To: batgirl85288@wxyz.com

Hi Karmen. I’m not sure if you remember me. I got your email from your sister, Lupe. We met last year when your family came out to Lodi for her wedding. My mom works with her wife, Brandi. I know this is a super big long-shot, but I will try anyway. I heard that you and your other sister are coming out to visit this summer after school is done. I really enjoyed meeting you and dancing with you. I was hoping that maybe we can spend some time together? And if you can stand being seen with a dork like me, there is an awards dinner for my baseball league that will happen when you are here. Would you do me the honor of joining me that night? I know this is sudden and out of the blue, but maybe think about it? If you say ‘no’ then I will understand.

Hopefully; Scott Brookfield
nccscotty1701a@wxyz.com

Karmen Marquez studied the email for several minutes. Yes, she remembered the young man who she had met at her sister’s wedding last year. They had danced several times and he was sort of cute. At the time, however, at the tender age of 14, she was stupidly fixated on Alexander Winters, the brother of the woman her sister, Rosalinda (now known as ‘Lupe’ to everyone), had married.

Yeah, right. Like a guy in his middle twenties would be interested in a scrawny 14 year old girl. Besides, he seemed to have a thing for one of the girls associated with the reception band. School was going to be ending in a few weeks and rather than spend a long, hot, summer in Tempe, she and her older sister, Felicia, were flying to California to spend time there. She deeply loved her oldest sister, and this was going to be a fun month. Lupe had promised a number of activities that would keep the younger sisters entertained.

Spending time with a cute boy would only add to the stuff she could tell her friends about when she returned home, and maybe even have something to spice up that stupid essay she got every year of ‘What I did on my summer vacation’ that the teachers loved to assign. Choosing her words carefully, she replied.

To: nccscotty1701a@wxyz.com

Hola Scott! I remember you from the wedding! It was nice to dance with you and it was so much fun. If we spend time together, will any other girls be mad at me? I don’t want them to think I am there to steal away their boyfriend! When I know the exact dates that we will be getting there, I will let you know. And I think it will be great to go to the awards dinner. What should I bring to wear? Is it a fancy dress up thing? Please let me know soon so I don’t show up in a formal gown when a nice and simple dress is enough. LOL. And maybe if someone on the team needs a date, we can convince my sister Felicia to go with us! She will probably want to tag along with us as a chaperone if we go anywhere because I’m the baby in the family. Looking forward to seeing you!

Fondly: Karmen Marquez
batgirl85288@wxyz.com

Greg Brookfield smiled as his son came to the breakfast table. The boy had a spring in his step and a goofy grin on his face. “What’s up, son?” It was Sunday and his wife was at work at the IGA, so it was just the two of them.

“I got a date for the League Awards Dinner,” Scott grinned.

“Isn’t that like, over a month from now?”

“Why wait to the last minute?”

Greg studied his son. He was tall and very fit. The workouts with the baseball team had his 6’1” frame well toned. Sandy brown hair, cut short, was always sort of unkempt, going up and out in spiky directions, but his dark brown eyes had a happy glint. But for some reason, he just never seemed to have any luck with dating. ‘The girls all want the bad boys’ his wife had mentioned a few times. And Scott wasn’t one of them. He kept his grades up, stayed out of trouble, and was an all-around nice guy. “Who is going with you?”

“Karmen Marquez,” came the answer.

“Someone from school?”

“No. We met last year when we went to that wedding. She is Lupe’s younger sister.”

Sipping his coffee, Greg thought back to the wedding between his wife’s boss and her girlfriend. He remembered a young slip of a girl in a pretty dress, dancing with his son. She had long black hair and was cute as can be. Her complexion showed her Hispanic heritage and Greg thought to himself that his son had done well in getting her to agree to go to the dinner with him. “Doesn’t she live in Phoenix?”

“Tempe. But she will be visiting this summer, so I figured to give it a try. ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’ as the saying goes.”

“Okay. But just because you’re 17 and you have your license, doesn’t mean the two of you will be jack-assing all over the place. You still have responsibilities. And you WILL make sure to act accordingly with her. A gentleman.”

“Understood, Dad. Understood.”

The flight to Sacramento wasn’t very long, and Karmen was looking out the window of the plane as the view of the Delta came closer. Lupe and Brandi would be waiting for the sisters, to bring them back to Lodi. The drive was a little over an hour, but both Karmen and Felicia were excited about seeing their sister again and knew the drive would pass quickly.

Shortly after sending her email to Scott, Karmen had called Lupe and asked to speak to Brandi. “Tell me everything you can about Scott Brookfield!” she had asked. Brandi (and Lupe) had been amused at Karmen’s enthusiasm, and questioning.

“Well,” Brandi began, “I know him because his mother works with me. He is a nice boy. A little shy, but always polite and respectful. He does well in school and is finishing his Junior year there. He plays on a few local teams, like the CYA for baseball and is a LOT taller than me!” She giggled, because at a towering 5’0”, almost anyone was taller than she was! “This might be strange, but tell your mom that if I had a younger sister here, I would not object to her dating Scott, at all!”

That bit of news was actually passed along to Hector and Sylvia Marquez, her parents, when they discovered that Karmen already had a ‘date’ lined up when she visited Lodi. Lupe had reassured her parents that both girls would be watched over and they could relax and enjoy the vacation they were planning in Las Vegas, as they continued to work on rebuilding their own marriage.

The plane landed and the girls each grabbed their carry-on bag from the overhead bins. Holding hands, they walked down the hallways towards the lobby where they would be met and gather up luggage. Soon, happy squeals echoed in the lobby as the four of them exchanged hugs.

“We took my car,” Lupe commented. “That way there is enough room for us.” Brandi had a tiny Kia that was fine for her, but they had come up in Lupe’s Toyota 4Runner. The SUV would easily hold the four of them and luggage. Soon, they were headed down I-5 towards Lodi, and the excitement in the vehicle was bubbling high. Felicia had pulled out her phone to send a quick text to her parents. “We’re here, safe!”

Karmen sent a similar text, but to another recipient.

Dinner started with a ritual of silliness from when the girls were younger. Brandi watched as Lupe set out a glass of cola in front of everyone and said “Alphabet Time!” The sisters quickly drank the contents and then started hopping up and down (to shake things up inside). Then, to a one, they began belching the alphabet. It seemed that the girl who could say/belch the most letters before running out of gas, was the winner.

Lupe: K
Karmen: M
Felicia: R

“Dios mio!” Brandi put her face in her hands. “Such dainty examples of femininity!”

As the girls got ready for bed, Lupe explained that she and Brandi were both working the next day, so Felicia and Karmen would have the day to relax and recover from the trip. They were shown how to work the TV for the different services to watch whatever they wanted, along with the house wifi password. “Just don’t burn the place down, while we’re gone.”

Shortly after ten, Karmen’s phone sounded. “Hola!” she answered happily.

“Um, hi, Karmen, it’s Scott.”

“Hi Scott! I knew it was you. I have your number saved. Silly,” she giggled.

“Oh, well, I was calling to see if you were okay, getting settled in after the flight here.”

“Oh! Gracias! The flight was good. No problems. We got here last night and relaxed. Lupe and Brandi are working, so I’m just hanging out with Felicia until later. What’s up?”

“A really good movie.”

“Que?”

“You asked; ‘What’s up?’ and I was just saying it’s a really good movie.” With a sigh, Scott continued. “Sorry, bad joke. Never mind.”

“Oh! Si! The house with the balloons! I remember! And it IS a good movie!” Karmen giggled. “I was meaning ‘how are things going?’ not asking about cinema.”

“Okay,” Scott was mentally smacking himself. Here he was, talking with a girl who had captured and held his interest for almost a year and he finally was trying to do something about it. Now he was making an idiot of himself. “Look, I know you just got here, but I was wondering if you had plans for today. Maybe we can go out for lunch. I can have you home early since I’m sure that your sister has plans for later.”

“That sounds great! But I need to call Lupe and make sure it’s okay with her. Can I call you back after I talk with her? And where would we go?”

“There’s a few options. How about you call your sister and then let me know what she says? We can decide after that?”

Lupe granted cautious permission, even with Felicia not going along. Karmen was instructed to be home by 4:00 so she would be there when Lupe returned home from her office. She also advised her youngest sister to text her with updates on a regular basis, OR ELSE. Karmen called Scott back and gave him the address. He was there soon after.

They decided on sushi, of all things. Parking his beat up old Mazda truck, Scott escorted Karmen to the door of the restaurant that was a few short blocks from the public parking lot.

As she remembered from her visit last year, Karmen could see that Lodi was still a nice small town with lots of charm. The downtown area had many places to eat, along with small shops that sold many items ranging from clothing, to antiques, to curiosities. A number of professional offices were also located there, many of which were on the second floor of the buildings.

They were seated, and soon ordered. Iced tea helped slake their thirst, as it was hot outside in the late June weather. As their sushi rolls were placed on the table, Scott looked up at the server.

“Um, I’m sorry. I’m a barbarian and have no idea how to use chopsticks. Can I have a fork?”

The server looked at Karmen. “Would you like one as well?”

“Nope. I prefer to use my fingers!” However, she did pick up her chopsticks and demonstrated her ability to use them.

As they enjoyed the food, Scott asked; “So I was wondering, about your email address. Why ‘batgirl’? Are you like a superhero fan?”

“Sky puppies.”

Scott blinked and waited for Karmen to continue.

“Bats. Try not to laugh, but I think they are adorable! They are so misunderstood and so important to ecology. A lot of people have no idea and they have a poor reputation because of stupid horror movies.”

“Okay, but, sky puppies?”

“Ever seen a picture of the standard North American little brown bat? One of the most common bats here in the country.” She started poking on her phone. “Here is a picture. Isn’t this little guy cute?” She held up her phone, with a close up picture of a small bat.

The face did look slightly similar to a puppy, with large, dark eyes. “Bat populations are actually declining, due to loss of habitat, sickness, and human stupidity. In Arizona, there are not many pollinators besides bats. The ecosystem relies on them heavily. And you have no idea how many insects they eat every night when they go out. The bug population would EXPLODE without bats to keep them in check.”

Scott continued to look at the picture. “Yeah, I guess it is sort of cute,” he smiled. “So why the numbers after?” He handed the phone back over.

“That’s the zip code for my neighborhood. Me and my father actually made several bat houses that we put up with volunteers, in a few parks near me. Every year, when people ask me what I want for my birthday, I just ask them to make a small donation to an organization for bats.”

“Oh, wow, that’s not something I ever really thought much about.”

Reaching across the table, Karmen squeezed Scott’s hand. “I know. I’m weird. It’s okay.” Grabbing a piece of sushi with her chopsticks, she asked; “Your email? Star Trek?”

“Yeah. With my name, a lot of people think it’s funny to say ‘More power, Scotty!’ or something like that. So I figured I would just run with it.”

They finished lunch, and strolled along the street, looking in the windows of the stores. Scott made it a point to have Karmen home a little after three.

“What are you doing the rest of the day?”

“After I get home, I have practice. We have a game on Friday and that team is really good.”

“Oh. Sometimes we watch the Diamondbacks play. What position are you?”

“I’m what is called a ‘utility infielder’ because I get moved around to different spots, depending on where I’m needed. Usually I’m at second base.”

There was a slightly awkward silence as Scott escorted Karmen to the porch. “I was wondering, if your schedule allows, if maybe I could see you again? I really enjoyed lunch with you today.”

“Sí, eso estaría bien!” At his puzzled look, she corrected; “Yes, that would be nice! I’m sorry. Brain farts,” she giggled. “And yes, lunch today was great.”

Leaning forward, she gave Scott a kiss on his cheek and she went inside. Scott wasn’t exactly sure if his feet touched the ground as he walked back to the old truck.

“Someone has a boyfriend! Someone has a boyfriend!” Felicia dragged the word ‘boyfriend’ out and giggled as Karmen blushed.

“Tell us about your date today,” Lupe smiled. She was pleased that her sister was home earlier than requested and had made it a point to text her every thirty minutes with updates.

“We went for sushi and talked a lot. Then we walked around a little. Just looking at stuff. He’s really sweet. And he doesn’t think I’m weird about the bats.”

“He’s a keeper!” Felicia crowed. “Maybe you can have him help you lug around more bat houses in his truck? I know our parents don’t have much room in their cars.”

“Wait,” Brandi looked up. “He drove you around in ‘Pokey Smokey’?” Lupe looked over at her wife and Brandi continued. “He has this old, rattle-trap truck. It’s painted several shades of primer and dark green. With a roller. Every time he starts it, there is a giant cloud of blue smoke that can be seen. It rattles and shakes and I swear it looks like it is held together by duct tape and chewing gum. God knows how his father gets it to pass the SMOG tests for emissions!”

“It’s cute!” Karmen stated firmly. “And it doesn’t smoke that much. You can ignore the shaking if you’re not going fast. I don’t know any other boys who can drive a stick shift.”

Lupe suppressed a laugh. “Are you going to see him again?”

“I want to, but we agreed that would depend on if it was okay with you and what you had planned. I know that Friday he has a baseball game.”

“I can check with his mother at work, for the details,” Brandi commented.

Scott was loosening up, throwing a ball to his friend and then catching it as it was returned. He heard a comment of “Wow! Look at that!” and turned. Turning, he saw his parents sitting in the bleachers on the Third Base line, and joining them was Karmen, along with her sisters and Brandi.

Smiling, he tossed the ball and walked over to the fence to say hello. Karmen was dressed in a pair of denim shorts that came to mid thigh, and wore a nice t-shirt of pink and white tie-die style coloring. He had to laugh at the ‘Batman’ logo on the top. Cute little ankle socks with a pom at the back peeked out from her sneakers. Her long hair was held in a ponytail by a scrunchy.

“We came to see you play,” Karmen laughed. “So you better win tonight! Score a few runs!” Leaning forward she placed another kiss on his cheek.

“Gonna do my best!” he chuckled.

Karmen nodded as a voice from one of the coaches called out; “Brookfield! Smoochie face later! Back on the field!” Grinning, Scott turned and ran back out to his teammates.

“Damn, Scott! Where the heck did SHE come from?”

Turning to his friend, he replied; “The Bat Cave.”

The game was brutal. It was the bottom of the 7th inning, and neither team had managed to score a run. Scott was the lead off batter, and after a full count, was walked.

His coach signaled for him to take a lead off the base, and see what the pitcher would do. The next batter bunted. Running like his life depended on it, Scott ran to second. The catcher had grabbed the ball and threw it over the pitcher’s head but the second baseman bobbled it. By the time he managed to get the ball to make the tag, Scott was already headed to third base. On the coaches direction, he stopped, hands on his knees, catching his breath.

Runners on first and third. No outs. The game suddenly looked promising.

A coach for the other team walked out to the pitcher’s mound to have a conversation. At the same time, the third base coach came over to Scott. “Is your ass on fire?”

“Sir?”

“If you see ANY chance to get to the plate, do it! And run like your ass is on fire. Got it?”

“Yes sir.”

“Strike!”... “Ball!”... “Strike!” ... The loud ‘PING!’ of an aluminum bat connecting with leather sounded and the ball shot out to deep center field.

And yes, running as if his ass were on fire, Scott took off for the plate. The ball bounced and the center fielder threw the ball to home plate. It was going to be close. VERY close.

Remembering all that he had learned over the years, Scott waited until the last moment to slide. The idea was that by doing this, the catcher would not have his hands properly placed to make the tag, once Scott slid into home. A cloud of dust that blocked everyone from seeing clearly. Everyone waited anxiously.

“SAFE!” the umpire roared.

Pandemonium. No, this wasn’t Game 7 of the World Series. But the two teams were the best in the league and bragging rights were at stake. Everyone on the bleachers stood and cheered as the dugout emptied and Scott saw his team running out to the field to grab him. Hands thumped him on his back and on his helmet. He was sure there would be bruises and maybe a mild concussion when it was over.

Looking over, he could see his family had moved down towards the fence.

Suddenly a small girl pushed her way through the crowd and jumped into his arms. “¡Mi héroe! ¡Sabía que podías hacerlo!” Scott happily accepted the big kiss as his friends laughed.

Saturday morning was a short team meeting and practice. Everyone was still exhausted and excited over the win from yesterday. After the game, most everyone ended up driving over to Smith’s for ice cream to celebrate. Karmen rode with Scott and his parents in their car, while Lupe said they would all meet up there. “Whoever gets there first, get a table for seven of us!”