“I’m still too young for that shit,” said Laverna, and hoped it was true. Athena dumped the powder into a bottle of Gatorade, and when she shook it, the flecks swirled around ominously. Despite this, Ginger drank it eagerly, and Laverna sat with her until the umpire called her away for the coin toss.
Laverna lost, and the Flood Girls would bat first. As she headed back to the dugout, she spotted her daughter, sitting quietly on the bench. Laverna was not the only Flood Girl to ignore her today. She marched past her team, and pulled her daughter to her feet. Tabby gasped, expecting another assault. Instead, Laverna reached her arms around Rachel, pulled her close, rubbed the embroidery on the back of her new uniform. This time, she let the tears come.
They embraced for seconds, wordlessly.
“Play ball!” The umpire’s call came, and Laverna stretched on her toes, to kiss Rachel on the cheek.
“I’m sorry,” said Laverna.
“I deserved it,” said Rachel, and now she was crying, too.
“Damn straight,” said Red Mabel.
“Shut your fucking mouth,” said Laverna. “Get out there and cream those bitches.” Red Mabel was first at bat, and took to the field.
Red Mabel pounded home plate with her bat and spat at the catcher’s feet. The umpire yelled at her, but Red Mabel pretended it was an accident. She swung at the first pitch, and it flew in an arc above the infield. She launched it so far up into the air, the center fielder could not distinguish it in the blinding sunlight. The Flood Girls whistled as Red Mabel tore around first base. She got caught between second and third, the two Mother Truckers throwing the ball back and forth over her head. Finally, Red Mabel charged, bloodthirsty and frightening, hell-bent on taking third base. The woman whimpered and leaped back from the bag, and missed the toss. Red Mabel was safe. She beat her chest and growled at the coach of the Mother Truckers, and Laverna knew the momentum was now firmly in their favor.
When her team took the field, Martha caught a pop-up at home plate, for the first time ever. The ball winged off the bat and shot straight up into the air, and Martha stood on creaky knees and caught it easily. In the bleachers, the fans from Quinn attempted to do the wave, but the Chief refused to stand every time. Diane hit homers in the second and fifth innings, both times the bases stacked. The herbs calmed Ginger significantly, and she threw with precision, despite the sweat running down her face. She struck out two batters in a row. Rachel ran past the foul line and dove for a pop fly, caught a ball even the umpire had written off. The Sinclairs were so eager to win, they crashed into each other, leaving the taller Sinclair with a bloody lip. Continuing to surprise everyone, Martha actually ran to second base.
“Shit yes!” Martha stood on the bag, and shook her fist in the air. She was drunk again.
During the top of the sixth inning, the Flood Girls batted through their entire line up. The pitcher was exhausted and she lobbed meatballs, right in the sweet spot of the batter’s box. Everyone but Della made contact. After Ronda nailed the white clapboard in center field, Laverna studied the roster. With two outs, Rachel was on deck. Her daughter removed a rosary from the pocket of her sweatpants and kissed the cross before she pulled on her batting gloves. Rachel’s higher power blessed her with a blistering grounder that tore past the shortstop.
Laverna did not know who Rachel had prayed to, but the divine intervention went on to help the Flood Girls beat the Mother Truckers ten to eight. They would be back to play in the morning.
Exhausted and sunburned, the Flood Girls returned to the Thunderbird. Laverna would not take any chances, and put the girls on lockdown. Laverna listened for doors opening or closing, sniffed for any pot smoke, and patrolled the stairwells, keeping watch for an invasion of hippies and frat boys. In the hallway, she played gin rummy with Athena and Rachel, as Frank guarded the doors.
* * *
The sprinklers were still spinning as the Flood Girls arrived for the first game of the day. Laverna, ignoring her own orders, drank a beer as she watched her girls warm up. The opposing team filled her with dread. Bucky could sense her nerves all the way across the carefully manicured infield, and brought Frank. He knew that she needed someone to hold on to.