Naleighna Kai's Literary Cafe Magazine May - Mother's Day Issue | Page 54

he sure had his mouth closed now.
When it was Sean’s turn at the plate, he
picked up the wooden bat and took a deep
stance, aiming high as usual. He wanted to
hit the ball past the gate this time.
Robert, a Puerto Rican kid with a dark
complexion like Sean, stood as though he
was Kerry Wood from the Chicago Cubs
Robert’s team was on a losing streak.
Robert looked like he was going to launch
the softball at Sean to cheat so that Sean
wouldn’t hit a home run, putting Sean on
first base but ended up lobbing it toward
home plate.
Sean got even deeper, bending his knees
as the ball came his way. He swung the bat
and made contact. The ball didn’t go high
but straight up the middle at a pace that
could cause someone to lose a body part
or two.
He ran to first and stopped; usually
the ball would be further in the outfield
putting him on third base , but someone
had thrown the ball to second base already.
Shoot!
“What is your problem, Puta?” Sean
heard someone yell from behind him
as he squatted for a breather. He knew
without a doubt it was Stephanie, and
she was definitely red, just seconds from
exploding. Why was she mad at him?
“What did I do, Stephanie?” Sean asked.
“You almost hit me with the ball,” she
yelled at him as she punched him hard in
the chest As if he did it on purpose, it was
definitely that time of the month for her.
“I’m sorry,” Sean said.
“Watch where you’re hitting next time,
Dumb-Ass Nigga,” Stephanie yelled in his
face, then stood there letting her remark
sink in, echoing over and over like a bad
movie while the other kids laughed.
As much as he wanted to say
something back, he knew he couldn’t
call her a wetback or a spic because he
would be talking about himself. Instead,
he responded, “Next time learn how to
move quicker or duck—B*ch.”
The anger he felt was almost instantly
replaced by guilt. Just his luck that the
gym teacher was standing close by, but
only close enough to hear Sean’s reply.
The teacher grabbed them both and
headed to the principal’s office.
* * *
“And that’s what happened,” Sean said,
lowering his head to his knees, avoiding
Mrs. Esposita’s stare and his mother’s
gaze of shame.
“This is the kind of behavior that my
son displays while he’s under your care?”
Cynthia asked Roberto.
“I never heard him talk like that
before,” he replied, trying to brush it off.
“Sean, where did you get that word?
You certainly didn’t hear it from me.”
Sinking farther down in his seat, Sean
made sure he stayed out of the way, just
in case Superwoman decided to blast
him out of the office. Sean knew women
had power, but power that left his dad
speechless for long periods of time? Wow!
“Well, Dad sometimes—um—calls