The first batter was Majo. Certainly, a tough one. I wanted to make sure my pitches where as fast as possible. I threw the ball as hard as I could and the game had started.

“Ball!” One of our friend’s dad was always the umpire.

“Do you want to win?” I ignored Uriel’s voice.

“Ball two!”

“Just call my name.” Uriel insisted.

“Ball three!” I was pitching worse and worse every time.

“You’re better than this. Let me help.” I was getting tired of hearing Uriel talk.

“Ball! Batter, take your base!” The catcher was barely able to catch that one.

I looked at Majo and the disappointment in her face broke my heart but I had bigger problems. Bryan was next.

Bryan was a leftie and an asshole on the home plate. I was starting to wish the game would just end as quickly as possible. I was not having fun at all. Hopefully, they would swap me out after a few more pitches.

“Ball!” The pitch was very low and the catcher struggled to recover the ball after it flew past him between his legs. I immediately turned left. Surely, that had been a great chance to steal second. Majo was standing on the first base looking at me with a face that I had never seen before. She hated me, for sure.

“Wake up, babe! We’ve got this! This pitcher sucks!” Bryan yelled, notably displeased. He spat and prepared for the next pitch. Before getting in position he drew a square in front of the catcher with the tip of his bat as if drawing the strike zone.

“We can still fix this, Arin.” Uriel pressed on.

“Shut up!” I snapped.

“Not feeling well, Arin? Want to quit?” Arin laughed and snorted like a pig. He was starting to tick me off.

I threw the ball again. Low again and, this time, far too much to my left. Bryan jumped startled and the ball bounced off the ground and hit his right sneaker. The catcher sent it to first base but Majo seemed to make it back in time.

“Ball two!”

“What the fuck was that, ass wipe!?” Bryan was clearly angry.

“Come on!” I had not forgotten for once second about Uriel. “I can fix this. I’ll give you a free one. Just call my name!”

A free one? Weren’t they normally free? What could a voice inside my head want from me?

I chose not to answer Uriel and threw the ball once again and this time everything played in slow motion but still ended in the blink of an eye. The ball flew far off to my left again but this time it was very high. It was heading straight to Bryan’s head. He ducked and for a split second I thought everything would be okay.

I was wrong. Almost as if possessed by an evil spirit the ball dropped heavily and hit Bryan square in his arm. A few inches under the shoulder. He bellowed in pain and immediately stood back up and darted towards me.

“Now, you’re dead! You, piece of shit!”

The umpire went mute. Everyone froze. Bryan swung his arm and punched me in the face—on the right cheek. Despite myself, I took a few steps back due to the force of his punch. That would leave a mark. Pure rage poured over me and clenched my fist so hard I was sure I’d break a finger.

“Uriel!” I cried and swung my arm as hard as I could. What happened next was engraved in my memory forever. It was where it all started. It was my first mistake.