The Prospect by Eliot Parker (e novels to read online txt) 📕

reminance of wet tears. His legs ached and his mouth was extremely dry. With all of the considerations and questions zipping through his conscious, he almost walked past the red-brick home snuck next to the large green mountain. Shane was hoping his friend Chaz would see him walk by. He really could use someone to talk to.
Instead, Shane was greeted by someone coming out of the garage adjacent to the house. At first, he noticed a figure pushing a bicycle. The figure came into focus, and Shane noticed the individual was wearing blue shorts and a baseball cap.
Chaz did not have a sister, Shane thought. Nor did he have a girlfriend, because he was too much of a hustler for that. The girl threw one leg over the bicycle and began to crank the pedals forward.
Shane thought inquisitively. Blue shorts…red cap…bicycle. Then, he pieced the clues together. The person on the bicycle was the newspaper delivery girl.
The girl rode around the fence to the sidewalk where Shane was standing. She looked up in time to notice him standing there, and she slammed on her brakes, squeeling the tires against the asphalt.
She looked up, but the red hat covered her eyes. Her hair was pulled back, away from her neck and the tip of her nose was round and shadowed thanks to the bill of the cap. “In a hurry?” Shane asked sarcastically. He could not believe that with everything that could be going on with his Mama, he was stopping to talk to some kid on a bike.
The girl raised her head, eye level with Shane. He still could not see her eyes, but he had a pretty good feeling she was watching him. Her shoulders were bare, as she wore a red top that was low cut and trimmed in navy blue. The red shirt contrasted perfectly with her blue-jean shorts, although the shade of red did not match the color of the baseball cap.
“What does it matter to you!” she barked.
“Well, I mean, you are pedaling that thing like your pants are on fire,” Shane replied observingly.
“Cute.” The girl proceeded to reposition herself to pedal once again, but before she could, Shane spoke again. “Aren’t you the girl that delivers The Charleston Gazette in the mornings?”
“It depends,” she responded. “Who are you and where do you live? Only certain houses in Sheaville receive the newspaper.”
Shane thought this girl was trying to sell him a subscription. “I am not going to tell you who I am. Since I saw you first, you can tell me who you are first.”
The girl did not respond.
Shane could feel the muscles in his arms and hands tighten. A slight evening late spring breeze was blowing his hair from side-to-side. “Forget it. I do not have time for this. I have to go catch a bus to God only knows where, get my bags packed, my glove loosened…”
“So you play baseball,” she interjected. “For the Sheaville Loggers.” Shane thought he noticed a smile creeping across her face, but he could not tell. “I have seen them writing things about you in the Gazette.”
“I do not read much.”
“Really?,” replied the girl. “I assumed all you jocks always read the newspapers and the box scores to see how well you are doing.”
At this point, Shane realized that he was dealing with someone who had a little baseball savvy. He placed his hands on his hips and dropped his head. When his eyes reach the pavement, he noticed the girl was wearing navy blue sandals and her toes were painted with a vibrant red toenail polish. For an instant, Shane thought her toes might be bleeding, but then the girl would be screaming indefinitely instead of being so calm.
“Miss, uh, I did not catch your name….”
“Olivia”
“Right…well, O-L-L-I-V-I-A…,” Shane made sure he spelled and enunciated every letter. “In this league, we are all in the same boat. Nobody here is really that good. If we were, then many of us would have been called up to the double-A teams. Instead, we are here trying to prove ourselves.”
Olivia snorted in conjecture. “Did you read that out of the minor league baseball players manual or do you actually believe that? By the way, I only have one L in my name, player,” Olivia retorted, holding up her index finger.
Shane was tired of fencing with this girl. For the last 10 minutes, he was carrying on a conversation with a girl he didn’t know, a girl whose face he could not see, and a girl who seemingly enjoyed razor sharp verbal exchanges. Finally appauled with the circular nature of the discussion, Shane tightened his face and squinted his eyes, almost appearing like he was crying. “Very funny. Forget this, I am outta here.” He walked past her and proceeded north up Central Avenue.
In the distance, Shane heard the door to the house slam shut and sound of someone running. Instead of turning, Shane kept on walking. Olivia turned to watch Shane leave, when suddenly she witnessed a rock wisk by her face and land in between Shane Triplet’s shoulder blades.
“Aw, shit!” Shane chirped.
“That’s what you get for not saying hey, jackass!”
The tone of voice and type of language was characteristic of Chaz Martinez. Rather than deal with his wining, Shane decided to humor his friend and see what he wanted. He turned around, now tired from the walk to and from town and his mind still heavy with the thoughts of his mother.
“Did you meet Olivia?,” asked Chaz.
“We’ve met,” said Olivia, in a displeased tone of voice.
Shane’s mind began to spin once again. Chaz used to live with Susan Ratcliffe, one of Sheaville’s elderly ladies who had been adopting Loggers players for several years. She was described by former players as a sweet lady, and one hell of a cook. She lived south of Maple Street towards the old timber mill. Her husband had worked for Harlan Shea and was the foreman at the mill. He was gone now, and she accepted Loggers players for company and companionship. Chaz never told Shane why he was no longer staying with her..
Shane’s body language established the disposition that something about this scenario was not right.
Chaz decided Shane’s stunned reaction was too good to pass up. He approached Olivia and placed his arm around her shoulder. At first, Olivia squirmed and tried to get away. To counter her movements, Chaz squeezed his fingers on her rotator cuff and his finger nails dug into her skin. Olivia bit her lower lip and smirked at Shane. She noticed the young pitchers blue eyes were glazed over since the breeze was now blowing in his face. Shane’s lips were dry and coated with crusted saliva. His legs were together and his posture resembled that of a solider called to attention by his lieutenant.
“I do more than know her, Triplet. I sleep with her every night.”
Olivia jabbed her elbow into Chaz’s solarplexis. He coughed slightly, then raised his hand to cover his mouth. Remaining calm and stoic, Chaz awaited Shane’s reaction.
Shane had no reaction. He stood still and his blue eyes were roving back and forth at the couple. Shane was trying to make sense of this prank, but to no avail.
Deciding the joke had continued long enough, Chaz broke his embrace with Olivia. “Sike, Shane! I was just kidding ya.” His accent was becoming muffled with the Dominican dialect, something that always crept up when he talked fast. “I do sleep with Olivia every night. That is because her family is my team family during the season.”
Shane body went limp. The muscles and internal organs in his body exhaled all the oxygen it had been storing since this whole fiasco began. Shane could see the sky behind Olivia and now apparently Chaz’s home was blazing orange, a sure sign the sun was setting. The young pitcher had lost track of how long it had been since he left Jack and the shattered glass at Ruth’s Diner. What about Mama? If she was ill, could his delay make the situation worse?
Shane could fill his cheeks simmer with angst and he knew he had to go. Now was just finding the polite way to do it. Polite? Hell, Chaz and Olivia had not been polite to him. What would be so wrong in just turning around and darting up Central Avenue and up towards the mouth of the hollow. Shane wanted to. Every fiber in his body wanted to, but for some reason, he kept staring at Olivia.
Olivia was able to verbally joust Shane pretty well and he was unable to really rattle her resolve. All the psychological skills and tricks he had learned playing so many years of baseball did not phase the girl at all. She intrigued him. Unfortunately, Chaz did not keep the atmosphere silent.
“You packed and ready to go? I got us some cigs at Frank’s, in case you did not make it.”
“I didn’t,” was the only words Shane said. Moreover, those were the first words Chaz heard his friend speak in quite some time.
“Let’s clear the air,” chimed Olivia. “I am Olivia Mitchell. My father is Morton Mitchell, the mayor of Sheaville. You may or may not know him, I don’t know. Chaz here decided to move away from Ms. Ratcliffe’s home because he believed she wanted in his pants. I cannot imagine Chaz thinking that……” She cocked her head sideways and raised her eyebrows in obvious disdain for the shortstop’s incessant obsession with sexual ideas and thoughts.
Shane blinked hard, shocked that this girl would be the type to use such lucid language.
“Anyway,” she continued speaking in a sweet but confident voice. “Dad decided it would be good to take in Logers because it would give him a reason to go to the games. We called Walter Mann and asked him if anyone needed a place to stay. He recommended Chaz and just like that, we have a third member of our household.”
Shane Triplet’s Adam’s Apple bounced around his throat like a rubber ball. Chaz never mentioned any of this before, nor did Shane realize he was verbally sparring with the mayor of Sheaville’s daughter. Shane did conclude that this was his way out.
“I saw your dad today Olivia, he was coming, or rather charging, out of the diner. He had mustard and ketchup on him. He did not look to happy.”
“Jack probably squirted him. Dad always thinks he can talk enough about Republican politics to force Jack to change his political affiliation. When Jack hears enough, well, that is what happens.” She smiled again and Shane relaxed his stance.
Feeling sweaty from the commotion, he took off his blue shirt. As he removed the shirt, sleeve by sleeve and then over his head, he noticed Olivia studying his every move. Shane’s muscles were defined and his arms were large and shapely. His skin around his belly button stuck out from his abdomen like a bulls-eye. Upon placing the shirt in his left hand, Shane even noticed Chaz starting at him. Shane shook his head, causing his blond hair to bounce across his forehead. He did not want to imagine why Chaz was staring.
“Thanks for the family history lesson. I have to go. Martinez, I will get you for this later. Remember, we will be spending a lot of time together. Nice dealing with you, Olivia with one L.” And with that last comment, the pitcher turned and sprinted up the road towards his house.”
“Glad to see you two could meet,” inclined Chaz jokingly. “I can tell that went well.”
Olivia was not listening. All she could do was watch as Shane Triplet disappeared over the