Chapter One: Carousel
It began innocently enough, a group of four guys from work going to a Monday night baseball game. I was one of the four, not ordinarily a person to go anywhere on a work night, but the ticket was free and I didn't figure the game would run too late. If everything went right I'd make it home by midnight or a bit later, kind of late since work started at seven a.m., but nothing that would kill me. I might be a bit tired the next day, but I knew I could easily catch up on sleep through the rest of the week.
"You think we have any chance," I asked midway through the sixth inning. "I mean we're down by eleven and our best hitter is out with back trouble."
"Hey man, let's at least make the seventh inning stretch," Richard moaned, "It's not a game unless you make it through the seventh inning."
"Okay, that's one more inning and we're gone, right?"
"What if we start to catch up?" Richard asked.
"Look, they get within five next inning we'll stick around a bit longer, otherwise we leave."
"We are getting killed here," Mike added before chugging the last of his beer. "Hey, cold beer over here," he shouted to a vendor heading up the aisle. He reached a long, thin arm over several fans.
"Careful there Mike, remember we still have to drive home after the game," I said, as he sat back in his seat, his face buried in the beer.
"Hey, we're not leaving this game early just to head home, there's still plenty of night left tonight," Mike replied.
"You thinking of the Carousel?" Ray asked, swallowing the last of his beer and standing up, ready to go.
"What about the seventh inning stretch?" I asked.