Chapter 2:

Let’s Have a Party

I stared at Howie, trying to psych him out. He was the pitcher and I was next up. He grinned a cheesy-ass smile at me, and flung the snowball my direction. It hit the ground about halfway to me. I stared at it and then back at Howie.

“D! How the hell am I supposed to hit crap like that?” I couldn’t help but smile. After all I was only pretending to be pissed. This was a fun way to blow off steam.

“Alex,” Kevin scoffed from behind me, “It doesn’t matter if it makes it to ya or not! You never could hit a damn ball.” He snickered. That was true though, it wouldn’t have mattered if Howie suddenly got some pitching talent. I couldn’t connect. Ever.

I struck out (naturally), and Kev was next up. He strode confidently up to ‘home plate,’ which was temporarily marked by Nick’s jacket he insisted that he didn’t need on, even though the temperature was like freezing.

“We want a pitcher, not a belly-itcher!” Brian crowed from the sidelines as another pitch fell to the ground before Kev even had the chance to take a swing.

“We want a batter, not a broken ladder!” Howie shot back and then looked confused.

I wanted to flick D on the forehead. “Damn, that was so lame, Howard! Shut up!” I called.

He just laughed and wound up to throw another pitch until Brian walked out there and kicked him off the mound (or the mini snow mountain Nicky erected solely for that reason.)

Once the pitching got changed, we were all good. Kevin got a hit off Brian, and then it was Nick’s turn. (We banned Howie from batting, just ‘cause we felt like it.) While Nicky took some practice swings I turned around to see where Howie was at.

I rolled my eyes as I caught sight of him, just as Kev decided to steal second. Howie was in one corner of the yard where this monster pile of snow was. And, he was trying to make something out of it.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nick hurl something at Brian as he was winding up. I laughed as Brian got hit in the chest with a handful of snow. As he bent down to retaliate I made quick work of hiding out with Howie in his half-done fort.

“D, it’s an ambush, man!” I smiled gleefully as Howie’s eyes lit up. Immediately he was rolling balls of snow and making a pile. I was the lookout man, to make sure we weren’t being spied on.

Nicky was screeching like a girl. Bri and Kevin had teamed up on him and pelted him with snow. Brian even got a handful down his back!

Sitting back against our hideout, I zipped my jacket and threw my hood over my head. There was no way anyone was getting snow down my back.

I glanced at Howie’s growing stack of weapons and grabbed two for myself. He did the same. Then, we waited.

It was only seconds before I heard footsteps approaching. “Howardina and Alexandra are HIDING!” the voice was squeaky and high-pitched, and colored with a thick accent that would give Brian away in a second. (Kev couldn’t make his voice go that high.)

Howie motioned for me to keep quiet, and then he started talking back in a feminine voice with the thickest Spanish accent I’ve ever heard him use. “You stole Howardina’s pitching job, and now she is very angry at you, Senor! I see you through my crystal ball!” Howie nodded at me, and I got ready on one side of the mountain while he did the same on the other.

I peeked around just enough to see that Brian was standing right in front of me. Without thinking twice, I got him, aiming both my snowballs at his head. Lucky for him, I have terrible aim, and they hit him at the front of his jacket just as Howie got him from behind.

“Run!” Brian screamed as Kevin came up to help him out. The two took off around the house.

“You wuss!” I yelled, chasing after Brian’s retreating back. I saw that Nicky had joined mine and Howie’s team and I was glad. Now we could for sure beat Kevin and Brian. If they would ever stop running.

Eventually, all of us ran out of steam and walked around the front of the house. I caught Kevin giving the pile of snow just beyond the front steps a once-over, and I backed off. I wasn’t gonna be right there when Kev wanted to throw one of us in.

I was surprised when Kevin climbed to the top step leading to the front door and started to strip off his clothes. I couldn’t imagine what he was gonna do, and frankly, I didn’t want to know. Howie was still waiting expectantly.

“Howard, come on man!” Kev encouraged. “Step dive!”

Confused, I looked at Howie. His face split into a smile and he joined Kevin on the steps, taking off his stuff too. Brian and Nick stared, and I was about ready to leave if they took anymore off. Thankfully, they stopped with only their boxers and socks still on.

“Y’all are just sick,” I called. But they didn’t pay any attention to me. They were counting.

“One...two...three!”

In a second, they were off the step and flying into the snow bank.

“Oh shit, that’s cold!” Kevin exclaimed. I snickered when I heard that his voice had gotten higher.

“I know.” Howie agreed, shivering.

“No kiddin’ numb skulls! It’s SNOW!” Brian hollered. He looked pissed off that they were being so dumb, but I think it was ‘cause he was too shy to join in.

And I knew Nick never would. He just took a spot off to the side and started ‘judging.’ I stood with Brian and we made fun of them, until I was sure that both had hypothermia.

They propelled themselves off again and again, watching us for a reaction. They were as bad as I used to be. After a bit Howie looked like he could barely walk, they decided it was enough, picking up their clothes and going in the house to change.

Once Howie got dressed he wanted to get home, so I got in the passenger side of his car and we started going. I knew Brian would take Nicky home whenever Kevin told them to go.

“Howie, where the hell did you learn to be so damn stupid?” I asked. I was more annoyed than pissed.

“Oh, Kev showed me one time when we were hanging out.” He was flipping through the radio stations trying to find one he liked.

“When did you and Kev hang out?” I wondered. I never remembered Howie and Kevin doing anything just the two of them and I was getting pissed that he never told me about it.

“Jay it was no big deal, man! We were hanging out ‘cause we have a class together now, and we were working on a project. When we were finished for the day, Kev taught me how to step dive. No big deal.”

“If it wasn’t a big deal, you wouldn’t have said ‘It’s no big deal’ twice in a row.” I slouched in my seat and pulled the strings on my hood so it closed around my face.

I knew that if it was last year, I would be the one getting Howie to loosen up by teaching him something totally stupid. Now, it was Kev. The thing that got me the most is that I never saw it coming. To me, Kevin was the serious one. He didn’t have a fun side at all. He was always the one to tell us to knock it off. Kev and Howie were too alike. How could Kevin have this other side that I never even knew was there?

I knew I was being a jerk, but inside it was like I was losing Howie’s friendship. It was totally stupid, but I felt threatened by the last person expected.

Silently, I peeked out my hood and watched the scenery fly by. I struggled to ignore the tightness in the back of my throat, and the hot tears that burned my eyes. I wished we had let Howie up to bat.