Suzie's Fun Ch. 03

I got three shots of her sprinting along the base path, but when she pulled up on the bag, I could see there was something wrong. Her face was drawn in a grimace of pain and frustration as she lifted her left foot and massaged the sole. I knew immediately what the problem was. She was barefoot and the base path, which was mostly soft dirt, must have had a stone or two in it. Apparently her left foot had found one.

She stood on the base, but it was plain she wasn't putting any weight on the bruised foot. There were several more shouts of congratulations for the hit, but they could see what I saw, and there were some words of appreciation and encouragement, too. The other woman on her team walked over and offered to run for her, which I knew would disappoint everyone. Suzie bravely waved her off and stayed in the game.

I was starting to think about winding this thing up. Only one or two spectators had wandered over to the field while Suzie had been out there nude, but I was conscious of how easily someone could call the police and turn this into a completely different kind of adventure, one none of us wanted any part of. As if he'd read my thoughts, the next batter hit into a force play. Poor Suzie could barely limp halfway to second before the shortstop shoveled the ball over to the second baseman for the put out. She walked gingerly back to the bench, clearly unable to put any weight on her left foot.

Needless to say, while Suzie was out there, everyone paid much more attention to her than the game. It's a wonder anyone could hit the ball or field it if someone did. At first, their expressions tended to be amazed, amused and, on the men at least, somewhat lustful. But as she sat down on the bench and massaged her foot, something else began to show on their faces. It seemed like a kind of pride. They were proud that she had favored them with her spectacular show, proud of her beauty and her softball skills and particularly proud of the toughness that made her take the injury without complaint. I got some more pictures of Suzie on the bench among the ballplayers.

When the inning ended, I was ready to try to extricate her from the midst of her admirers, but I didn't have to. When she stood up, her foot was too sore to play anymore and she told them she had to go. Their disappointment was obvious, but they seemed to understand, and they smiled when they waved and said their goodbyes. Linda and I kept shooting, capturing the ending to Suzie's naked softball game as she walked along the left field foul line back to the car.

Not wanting to miss a single shot, Linda and I converged on her just as she got there, but I quickly got her into her sundress and into the car. I was still nervous that we might get some unwanted attention from the local authorities. Michigan isn't nearly as casual about public nudity as Jamaica.

Suzie, who had looked so cool and in control out on the softball diamond, was so excited she could not contain it as she was getting into the car. "Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod," she babbled. "I can't believe I did it. It was incredible."

"No," Linda said firmly. "You were. I've never seen anything so brave in my life."

"I'm not brave," Suzie laughed. "That's the point. You know your fear and you attack it."

"Well, it sure looked like you beat it from where we were. Didn't it, Danny?"

I was just pulling out of the park, finally starting to feel safe from official interference. "I bet that was the scariest one you ever did, right?"

"It sure felt like it," Suzie said. "I mean, in Jamaica, it just kind of happened -- dancing with Tom's salesmen and then Johnny on the boat. I didn't have to think about it much or worry somebody might take it wrong."

"They loved you."

"It sure seemed like it to me. I can't wait to find out what kind of comments Stan might have heard."

"He never told them he knew you?"

"Not at all. He played it perfectly."

"Hey, that gives me an idea," Linda said brightly. "Danny, why don't you go through all the pictures and put them together in a slide show, like you did with the ones from Jamaica. Then bring them over to our place tonight. I'll cook us a nice dinner. Then we can go through the pictures and Stan and Suzie can describe it for us. It was so exciting, but I was busy working the camera. We've got to savor this. I want more."

I looked in the rearview mirror and saw the excited gleam in her eye. "Great."

Suzie sat back in the front seat and closed her eyes, sighing. "I want more, too. I sure hope Stan has some more good ideas like that."

"Me too," I laughed.

"Don't worry," Linda said. "He will."