Free Extra Innings by Ronde Barber and Paul Mantell Tiki Barber Page B

proudly. “You held on to the ball, and Tiki threw the runner out at second to end the inning. Best play of the whole season!” Still, Tiki could see the worry in the coach’s eyes.
    The two brothers sat on the bench and watched the rest of the game unfold, both of them holding ice packs to their heads.
    In the top of the seventh, Ian Lloyd hit an incredible inside-the-park home run to give the Eagles the lead. Tiki tried to cheer, but his head hurt when he did, so he stopped. Ronde didn’t even try. He still looked pretty woozy, in Tiki’s opinion.
    John Benson came on to get the Badgers out one, two,three in the bottom of the seventh, and just like that, the Eagles were a winning team again!
    Along with Ian Lloyd and Benson, Tiki and Ronde were the heroes of this game. But neither of the twins was feeling too great on this bus ride home. Tiki felt slightly nauseous and had a big ice pack tied to his head. Still, as bad as he felt right now, he was sure he’d be ready for the team’s next game.
    But sneaking a glance at Ronde, he wasn’t so sure about his brother.

10
HEADACHES AND HEARTACHES
    â€œMom?”
    â€œYes, baby?”
    Ronde knew she had to be worried about him if she was calling him “baby.” She almost never did that anymore. Tiki had actually gotten annoyed with her once, a year or so ago, when she’d called him “baby” in front of their friends. So Mrs. Barber was careful about saying it—except for when she couldn’t help herself.
    Ronde saw that her eyes were filled with concern for him. “I’m okay. Really, mom. I could go to—”
    â€œYou can go back to school tomorrow, if the headache is gone. That’s what the doctor said. So don’t go trying to sweet-talk me into letting you get out of that bed.”
    â€œNo, mom, you should go to work. I’m fine. Really.”
    â€œPut that ice pack back where it belongs,” she ordered. “I already took the day off. I’m not taking anychances when it comes to my baby’s brains.”
    Ronde sighed. He knew it would be no use to argue any further. Dr. Dreyer had given Tiki the okay to go to school, but he had ordered that Ronde be watched at least for one more day.
    And both boys were forbidden to do any athletic activity for at least a week, when they would see the doctor again and be given clearance—or not.
    Ronde didn’t mind missing classes. His head ached too much to get any studying or reading done. But he did like watching game shows on TV, and he knew his mom would play cards with him if he got too bored.
    But he hated to think what would happen to the team without him and Tiki. This was the worst possible time for the two of them to go down—and at the same time!
    The Eagles were tied for second place in their division at 3–2, but they were about to face two of the best teams in the whole league, Pulaski and Patrick Henry. If the team lost both those games, they’d pretty much have to go undefeated the rest of the season to make the play-offs. And that was if Tiki and Ronde could come back after missing only two games!
    Ronde adjusted the ice pack on his forehead, which was being held in place by a cloth bandage. His head hurt only a little now—not like the day before—and he suspected that at this point it was the cold of the ice pack that was hurting the most.
    He thought about taking it off before the twenty minutes was up, but he knew his mom would somehow, with her uncanny sixth sense, know he had done it, and if she caught him cheating, she would make him start the twenty minutes all over again.
    Not worth it. Ronde left the bandage in place and closed his eyes to wait it out.
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    Ronde couldn’t bear to watch. Peeking from between his fingers, he saw the ball come down out of the bright May sky. He watched as seventh grader Jimmy Krupkowski, his substitute in center field, tried to