The Hitting Zone

"You lost." Baldy and friends smirked and laughed. "We'll be taking that." He snatched the money clutched in Noah's hand, then the four of them turned and disappeared back into The Arcade area.

I held the pieces of my bat, facing Noah, scared he might yell at me.

Noah frowned at the retreating four. "Damn. We would have won! Those cheapskates." He sighed, looking at me. "This isn't good."

I gulped.

"Let go see what the owner has to say. Remember, it's always best to be on the offense. Just follow my lead." He held his head high and led the way back to The Arcade.

I closely followed, feeling depressed.

We marched back into the shop and rental area. Noah didn't hesitate and walked right up to the counter and flat out told the lady, "I would like to lodge a complaint. You guys let us borrow faulty equipment."

The lady's eyebrows shot up as she peered down at us. "What did you break?"

"We didn't break anything." Noah refuted. "That so-called 'superior' bat that you loaned us for ten dollars, fell apart in my friends hand as he was batting. He's lucky it didn't cut him up or anything. I'm sorry to say, I'm going to need my ten dollars back."

My jaw dropped, stunned at his approach. Is this what he meant by being on the offense? Instead of us paying them back for breaking their bat, he's going to demand that they pay him. Noah really has no shame. I set the broken pieces on the counter and quickly took a step back, making sure I was standing slightly behind Noah.

The lady frowned at the pieces of wood. "Where's the rest?"

"In the cage. It burst apart everywhere so we picked up what we could."

"Did it burst apart or fell apart?" The old man walked around the counter to stand beside the lady. He was the supposed boss who may have been a pro. He squinted at Noah, "Well? Which is it?"

Noah swallowed hard, not looking as confident as before. "Uh-both? It fell apart as my friend was using it in the cage and when it connected with the ball, the pieces blew everywhere."

The old man thought for a moment, leaving us in suspense. "I seem to recall my employee telling you boys that a wooden bat would be easier to break in the cages." He raised an eyebrow. "Which cage did it break in?"

Noah twitched, "The 100mph cage...but you can't tell me that my friend could use enough force to break the bat. It was obviously cracked or faulty."

The old man looked at me in surprise, "So this young man can hit a 100mph fastball? Impressive."

"Thank you." Noah answered on my behalf. "Now, about my money? Also, isn't it only right that we get that token back too? The bat broke half way through the twelve pitches so that's a waste of a token." I was amazed at Noah's demeanor. He wasn't even going to let a token go.

The old man gave a light chuckle, but surprisingly, he pulled out a token and placed it on the counter. "Here's the refund."

"And my ten dollars?" Noah asked.

"I also remember telling you, 'you break it, you buy it'." The old man held out his hand. "So instead of returning your ten dollars, I'll be asking for fifty from you to cover the cost of the bat."

Noah turned his back to the adults and faced me, mouthing one phrase, easy to understand. Oh shit.