tyler a rectangular package wrapped in sparkly blue paper. Inside were two hardbound blank books. One had dragons and knights on the cover and the other one was decorated with smiling suns and moons.

"I wanted to buy you a book but I didn't know which ones you'd already read," Josh explained, "so I bought you those to write stories in. They're cooler than school notebooks."

"Way cooler!" Tyler agreed with a grin. "I love them! Thanks!"

After cake they watched Jurassic Park. That was the only movie the two of them could agree on. Tyler liked it because the dinosaurs looked so real, and Josh liked it because the dinosaurs ate people.

The boys stayed up late that night laughing and talking and speculating about what fifth grade would be like.

On the first day of fifth grade there was a new boy in class. He took an immediate dislike to Tyler. He didn't like how often Tyler raised his hand in class, or the fact that Tyler's answers were often correct.

Tyler and Josh were eating lunch together when the new boy, Ryan, approached their table.

"Hey dorkazoid," he addressed Tyler. "Think you're pretty smart, don't you?"

Tyler ignored him and continued talking to Josh.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Ryan slammed his fist down right in front of Tyler, making him flinch.

"Back off, jerk," Josh warned him.

Ryan sneered. "Yeah? What're you gonna do about it, freckles?"

Josh stood up from the table and faced Ryan, balling both hands into fists.

"I said back off," he growled, taking a step forward.

Josh didn't actually want to start a fight, but Ryan didn't know that.

"Okay, okay," he squeaked. "I was just kidding!"

"Thanks," Tyler said to Josh as Ryan hurried away from their table.

"Hey, no one talks to my friend like that," Josh replied with a smile. He sat back down on the bench and offered Tyler some of his potato chips.