Chapter 18
2145 Words
FRITZ SHUDDERED AT the thought of the week ahead. The tournament would start on Monday. Linda had a test on Tuesday. Ashley"s Aristocrats were in Wednesday"s second game.
FRITZ SHUDDERED ATA call from the president interrupted his class preparation. He said he wanted to speak to the Israeli prime minister face-to-face before the summit. “I want to use the portal to remind him and to get his input on how he thinks the rest are going to react. Want to come with me?”
“Mr. President, my tournament starts tomorrow. When do you want to go?”
“How about next weekend? It shouldn"t be for long.”
As busy as she was, Linda took a moment to complain that the portal was nothing more than convenient transportation. “He could make a phone call.”
* * *
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, they"re gone,” yelled the man. He listened to the description. An empty bungalow, four dead men, and empty cartridges found around the perimeter. “Did they get away? Were they arrested?” Once again, he had assigned a simple job that had not been done. “Find out and call me back.”
* * *
THE START OF the Phillies spring training topped the morning news on the car radio. The tournament pounded in Fritz"s head as he walked in. Liz Chambers waited at his door.
“Morning, Fritz, I think we"ll need the cafeteria today. My last class will set up everything. On Friday, I asked a couple of seniors to set up the video cameras.”
“Thanks, Liz. I hadn"t even thought about that.”
“Will George introduce everyone today?”
“He said he would.”
With his thoughts floating elsewhere, Fritz chose topics to engage his classes and free him to think about the week ahead. In the first class, he listed some inventions of the mid-1800s and let the class discuss which were most important. He included Samuel Colt"s revolver, the sewing machine, pasteurization, Morse code, and the daguerreotype. While the class argued, he made notes on questions about the summit. Second period, he discussed the use of fear to polarize the electorate. He listed the 1919 red scare, the post-World War II red scare, and terrorism in the Middle East. For his American History classes, he handed out “The Sentiments” from the Seneca Falls convention, and the classes discussed the beginnings of the women"s rights movement.
“Mr. R?”
“Go ahead, Fran.”
“The Sentiments sound a lot like the Declaration of Independence. Was that intentional?”
“Yes, I believe it was. When it was written, America had had time to become the country the Founders wanted. The Sentiments emphasized that the same reasoning used to gain independence from England argued that women should have the same rights as men. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, the primary authors, were abolitionists and believed that equality should be for everyone. In 1848, they wanted laws changed.”
“Like how?”
“Just a couple before the bell. Women couldn"t vote, but if they were single and inherited a house, they had to pay taxes. So, taxation without representation. Also, if a woman had income, it belonged to her husband, as did her personal property.”
“That"s not fair.”
Fritz leaned against his desk. “Women"s rights have developed slowly. It took from 1848 when the Sentiments were signed, until 1920 for women to get the right to vote. So yeah, it wasn"t fair. How is it now?”
The class lit up for the remaining few minutes. No hands were raised, and the points the students threw into the air included pay inequality, women"s healthcare, and domestic a***e. When the bell rang, Fritz congratulated them on an enlightened discussion. “Remember all this when, not too long from now, you"re making decisions about your world.”
At lunchtime, he refocused on the tournament. Cruising through to last period, he welcomed his excited ninth graders with a discussion of the Eighteenth Amendment, which prohibited alcoholic beverages. They discussed how to fix bad laws.
With only a few minutes remaining, he asked, “So, are you all ready?”
Susan asked, “Mr. R, does Mr. McAllister know that we already have a traffic jam outside?” She pointed out the window, where a line of cars headed for the parking lot. “All the kids who are in the first games have asked their parents to come. We even have rolls of quarters, so we can give change.”
“It seems you"ve thought of everything. Well done. Anything I should know before we start?”
Ted said, “You should know that next year even more kids will want to play.”
Waiting by Fritz"s door, George paced, his nervousness undisguised. As Fritz entered the hall, George was visibly shaking. “Mr. Chatham is here.”
“Relax, George. He wants to see what all the fuss has been about. Liz has the cafeteria all set. Do you have your introductions ready?”
“Yes, but I didn"t know he was coming.” At the end of the hall, the superintendent walked in and waved. Lois was walking with him.
“Everything will be fine. Remember, you"re on the team.” He waved and met Lois and Mr. Chatham, pulling George with him. “Hi, Lois. Mr. Chatham, I"m Fritz Russell.”
“So you"re the culprit.” He chuckled as they shook hands. “My office staff will be here in a little bit. They want to meet the man who has had our phones ringing off the hook.”
“Sorry. This is much more than we had expected.”
“Nonsense. I"m looking forward to it. No reason to be sorry.”
Standing in the middle of the corridor, Liz Chambers directed the traffic into the cafeteria. She smiled at the approaching group. “Hi Bob, glad you"re here,” she said to the superintendent. “Fritz, the auditorium is full. Bob, we saved you a seat up front.” While she talked, she waved kids and parents to the line that had formed to buy tickets. “By the way, Bob,” she said, “adult tickets are $1.00.” George snorted.
At the lectern, George waited for quiet. But the loudspeaker boomed, “Everyone, please rise for our national anthem.” Fritz gleamed at Susan. When the music ended, the announcer said, “Play ball.” Cheers filled the auditorium.
George welcomed the superintendent, parents, and students to the first Riverboro High School History-Baseball Tournament. The two teams for the first game waited backstage. He introduced Rosenberg"s Scorpions and their captain, Bob Bee, and Lucas"s Logarithms, led by David Jewels. Like the rest of the audience, Fritz saw the team tee shirts for the first time. The cheers exploded. George introduced Susan and raised his hands to his ears. Bob Chatham gave George a thumb"s up.
Susan thanked everyone for coming and Barking Tees for donating the team uniforms. “I hope everyone will go there to buy their Riverboro sweatshirts and jackets.” She turned to Fritz, and said, “I"d like to present today"s pitcher, Mr. R, I mean, Mr. Russell.” The whoops drowned out her correction.
Both teams had worked hard. Although the Scorpions scored first, Barb Lucas" kids got hit after hit and led 6-1 after the first inning. Joe Rosenberg stood in a corner of the stage, deflated. His students scored twice in their second at-bats. The score at the end of the second inning was 6-3. With two men on and two out, Bob Bee asked for a home run. If he made it, he"d tie the score. Fritz asked, “What year did California become a state?” Bob closed his eyes. “Eighteen…” A low buzz filled the stage. “1852.” The Logarithms all whooped. Fritz said, “Sorry, Bob, 1850, as set up in the Compromise of 1850.” Bob hung his head and smacked his forehead.
Susan returned to the microphone. She introduced the next teams" teachers Shelly Rapstein and Ellen Berg, and their teams, Rapstein"s Raptors and Berg"s Behemoths. Again, George covered his ears. In a close game, the Behemoths beat the Raptors, 3-2. The two language teachers, who were sisters, hugged and then shook hands. The first day"s play had ended. As the auditorium emptied, Jay Bennett walked up to the principal and the superintendent, carrying a grey metal box. Jay shook the superintendent"s hand and headed for the stage.
“Mr. R, Susan, we collected four hundred-eighteen dollars. The cafeteria was packed.”
Several teachers had been waiting to speak with Fritz. “What we want to know is if you"d allow other teachers to be the pitcher. We might want to try this in our own classes.”
“I"d have to show you how it works. I"d love to have a rotation of relief pitchers.” He suggested they spread the word. He would meet with them before classes on Thursday.
Ashley was a nervous wreck by Wednesday afternoon. At lunch, he couldn"t eat or stand still. Between classes, Fritz overheard students commenting that Ashley hadn"t taught anything all week.
“I want to win this thing.”
“Are you making things worse for the kids?”
Mid-step, Ash stopped. “I don"t know.”
“Then, my friend, you"d better calm down. Your team, in case you didn"t know, has practiced without you. Matt told me on Monday they were all at his house on Saturday for six hours.”
“Really?”
“They want to win too.”
When the final class ended, George waited in the middle of the hall. “Here he is now. Fritz, this is Natalie Johnston. She"s writing about the tournament for the Riverboro newspaper.”
“Nice to meet you. I"m afraid I can"t talk now, but if you want, you can call me.”
“That"s fine, Mr. Russell. Mr. McAllister has filled me in. I"d like to watch.”
“Come on in then. I have to get ready.” Ashley had disappeared when Fritz stopped. When Fritz found him backstage, he asked, “You ready?”
“I dated her.”
“Who?”
“Nat Johnston.”
“I thought the name was familiar. Pretty woman.”
“Long story. I gotta get my kids.”
The first game came down to the last question. Then Ashley"s Aristocrats battled Larsen"s Lunatics. Ashley"s worries fizzled. Matt had set a strategy of “all or nothing.” Singles and home runs. By the end of the first inning, the Aristocrats were ahead, 6-0. Matt had the lower grades try to get on base with singles, and the seniors answer home-run questions. Johnny Clayton and Matt both drove in three runs in their first at-bats. Ashley"s team won 12-3.
As the auditorium emptied, George told Fritz that the cafeteria had been standing room only. Jay and Susan announced they had collected over $800. “Mr. R, I think every kid in school was here.” Ashley was beaming. “Bye, Mr. Gilbert.” The twin voices of Nicole and Rachel carried over the surrounding noise. Rachel, who was on Ashley"s team, had hit well.
“Bye, girls. See you tomorrow. Good game, Rachel.”
“Ash, I think that"s the first time you haven"t been scared of them,” said Fritz.
* * *
CARS LINED THE street in front of his house. Fritz waited for Ashley, and they went in the back door together. In his jammed kitchen, he greeted Linda, and then asked if something had happened. Jane told them the president had just called. The North Korean had been killed trying to escape on the way to another interrogation. He had grabbed a g*n and shot six guards before they got him. “The president is furious,” Jane said.
“How did the games go?” Linda asked.
With a wide grin, Ashley said, “The kids were great. We won, 12-3.”
When the house was finally quiet again, it was past nine o"clock. Linda told Fritz that she had aced her finance test and had another piece of her term project completed. He told her that he had an early meeting with teachers who wanted to be pitchers.
“Did the president say when you"re going to Israel?”
“No, but I"m guessing Sunday.”
“Why does he want you to come?”
“Lin, honestly, I think he wants company. But I really don"t know. Should I invite him for dinner?”
“Not unless you have to. We already have too many people hanging around.”
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