Mayfield Titans

 

CHAPTER 63

MAY DAYS

 

TUESDAY, MAY 5

 

<Aiden>

 

The first thing he did after cursing his alarm for waking him up was send a text to Skip wishing him Happy Birthday, complete with an emoji of a chocolate birthday cake with a big candle poked into the center. Within seconds Aiden’s phone pinged with an incoming text.

 

It was Skip’s reply and read, “thnx aiden and I’ll c u at my party on saturday right?”

 

“I’ll be there. Make it a great birthday,” Aiden replied. His penchant for precision was showing up in many of his texts. Sometimes a flood of texts made shortcuts necessary.

 

When Aiden came downstairs for breakfast, Larry was just finishing his breakfast at the kitchen table. “Good morning, Pop,” Aiden said as he entered the kitchen. He walked over to the toaster and dropped two slices of bread into it.

 

“Good morning, son. How did you sleep?”

 

“I slept great. It was waking up that sucked.”

 

“It’s a cloudless spring morning with mid 70s expected. Get yourself into the day so you can enjoy it since it’s supposed to be changing by the weekend.”

 

“Of course. Sunny school days and gray and rainy weekends. It’s the law of spring around here. But I told Skip to make his birthday a great birthday so I suppose I should work at making today a great day, too. Taking a nice hot shower helped me and Raisin Bran and toast will help even more.”

 

“That’s the attitude I like.”

 

“Pop, why is Cinco de Mayo a big deal? It’s just the fifth of May—big deal. Unless you’re Skip, of course.”

 

“I don’t know. I read somewhere it’s a bigger deal in the U.S than it is in Mexico. But there is a six pack of root beer in the fridge if you want to take a can out so you can celebrate whatever it is you’re supposed to celebrate at lunch today.”

 

Having root beer in the refrigerator was a big deal since carbonated beverages were a rarity in the household. “Canned root beer sucks compared to the draft root beer at the Bear.”

 

“What you see is what you drink, so take it or leave it.”

 

“I guess I can survive one day without having milk at lunch,” Aiden said. “I’ll take it.”

 

Larry rose from his seat and put his dishes away. “I’d tell you to make it a great day, but by the looks of it you’re getting right to it. I’ll see you this evening.”

 

“Kick ass in your game today,” Aiden told his dad.

 

“That’s the plan,” Larry grinned. The Mustangs were playing the Winton Wildcats at Winton.  

 

<Kalie>

 

As soon as Mrs. Emerson had the yellow school bus stopped and the red lights flashing, Aiden dashed across Lakeshore Road and boarded the bus. “Good morning, Aiden,” Mrs. Emerson said.

 

“Good morning, Mrs. Emerson.”

 

“Thanks for texting Skip happy birthday this morning. It meant a lot to him.”

 

“You found out about that in a hurry,” Aiden said as he started for his seat.

 

“He tells me everything.” Well, not exactly everything, thank goodness, Aiden thought as he sat next to Kalie.

 

“What did Skip tell her?” Kalie asked.

 

“That I texted him happy birthday this morning. He’s eleven today.”
 

“Nice. That means he’ll be going to middle school next year.”

 

“Yep.”

 

“And that makes one more boy for you to perv over.”

 

“I already perv over him,” Aiden told her.

 

“You are so dirty minded. I don’t even want to know what you do with him.”

 

“Fine, then I won’t tell you.”

 

“Are you sure you can’t go camping this weekend? Gordy says he can.”

 

“Good, then you and Gordy can camp together and do your thing with nobody else around.”

 

“Gordy says he won’t do it until you’re there for him,” Kalie reminded Aiden.

 

“Whatever. Saturday is Skip’s birthday party.”

 

“So, you camp out with us Friday night, go to Skip’s party on Saturday and after it’s over you camp out with us again Saturday night and me and Gordy will then be seriously going together.”

 

“Like I said, you can do it without me this weekend, or you can wait until June.”

 

“Brittany and I don’t want to wait that long.”

 

“What’s Brittany got to do with it?” Aiden asked.

 

“She wants you to be her number three.” Trent and Miles had been her first two at intercourse.

 

“Good luck on that. Although she does have a couple of things going for her.”

 

“What?”

 

“She’s cute. I mean cute for a girl. Plus, she’s not Heather and so she might get kissed if she’s lucky.”

 

“I know she’ll get kissed this weekend because if you and Gordy won’t be camping out, me, Brittany, Christie, and Michelle Keeler will be camping together.”

 

“I know Miles wants to do Christie really bad,” Aiden said.

 

“Does she know that?”

 

“He says he’s told her.”

 

“Maybe we can find room for a boy,” Kalie grinned.

 

As the bus pulled up to the school, Aiden hoped that Miles wouldn’t hate him for snitching on him.

 

First period for Aiden was science. Mr. Randall had said he would have last week’s science tests graded by Monday, which ended up not being the case. He said he’d had a family emergency but didn’t go into detail. He assured the class he would have the tests ready the next day.

 

“Do you think Mr. Randall will have the tests graded?” Gordy asked as he, Aiden, and Riley walked to class together.

 

“Well, yesterday was Monday,” Aiden replied. “The next day after Monday is Tuesday and today is Tuesday. Mr. Randall has usually been really good at having things graded on time, so…”

 

“So, that’s your long way of saying yes, right?” Riley chuckled.

 

“Right.”

 

Mr. Randall was true to his word and he had the tests ready to pass back. When Aiden saw his score of 94, A, he wondered what he had been so worried about. He saw that Gordy had a 97, so maybe he had been worried about Gordy getting a better score. Riley had a good grade as well with a 94. Miles, Mason, and Rusty, who were also in Aiden’s class had high B’s. Aiden was not only happy he had a good score, but he was also happy his friends had good scores as well.

 

<Titan Practice>

 

At the end of what had been an indifferent practice, Trent, Scott, and Mac called a players only meeting. Trent had told the coaches what was going to happen, and they left as soon as the official team meeting ended. The Titan players remained seated on the locker room benches.

 

“All we want to say is, we have to be intense all the time,” Trent said. “I don’t care if we’re playing Gardner or Kentburg, playing balls out baseball is how the Titans win. Everybody knows we weren’t great in practice today—we need to find it by tomorrow and play the way the Titans have to play every inning of every game.”

 

“Let’s be ready to kick ass in practice tomorrow by practicing harder than those Long Beach dudes so we can play harder on Thursday than they ever dreamed of,” Mac added.

 

“Mac’s right,” Scott said. “We get them not because we think we’re better than they are but because we play harder than they do or even think of doing.”

 

“Let’s huddle,” Trent said.

 

The team circled into a huddle in the open area in front of the benches and placed their hands together. “Titans on three,” Trent told them.

 

Trent counted, “One, two, three…,” followed by the yell of “TITANS” by the twenty-six JV and varsity players.

 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6

 

The lunch talk at the baseball table was, of course, about baseball. The boys at the table all expressed their determination to have a good practice and be ready to play their best on Thursday.

 

The day’s practice was much different than the one they had the day before. Coach Ecklund and Coach Seaver had them in perpetual motion, the chatter was lively, and the mistakes were few. All the players, especially Trent, Scott, and Mac, were certain at the end of practice that there was no way that Gardner could have practiced harder and better than they did.

 

<Mason>

 

Mason was excited when he arrived home after practice. He had learned that he would be the starting second baseman the next day since Aiden would be the starting pitcher. It would be his first varsity start. After Coach Ecklund had made the announcement at the end of the team meeting, Aiden walked up to Mason and placed his arm around his friend’s shoulder. “You earned that start, Mason. Don’t you forget it.” Mason felt his knees buckle—Aiden was the person on the team whose opinion he valued the most. As Mason walked home with Miles his feet felt like they weren’t touching the ground. He had never been happier as a ballplayer—the experience was almost as good as sex.

 

After their routes split a block away from Mason’s house, Mason let the tears drip down his cheeks until he entered his house through the front door. His mother wasn’t due home for an hour, so he stripped naked. He set the timer on the stove to go off in twenty minutes to remind him to put the dinner casserole into the oven.

 

He then sat at the piano and played “April Showers”, a song that At The Majestic had posted online. He had taught himself the words and had improvised the instrumentals for piano. He sang with love for the boys in his favorite online band and sang with the gratitude he was feeling at being named the starting second baseman in the next day’s game. And through it all, the twelve-year-old was proving to be a brilliant musician. When he finished his pubescent cock was rock hard thanks to his mastery of a song written by boys his age along with the fact that he found playing any music perfectly to be stimulating.

 

<Lenny and Lance>

 

After dinner and homework, Lenny and Lance told their mother goodnight.

 

“Going to bed early, are we?” Leslie Hazen asked.

 

“We worked hard in practice and play tomorrow, so we want to be ready for bed early,” Lance said.

 

“Although we probably will stay awake a little while,” Lenny added.

 

“At least for an hour or so, anyway.”

 

“Good night boys and sleep well.” Leslie knew the boys would most likely be sleeping together and that staying awake meant there might be some sexual activity before getting sleep.

 

“I know what you’re gonna do,” Brenda the Brat sneered.

 

“Shut up, Brenda,” Lenny said as politely as one could when telling somebody to shut up.

 

“Brenda, stop pestering your brothers and Lenny, please let me take care of the problem,” Leslie said.

 

Lenny and Lance shrugged simultaneously and marched off to their bedroom to do what their mother had predicted.

 

“Mom will freak when she learns the Brat isn’t a virgin any longer,” Lenny said as he and Lance cuddled naked in Lance’s bed.

 

“I wouldn’t believe her for a second except that Emmett said it was true,” Lance said.

 

“Emmett has now topped me and topped Brenda, so I guess you’re the only one left,” Lenny told his twin.

 

“Instead of him topping me, maybe I should top him,” Lance said.

 

“Whatever, how about I top you tonight.”

 

“We’re in my bed,” Lance pointed out.

 

“Oh, well, I tried.” The twins kissed and petted to full arousal and then Lenny spread his legs to invite his twin brother to fuck him. The process was quick, but satisfactory for both.

 

“Since Riley got permission to spend the night tomorrow, are you gonna have Grant come over?” Lenny asked Lance after they cleaned up, pissed, turned out the lights, and returned to Lance’s bed.

 

“Nope. It’s the first time for you and Riley together. I’ll be spending the night at Grant’s.”

 

The four boys had made all the arrangements before school and during lunch. Lenny was excited to be able to sleep with Riley for the first time and grateful he had such an understanding twin brother. He hoped he would be able to go all the way with his new friend but wasn’t going to push it. As Aiden was fond of saying, “More shall be revealed.” 

 

THURSDAY, MAY 7

 

Because Gardner Middle School was new their baseball field was immaculate. Because the Mayfield School District had an outstanding grounds crew taking care of landscaping and the sports fields, Mayfield’s was close, but it was hard to beat new. The field was bigger than Mayfield’s, measuring 305 feet down the foul lines compared to the 280 at Mayfield.

 

Coming off their first win, the Bears took the field with a sense of confidence they hadn’t experienced all season. Rodney Baines, a big seventh grader with a good fastball but not much else, managed to throw strikes in the first inning. Gordy fouled out to left, Trent struck out, and Scott hit a sharp grounder right at the shortstop who adroitly fielded the ball and fired to first for the easy out.

 

Aiden, on the other hand, was struggling with his biggest pitching strength—his control—as he walked the leadoff batter on four pitches. Mac shouted some words of encouragement and Aiden quickly got ahead on the count with two quick strikes. He wasted a pitch outside hoping the batter would go fishing. The runner left for second on the 1-2 pitch which the batter swung at and missed. Mac’s inexperience came into play when he overthrew the ball in an attempt to throw out the baserunner at second. Instead, it sailed over Mason’s head. Gordy, who was alertly backing up the play, got the ball back into the infield quickly but the runner advanced to third on the overthrow.  

 

Aiden then hit the third batter with an inside curveball that didn’t break. With one out and runners on first and third, the next batter hit a 2-1 pitch high into the air behind home plate. Mac quickly sprang to his feet, tossed his mask out of the way, and called for the popup, which he deftly caught for the second out. He turned toward third and checked the runner and listened for his teammates yelling that the runner on first was breaking for second. All he heard was Mason yelling out “Not going!” meaning the runner was making no attempt to advance. The extra fielding work he had put in when Kevin was helping was paying off.

 

The runner took off on the first pitch to the next batter, which he lined into left center for a solid base hit. The runner on third scored easily and the runner from first, who was not blessed with speed, held at second. The Bears greeted the scoring runner with enthusiasm—they had taken a first inning lead on the first-place team. The next batter struck out, ending the inning.

 

Rodney had another good inning in him and kept firing his fast ball for strikes. Muddy struck out, Max flied out to center, and Collin struck out giving Rodney another 1-2-3 inning. The Bear players were shouting words of encouragement to Rodney. The game was starting out better than they had ever dreamed. They had a 1-0 lead and usually they were down four or five runs in the second.

 

As the Titans ran out to the field, Mac stopped Aiden on the way to the mound. “You had your bad inning, and I had my bad inning. Now let’s show these ass waffles what we’re really about,” he said. “Just throw strikes and you’ll be in business.”

 

“Gotcha,” Aiden responded. He pitched a scoreless second marred by his second walk of the game, but highlighted by striking out the side, two of them called.

 

It was in the top of the third that Aiden and Mac started to show the Bears what the Titans were really about. Aiden ripped a 1-0 pitch over the head of the left fielder, who was playing in because of Aiden’s smaller than average size. What the Bear coach didn’t take into account was that the little blond pitcher was an above average ball player. Aiden hustled around the bases and slid into third with his first triple of the season. Mac then got hold of a 2-0 pitch and pulled it to left. It was fair by six inches and barely cleared the fence but was good for two runs. The Titans now had a 2-1 lead.

 

Rodney was obviously rattled and walked Mason, who was smaller than Aiden, on five pitches. Gordy, Trent, and Scott followed with singles which scored two more runs. The Bear coach came out of the dugout to change pitchers with the Titans now holding a 4-1 lead. The scenario was all too familiar for the Bears’ players. Before the inning ended three more runs crossed the plate.

 

The Titans now had a 7-1 lead going into the bottom of the third. Aiden knew this would be his last inning, and he made it a quick one by pitching a 1-2-3 inning.

 

The Titans scored two more runs in the fourth to take a 9-1 lead. When Coach Ecklund told Aiden he would finish the game at second, Aiden said, “Let Mason finish out the game. He hasn’t had a chance for much varsity time.”

 

“I was going to leave him in the game and move him to right. If I keep him at second, then you can either go to right or I can have Riley come in for you to get some varsity time.”

 

“Which ever you want to do, Coach. I just thought it would be fun for Mason to play the whole game at second.”

 

Coach Ecklund was impressed by Aiden’s unselfishness. And it wasn’t just Aiden who impressed him, it was the entire team. They were as close knit a team as any he had coached in his long career. They reminded him of the team of Marty Carlson, Eric Simmons, the Corcoran twins—the entire group in fact.

 

“Riley, go in for Aiden and take right field,” the coach called out. Riley grabbed his glove and was out of the dugout in a flash.

 

Scott pitched the bottom of the inning, giving up an unearned run. The run was set up when Gordy fielded a grounder and threw the ball into the dirt, past Max, and out of play. The runner was awarded second. An out later, the runner scored on a single, making the score 9-2. The Titans scored three more runs in the top of the fifth and Scott threw a scoreless bottom of the fifth. With the score 12-2 after five innings, the mercy rule took effect, and the umpire ended the game.

 

Since Gardner didn’t have a JV softball team the boys had the bus to themselves for the long ride home. There was a lot of excited chatter, a couple of naps, and no sexual hijinks.

 

A cheer went up when Clark Pass’s 6-5 win over Winton was posted on the league website. The Wildcat loss meant the Titans had first place to themselves with two games left in the season. The Titans were 8-2 while Winton dropped to 7-3 and a second-place tie with Meadow Park, who knocked off Kentburg 5-1.

 

“Dang, Kentburg’s in fifth place now and out of the race,” Gordy said to the group seated around him. The Royals were now 5-5.

 

“That’s because their new coach is clueless,” Lenny said. “I still talk to Keith even if he did ditch me and he told me nobody likes him.”

 

“His whole screw up about that catch shows he has no idea,” Miles said.

 

“Maybe, maybe not. I bet no coach knows all the rules,” Gordy said.

 

“My dad says a coach should know what a legal catch is,” Trent added.

 

“We have Meadow Park, next,” Scott reminded everybody. “If they beat us we’ll be tied with them with one game left.”

 

“And it means we’ll have split our two games,” Aiden told them. “That’s the first tiebreaker, and it is a tie.”

 

“So, we go to the second tie breaker which is record within the division. Let’s say they beat us on Tuesday. Cough…cough…won’t happen,” Aiden mumbled with a sly grin. “That would make us tied with 8-3 records, but we would be 7-2 in the Division and they would be 6-3 in the division.” The Titans had split their two crossover games while the Coyotes won both of theirs. “That means we go to the championship game if we end up tied with the Coyotes.”

 

“You go, Aiden,” Max laughed. “It would have taken me forever to figure all that out.”

 

“Why don’t they just have a playoff game to break the tie?” Scott asked.

 

“I dunno,” Aiden replied. “I suppose it’s because it makes too much sense.”

 

“Whatever, it’s gonna be another HUGE game,” Trent said.

 

They all agreed the time to start getting ready was now, on the bus heading home to Mayfield.

 

Aiden came home to a dinner of mac and cheese mixed with hamburger meat. He was famished and scarfed down two heaping plates full along with a tossed salad.

 

“I’m glad you decided to save a little bit for the rest of us,” Larry told his son.

 

“That’s up to dad. If you don’t get enough then he needs to plan to cook enough,” Aiden said between bites.

 

“No matter what I do, it’s hard to fill a bottomless pit,” Phil responded.  

 

“On a topic other than food, I have some good news,” Larry said.

 

“The contractor gave you a start date?” Aiden asked eagerly.

 

“They will start Monday, June first and, weather cooperating, they should have it finished by the end of the day Friday, or the following Monday at worst.”

 

“Awesome—a whole new bedroom. I can’t wait.”  

 

Dessert was raspberry gelato. As they started eating, Aiden made one baseball observation that his dads found interesting. “You know what one thing I noticed at our game today was?” Aiden asked.

 

“I haven’t a clue,” Larry answered.

 

“I guess that was a bad question wasn’t it?”

 

“It was just a wee bit opened ended.”

 

“Well, whatever, but here’s what I saw and I’m not the only one who thought this, but when we played Clark Pass and they were lousy, no matter how bad they were getting their asses kicked they never gave up. They always played hard. But the Gardner team got all excited when they got a lead and then quit as soon as we went ahead. They were just going through the motions at the end.”

 

“And now, Clark Pass has a good baseball team and could very easily have a good basketball team next year as well.”

 

“Yep. Clark Pass is showing everybody what happens when you don’t give up and keep working hard.”

 

“That is a very astute observation, son,” Larry said.

 

“Astute?” Aiden looked at his dads who both shrugged. “Yeah, I know, look it up.”

 

“Another astute observation,” Phil chuckled.

 

Aiden was in the research room with his nose in the big Webster’s as soon as he finished eating and put his dishes away.

 

After he finished his homework, he checked in with Nolan. Their nightly Skype chat was about Aiden’s bedroom remodel, and of course baseball, especially the big game coming up on Tuesday. They agreed they would have to make plans as soon as they could on how to celebrate the grand opening of Aiden’s new room. Since neither one had a game the next day, Nolan would be spending the night at Aiden’s, attending Skip’s birthday party on Saturday, and spending the night on Saturday. Gordy, Miles, and Mason would be joining them for sure on Saturday. Grant and the twins were maybes and would let Aiden know their status in the morning. Riley was invited, but he would be spending Friday night at Lenny’s, and one night out was all his mother was allowing on his first weekend out. Since Nolan and Aiden would be sleeping together the next night, they decided to save their sperm supply for the fun in Aiden’s bed.

 

“Just don’t waste it on a wet dream,” Nolan cautioned just before the boyfriends exited the program.

 

FRIDAY, MAY 8

 

Friday’s practice was short and simple as promised by Coach Ecklund. It consisted of batting practice thrown by Coach Seaver and volunteer coach Eric Simmons. Coach Ecklund hit fungoes to the infield and outfielders between pitches. The fielders ran down the batted balls on top of fielding fungoes. 

 

What chat the players could get in was about the weather. The forecast was for rain starting Saturday afternoon and continuing through Wednesday with occasional breaks.

 

“It better not wash out the Meadow Park game,” Trent grumbled.

 

“Well, if it does it means we will just have to adjust,” Scott said.

 

“And the Southwest League Jamboree is next Saturday, the sixteenth,” Aiden reminded everyone. “If that gets rained out, it will not be made up.”

 

“I think we all need to do some naked sun dances,” Mason said.

 

“MASON!” came the chorus of most of the team as Coach Ecklund successfully fought his urge to break out laughing.

 

After practice, the players learned that Trent would be the starting pitcher against Meadow Park on Tuesday and Scott would start against Clark Pass on Thursday. Not long ago Clark Pass would have been a team they knew they would defeat, but this season they had a 6-4 record with wins against good competition. They were no longer pushovers. It was going to be another tough week for the Titans.

 

<Aiden and Nolan>

 

Instead of having Aiden take the activity bus home, Phil was waiting for him in the pick up area. The plan was for him to take Aiden to the high school field to watch the end of the Mustangs’ game against Kentburg. After that Phil would drive home so Aiden could take a quick shower and change. They would then head to The Bear where they would be meeting Larry, Nolan, and Nolan’s father, Paul. Larry was coaching the Mustangs against Kentburg. It was the high school team’s third game of the week because of a make-up game. The Mustangs had won the first two games, 5-0 over Winton and 3-1 over Long Beach, and had a six-game winning streak going into the game. They had defeated the always tough Kentburg team 5-4 in their first meeting.

 

“Coach Fitz just texted that the score is 1-1 going into the bottom of the fourth,” Phil said as Aiden belted himself into the backseat. Aiden could hardly wait until he was thirteen and able to ride in the front seat.

 

“Dang, that game is moving fast,” Aiden said.

 

“Mark Elder is a fast worker. Apparently Rod Sievers is too—plus the score indicates there hasn’t been much action on the bases.” Sievers was a senior and the Kentburg starter that game.

 

When they entered the beautiful ballpark at Mayfield High School the game had moved into the top of the fifth. The ballpark was almost filled, which didn’t happen often for an afternoon game. The Kentburg game was often played under the lights, but a variety of conflicts kept it from happening this year.

 

A two-run homer by Jackson Hallion in the bottom of the sixth broke the tie and gave the Mustangs a 3-1 lead. The Royals scored a run off Mark in the top of the seventh, but Mayfield held on for a 3-2 win.

 

“Seven in a row,” Aiden grinned as he and Phil walked out of the ballpark. He pulled out his phone and texted Nolan that the game was over. Nolan texted back that he and his dad were already on their way to Mayfield.

 

By six the dinner party had all arrived. Aiden, Nolan, Paul, Phil, Larry, James Hallion, and Trent took up one of the big eight person tables. Aiden introduced Paul and James to each other; Paul had met Trent previously, the same being true for Nolan and James. The conversation bounced between the exciting high school game and the tough remaining schedules for both the Mustangs and the Titans.

 

After the pizza arrived the boys’ focus turned to food and to conversation with each other. As often happens in situations like this, the adults entered their own little world as well.

 

“I see that Lewis County is about to get an economic boost,” James commented.

 

“It will definitely pump some new blood into Centralia,” Paul responded.

 

“What did I miss?” Larry asked.

 

“It appears that Cascade Car and Foundry, in collaboration with Werner-Wagen of Germany, has won the contract to build new long-distance cars for Amtrak,” Paul replied. CC&F built railroad freight cars, heavy-duty trucks, and commuter and light rail passenger equipment in its two Seattle assembly plants. They had announced that morning that they would be building a new assembly plant in partnership with the German passenger car building firm from the ground up in the Centralia Industrial Park in the south-central area of the city.

 

“An influx of new workers means a boon to the home construction industry,” Larry pointed out.

 

“Vivian and I were wondering where the developments would be built,” Paul said, although he had a fairly good idea of one possibility thanks to his connections at the county courthouse. It was a possibility he was not happy about but wasn’t ready to discuss.

 

At the boys’ end of the table, Aiden invited Trent to join the next night’s big sleepover, but he begged off saying he had a date with Diane. Trent and Diane North had been “going out” off and on since seventh grade. Even though they had gotten involved in heavy make out sessions, they had yet to do the deed. Trent had lost his virginity to Brittany, who was a seventh grader. Trent and Diane would be joining Jackson and his girlfriend, Arizona, for a movie and burgers afterward. Even though Trent loved his sexy brother, the main reason for the double date was that Trent and Jackson’s father, James, was willing to drive all four to Centralia. This was the first time the brothers would be double dating. Trent had a great relationship with his older brother and liked Arizona. He was confident that the date would not end up being lame.

 

“Well, I hope you have as much fun as we will,” Nolan smirked. “How come Jackson just doesn’t drive all of you since he has his license.”

 

“Because he has to be eighteen to drive us, and he’s only seventeen. He could drive just me because I’m his brother, but the girls are under eighteen too and that takes care of that.”

 

“Then why don’t just you and Jackson go on the date,” Aiden said. “You know, brotherly love and all that.”

 

“I’m sure we’ll have a good time.” Trent couldn’t help but wonder if an overnight at Aiden’s would end up being more fun than a double date with his brother.

 

As the group prepared to leave The Bear, Coach Hallion approached Nolan. “Since you’re spending the night with Aiden, what are your plans for tomorrow morning when he has practice?” he asked.

 

“I thought I’d sit in the stands and watch,” Nolan replied.

 

“You’re welcome to participate in our drill work.”

 

“Thanks for asking but I’ll just watch. I didn’t bring any of my gear and since we have our big game coming up on Tuesday, we can’t be hating each other like we’re supposed to if we practice together. Even if you are the Yard Goats and not the Titans, we’re all the same guys.”

 

“Fair enough. I thought I’d ask. I should be able to catch the last three innings or so on Tuesday.”

 

“Thanks again for asking.” Nolan thought how Coach Hallion was the kind of coach he would love to play for, unlike the screaming asshole who was the East Centralia coach.

 

After dinner, Aiden and Nolan rode to Aiden’s with Larry and Trent rode home with his father. Paul drove back to Meadow Park to enjoy an evening alone with his wife who he knew was going to be ready for a nice romp in the bedroom—or maybe somewhere else in the house.

 

Aiden and Nolan enjoyed a pleasant evening with Larry and Phil watching TV in the Mariner room as the M’s whacked the Rangers 6-0 at T-Mobile Park. Mariner ace Jerry Andrews tossed a complete game 3-hit shutout. Marty went two-for-four with a double, two RBI, and a run scored. The win left the Mariners two and a half games behind the Athletics who defeated the Astros 7-5 at Oakland.

 

Nolan did air one gripe he had and that was the lousy summer baseball program available in Meadow Park. The Meadow Park teams were essentially recreation teams that played only teams situated in Centralia or its outlying communities.  For a ballplayer to participate in a competitive travel league he had to turn out for either the East or South Centralia teams, which meant competing against Centralia players as well as players from nearby communities, like Barrett, Pine Lake, or their own town of Meadow Park, for a roster spot. The Centralia Recreation Commission had a third team, West Centralia, which Centralia, Barrett, and Pine Lake players could turn out for.

 

“That is one reason schools like Pine Lake and Barrett don’t have enough participation to field a JV team,” Larry said. “I’m surprised Meadow Park does as well as it does.”

 

“That’s because Coach Anderson is a good coach and works to get kids interested,” Nolan said. “He also puts time into the Meadow Park rec program and encourages players starting with the fourth and fifth graders to play in it.”

 

“I’ve heard good things about Coach Anderson,” Larry said. “He puts a lot of hard work into the Meadow Park program.”

 

“I’ve also heard Nolan bitch and moan a lot about Coach Anderson,” Phil pointed out.

 

“That’s because he sometimes does things to make me or my teammates mad,” Nolan said. “But I guess all coaches do that sometimes. The thing about him is, he really tries to be fair and, like Coach Larry said, he works hard.”

 

Aiden also showed Nolan the drawings for his new bedroom. “That room’s gonna rock.” Nolan said.

 

“And I’ll be running the CZ.” Aiden pointed to a place on the drawing. “It will run above this storage area here,” he pointed to a trio of wooden chests on the east side of the room, “and I can store train stuff in there. And, of course, I’ll still have the drawbridge at the door.”

 

“I can’t wait for the grand opening. Are you going to have a party?”

 

“Even though my dads will be opening the pool Memorial Day weekend, the pool opening party will be the next weekend and the room should be finished by then.”

 

“Is the pool party going to be nudist?”

 

“Nope, since girls will be invited.”

 

“Then you need a nudist party next to celebrate the grand opening of your bedroom,” Nolan laughed.

 

That night Nolan was the bottom for round one and the top for round two. Aiden loved being fucked, especially by Nolan, both because he totally loved his boyfriend and because Nolan was the best top he knew.

 

SATURDAY, MAY 9

 

<Aiden and Nolan>

 

Aiden and Nolan joined Larry and Phil at the breakfast table. Poured cereal and milk into their bowls, added some sliced banana, and started munching.

 

“I’m surprised you don’t have practice today, Nolan,” Larry said.

 

“Coach Bradley doesn’t like Saturday practices. Since the Centralia athletic complex has lights, we have practice Wednesday nights,” Nolan said.

 

“And that means on Wednesday Nolan has two practices,” Aiden told Larry in case his pop couldn’t figure it out on his own.

 

“How do you get from practice in Meadow Park to practice in Centralia?” Phil asked.

 

“The parents have a carpool,” Nolan replied. “School practice is over by five and the Scrappers practice starts at seven, so we have time to eat. Besides, the Jamboree is next weekend, and we have to practice sometime or other.”

 

Aiden looked out the window. “Those incoming clouds look nasty.”

 

“It’s not raining yet,” Larry pointed out.

 

Aiden gulped down his last spoonful of cereal and announced he would be ready to ride to practice in ten minutes. He left the table, put his dishes away, and headed upstairs.

 

“I’m ready to go right now,” Nolan told Larry and Phil. “My hat and jacket are in the rec room. Which one of you is driving? Not that it matters.”

 

Phil raised his hand. Aiden was back downstairs in less than ten minutes. The rain held off until forty minutes into practice. Unlike most Washington rains, it didn’t start as a drizzle, it came down hard from the start. Coach Hallion called off practice a half hour early. Aiden called his dad for an early ride home. The Yard Goat players waited for their rides in the shelter of the two dugouts. Those who normally would have walked home were promised rides by a teammate or by one of the coaches.

 

When Aiden and Nolan saw Phil approach the pick up area in the Odyssey, they ran to the car and seated themselves in backseat.

 

“Do you think this rain will stop by Tuesday?” Aiden asked Phil.

 

“I’m not a weatherman, but the ones I’ve been checking on say that except for intermittent breaks, expect heavy rain until Wednesday afternoon. Some areas are already giving flood warnings,” Phil replied.

 

“Well, Nolan and I are hoping they’re wrong. We don’t want to have to deal with playing makeup games, especially with the Jamboree this coming weekend. Somehow we’ll need to cover nine innings of baseball for the Jamboree.” Each team in the league played three three-inning games in the Jamboree.

 

“And one of us will probably go to the league playoff and we have to save our best pitchers for that,” Nolan said.

 

<Skip>

 

Skip’s birthday party was going to be held at his grandmother Emerson’s since her old Victorian house had more room for a load of preteen and tween children. The big back room, which was built as a parlor, had become a children’s playroom when Rita Emerson’s children were growing up, and that was what it still was. A big room with games and toys and nothing valuable for rowdy children to break.

 

Since Skip spent a great deal of time staying at his grandmother’s house the play area was well-used. Skip had invited a large number of friends, classmates, and teammates, fifteen of whom said they would be attending. Skip was one of the most popular boys at Parkwood Elementary school. He was a good athlete, a good student, a leader, immensely cute, and extremely outgoing.

 

The fact that he was attracted to boys wasn’t an issue since that was a common occurrence among the fifth-grade boys. And the fact that he enjoyed regular sex play with two of the boys wasn’t unusual either. Everyone was also aware that he was also friends with girls. Five of the fifteen friends who came to the party were girls.

 

Skip had regular sex with Gage Polk, a fourth grader, who had been his best friend since preschool. Aiden had helped Skip and Gage with the finer points of oral sex. He also told them about the finer points of anal sex, although they had yet to put the information to use. The other boy Skip enjoyed regular sexual fun with was Javier Lopez, also a fourth grader. Javier was Skip’s neighbor across the street. Hardly a weekend night went by when Skip wasn’t in bed with one or both, and on occasion he enjoyed sex with his older mentor, Aiden, or with Aiden’s friends at a party.

 

Aiden and Nolan were the oldest boys at the party. Sixth graders Lenny, Lance, and Emmett were the only other middle school boys. Of the remaining five boys all but Gage and Javier were fifth graders who would be attending Mayfield Middle School the next school year. Those two were fourth graders.

 

The party went smoothly. The food was the old birthday standby, pizza, cake, and ice cream. Games planned by Skip’s grandmother, mother, and himself kept everyone busy and the food filled everyone up. Nothing of a sexual nature happened and not very much was discussed. When he had a chance, Skip asked Aiden when Justin would be visiting again. He was disappointed to learn that Aiden didn’t know. After meeting Justin and messing around with him, Skip had found himself with a major crush on the nine-year-old.

He also asked the question Aiden was expecting. “I’m eleven now. When are you going to fuck me?” Skip asked in a very private moment.

 

“When we have the time and place to do it. I want to be sure when it happens it’s very special for a very special friend.”

 

“Thanks. I just needed to know. I’ll try not to bug you about it.”

 

“Which might help make it happen sooner,” Aiden grinned.

 

Mrs. Emerson made sure to thank Aiden and Nolan for coming to Skip’s party. “Skip worships the ground you two boys walk on,” she told them. “He loves how you treat him like a real person and not a little kid.” I’m sure he loves how I mess around with him, too, Aiden thought.

 

After the party ended, Larry picked up Nolan and Aiden and drove them home. Gordy, Miles, Mason, Lance, and Grant all arrived at Aiden’s by five-thirty. They had been told that dinner would be a light one of soup and sandwiches, plus there would be cookies and ice cream for snacking.

 

When all seven boys were in the basement, they stripped naked and enjoyed an evening of games, watching the Mariners on the TV in the back room, hot tubbing, and getting each other off with hand jobs and blow jobs. It was a typical group evening at Aiden’s house. Mason had made his goal for the evening to suck all six of the boys before they headed for bed. He was successful, giving Grant and Nolan their first cums of the night. The rest enjoyed their seconds in Mason’s talented mouth.

 

Gordy, Nolan, and Aiden squeezed into Aiden’s bed that night. They kissed, petted, and humped until each had squirted cum on one of the others. Aiden fell asleep thinking that a king size bed would be the perfect piece of new furniture in his remodeled bedroom. 

 

<Trent>

 

Trent’s date with Diane went well. Trent and Diane pawed each other below the waist during the movie with Trent getting one quick feel of Diane’s budding breasts through her shirt and bra. Trent saw that Jackson and Arizona were making out discreetly as well. When Diane slowly unzipped Trent and worked her fingers inside of his pants and boxers, the result was inevitable. Fortunately, Diane had plenty of tissues in her clutch. There were a lot of teens at the action movie making out, but with disapproving adults in attendance, almost all of them were as surreptitious as they could be.

 

After the movie, the four stopped at a restaurant for hamburgers, fries, and sodas. Jackson called his dad and told him they were ready to come home. "Did you really make Trent cum?" Arizona asked Diane.

 

Diane blushed and nodded. “I didn’t mean to,” she murmured.

 

“My little brother is such a sexy stud you just couldn’t help it,” Jackson chuckled.

 

Trent blushed almost as deeply as Diane had.

 

“We need to have a four way sometime soon,” Jackson said.

 

Arizona was all for it, Trent said he would have to think about it, and Diane said there was no way she would do that. That was when James Hallion entered the restaurant and they started back to Mayfield.

 

That night Trent and Jackson traded blow jobs for a perfect end to their first double date. Jackson talked Trent into trying the four-way and if Diane wasn’t willing then maybe Arizona could get a friend to be the fourth.

 

“Or we could just make it a three-way,” Trent suggested.

 

“That might work too,” Jackson grinned. “I know I’ve told you this before, but Arizona is a great lay.”

 

MONDAY, MAY 11

 

It rained steadily all day Sunday except for an hour break around noon. Monday’s baseball and softball practices were canceled.

 

“Unless a meteorological miracle occurs, I don’t see us playing tomorrow,” Coach Ecklund said as he addressed the team in a brief team meeting in the locker room. “As good as the school district’s groundskeepers are I don’t see them getting the field ready for play tomorrow unless that rain stops now.”

 

When he got home, Mason thought about using the extra time he now had available to perfect “April Showers” and maybe start teaching himself another At The Majestic song titled “Missing You.” Instead, he ended up riding Aiden’s bus home with Aiden and found himself naked in Aiden’s bed getting his ass pounded by his best friend. I can always learn the other song later, he thought.

 

Staying over for dinner with Aiden and his dads was a special treat and his mother said he could stay longer to work on his homework with Aiden if Aiden’s dads promised they would make sure he did his homework. They all held to their promises. Mason was home well before the deadline his mother had set and totally enjoyed having Aiden, a friend he loved like no other, all to himself for an evening.

 

TUESDAY, MAY 12

 

All the baseball and softball in Lewis County and its adjoining counties had been called because of rain before lunchtime.

 

“Like my pop likes to say about Lewis County weather. ‘April showers bring May showers,’ Aiden said.

 

After school, Aiden, Miles, Riley, Kalie, and Brittany went to Gordy’s house to study, eat snacks, and engage in chatter. Because they were at Gordy’s house everybody kept their clothes on, but nobody complained; they understood what the deal was. Mason decided not to come since he didn’t want to push his luck in asking for permission to spend another afternoon at a friend’s house.

 

“Mason, I’ll tell you what I told you yesterday,” Aiden said as they went to their lockers after seventh period. “You would have been at practice if it wasn’t raining, so why not do homework with your friends during that time? If you don’t get it done, well, you just do it during when you would have done it if we had practice.”

 

“My mom usually doesn’t think very logically,” Mason responded, and he set off on his own for home. As much as he wanted to be with his friends, he was also eager to work on his music.

 

The six gathered at Gordy’s managed to generally stay on task and had their homework finished by the time they had to leave for home. Gordy’s mom had not planned for a houseful of kids or she would have invited them to stay for dinner. But the readily available cookies and packaged snacks more than satisfied their pubescent appetites. Flo Lansing hoped that Gordy’s friends had left room for dinner so she wouldn’t have to field phone calls from their mothers wondering how they could have had so much food it killed their appetites. Flo wondered the same thing since the snacks Gordy had pulled down were supposed to last a few days. She stopped worrying when she saw Gordy wolf down his dinner with an undiminished appetite.

 

One topic of conversation was when the makeup game would take place. The league had games scheduled for Thursday and the league championship game was scheduled for the following Thursday, the 21^st.

 

“I bet we will play Friday or Saturday,” Gordy speculated. “They won’t want to play games the same week as the playoff game or it would screw up their pitching.”

 

“You’re probably right, but what if it keeps raining?” Riley asked.

 

“Look out the window. It quit raining about twenty minutes ago and the forecast is for partly sunny by Thursday,” Kalie pointed out.

 

Aiden had the same conversation with Nolan on Skype that night. He and Nolan were disappointed in the game being canceled. They knew they had to make up the game soon because the season was ending, and they speculated on the makeup day. Nolan agreed with Gordy that it would be Friday or Saturday.

 

They then fantasized about being at Skip’s birthday party and going to the guest bedroom with Skip and Emmett. Aiden knew that Skip often stayed with his grandmother and that the guest room was essentially Skip’s room. Their fantasy had Aiden giving Skip his first fucking and Nolan giving Emmett his first. The boyfriends jerked off as they talked their way through the fantasy enjoying nearly simultaneous orgasms at the end.

 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13

 

Wednesday started gray but dry. By lunch, the sun started breaking through the clouds. The boys wondered if the makeup dates had been set and then decided that even if they had been, they wouldn’t learn what they were until practice started. They weren’t quite right about the timing, however. When Mr. Donovan, the principal, came on the PA for the end of the day announcements he said that the makeup game would be Friday and would be an away game for the varsity boys and a home game for the varsity girls. It was understood that the JV schedule was the flip of the varsity schedule.

 

When the Titan baseball players took the field for practice they were pleased with the condition of the infield. It was smooth and dry because the groundskeepers had covered it with a tarp as the rain started to fall. The outfield was a bit mucky in places. Coach Ecklund told his players that the groundskeepers had assured him the outfield would be in good shape by Friday as long as it didn’t rain. The forecast was for sunny and warm on Thursday which would help the drying process.

 

Practice was basic fielding work along with some baserunning. Even though the players hadn’t practiced since the truncated Yard Goats’ practice on Saturday, and the Titans would be playing Thursday and Friday, Coach Ecklund elected not to push things too hard. At this point in the season the players knew their roles. He wished they could have batting practice, but he didn’t want someone slipping on a wet spot in the outfield. He could station outfielders in the dry areas for fielding practice since the fungoes could be limited to those areas, but batting practice hits weren’t as obedient.

 

After practice, the coach held the usual post-practice meeting. “Coach Armstrong at Clark Pass told me their outfield should be playable tomorrow. If it’s not, the game will be transferred here and the JV game will be cancelled with no makeup.”

 

“That’s not fair,” Rusty groused. “We’re already getting cheated out of games.”

 

“It should be okay. Coach Armstrong thinks it will be playable. We’re also discussing the possibility of playing both games but switching the fields. The athletic directors will make a decision tomorrow morning.” He went on to announce the starting lineup for the next day’s game and the starting pitcher for Friday. As the players had predicted amongst themselves, Scott would be starting against Clark Pass and Trent against Meadow Park.

 

“The last thing I have is an answer to the question some of you have asked me,” Coach Ecklund continued. “And that is, since the championship game is Thursday next week, why not play the makeup game on Monday? The answer is simply that the league doesn’t want the coaches to have to worry about pitchers’ innings next Thursday. Every pitcher is eligible to pitch his full allotment of innings meaning both teams start out even. I know I’m happy I don’t have to use up one of my top pitchers on Monday and not have him available on Thursday.

 

“Eat healthy and get a good night’s sleep. I’ll see you all tomorrow,” Coach Ecklund finished.

 

Aiden took the activity bus home. When he entered the house he smelled dinner and the juices started flowing. “By the time you wash up dinner will be ready,” Phil told him.

 

“It smells good. What are we having?”

 

“Beef stroganoff.”

 

“Yummy. Have you heard anything about Pop’s game?”

 

“Coach Fitz texted they were ahead of Harborview 7-3 in the fifth.” The Mustangs had to deal with makeup games as well since the league tournament would be starting next week. Eight Seamount League teams would be playing to earn one of the four spots the league was allotted in the Southwest District tournament. Aiden could hardly wait for high school baseball so he could play in a lot of postseason games.

 

“That’s a great score since Harborview beat us the first time.”

 

“Yes, it is. Now go wash up. We have plenty of time to talk while we eat.”

 

“But…”

 

“And you’ll still make your board meeting on time.” Phil had correctly predicted what Aiden had planned to say.

 

“Thanks, Dad.”

 

Just as Larry and Phil finished cleaning the table, they learned that the Mustangs ended up with an 8-6 win and kept their hold on first place. That put them both in a good mood as Phil drove Aiden to the community center for the board meeting.

 

Aiden was the fifth Mayfield Baseball Club board member to arrive. Jackson, Trent, Scott, and Andy Hoffman had arrived ahead of him. He grinned when he saw the two plates of cookies laid out on one of the tables. The board members agreed that one person would be picked at random to be responsible for bringing cookies to the next board meeting. Jackson and Trent said after the election meeting that they would take care of the first batch and the drawings would start at the May board meeting. They brought one batch of lemon sugar cookies and one batch of peanut butter cookies. Aiden couldn’t wait to eat some.

 

All the board members were at the meeting at the scheduled start time. Jackson brought the meeting to order, and they went through the usual business of reading minutes along with the standard reports. The agenda had two resolutions that had been presented at a previous meeting and were set aside to be decided by the new board. Anything the board approved would be brought up for a vote by the general members at the June general membership meeting.

 

The first resolution was a by-law change that had been submitted by Aiden. The resolution recommended that one of the three adult board positions be made an at-large position that both adults and players could run for.  After the usual business of turning the resolution into a motion, the motion was discussed and voted on. The proposal won by a 7-4 vote.

 

The second was also a by-law change that was also proposed by Aiden. It proposed that non-board members could sit in on a coach selection committee and have a vote. They would need be nominated to the committee by the committee chair and then approved by at least eight board members. After being discussed and becoming a motion the proposal was voted on. It passed 11-0.

 

After completing some other business along with making sure all the cookies were consumed, Jackson adjourned the meeting. The board decided to meet Tuesday, June second, the day before the last general meeting of the school year. The date was tentative because the summer league baseball schedules had not yet been made. Most years the June meeting ended up being scheduled before school ended and then rescheduled as a day meeting after school ended once the baseball schedules came out.

 

As much as Aiden enjoyed having the responsibility of being on the board of the Mayfield Baseball Club, he enjoyed arriving home, getting naked, and having a video chat with Nolan even more.

 

For the Titans, the next few days would present the kind of challenge good athletes of any age lived for and would be about why playing sports could be so special. Clark Pass was surprising everybody with a good team and it was one the Titans were concerned about. Meadow Park played Winton tomorrow. The teams were tied at 7-3. If the Titans beat Clark Pass, then they clinch the race for the division title and go on to the championship game.

 

And then there would be the showdown with Meadow Park, a game that might decide first place in the division. It would also be important to Aiden on a personal level with the competition between him and his boyfriend being at a high level. Both Aiden and Nolan would be wishing they could enjoy the battle first as teammates rather than as rivals. And to top it off, the Jamboree was the Saturday between the day after the Meadow Park game.

 

Aiden went through all the possibilities with Phil, then decided the thinking was going to give him a headache, so he may as well concentrate on eating.

 

But Aiden and his teammates couldn’t escape the truth. Crunch time had arrived for the Mayfield Titans. The key for them reaching the championship game was to win their last two games. If they did that, then what the other teams did wouldn’t mean a thing.

 

Next: Crunch Time