They lost the toss and went out to field. Ian didn’t wait for O to tell him what position to take, but headed to the outfield, close to the pirate ship near third base. Luckily Dee was far from him on the other side of the outfield, and O had his back to Ian, pitching. They were unlikely to spot the strawberry case. Ian was able to sidle over to Blanca, who sat with her arms across one of the bars on the ship deck, her head leaning on one arm. She had her platform sandals up on the lower bar, and if Ian were at a different angle he could see up her skirt. He didn’t move to a better spot, however, for he needed to concentrate. “Blanca,” he whispered.
When she didn’t respond, he said her name a little louder. She glanced over, indifferent. Throughout their years at school together, Ian had never been able to control or scare her. Blanca was too self-absorbed to be afraid of him; she had her own force and created her own calamities. Ian was nothing to her—or had been nothing. Now he would change that.
“I’ve got something for you,” he continued, then paused, taking his time. A girl kicked the ball straight to the shortstop for the first out, and Ian clapped along with his teammates. “From Casper,” he added eventually.
Blanca snapped her head up and let her feet drop to the ship deck. “What?” she cried.
“Shhh. It’s a secret—something just for you.” Ian didn’t want her drawing attention to herself just yet—not until he was safely out of the picture. He moved closer. “I saw him when he went to the bathroom while he was in the principal’s office. He asked me to give this to you.” Ian pulled out the pencil case from his jacket pocket and handed it to her.
Blanca breathed out. “Ohhh. It’s so cute!” She ran her fingers over the strawberries just the way Ian had. “Wait till I show the other girls!”
“Don’t! Not yet.”
“Why not?”
A boy kicked the ball toward the outfield in between first and second and ran to first base.
“Casper wanted it to be a secret between you two—something only you and he share. Just for now. Besides, you should thank him first before you show it to everyone else.” With any luck Casper wouldn’t be back for a few days, and by then the damage to O and Dee would have been done, if Ian could show the black boy who had his case. He was freewheeling, he knew, like cycling down a hill without touching the brakes. But that was part of the fun, knowing he could crash.
“OK…” Blanca looked puzzled. “Is Casper all right? Has he been suspended?”
“I don’t know,” Ian was able to answer honestly.
“Is he worried about me? He should be. I have to be out here with everybody knowing what Rod said about me.” When Ian didn’t make the sympathetic noises she was expecting, she added, “It’s awful! It’s so hard being a girl. You have no idea.” She tossed her dark curls for emphasis.
“I’m sure it is,” Ian agreed, because it was easier to.
Rod was up. “Make sure you get that jerk out,” Blanca hissed. “I could kill him for hurting Casper!”
As if her words were a magnet, Rod kicked the ball high toward Ian. Another time he might have deliberately fumbled the ball, but now he stepped forward to meet it, catching it with a satisfying thump against his chest. Blanca cheered as loudly as if she had been on their team, which filled Ian with unexpected pride.
They got a third out easily and switched sides, heading in to kick with Rod’s team going out to field. As O’s team gathered around their captain to hear the order of the kickers, Ian murmured to him, “Usually we let a girl kick first. You could ask Dee. Everyone will expect you to choose her to go first.”
O nodded. “Dee, then Duncan, then Ian, me, and…” He pointed to the rest of the teammates in order.
Up first to kick, Dee made her usual short bunt and dash to first base, where Rod was baseman. She stood as far from him as she could, to demonstrate her disdain at his part in insulting Blanca and inflaming Casper. In fact, most of the girls were freezing him out, even the ones he had chosen for his team. Rod hung his head, clearly unhappy with his new role as playground pariah. Ian was smirking about it as he went to stand next to O.
But now he must get to work. “You’ve put together a good team.”
“Thanks.” O had his eyes on Duncan, the next kicker.
“I see Blanca’s got something from Casper,” Ian remarked. “I guess he’s pretty crazy about her, giving her a present.”
“Huh.” O was not paying attention. Ian would have to be more obvious.
“I never thought of her as a strawberry girl, somehow,” he said. “She prefers cherry Now and Laters, if the color of her lips is anything to go by.”
O turned to him. “What kind of girl?”
“Strawberry.”
“What about strawberries?” There was an edge to O’s voice that made Ian want to smile with satisfaction that his quarry had taken the bait so easily. However, he was careful to keep his face neutral.
“She has a new pencil case, with strawberries on it. Said Casper gave it to her. Wants to play with it rather than join the game.” He shrugged. “Girls.”
“Where?”
Ian pointed. Blanca was still sitting on the pirate ship, and had the case in her lap, zipping and unzipping it. If you weren’t looking for it, you wouldn’t notice it—as indeed, Dee didn’t, over on first base. Nor did Mimi, waiting on the bench with the other kickers. But O already knew what he was looking for. And when he saw that flash of pink in Blanca’s lap, he went very still—so still he didn’t watch Duncan kick the ball far past second base and get to first, with Dee on second.
Ian began to think he was not going to have to do much more—the poison was taking hold, and he could simply stand back and watch it spread. He just had to be careful to seem detached, and deny any involvement.
His work done, he was able to step up to the plate for his turn with a lightness he had not felt all day—all week, all year. He gazed out at the field full of a team of players that by rights should have been his rather than Rod’s and thought: I am going to kick a home run now, to show you all just how much I rule this place. He aimed for the farthest corner of the playground, ran to meet the ball rolled at him, and sent it to his target.
Whenever someone managed to kick a home run, any players on the bases made a ritual of walking, dancing, or skipping around them, laughing and shouting on their way to home plate glory and rubbing it in to the other team. Dee skipped, thrilled that Osei’s team was already scoring three runs and was likely to win decisively. His first game as captain and this was the result. An excellent start. He’s gonna be fine at this school, she thought. And he’s my boyfriend.
She skipped up to home plate, jumping on it with both feet, then began slapping fives with her teammates. When Duncan ran up to home plate behind her, he held out a hand. “Gimme five,” he said.
Dee slapped his hand, palm to palm.
“On the black hand side.” They slapped the backs of their hands together.
“In the hole.” Each made a fist and bumped the tops and bottoms.