Susie tried not to laugh. "No, it just means to pitch inside." Which it didn't, but Betsy didn't know that. Right there was proof positive that Betsy didn't know the game of softball. The thumb flick was the international bean-ball sign. Susie counted herself lucky that Bree hadn't actually aimed for her head.

With Sam on second base and Susie on first, Lisa stepped into the batter's box with no outs. Marlee swung a bat in the on-deck circle. Susie laughed to herself wondering how Bree was going to pitch to Lisa with Marlee standing so close. After four pitches it became apparent that Bree couldn't concentrate because she walked Lisa to load the bases with no outs. Marlee stepped into the batter's box and dug in. All they needed was one run, and they would win the game.

"C'mon, Marlee," Susie called from second base. Be the hero.

Bree wound up and threw a beautiful fastball on the inside corner. She had obviously been practicing. The second pitch, a curve ball, nicked the outside corner for strike two. Marlee stepped out of the box clearly unhappy with the umpire's call. Susie kind of agreed with her, because the call could have gone either way. Susie watched the signs from Coach Gellar. She wanted Marlee to hit away.

Bree took the signal from her catcher. A change up headed toward the plate. Marlee must have mistimed it because the ball trickled toward Bree in the circle. Sam ran toward home, Susie toward third, and Lisa toward second. Bree tossed the ball to her catcher easily getting Sam out at home. The catcher then pivoted and shot the ball to first base.

"Out!" the field umpire yelled.

"Shit!" Susie muttered standing on third. She slapped her thigh. It was a nice double play by the Southbridge team, but now, instead of bases loaded and no outs, they had two outs, and Abby was up. Abby had struck out every time at bat so far that day. If Susie didn't score, they'd be forced into extra innings. Susie was desperate to get the game finished because her feet were throbbing. She needed to get some ice on them and on her calf.

"Okay, Torres," Coach Gellar said from the third base coach's box. "You're the winning run. You're not forced, so don't be the hero trying to score."

Susie nodded. That's all her coach was going to get from her from now on. Nods. Susie felt the hard glare from her coach's eyes from behind the dark glasses she wore. Apparently a diving catch to save at least two runs wasn't enough to get her out of the doghouse. Dios, it wasn't her fault her mother grounded her for two weeks. Well, maybe it was. She shook the thoughts out of her head as Abby stepped into the batter's box.

Susie wasn't sure, but it looked like Bree had visibly puffed up like a peacock. Susie decided right then standing on third base that her soul purpose in life would be to wipe that smug smile off Bree's face.

Bree took the sign from her catcher and put her hands together. Susie rocked back on the base when Bree started her wind up. Susie exploded off the base as the ball exploded out of Bree's hand. Susie stopped her lead when Abby swung and missed the rise ball. The catcher leaped up holding the ball high ready to throw to third. Susie trotted back to the base. Susie was sure Bree would throw the rise ball again.

Susie exploded off the base again, and sure enough, another rise ball was on its way toward the plate. Susie's heart leaped into her throat when the ball sailed over the catcher's head. She turned on the speed and raced toward home. Bree sprinted to cover the plate while her catcher ran to the backstop to track down the ball.

It was going to be close. Susie threw her arms back and started her slide. Bree crouched low waiting for the toss from her catcher. She caught the ball and threw herself on top of Susie.

Susie couldn't hear the umpire's call over her shouting teammates, so she had no idea if she had been called safe or out. All she knew was that Bree still lay on top of her with the ball in her glove, even though the play was long over.

"Get off me." Susie shoved Bree and sat up.

Bree stood up and dropped the ball in Susie's lap. "What's your problem? You just won the game." She turned her back and headed toward the Southbridge bench. She ripped the glove off her hand and flung it at the dugout fence almost hitting a teammate.

Susie didn't have time to see what happened next because her teammates piled on top of her at home plate, and she found herself at the bottom of a dog pile.

Susie extricated herself from the pile and followed her teammates to the dugout not expecting much from Coach Gellar, except maybe a smile. She didn't even get that.

Coach Gellar stepped in front of Susie blocking her way. "That was a pretty risky move, Torres. You got lucky this time." She turned and walked away leaving Susie staring after her in disbelief.

Chapter Eighteen.

The Devil SUSIE, SAM, LISA, and Jeri plopped themselves on the highest row of the bleachers. On the field below, the Mohawk All-Stars were taking on the Grasse River Tomahawks in the second game of the evening. Susie plunked her swollen feet on the bleacher in front of her and started to untie her cleats.

"Wait." Sam put a hand on Susie's.

"Why?"

Sam nodded toward Coach Gellar on the field talking to the Mohawk coach. "You don't want her to see your funky feet."

"Aay, good idea."

Susie waited until their coach got in her car, and drove away. "Gosh, wasn't it so nice of her to tell me that my diving catch to save the game was awesome?" Susie's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Oh, and scoring the winning run? She was so grateful. How nice of her to say."

"Not." Sam added.

"And how nice of her to ask if I was hurt after Bree hit me with that pitch." Susie turned her foot out to expose the darkening lump on her inner calf.

"Geez." Lisa sucked air through her teeth. "That looks bad." She turned toward Sam. "Did you have the--"

"Yup." Sam reached into her softball bag and pulled out a plastic ice pack.

"Where did you get that?" Susie asked.

Sam grinned as she smashed the ice pack on the bleachers to mix the chemicals inside. "Not me. Your girlfriend." She pointed toward the warm-up pitching area behind left field where Marlee was working with Bree. "She helped herself to Coach Gellar's first aid kit." Sam reached in her bag and pulled out gauze pads, alcohol wipes, antibiotic ointment, athletic tape, latex gloves, and an ace bandage.

Susie's heart swelled. "Marlee got all this stuff for me?"

"Yeah," Jeri said with a grin. "Your sweet innocent Marlee turned to a life of crime just for you."

Susie turned to watch Marlee work with Bree in the pitching area. She sighed. "I don't know what sucks more. Coach Gellar riding my ass or that." She pointed to Plan D in operation.

"Sus," Sam applied the ice pack to Susie's bruised calf, "I know you hate this. Hold that for a second." Susie held the cold ice pack while Sam wrapped an ace bandage around to keep it in place. "We all agreed on Sunday that we should let it play out."

"Yeah, but they don't even have a catcher." Susie gestured helplessly toward Bree standing way too close to Marlee. Marlee held a softball up and must have been demonstrating a grip or something, but Susie seriously doubted that Bree was studying the softball. "No, I don't like Plan D at all." She grunted and distracted herself by untying her cleats. She pulled them off one at a time. If feet could sigh, hers did. She stretched her feet and tried desperately to relax. It wasn't working.

"Okay, let's review," Sam said. "Plan A failed because Bree couldn't take a hint and waited forever for us to come out of the dugout. Plan B failed because Bree couldn't take a hint and caught up to us at Marlee's van. Plan C failed because even though we totally left her standing in the parking lot in mid-sentence, she still couldn't take a hint."

Jeri laughed. "This chick definitely can't read social cues."

"No kidding." Susie rolled her eyes.

Jeri turned to Lisa. "If you and Marlee had just stayed in Clarksonville and played in the Nichol Park League with me, none of this would have happened."

"Yeah," Lisa laughed, "I'm not sure how me and Marlee got brainwashed to play on an East Valley traveling team in the first place." She shuddered as if she had eaten something sour.

"Oh, c'mon," Sam said. "You know you love us."

Lisa shrugged. "Sorry, Jeri. She's right. You're loss, eh?"

Jeri scowled playfully. "So tell me more about this Bree character. All I know at this point is that she's certifiable."

Susie laughed. "Marlee says we need to hit Bree with a two-byfour."

Jeri's face brightened. "Ah, I know that one. The donkey story. The two-by-four to get her attention, right?"

"Exactly," Sam said. "Plan D was designed because Bree is like a dog with a bone and won't give up. So, we're giving her what she wants. She's going to get so sick of Marlee that she's gonna be the one that runs away."

"Tell me again why this whole reverse psychology thing is a good idea?" Susie bugged her eyes out at her friends.

"I'll tell you why," Lisa chimed in. "I've seen her type. Bree, I mean. She's all about the hunt. If she gets Marlee's attention, she'll eventually get bored and lose interest." Lisa exchanged a glance with Sam. "Hopefully."

"Aay, it's that 'hopefully' that scares the crap out of me. I'm supposed to just sit up here and watch Bree hang all over Marlee?" Susie threw her hands up in a helpless gesture.

"Actually," Jeri said, "I think Plan D might work. If we let Bree get what she wants, then she's got nothing else to want."

"While I sit here and watch the devil make a play for my girlfriend." Frustrated, Susie reached down to yank her socks off.

"Stop, stop, stop." Sam grabbed Susie's hand. "You're gonna rip your skin off. Listen, we're right here if Marlee can't handle things."

"It's not Marlee I'm worried about."

Sam nodded. "I know," she said softly. She gestured toward the ice pack covering Susie's bruise. "It's obvious what kind of person Bree is."

Lisa put her hand on Susie's sock. "May I?"

"Sure, whatever." Susie leaned back to give Lisa room.

"Your right foot's a mess," Lisa said. "You've bled through the gauze and your sock, too." She put on a pair of latex gloves and slowly peeled off Susie's bloody sweat-soaked sock. She held it up and made a face. "I think we'll just throw this out, okay?"

Susie nodded, but was barely paying attention until Lisa unwrapped the bloody gauze.

"Does that hurt?" Lisa stopped unwrapping.

"No." Susie said in a high-pitched voice trying to be tough in front of her friends.

Sam laughed. "By 'no,' she means 'yes.'"

Lisa narrowed her eyes at Susie. "Trying to be a tough guy, eh? You don't have to be invincible in front of us."

"Yeah," Jeri said, "I personally know all East Valley players are sniveling weenies."

"Oh, nice, Jeri," Sam pretended to be hurt. "We'll see who ever eats at D'Amico's again." She folded her arms and looked away.

"I hate to say it, Sam, but Jeri's right." Susie grimaced at Lisa and reached down to look at the gauze that had adhered to her feet. "It does kinda hurt."

Lisa ever-so-slowly separated foot from gauze, and when she was done with both feet, she said, "This'll feel so much better once we get you cleaned up." She flashed Susie a smile which Susie couldn't help but return. Sam was lucky to have found Lisa.

"You should be a doctor," Susie said. "You have a great bleacher-side manner."

"Thanks." Lisa exchanged a glance with Sam.

"Actually," Sam said, "Lisa wants to be a paramedic."

"Cool," Susie said. "By all means, practice on me."

"Okay, here we go." As she cleaned up Susie's feet, Lisa talked about having to constantly apply first aid to her three younger siblings. She uncapped the tube of antibiotic ointment, but hesitated. "You know what? I think we should let your feet air out a little bit. I'll put this stuff on and bandage you up right before we leave."

Susie nodded. The warm evening air felt good on her feet. "And this way I can't run over to kill Bree, right?"

"There's that, too." Lisa laughed and patted Susie on her good calf. "Try to chill out and relax, okay?"

"Pfft. Easier said than done."

"I know." Lisa smiled again and sat back against the bleachers.

Susie's own smile faded when she glanced toward Marlee and Bree. Marlee was laughing at something Bree had said. Marlee wasn't supposed to be enjoying Plan D.

Two fingers snapped in front of her face. "Stop that." Sam pointed to the Mohawk/Grasse River game being played on the field in front of them. "Just watch the game. We play Mohawk on Thursday and Grasse River on Saturday, so take notes or something."

Saturday. Susie's heart lightened. Maybe after the Grasse River game, she and Marlee could find a place to be alone. But for now, she had at least an hour of Plan D to suffer through.

MARLEE PULLED THE van into Susie's driveway and put the car in park. "Stop worrying, okay?"

"I know," Susie said, "but you and Bree were over there for two whole hours. It killed me watching her come on to you."

"I know." Marlee shivered. "She gave me the creeps, man. I mean, hanging out alone with her tonight was, disturbing."

"What do you mean, Jelly Bean?" Susie hoped the playful nickname would at least make Marlee smile.

"Well, Jelly Bent," Marlee flashed a quick grin, but then got serious again, "it's hard to describe. It was like I wasn't even there, like she had me captive and that's all she wanted. She didn't really listen to the things I told her about pitching or anything. I think Lisa was right. It's all about the conquest."

"Lisa would know, right? Because of her ex-girlfriend?"

"Tara? Yeah, her part-time stalker." Marlee looked toward the front door at Susie's house. "I wish I could come in with you, to make sure you're okay."

Susie smiled. "Why don't you?"

"Don't kid, because I will. I mean, you haven't seen your mother for three days. You know, since--" Marlee gestured at Susie's feet.

"Actually, for once I'm not kidding. I think it's time I introduced you to my mother. You've met everybody else, right?"

Marlee nodded, but flashed Susie a concerned look. "Okay, I'll go in, but how out are we going to be?"

"Aay, we'll take it one step at a time. I'm going to introduce you as my friend."

"Okay, I'll follow your lead." Marlee took a deep breath. "Ready?" She put a hand on the door handle.

Susie's stomach had been quivering ever since they'd headed home, but as soon as Marlee's hand went to the door, it went totally topsy turvy.

"Are you okay?" Marlee placed her hand on Susie's arm.

Susie let out a sigh. "I'm okay. My dad's home. You're here. I'll be okay." She reached for the door handle. "Let's do this." She opened the door and gingerly put her weight on her aching feet. She met Marlee in front of the car, and they headed toward the house.