4 The time to go out to the field hadn't yet arrived but it was getting close Do you guys remember when Jimmie tried to teach Luis how to hit a home run said Gary And Jimmie was totally like HEY Jimmie yelled Everyone went quiet Let Luis tell the story He tells it best No one dared speak Even the players at the other end of the dugout stopped what they were doing Everyone looked at Jimmie Uhm Jimmie Luis said softly We've talked about this Jimmie nodded his head Right he said Sorry Sorry Gary Sorry everybody Jimmie leaned forward and apologized to the teammates on his left Then he did the same to his teammates on the right Luis nodded Jimmie looked at Luis and took a deep breath and when he spoke again he was like a completely different kid
Hey guys he said softly Do you think maybe we could let Luis tell the story I just think he tells it best Luis looked at Gary who could barely contain his laughter Aliyah didn't bother trying not to laugh She just laughed out loud it Sure Jimmie Gary said Let's let Luis tell Thank you said Jimmie politely You're welcome said Gary just as politely Everyone relaxed Some of the players began peeking their heads outside the dugout to get a good look at the sky The rain was definitely starting to let up now The worst of the storm clouds were moving away from them Some specks of blue sky were already creeping through the few clouds that remained Some of Luis's teammates were now standing at the dugout's exit waiting to be cleared to run onto the field Others were still scrambling to find their missing batting gloves or more likely that one last piece of bubble gum 5
If I'm going to tell the story I have to tell the whole story going back to our first practice Luis said Oh brother Jimmie said rolling his eyes At their first practice it was obvious that Luis and Jimmie were going to be trouble The first time Luis bobbled a grounder Jimmie said with tremendous sarcasm Nice job And the first time Jimmie dropped a throw from Luis Luis said Great catch I OK now you're exaggerating I don't think The kids who were still nearby all looked at Jimmie He looked back at them Fine he said softly Hey said their coach The weather's looking better Let's get loosened up The players all looked at one another and smiled then grabbed their gear and ran onto the 6
field They were good friends and good teammates too Win or lose they always had each other's backs But it wasn't always that way 7
