<strong>Sunset </strong><br/><br/>Nadia sighed heavily, and told Vince. "You're wasting your time. The girl doesn't want help. I've done my share of trying. She still won't trust me after I handed her the biggest bill in my wallet. She's either too proud or too foolish to accept the help of others. I'm done, and I'm going."<br/><br/>She pulled a ballpoint pen and a scrap of paper out of her purse. Nadia scribbled ten numbers on it and set it on a table near the door. "That's my cell number. Call me if something goes down. I'm done waiting for permission to go get supplies. I'll be back later."<br/><br/>This time, nothing would drag her back into the club. She walked swiftly to her car and climbed in. It was still pretty early, so traffic was minimal. There were few awake at this time of day on a Sunday that weren't already in church. The clock on her dash read 10:00. She headed straight for the sporting goods store and arrived just as an employee was unlocking the door.<br/><br/>She strode to the area of the store with the baseball bats. They had a wide array of wooden and aluminum bats, but after taking a few in hand, and giving a few test swings she decided that the Maple Louisville Slugger felt the best. There were exactly nine on the rack and she took the whole lot.<br/><br/>She arrived to the register amid the strange looks the clerk was giving her. "I coach." She said, "Little League."<br/><br/>The cashier shook his head incredulously. "Well then you don't want those. Those are for adults. The children's sized bats are in Aisle five."<br/><br/>Nadia cleared her throat. "No no they're adults. Uh. Little's is a pizza shop. That's our team name, Little's League. We run a community league out in the 'burbs near (Mumble)" She forced a laugh and hoped he'd buy it, but then he had no reason not to. She was a cash-paying customer, and it wasn't exactly illegal to own nine baseball bats.