C'mon Blue

This story had elements of two of my favorite things- softball and jiu-jitsu. If you've ever spent much time at the ballpark for travel ball or rec ball, some of this will be familiar to you. Be warned that some of the characters in this fictional story use racial epithets. If you don't like violence or interracial sex, do us both a favor and quit while you're ahead.

*

Ray Washington was sweating. Behind the plate for his third game of the day in the blistering Florida sun, Ray was anxious for the game to be over. The home team was up five runs, and the visitors hadn't been able to touch their pitcher all game.

Having travelled up from Port St. Lucie to Lakewood Park in Fort Pierce, Ray was spending yet another weekend away from home trying to make some extra bucks. Ray's primary job working as a warehouse manager paid well, but his recent divorce had set him way back. Being able to pick up and extra $250 for working a day and a half over the weekend helped him make ends meet.

Besides the money, Ray enjoyed the kids. While he umped baseball sometimes, softball is what Ray really loved. He was doing a 12U tournament with sixteen teams this week, and they'd moved from pool games to bracket play earlier in the afternoon. A typical double-elimination tournament; by noon on Sunday there'd only be four teams left. With four fields and only two age groups, the games went by quickly.

As the half-inning cycled, Ray went to the backstop to drink some more water. He checked the game clock- only eighteen minutes left. The umpires did a home/field/off rotation, but as it was late in the day and the tournament organizers wanted all the teams back to the park in the morning to pad their gate receipts, this was Ray's last game of the day.

While Ray loved the kids, he hated the parents. Loud, self-centered, and ignorant as to the rules of the game, parents made Ray's life a living hell at times. And this game was one of them.

The visiting Lady Raiders were an average team at best. Average players, average coaching. They had won one game early in the day against the weakest team in the tournament, but had lost two games since then. Ray had been a factor in the second loss, as he'd waved off a play at first that would have ended the inning for the Lady Raiders when their first baseman pulled her foot off the bag stretching for an errant throw on a squeeze bunt. Ray's safe call allowed what was the winning run to score from third and ended the game.

The mother of the first baseman was a loud, caustic woman who wouldn't leave it alone all game. She argued balls and strikes constantly, leaving Ray's partner Ed ready to climb the fence and open a gallon can of whoop ass on her. When Ray made the game ending call, this mom called him a blind asshole who shouldn't be allowed on the field. She had a gravelly, deep voice and didn't hesitate to let her opinions be known.

As Ray and Ed left the field for the earlier game, the mom ran up to them and told them they should be ashamed of themselves to do that to her girls. Some of the other parents on the team looked on sympathetically, as the few that actually paid attention to the game knew Ray'd made the right call.

As bad luck would have it, Ray and Ed drew the Lady Raiders for their first pool game in the afternoon closer. The loud woman from earlier in the day set her folding chair up behind the plate, and was on Ray's ass for the whole game.

The woman had a hand-painted t-shirt that said, "Larissa" over her heart, and the back said," #10 Audrey Lady Raiders" in support of her daughter. Larissa had cut the sleeves off the t-shirt, and hemmed the bottom up so it would show the piercing in her naval and the top of her tribal tramp stamp. She had large hoop earrings, a deep tan, and stepped away between innings to smoke her Marlboros. Ray had been around the park long enough to know that she wasn't well liked by the other team parents, as she sat by herself while the other parent clustered together in groups. Her daughter Audrey was a big girl who could pound anything up in the zone, but was slow and couldn't touch a down and away pitch.

With one out, Audrey came up to bat. The first pitch came right down the center of the plate at knee height. "Steee Rike!" Ray called.

"C'mon Blue, that's terrible!" Larissa was at it again. The second pitch was way high, and Audrey let it go. "You sure that wasn't a strike too, Blue?" Audrey hammered the next pitch foul down the third base line. The girl had power, but was strictly a pull hitter. With a 2-1 count, the home team's coach wisely called a waste pitch, and she delivered. A foot outside. "Good eye, Audrey, you got this babe!"

They stayed outside on the next pitch, and Audrey hit it off the end of her bat towards first base. The young lady on first charged hard to catch it, but only barely got her glove on the ball a step in foul territory. The ball bounced off her glove and rolled out towards the pitcher, who picked the ball up. Audrey raced to first base, and Ray called "Foul Ball."

Larissa erupted, yelling "What do you mean foul ball? The pitcher has the ball, how the hell can it be foul? You're TERRIBLE blue, just TERRIBLE!" Her large breasts heaved as she yelled at Ray. He thought to himself, "Jesus Christ, get a clue lady," and stepped back behind the plate.

Veins stood out in her neck as she continued her tirade. "No wonder we're losing! How much did they pay you!" Ray had enough. He took his mask off, turned to the woman, and said, "It was a foul ball. She touched it in foul territory." He glared at her, but couldn't help but notice the camel toe on her short shorts.

Ray turned back around, and waved the pitcher on. The next pitch bounced in the dirt. "Way to battle Aud," yelled Larissa from behind the plate. Ray thought, "Battle? If she swung at that shit she deserves to sit down."

The 3-2 pitch was low, and Audrey was on top of it. The ball hit the plate, rolled forwards, and the catcher made a nice play and threw her out at first. "You stupid sonvabitch, the ball hit the plate, it's a foul ball!" Larissa screamed as she held the chain link fence behind home plate. Ray noticed that she wore a thumb ring on her left hand, and had little fake gemstones on her fingernails from her manicure. While she had rings on seven of her ten digits, her left ring finger was empty.

"Big fuckin' surprise," Ray thought to himself. Both teams went down peacefully from there on, and Ray was relieved to call "BALLGAME" when the last Lady Raiders batter popped out to third base.

"It would've been a ballgame if you weren't blind, Blue." Larissa got in one parting shot as Ray walked off the field for the end of a hard day.

He thought to himself, "No wonder that bitch isn't married with the mouth on her." He looked over at Larissa. She pulled another Marlboro out of her pack, lit it and took a deep drag. "Nice game Lady Raiders!!!" she yelled.

Ed asked Ray if he wanted to get something to eat. "Nah, I just want to take a shower buddy. I'll see you in the morning." One thing Ray liked about calling games in this area was they weren't cheap. The tournament organizers gave the umps their own rooms. Ray took the long walk to his car, and headed to the motel.

After he'd showered and watched some ESPN, Ray played with his cell phone. "Fuck, I left my charger in the car again." Ray put on his shorts and a t-shirt, and headed out to his car to retrieve his charger.

As he walked outside of his room, Ray heard a commotion in the parking lot. "Just get the fuck out of here, asshole!" Ray thought he recognized that voice. He headed down the stairs from his second-floor room in the La Quinta, and there she was.

Sure enough, the voice was Larissa. She was standing in the parking lot next to a dirty Dodge minivan with two guys. Ray paused at the bottom of the stairwell to look. Both of the men near Larissa were large redneck looking motherfuckers wearing camo. "Don't be such a bitch, c'mon and party with us for a little while," the larger of the two said.

"You're both assholes, and I DON'T WANT TO PARTY WITH YOU," Larissa said loudly. The larger of the two men grabbed Larissa by the upper arm and said, "We won't take no for an answer. Don't make a scene, and it'll be cool."

Larissa responded by slapping the big man in the face. "I'm not going anywhere with you, get the fuck out of here!"

"Brandon, I believe she just bitch-slapped you," the smaller man laughed at his friend. Brandon responded by grabbing a handful of Larissa's brunette hair and pulling her head backwards hard.

"Don't do that shit again or I'm gonna hurt you," Brandon sneered at Larissa. Overpowered and outweighed by at least one hundred pounds, there was little Larissa could do. "Get the car started, Josh," the big man called to his compatriot. He pulled Larissa by the hair and started to move her.

Ray took a deep breath, and started forward. "Hey boys, what's going on?" he called. While at 5' 8" and a trim 170 pounds he was much smaller than the two men he was walking towards, Ray felt confident in himself.

"What the fuck do you want, jigaboo?" the smaller man approach Ray. Looking at the man, Ray estimated him to be just over six feet tall and about 220 pounds, most of it around his middle.

Larissa was relieved to see someone coming to her rescue, but shocked when she saw it was the umpire from the field today. She heard Ray call out, "Why don't you two just go about your business and leave her alone?"

"And why the fuck don't you just go back inside, you fuckin' spook?" The smaller man walked towards Ray.

"Don't take no shit from no nigger, Josh." The big man still had a handful of Larissa's hair.

While not a big man by any means, Ray was very confident in his ability to deal with these men as long as he could do so one at a time. "Josh, there's no need for this," Ray said. Josh continued forward with clenched fists. Ray took a look at the situation, and set his feet.

What Josh and Brandon didn't know was that Ray had spent at least three nights a week in the gym for the last four years. A natural athlete and a good strategist, Ray was now a blue belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.

Josh walked towards the smaller man boldly. "I gave you the chance to walk away. Now I'm gonna have to whip your black ass,"

Josh swung a wild right hook at Ray. Ray ducked, advanced forward and grabbing both his opponent's thighs, and tackled him. As quick as the tackle came the switch- after putting his Josh on his back, Ray sat up. He quickly wrapped his right arm around Josh's lower calf, putting his wrist bone across the Achilles tendon of Josh's left leg. Tucking the top of the Josh's left foot under his right armpit while grabbing his right wrist with his left hand, Ray pivoted to his left and rolled both men onto their bellies. Ray pulled hard, felt a pop and a crunch, and knew he'd just wasted the Josh's leg.

Larissa and Brandon didn't really know what had just happened, but there was no mistaking the screaming and swearing from Josh. Ray quickly stood up to face Brandon, who was holding Larissa in front of him, arm around her waist, hand on her throat. "Why are you hiding behind her? Come out and play, you pussy!" Ray taunted the man.

Ray's taunts had the desired effect. "I'm gonna whoop yo' ass, motherfucker," said Brandon, pushing Larissa aside. Ray circled to his left, away from Josh. He knew Josh wouldn't be jumping him from behind after what just happened to his leg, but Ray didn't want to risk being grabbed all the same.

"What'cha waitin' for? You afraid, big boy?" Ray knew that pride would produce carelessness. Brandon was easily 6' 3"and 240. He rushed forward, swinging wildly with both hands. Ray ducked, and put his head against Brandon's chest. With no distance to create power, Brandon's punches lost most of their sting. Keeping his head tucked and tight, Ray jumped up, wrapping his legs around right below Brandon's butt and pulled him forward onto the ground where their size difference would be somewhat negated.

Larissa was horrified to see the big man on top of Ray. Ray kept his legs wrapped around Brandon's waist, locking his ankles behind the larger man. First Ray pulled Brandon down to him while the big man kept swinging, then Ray sat up slightly keeping his head close to Brandon's chest while he flailed punches at him.

Larissa thought Ray was getting the snot beaten out of him, but the truth was that Ray was biding his time. Ray suddenly put both his hands behind Brandon's head, and pulled forward. Ray head-butted Brandon in his nose with the crown of his head, causing blood to splatter all over both men. Then Brandon did what Ray was waiting for- he put his left arm on the ground.

Ray quickly grabbed Brandon's left wrist with both hands, and swung his left leg up and around Brandon's head. With the back of his left knee behind Brandon's head, Ray down with his legs to force Brandon's head to the ground. Ray stretched the arm straight, leaned back and raised his hips. This caused Brandon's elbow to bend in a direction it wasn't designed to bend. Again, Ray felt a pop and kept pulling, breaking the bigger man's elbow. In the gym his opponent would have tapped, and Ray would have let go. He knew there'd be no rules on the street. The big redneck screamed, and Ray hopped up.

"If you boys want more, just say so. Otherwise, get the fuck out of here." Brandon pulled Josh up with his good arm, and they shuffled away cussing. Ray had a minor cut above his left eye from Brandon's punches, but was otherwise unscathed. His Jiu-Jitsu training had proved its worth.

"Holy shit, that was amazing!" Larissa couldn't believe her eyes. "You just handed them their asses!"

"Guess I'm not such a useless piece of shit after all," Ray replied, wiping the blood away from his cheek. "You OK?"

"Yeah, I think so," Larissa replied. She used her hands to pull her hair back over her shoulders, which had the effect of showing off her breasts. "That was fucking awesome!"

"Well, Mr. Fucking Awesome thinks he's had enough for tonight. I've got an early game tomorrow. You shouldn't stay out here." Ray walked to his nearby car, got the charger, and turned to go back to him room. "Time for me to get cleaned up."

Larissa was stunned by what just happened. Being too excited to have watched closely, she didn't understand how a smaller man could have just manhandled two larger men with such ease. Deciding that she needed a cigarette, Larissa watched Ray walk to his room. She waved, but he didn't turn to see her. "Third door on the left," she said to herself, taking another drag. Finishing her smoke, she went inside to her room.

Larissa opened her mini-fridge and pulled out a Corona. Taking a deep pull, she thought about what had just happened. She knew she could have been raped or worse by the two men. Her adrenaline was pumping, and she took another drink from the Corona. And another.

Then the guilt started setting in. She'd given that ump a world of shit today. And yet he risked himself to save her. Taking another drink, she thought back to the day at the park, and started second-guessing herself. "Holy Christ, my heart is pumping!" she thought, and took another drink.

She'd never had a man stand up for her like what just happened. As she thought some more, she drank some more, and began to ponder a plan of action. Larissa finished her beer, opened another, and made her decision.

Changing into a light denim top that she tied off under her breasts, Larissa pulled on her favorite pair of white shorts. She sucked her tummy in, fastened the button, and looked at herself in the mirror. She unbuttoned her top a bit more and pulled it open to show more cleavage. The butterfly tattoo on her left breast was partially visible.

Larissa touched up her makeup, refreshing her eyeliner and adding a bit of eyeshadow. She spun around to look at herself. The shorts went up her ass crack a bit, and the top of her tramp stamp was visible. So was her naval piercing. Slipping on a pair of sandals with a bit of a heel made her legs look better, and she took a deep breath. Being forward didn't bother her, but admitting mistakes didn't come easy. She grabbed the cardboard container with the remaining four Coronas, and went out her door.

"Here goes nothing," Larissa thought to herself as she knocked on the door.

Ray heard the knock and peered through the eyehole. He wanted to make sure they boys hadn't returned. He saw Larissa's face, and opened the door. "Yes ma'am," he said.

"Mind if I buy you a drink?" Larissa replied, holding up the Coronas.

Ray exhaled, and said, "Sure, come on in." He walked to the back of the motel room past the double queen beds to the sink. Splashing some water on his face, he grabbed a washcloth and returned to sit on the chair at the small desk.

"Let me take a look at that for you. By the way, I'm Larissa." She took the washcloth from Ray and surveyed the wound above his left eye.

"I'm Ray, the blind umpire," he retorted.

Stepping closer to Ray, she took the washcloth from him and pressed the wound above his eye. "You gotta put pressure on it to stop the bleeding."

"Ouch!" Ray said. Larissa's breasts were right in front of his face.

"Don't be a such a sissy, and don't be a smartass," Larissa smiled at Ray. "Thanks again for doing what you did. I wouldn't have blamed you for walking away."

"That's not what I do. And you're welcome."

Larissa took a drink from her Corona. "You ready for one, Hero-of-the-Day Ray?" Larissa giggled and Ray laughed. "Hey, I just made that shit up, not bad, huh?"

"I'll take that beer." Ray liked Larissa's legs. Smooth, tan and slightly thick suited him just fine. He could see she had toe rings on both feet and multiple anklets on her right leg.

Noticing his attention, Larissa upped the ante. She bent over low and slow, knowing her top would give Ray a glimpse of her best feature. She picked out a beer, and looked up, catching Ray eyeballing her tits.

Happy that her looks weren't lost on Ray, she handed him the beer and sat back down. Ray held the cool bottle up to the cut on his eye. The cut wasn't much, but head wounds tended to bleed. His started dripping again.

Larissa stood up, put her beer on the desk next to Ray, and picked up the washcloth. "Now you did it, you're bleeding again." Her left hand went behind Ray's neck, and she pressed gently with her right. "Hold still Blue and mama will make it better." Ray again took the opportunity to look at Larissa's ample bosom. Larissa oh-so-slightly teased the back of Ray's neck with her nails. "There you go," she said, and sat back down.

"Thanks," said Ray as he shifted in his chair. He was getting aroused by Larissa, but like most men didn't want to have his boner on display this early in the game.

Larissa smiled, knowing that she was having an effect on him. "You're welcome. By the way, I wanted to talk with you about something." She fidgeted for a second, and then tossed her hair.

"What's that?"

"I spoke with one of our team's dads after the last game. I was still pissed about you blowing those calls. He set me straight about home plate being in fair territory and it's where the ball is first touched that determines whether it's fair or foul. I shouldn't have given you all that shit, and I'm sorry."

"So, I guess I don't suck, huh," Ray replied.

Larissa took another drink of her beer, and set it back into to cardboard carrier. She then stood up, unfastened her top, and set it on the bed. She looked at Ray and said, "You don't, but I do."

Ray couldn't believe the turn of events. Larissa had large, saggy breasts with both nipples pierced. She kneeled in front of Ray, who raised his butt off the chair so she could slide his shorts off.