Dwayne turned the television off. A faint sound of cheering came from outside the RV.

"Yeah, babe," Estelle said, turning to Dwayne. "Where the h.e.l.l are we?"

"Throw some clothes on. I'll show you."

Dwayne, Estelle, and Alex piled out of the RV. They shielded their faces from the sunlight while their eyes adjusted. There was a little league baseball game going on not a hundred feet from them. It had just started.

"I drove all night," Dwayne said. "We're somewhere near El Paso, maybe an hour from the Mexican border. We had to get out of town for our safety, Alex."

Dwayne didn't know how he was going to explain their new life to Alex. He knew he was a good kid, though, and he knew that everything would eventually work out for the best.

"You see, buddy ... that life we lived ... it wasn't real," he continued. "It wasn't good for our souls. Everything revolved around the wrong things. I wanted something better for you and the little baby caped crusader your mom has in her belly. I figured we should just start over and do it right this time.

"So, long story short, I bought us an RV. And last night, we just started driving. Right when I started getting too tired to drive anymore, I saw this ballpark here ... out in the middle of nowhere. It was all lit up, like someone was trying to give me a sign. I just knew right away that this was the spot for us, so I stopped."

Dwayne put an arm around each of them and smiled. They watched one of the young batters make a beautiful swing and drive the ball to the outfield fence. It was an inside-the-park home run. Shortly after, the coach placed that same kid in right field.

A group of dads standing along the fence cursed under their breath.

Dwayne frowned, raised an eyebrow, and then looked down at Alex. Alex smiled up at his dad. Estelle gripped the back of Dwayne's shirt, holding him back from charging the field.

"You folks new in town?" a friendly thirty-something lady asked with a deep Southern drawl. "We've got a great baseball program for kids here."

"My dad's a great coach," Alex told the lady.

"Well, now, that's an amazing coincidence, because as you might have noticed, we could sure use some help with coaching."

A warm smile washed over Dwayne's face.

"Where do I sign up?"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

Baseball Dads is Matthew S. Hiley's third novel. His first, 2010's Hubris Falls, met with much critical acclaim and dealt, in very raw language, with the taboo realities of race, religion, and politics. His second novel, 2011's The Candidates: Based on a True Country, is a dark and absurd comedy in which the author takes swipes at the hypocrisy and self-serving nature of those leading the country, as well as the fame wh.o.r.es in reality television.

Hiley's books always contain a strong message. Sure, you may have to wade through some harsh language, crazy s.e.x, and a plethora of drugs to find it.... But it's there, and it might just slap you in the face when you're least expecting it.

Hiley was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. He and his wife have four children together, along with five dogs, six cats, and two lizards. A terrible musician, a reprehensible fisherman, a less-than-mediocre golfer, and a talentless children's baseball coach, Hiley has found his place in life as a writer whose voice is sharp, witty, and unafraid.

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