"Ma, can we please go swimming?" Bucky asked his voice, much darker, now that he was fourteen years old. He was a handsome boy. A real specimen in the works. Even at fourteen, he was tall and lean. His dark hair was straight as a board and fell handsomely in the middle. It wasn't long. Very short at the back while his bangs touched the ends of his eyebrows.

But none of that had anything on Bucky's eyes. They were beautiful. Like priceless crystal. And he was always smiled. For a boy who had lost me than he should have at that age, he was always happy and funny and suave. A very popular and well-liked young man in Shelbyville.

He had followed his mother outside. It was the morning, but not very early. The August summers were the worst around and he wanted to swim rather than play ball, which is what he usually would have done.

"No," his mother said. "Go get those boxes and put it in the back of the car."

He did as he was told. The pastor had driven his car to their home so that his mother can deliver all the clothing scraps she had gathered. The old women would see them into clothes for the poor. She also canned meat and vegetables for extra money. She was going to use his car to deliver them all

"Do you want to come, Bucky?" asked his mother.

He sighed. "I'd rather go find Jim," he said. "We said that we'd meet up at the sandlot at 10."

Blanche nodded. "Fine. Go get Becky and Will. I need their help."

Bucky smiled. "Thanks, Ma."

"Come give your mother a kiss," she said, holding out her arms.

"Ma..." Bucky groaned, jogging over to his mother and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"I love you, my oldest," she called after him as he ran up the driveway to go get his siblings.

"Love you too, Ma!" she heard him call back.

Once his family was off on their errand, Bucky grabbed pocketed an apple and a quarter, stuck his glove in his back pocket and was on his way.

He walked the town streets, greeting people he knew and smiling at people he didn't know yet. He stopped at the drug store and bought two colas and pocketed the change. Then he made his way to the sandlot, making sure not to shake up his drinks.

"Bucky!" greeted Jimmy from across the yard. "You ready for a game. About ten guys here."

"Why do you think I came, Jimmy?" Bucky asked, tasking his glove out of his back pocket. "Mitt's hot."

Jimmy cracked a smiled. "Alright then, Big Shot," he said, tossing Bucky the baseball, which he caught. "You know your place."

Bucky smiled as he jogged up on top of the mound while Jimmy called all the boys together. Bucky had grown into being a full-throttle pitcher. He was tall and had a strong arm. But it was even better because any left-handed pitch intimidated a batter.

But Jimmy was shorter. Beefier. He wasn't fat, he was just pretty built. They were pitchers and catchers for the town's team. They played on the varsity team too, but not too much since they were only fourteen. They knew each other better than the backs of their hands. They would both shape out to be good players in their high school years.

They played quite the game. It went on for a couple of hours. Bucky and Jimmy didn't even bother hitting. They stayed on the field as all-time pitchers and catchers. The boys always had a great time on the baseball field.

All fifteen of them. If you weren't playing, you were horsing around, having a good time. Or you were watching the game because it's always a good game.

Soon enough, Bucky and Jimmy took a break, knowing that if they played too much, Jim would bruise his hand and Bucky would throw his arm out

He tossed the warm cola to Jimmy who nearly downed it one sip. Bucky only drank half of his before biting into his apple.

"So what do you think of high school?" Jimmy asked casually. They were sitting in the dirt, leaned up against the chain-link fence, watching the baseball game. Bucky shrugged.

"School's school, y' know. I don't want to rush anything," he said.

"I don't know," Jimmy returned. "I'm ready for school to be over. I'm ready to be grown and out of my old man's house. Really it's ma. ."

Bucky gave him a joking look. "Move out of your ma's house? I love my mother!" He leaned back putting the back of his hand over his forehead. "What would I ever do without my mommy!"

They both chuckled before Bucky spoke again, getting serious. "But seriously," he said. "Life is short. You never know what day is your last. I don't want to think about high school or moving away from home. I want to think about now. About you, baseball, the boys. This is where I am right now and I could get hit on the head with a baseball just the right way right now," Bucky told his best friend, pulling his knee up and letting his elbow rest. "You just never know."

Jimmy sighed, letting his head hit the chain link. "That was deep, Buck."

Bucky shrugged. "You know I'm a thinker."

Then an evil smile crossed Jimmy's face. "I also know that you kissed Sarah Muller."

Buckys' jaw dropped as he turned to look at Jimmy in surprise. "How did you know?" he asked.

"How did you not tell me?" Jimmy asked, playfully pushing Bucky back. "I feel betrayed!"

Bucky shrugged, going red.

"How was it?" asked Jimmy. "I kissed Marge Pullman and I don't think she did it right," he said with a strange look on his face.

"She took it farther than I was ever expecting," Bucky said with a shrug. "It was like high heaven. Swear it was for 10 minutes."

"Wait, you made out?" asked Jimmy. "Sarah Muller made out with you?"

"And," Bucky added. "I didn't kiss her. She kissed me. She even started feeling on me, but I stopped it."

"A senior tried to ruffle the sheets with you and you turned her away?" asked Jimmy, dumbfounded.

Bucky shrugged. "Nah. No reason too. I mean— I wanted to... if—you know what I mean, but I knew I shouldn't."

Jimmy laughed, patting Bucky's back. "Good man. No wonder the girls like you so much."

Bucky rolled his eyes and took another sip of his cola when he heard wailing sirens. "John Law?" asked Jimmy casually, looking to the streets. The sirens wailed and scream for what seemed like 30 minutes until they finale stopped.

"Wonder what that was," Bucky wondered aloud. Jimmy shrugged, standing up.

"Game?" he asked, holding out his hand to help Bucky to his feet. "Let's hit for once."

But Bucky's eyes were not focused on baseball or Jimmy. He stood slowly to his feet as he stood up and watched a police car pull up next to the lot. All the boys stopped playing and ran over to see what the matter was.

Deputy Houser stepped out of his vehicle with a grim look on his face. He looked around at the kids, looking for someone. All the boys followed his eyes until they landed on their pitchers.

Bucky felt his stomach turn. Houser looked absolutely horrible. Sick almost. Why would he be singling out Bucky?

"Son, I need you to come with me," he said in a low voice. Bucky stayed right where he was.

"What is it, Deputy Houser?" he asked.

"You're not in trouble, Buck," he promised. "Just get in the car. And I don't know how this is going to turn out, so tell your buddies goodbye, why don't you?"

Bucky looked around at all his friends' faces, who all looked just as scared as he was. Their first baseman who they call Slimy, let the baseball bat fall from his had onto the grass, while Jimmy walks up to him and held his hand out to shake.

Bucky didn't have the strength to wipe his scared, confused look from his face as he shook his best friend's hand and pulled him into a tight hug.

"I don't what it is, Jim," he said quietly as they let go.

Jimmy just sighed, peering over to the deputy. "I don't either, Buck. Just come back, okay?"

He nodded silently, backing away to the cop car. He gave the boys a salute as he opens the door.

"See ya later, fellas," he said monotonously as Deputy Houser shut the door behind him. They all watched in confusion as the car drove off down the street.

And they never did see him later. But they heard about the accident. They saw the ruts in the dirt one block away from First Baptist. It took two whole days to clean up the wreckage. But it had only taken seconds to happen. Only seconds to take a life...

Jimmy did get to see Bucky before he left. When it happened, Jimmy's mother had come to the hospital to stay with Bucky while Becky and Will healed. Poor Will was only 9.

But before they could be put on the train, Uncle Burt and Aunt Eliza had to be notified of the tragedy. They had to agree to the terms in his mother's will. Then the three kids had to get their things together.

And then they were off. A young teenage boy off to New York with two young, traumatized young siblings. As if he were traumatized also. But they had been there. They had seen it.

Bucky had to be strong. For Rebecca and for William, he had to be strong.