With horror we all realized our ball had landed somewhere in the
vicinity of Chapel street, in enemy territory. There was no laughter
this time. They all turned toward me with ugly accusing eyes. Astrid
was the first to speak.
" You ain't had to hit it so hard," she said angrily.
" Is just because he did making naught all the time," Raj summarized.
" We brand new ball gone back over there," Rudy said in dismay.
I looked again in the direction in which the ball was last sighted and
hoped in vain to see it bouncing back into the street. No such luck.
" Go get it back," said Astrid.
" Eh?" I said with surprise.
" Go over there and get it back!" Astrid said with her hands at her
hips in a commanding posture.
" You know we can't go over there," I said lamely.
" If you know that why you go and knock the ball over there, eh?" said
Astrid.
" Let he buy it back," Fatty said.
" Buy it back with what?" I said with some degree of irritation.
We retreated to the concrete drain and sat at the side with our bare
feet resting in the dry dusty drain.
" Astrid, ain't you have a' aunty living over there in Chapel street?"
said Raj.
" So?" Astrid said defiantly.
" So you can't go over there and get it?" I said and immediately
regretted it.
Astrid turned to me and gave me one of her nasty looks. That was the
end of that sponge ball as far as I was concerned. There was no way I
was going to go over there. No old sponge ball was worth the trouble of
getting beat-up by the likes of Chowmein and the gang over there.
Thankfully, the conversation turned from my stupidity to other more
important things like what else we could play now that cricket was out.