I Unintentionally Became Her Kitten

Chapter 37: Cracks

Note: This is a playlist I listen to when I can't be working on this actively but still need to work through some sticky plot points.

Tye pulled into the batting cages parking lot a while later. I was still holding myself together… mostly. I had rubbed some tears away and took to staring out the window so Alisha wouldn't be able to see.

The batting cages were actually a part of a fun-park with go carts and bumper cars, a small pool and a handful of other attractions aimed at families but the rest of the place was shut down except a small ice cream shop. Even the batting cages had the last couple patrons leaving for the day: a father and son who were happily discussing soft serve flavors as they walked to the far end.

It was disappointing to think Alisha wouldn't get to do whatever she wanted to do here but she climbed out anyway and the employee went to say something but stopped, seeing her face and instead sighed.

“And here I thought I’d get home in time for once,” he said.

Tye followed after her, arms crossed as she silently paid the man way more than I would expect the batting cages to cost.

I silently trailed behind, and found the man’s eyes staring at me so I scurried to catch up with Tye. Gravel getting kicked by my feet and the jutting points hurt through my flats.

He sat at a picnic table outside the tall chain link fence. Alisha entered through a gate and picked one of the enclosed lanes and grabbed a bat off the ground. I hesitated to follow her further unsure if I would be helpful or harmful in this situation.

“Leave her be,” Tye said and dropped his jacket to the table surface. He leaned on his elbows as I turned toward him and finally sat down on the other side, careful not to let the fancy dress get caught on any of the splintering wood.

I didn't dare say anything. My throat was painfully tight and any utterance would give away my feelings and I didn't want Tye to have to deal with that.

He offered me some tissues from a small travel pack anyway and I glanced at him before accepting.

I was more obvious than I thought.

But I guessed, as I went to blow my nose, there were still damp marks down my cheeks. It would be hard for someone not to notice.

“It has nothing to do with you, so don't take it personally,” Tye explained. “I don't know what was said but I know her mother can be a real bitch.”

I shook my head. “But it is my fault. I shouldn't be here.”

“That's bullshit.”

I was a little shocked at the language. Tye was always calm and collected. But when I looked now, there was an angry tension in his face.

“Alisha likes you and she made the decision to include you in her life. Not many people get that privilege, and believe me when I say many have tried. If there was ever a doubt in her mind that you weren't someone she wanted, you wouldn't be here.”

“But… I'm not suited for this,” I said. I looked down at the dress I was still in.

“It's all bullshit,” Tye repeated. “People are people. If this job has taught me anything it's that. Rich people are assholes. Poor people are assholes. The middle class is filled with assholes…” he made a gesture indicating the list could go on. “It doesn’t matter who or where you are, people will always make you feel like you don't belong.”

I flinched as there was a sudden crack over where Alisha was and blinked as she had unzipped her dress and let it hang down at her waist so she only had her bra between her breasts and the world. The bat in her hands was drawing back after her first swing and a moment later I heard the rattling of the fence enclosure further down the lane. She had also kicked her heels off and stood on the gravel barefoot.

“I know,” Tye said at my concern. “But when she's like this it's best to let her vent.”

I saw what he meant as she swung that bat with a vengeance and smacked another ball down the lane with another crack that echoed.

“But my point was that it has nothing to do with you. You're part of your parents' class, technically, and that never stopped them from being abusive to you.”

I shook my head. “But it's not just about class,” I said. “It's also…”

“You don't know how to handle the violence?” He guessed.

I nodded.

“Most of us don't either.”

I looked up. “I see… Did you want this life?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I was born into it. And by the time I realized what was happening it was already too late.”

So he was like Alisha. Part of a family line of illicitness.

There was another crack behind me as Alisha hit another baseball.

“I'm honestly a little surprised she hasn't made you her underboss,” I admitted. “I mean you understand her and you're not about to do things that she wouldn't approve of…”

“It was offered to me,” Tye said. “I turned her down.”

That was a bit of a shock.

“It wasn't something I wanted,” he explained.

“I see…” 

I glanced over at where Alisha was still whacking baseballs away. She was sweating now, her hair gradually losing the waves from being styled earlier. 

And then the man that ran this place started bumbling over to us, a few drinks in hand.

Tye straightened himself out as he approached.

“Beer?” the man offered. He set one down in front of Tye and then hesitated in front of me.

“Are you… twenty-one?” he asked. 

I nodded and he set one down in front of me, too.

“And one for the misses,” he explained for a third that he put off to the side. And then he bumbled off again.

I blinked, confused at this random offering.

“Alisha pays him very well,” Tye said as an explanation. He opened his can with that iconic crack-hiss and immediately drank deeply.

I at least pulled mine a little closer to stare at the condensation beading up on the surface.

A while later there was silence and I looked up to see Alisha still holding the bat but she was slouched now and the end was leaning against the ground. Her breathing was visibly strained and after another moment she stood up and leaned the bat against the cage.

I felt relieved as she pulled her dress over her shoulders and zipped it most of the way back up.

She approached, holding her shoes and still panting as she slumped onto the bench next to me and grabbed the beer that had been designated to her.

She chugged that drink until I was sure she'd finished it.

“Are you feeling better?” Tye asked.

“Yes,” she sighed heavily and set the empty can on the table.

I pushed my beer over to her offeringly. She shook her head and instead pulled me in close.

“I think…” she said. “I owe you some explanation… but this isn’t the place to do it.”

I nodded, understanding and she ran her palm across my cheek. “I'm sorry, I hurt your feelings, didn't I?” she asked.

“No, I'm okay,” I told her. Her mother was the one driving the blade in. I didn't know the context or if Alisha had an even darker side to her I had yet to see, but she hadn’t done anything to me.

I finally gave in and opened my beer to take a draft. It was definitely a beer, and tasted like crap-alcohol that kids drank for the sake of getting drunk. There was an unpleasant bite to it that made me want to spit it back out. But for the sake of finishing it I pushed through as Alisha put her head down and cooled off. It did make me a bit on the tipsy side and my stomach very much didn't like it until about halfway through. Then it was one of the best things I'd ever tasted and I finished it off with some sense of finality. My stomach felt better, which meant I'd probably feel worse in the morning but I was okay with this.

“Let's get some food,” Alisha said and straightened some of my hair out. “I never did feed you, did I?”

I shook my head.

“Where do you wanna go?” she asked.

“I don't really care,” I said. “Anything sounds good to me.” Even if the nausea was less, my stomach was still sloshing the alcohol around so I needed to eat something.

“Do you like Mexican food?” she asked.

I nodded. 

Tye stood and gathered his jacket and the car keys.

Alisha was quick to follow, making me realize they already knew where they were going. I gathered the dress skirt as I swung my legs over the bench and got up as well.

Alisha held an arm out for me and I happily leaned against her, accepting her affection as we walked.