I’m not even sure how I first started hanging out with Mick. I think we started hanging out because of baseball. I remember I was supposed to go on the bus with him to his house after school and it was going to be our first baseball practice that day. I remember anxiously waiting for the three o’clock bell to ring. Tapping my foot against the desk and staring at the clock. I had never been over his house. I wondered what it was going to be like. What would we do? I don’t even know what the lesson was we were learning. Probably fractions, which I never understood anyway. I was excited to have a new friend and he was cool but not too cool.

Mick just did his own thing and didn’t care what people thought. He wasn’t too cool which would make him mean. He had a wiffle haircut, light brown hair, blue eyes, and was athletic. He looked like the boy next door. He played the violin amazingly well. He had been playing since he was four years old. We were going to have baseball practice that day and so I went over to his house since his Dad was the coach. When we got to his house he showed me around. I thought his room was really cool. Very organized and boyish. His living room where we hung out the most was really cozy with two overstuffed blue chairs and a big tv to play super mario on. Here is where I learned how to play nintendo. I remember I used to jump with my arms when I pressed the jump key which was B I think. This made Mick laugh. “You don’t have to move your arms like that for your character to jump.” He was really good at the game as he owned it and had played it a million times with his younger brother Andrew. He was good at everything he tried. He was a quick study. After playing for a while his Mom called us in for an early dinner. I loved the structure they had for their night. I missed that structure since Mom had left home and we split our time between the farm and my mom’s apartment in Rockport.

I remember Mick went outside and helped his Dad man the grille which I thought was super cool. He came in with perfectly cooked well done cheese burgers for the both of us. His Dad was a jolly fellow who had a big smile and rosy cheeks and worked construction so he had big construction work boots and jeans and a hat. I liked him immediately and felt happy he was going to be my coach. You could tell Mick was his favorite and he was the apple of his eye. His younger brother Sam looked a lot like his Mom with blonde hair and brown eyes and Mick had blue eyes like his Dad. It was a cozy family and I really felt welcomed there and safe. When it was time to do homework Mick sat at his desk and pulled up a chair for me. We did fractions for homework so my guess at the afternoon lesson of the day was correct. I loved the way Mick wrote his mixed number fractions with the big number really huge and the other numbers small and cute. He tried to help me understand the math but I didn’t get it at all. I liked the way he seemed so confident in his work and that he had a place where he always did his homework. He had a place for his pencils and his paper and his ruler. Everything had a place. I asked Mick to play the violin for me which he said he would but not yet. I asked how long he had played and he told me since he was four. “What did you ask your parents to learn how to play the violin at age four?” I asked in shock. “Yeah, so you wanna go play nintendo?”

When my Mom came to pick me up I wasn’t ready to go home yet. Although I was relieved I would have a chance to go with my Mum to practice since I was really nervous and she always calmed my nerves. I was so glad Mick’s Dad made my Mom a drink and they started chatting so Mick and I could squeeze in another round of duck hunt. I watched Mick play mostly but I didn’t mind. He was really good at getting those ducks. I thought, “What a nice life he has here. Killing ducks and having meals as a family and playing for his own Dad’s team the Eagles. Oh yeah, I almost forgot we were still going to be playing baseball. My Mom drove me to the field and I was super nervous. I remember Mick’s Dad hit balls to us in the outfield and I even caught a few grounders and threw them in. He seemed so nice that I should have let my worries go but I was too anxious a kid for that. Besides I worried that the kids on the team would think I wasn’t good enough.

Mick was the pitcher and he was good. No surprise there. But he was really good. He could throw strike after strike and people wouldn’t hit them. I watched in awe. One pop fly came to me and I caught it in the air. I was so happy I could show that I could play even though I was a girl. All of those hours in the backyard playing catch with Suze had paid off.