Page 401 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

“Man, shut the fuck up,” Andrew spits,

forcing his cleats back into the box,

resetting his stance.

Gino doesn’t waste another heartbeat.

He unleashes the next pitch, the ball splits the air white-hot, abandoning the strike zone and aiming for Andrew’s ribcage.

My heart jumps into my throat as Andrew hurls himself back, the turf kicking under his cleats, barely escaping the ball.

His eyes dart to Gino,

a pitch-black glare.

The return ball snaps in Gino’s glove, and he cocks his chin. “That do it for you?”

Whatever human was left in Andrew is gone, replaced by something cold and homicidal.

Andrew steps out of the batter's box.

Chaos breaks as he heads right for Gino, twirling the bat in a slow, threatening circle.

People scream across the turf from every direction.

My hand flies to my mouth,

my other hand over my chest.

I’m trying to find my way around the net.

Peter vanishes into a sprint after him. “DROP THE BAT! DROP THE FUCKIN’ BAT!”

Andrew flings the bat sideways soon as his foot hits the pitcher’s mound. The next sound that tears through the dome is his knuckles meeting the bone of Gino’s jaw with a sickening crack, sending a spray of spit across the field.

And it’s the last thing I see before the benches empty, both teams rushing to the center of the field, burying the fight in a wall of bodies.

58 / THEY LEAVE

JESSIE MURPHY

// 12:02 PM //

“You’re done!”

“Get him out of here!”

“Separate them!”

“Take him outside

“before someone calls the cops!”

Voices rip through the dome,

bouncing across the fields.

Benches have emptied.