One Saturday morning Randall limped off the field in the middle of a baseball game, ignoring the other boys’ shouts and jeers, and headed home alone. His ankles hurt too much to run. As he approached his house, he saw Tito DeVirgilio sitting in the grass by the sidewalk under a tree. Randall knew what Tito would do now: climb the tree, crouch on the branch that overhung the sidewalk across from their houses, and wait. He couldn’t stop Tito from doing this. All he could do was try to keep him from hurting himself, so he moved off the sidewalk. That way, Tito had to shimmy down the branch until he was positioned over grass instead of concrete.
When Tito dropped from the branch, Randall stepped easily out of the way.
This was the only way Tito knew how to play.
