Caught Stealing by Jake Maddox

Author:Jake Maddox [Terrell, Brandon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Brandon Terrell; friendship; teammates; baseball; pitchers; catchers; teamwork; sports; 9781496504975; 9781496523259; 9781496524676; 9781496504937
Publisher: Capstone
Published: 2015-09-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

THE TRUTH UNCOVERED

At school the next day, Ian did his best to avoid Hunter. He was still beyond angry with Hunter for stealing his dad’s signed baseball just so he could buy a stupid new glove.

To make matters worse, Ian wasn’t even sure he wanted to be a Knight anymore. He was embarrassed by the way he’d played and by the scuffle he’d had with Hunter. He’d never been in a fight before. And this was with another player. They were supposed to be a team.

As Ian gathered his things from his locker after school, Willie came over. “Practice should be interesting today,” he said. “Coach Frey isn’t going to go easy on us after the game last night.”

“I’m not feeling so good,” Ian said. “I think I’m getting sick. Tell Coach sorry, but I’m gonna head home.”

Willie shot him a look. “Oh. Is this because of Hunter?” he asked.

Ian crammed his schoolbooks into his backpack and closed his locker. “Dude, I feel like I’m going to hurl,” he said. “It’s probably from the mystery-meat lasagna we ate at lunch.”

“All right, man,” Willie said. “Feel better.”

“Thanks,” Ian said, heading outside.

Ian was old enough to have a key to his house, and his parents trusted him enough to let him stay home alone for an hour or so after school. So when he got home, he sat in his room with his headphones on, listening to music and doing homework.

An hour later, his bedroom door burst open, and Benny came rocketing in. He leaped onto the bed next to Ian and yanked the headphones from his big brother’s ears.

“Why are you home?” Benny asked.

Then Mom appeared in the doorway. “Don’t you have practice, Ian?” she asked.

“My stomach hurts,” Ian lied. “I came home to rest.”

“I’ll bring you some crackers,” Mom said. “Maybe you should take a break from doing homework.”

After his mom left the room, Ian put down his notebook. He decided to lie down for a bit and play with his handheld video game. Normally, he kept it on the table next to his bed. But today, it wasn’t there.

Ian walked downstairs to find Mom and Dad making dinner and Benny coloring at the dining room table. “Has anyone seen my handheld game?” he asked.

“Hmm …” Mom responded. “Benny, weren’t you playing with that earlier?”

Benny nodded. “I was squishing monsters on it,” he said proudly.

“Next time ask before you take my stuff,” Ian said. He trudged back upstairs and into Benny’s messy room. Posters of cartoon characters covered the walls. Stuffed animals and racecars were strewn everywhere.

Ian looked all over for his game system, but he couldn’t find it. He checked under blankets and on the floor. Finally, he picked up Benny’s pillow and looked underneath it.

Nothing.

But the pillow was heavier than Ian had expected. Something was stuffed in the pillowcase.

Got it, Ian thought, reaching in to pluck out the game system.

What he found, though, wasn’t his game.

The item was round. It had stitches.

Ian grabbed it and pulled it out of the pillowcase.

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