Lonely Child

Jimmy pulled his Little League uniform out of the commercial dryer. It was still a little damp, but he didn't have anymore money, so it would have to do. He had collected cans to sell to the recycle place so that he could bring his uniform to the laundromat. It was important because today was a big day; he was going to actually get to play in this game. Usually he just sat in the dugout and passed cups of water to his team mates when they came off the field, but not today. Coach had told him that, since they were playing a team that had never won a game, he could play left field.

When he thought about the other players, he could not help but wonder how they got away with cheating the way they did. He knew for a fact that Bobby's dad actually taught him how to pitch and how to bat. Jimmy had seen it with his own eyes. And he suspected that most of the others parents did the same thing. He thought, “Now if that ain't cheatin', I don't know what is.” His parents would never think of such a scandalous act.

After scurrying home, he ran up to his bedroom to change. He did not want to be late for the game, so he would have to hurry. He pulled off his dingy pants and felt a little uncomfortable that he had not been wearing his underwear. But it could not be helped; they needed washed and he had put them in with his uniform. He had not wanted to face the possibility of getting injured in the game with dirty underwear.

He was careful, as he pulled his undies over his foot, not to catch his toe in the hole that was forming. He had done that once and had torn the hole so big that half of his left cheek had been exposed. He could not afford to do that this time because he knew he would not get a new pair until school started two months from now.

He thought back to his recent visit to Steve's house. Steve was a classmate of Jimmy's and had invited him over for lunch one day last week. His friend's house made him uneasy; it was immaculate. It looked like one of those houses you see on a TV show; they always looked like nobody lived in them. When they were in his bedroom, Steve had opened a drawer and Jimmy had been shocked to see the contents. The boy had an entire drawer full of underwear. It had looked like a store shelf. The shorts were all neatly folded, just like they were new. And none of them seemed to have any holes. In fact they were still white. Jimmy could not believe his eyes; he had never seen such a thing except in the store; certainly not in someones home.

Just as he was pulling on his uniform shirt, he heard his parents car pulling up into the driveway outside. He buttoned his shirt and hurriedly grabbed his fielders glove from under the bed. The wrist strap pulled open, reminding him that he had to be careful with it because the button hole was torn out a little. He guessed that was why someone had thrown it out. Other than that, it was in useable condition, though.

He ran down the stairs and into the kitchen where his parents were just coming in the back door.

 “Mom! Pop! Guess what? Coach said I can play in the game today,” he said. His excitement could not be contained.

“That's nice,” said his mother.

“You want to come and see the game?”

“No, damn it. We're tired. Now just go on,” his father said. His mother nodded in agreement.

“Okay. I just thought . . .” his voice trailed off. He had known that they wouldn't come;. they never came. He had been stupid to even ask.

He pushed the old wooden screen door open and headed outside. He would have to run or he would be late. As he got to the sidewalk, a car passed. Bobby's hand poked out of the rear passenger window and waved.

“See you at the game,” Jimmy yelled as he began running down the street.