Mal watched over Knight’s shoulder as he pulled off the road. He wove in between cars parked on a meadow, and stopped at a ball field. Some kids were there, playing baseball in uniform. One of the team was in blue with a picture of a stylized roaring cat’s head, and the other team was in red with an Indian war headdress on the back.
Knight just sat there, watching the game, with Mal wrapped around him watching also. “Bet on the wildcats,” Mal said.
Knight laughed, and parked the bike. The two dismounted, and walked over to the bleachers, climbing up to the top. Some parents made room for them, looking askance at them, but Knight gave them a look right back.
CRACK! A ball hit wood, and one of the red-clad kids started toward first base. The shortstop grabbed the ball and hummed it at first, who caught it easily. Knight whooped and whistled. The first baseman looked up and gave Knight a thumbs up.
The game continued, with Mal and Knight yelling for the cats and booing the Indians. One of the parents said, “Is that your son out there?”
Mal and Knight looked at each other. “Nope,” Knight said, and clapped again as someone hit the ball and got to first base. “Bu’ tha’s our team.”
There was another cheer as one slid into home and was declared safe. However, by the top of the ninth, the wildcats were down by four. When the wildcats finished their at-bat, they were down by three, and there was no way they were going to win it. They played it out, Wildcats losing by five. Knight and Mal looked saddened, and the parent who had talked to them walked by to the winners, giving them a smug look. Knight started to get up, anger on his face, but Mal put a hand on Knight’s arm. “It’s only a game,” Mal said.
Knight sighed. They went to the rear of the bleachers and jumped down, instead of waiting for the parents to clear out. They got to the bike, getting back on. “Tha’ jus’ ruined it for me…”
Mal put a hand on Knight’s shoulder, and the ring glinted in the sunlight. Knight turned around and faced Mal. “It was fun. Don’t let one person ruin it for you.” Then Mal kissed him, and Knight relaxed. After that, he got back on the bike, with Mal behind him.
They rode on down the road, finding a section of town that had more ritzier clothing stores and restaurants. Mal was in his glory here, buying new suits for him and Knight – for when they were going to New York, which Mal was going to make sure would be very soon. He put Knight through his paces wearing Italian, American, English cut suits.
They ended up at a steakhouse, at Knight’s request. Ordering their steaks as rare as could be, with Mal drinking vodka and Knight drinking a lager, the two men were silent in their company. Mal would touch Knight’s hand, Knight would run his fingers among Mal’s, and the two men would look at each other with love-filled, smoldering eyes. They skipped dessert.
It had gotten dark, so they had the choice of renting a hotel room or start heading back. It would take a good four hours to get back home, so they chose the hotel room.
Mal got the key and the two men went quietly inside. In short order, they were both naked and in bed, suddenly hearing loud booms.
“Is that you?” Knight asked.
Mal laughed, “It’s fireworks,” he said, and got up. They walked over to the balcony, and pulled open the shades. Naked, Mal stepped out onto the balcony, saying, “Len, come see this.”
Knight also stepped out naked, and stood at the balcony. Mal put his arm around Knight’s waist and looked to the south. “Wait for it…” They saw a shooting star come from the ground into the air, and it exploded in beautiful white and green sparks. The boom came right after.
“How come we don’t hear th’ boom til later?”
“Light travels faster than sound,” Mal said, as they kept watching the fireworks. Both oohed and ahhed and that was pretty. Then came the finale, with burst after burst of light, then boom after boom of thunder, until there was one large boom that echoed everywhere, stunning everything around them into silence.
“Wow,” Knight said. “Ain’ seen fireworks in a couple years now.”
Mal hugged Knight, with a deep, smoldering kiss. “Let’s go make our own.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
22. You and your friends have decided to get hammered during a very American day involving a baseball game, a barbecue, and a trip to a bar. Talk about the progression from the beginning to end of this all-American day.
Cohen, Bryan (2010-09-23). 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More (Kindle Locations 215-216). Kindle Edition.