"You lost . " Baldy and friends smirked and laughed . "We'll be taking that . " He snatched the money clutched in Noah's hand, then the four of them turned and disappeared back into The Arcade area .
I held the pieces of my bat, facing Noah, scared he might yell at me .
Noah frowned at the retreating four . "Damn . We would have won! Those cheapskates . " He sighed, looking at me . "This isn't good . "
I gulped .
Advertisement"Let go see what the owner has to say . Remember, it's always best to be on the offense . Just follow my lead . " He held his head high and led the way back to The Arcade .
I closely followed, feeling depressed .
We marched back into the shop and rental area . Noah didn't hesitate and walked right up to the counter and flat out told the lady, "I would like to lodge a complaint . You guys let us borrow faulty equipment . "
The lady's eyebrows shot up as she peered down at us . "What did you break?"
"We didn't break anything . " Noah refuted . "That so-called 'superior' bat that you loaned us for ten dollars, fell apart in my friends hand as he was batting . He's lucky it didn't cut him up or anything . I'm sorry to say, I'm going to need my ten dollars back . "
My jaw dropped, stunned at his approach . Is this what he meant by being on the offense? Instead of us paying them back for breaking their bat, he's going to demand that they pay him . Noah really has no shame . I set the broken pieces on the counter and quickly took a step back, making sure I was standing slightly behind Noah .
The lady frowned at the pieces of wood . "Where's the rest?"
"In the cage . It burst apart everywhere so we picked up what we could . "
"Did it burst apart or fell apart?" The old man walked around the counter to stand beside the lady . He was the supposed boss who may have been a pro . He squinted at Noah, "Well? Which is it?"
Noah swallowed hard, not looking as confident as before . "Uh-both? It fell apart as my friend was using it in the cage and when it connected with the ball, the pieces blew everywhere . "
The old man thought for a moment, leaving us in suspense . "I seem to recall my employee telling you boys that a wooden bat would be easier to break in the cages . " He raised an eyebrow . "Which cage did it break in?"
Noah twitched, "The 100mph cage . . . but you can't tell me that my friend could use enough force to break the bat . It was obviously cracked or faulty . "
The old man looked at me in surprise, "So this young man can hit a 100mph fastball? Impressive . "
"Thank you . " Noah answered on my behalf . "Now, about my money? Also, isn't it only right that we get that token back too? The bat broke half way through the twelve pitches so that's a waste of a token . " I was amazed at Noah's demeanor . He wasn't even going to let a token go .
The old man gave a light chuckle, but surprisingly, he pulled out a token and placed it on the counter . "Here's the refund . "
"And my ten dollars?" Noah asked .
"I also remember telling you, 'you break it, you buy it' . " The old man held out his hand . "So instead of returning your ten dollars, I'll be asking for fifty from you to cover the cost of the bat . "
Noah turned his back to the adults and faced me, mouthing one phrase, easy to understand . Oh shit .
Chapter end
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