CHAPTER 1 GUILTY AS CHARGED Mackenzie Jones had seen this look on his friend’s face before It was the bottom of the ninth of the All-Camp Junior Baseball Tournament final and Andre Jennings stood in the batter’s box his jaw clenched eyes narrowed narrowed and nostrils flared The look usually indicated that something special was about to happen That is if the pitch would ever arrive Now I see why they have a pitch clock in the major leagues said Miles Holley shifting nervously next to Mack This is taking forever Andre’s bright white jersey read Camp Avalon across the front but the kids who went there never called it that As far as they were concerned they attended Camp Average the least competitive sports camp in the world The pitcher’s just trying to psych Andre out Mack replied to his friend It’s a classic Killington move Known for its baseball dominance Camp Killington
had won every All-Camp Tournament for more than thirty years until the previous summer when Andre Mack Miles and a bunch of their friends had pulled off a minor miracle and put an end to the streak But the Killington kids were so sure they’d win the rematch this year that they let Camp Average host the final on their senior-camp diamond for the second straight summer And now Andre was trying to prove them wrong He just needed a ball to cross the plate Okay pitcher the umpire said finally Let’s play ball The pitcher a skinny kid with a long ponytail and killer changeup nodded at the ump and grinned at Andre He wound up and delivered a low fastball BANG Andre smacked the ball high over the pitcher’s head Killington’s center fielder tracked it in the air and slowly moved back back back until he bumped into the wooden outfield fence with a thud A second later the ball landed well beyond it and the fans in the bleachers beyond first base jumped to their feet They stomped and cheered high-fiving in their orange camp T-shirts Nice one Andre shouted Winston Smith their junior camp director from the summer before As always he was dressed in a light gray hoodie red short shorts knee-high white socks and black old-school running shoes
Mack cast the director a quick sideways glance then returned his attention to the field to see Andre tap his foot on home plate The home run made the score 4 1 For Killington Despite Andre’s obvious greatness at the plate and on the mound the famous baseball camp would not be denied this year A few minutes and three outs later the game was over and Killington had reclaimed the coveted trophy Mack and Miles stood to clap for their team’s efforts and took a step onto the field from the bleachers The summer before Winston had thrown a major curveball of his own by rewriting the campers schedules and making competitive sports mandatory That meant Mack and Miles got drafted onto the baseball team even though they’d signed up for other things and Mack had responded by organizing a camp-wide revolt The epic battle ended in a stalemate with Mack and Winston each getting only part of what they’d wanted But this year to Mack’s relief there had been more than enough participants for all competitive sports So he and Miles now twelve years old and in their last summer as junior campers had gone back to their first loves water sports and rocketry respectively On the diamond Andre a tall athletic boy with dark
skin and black hair pulled his green-and-yellow Oakland A’s cap low over his eyes and left the dugout to congratulate congratulate the winning team Mack watched his friend shuffle through the handshake line until one of the Killington players grabbed his hand tightly stopping him in place The boy was even taller than Andre and had broader shoulders than any coach on the field Deets Mack whispered under his breath Terry Dietrich was baseball royalty because of both what he could do on the field and who he was related to His uncle was Jeffrey Dietrich the former Major League Baseball star whose talent had solidified Killington’s baseball reputation Around these parts Terry went by his uncle’s nickname Deets and he was so good no one would ever tell him he didn’t deserve it What’s he saying Mack asked no one in particular as Deets leaned in close to whisper something to Andre Miles squinted through his glasses at the two boys holding up the handshake line I might be seeing things but it looks like he said There’s always a pot of stew at Killington Is he offering him lunch Is that a baseball thing Mack eyed his friend skeptically Okay maybe I need to revisit my lip-reading book Miles conceded
