After the game, we packed up and headed to the parking lot, where Mr. and Mrs. Atkins were waiting.
"Did you boys have fun?" Mrs. Atkins smiled.
I nodded.
However, Noah didn't. "How could that be fun? We had to sit on the bench and watch other players suck at our position."
Zeke was quick to hit him upside the head. "Don't say suck. Besides, you all made your choices."
"I would have chosen to pitch...I didn't get a choice today." Kyle muttered.
Zeke slapped him upside the head. "You chose to be a pitcher. Improve your batting and you can play on the field as well." He looked to Dave. "You want to add on another remark with them?"
Dave grinned and took a step closer to their mom. "No way. You look to be in a bad mood, so it's probably best if I stay clear. Wouldn't want your pms to be my cause of death."
Surprisingly their mom slapped him upside the head. "David." She scolded, then glanced at Zeke's strict expression. "Honey, why don't we ask your brothers to name something they liked about the game? Then we can go to lunch."
Zeke looked at Kyle, expectantly. "Well? You first."
Kyle scratched the back of his neck. "I guess I like the pitching. Garret had a nice shutout going and it fired me up. I really want to pitch some today."
Dave nodded. "Me too! Definitely. And the other pitcher today was pretty decent. He had an interesting approach when he faced you the second time around. Plus, he held you to two singles. He could have been the first pitcher to get you out this season."
Noah rolled his eyes. "All you guys care about is pitching."
Zeke zeroed in on his littlest brother. "How about you? What did you like about the game?"
Noah rolled his eyes. "Winning, I guess." He smirked. "Nice to know, that you can win without me and Jake holding down the middle."
Zeke was about to say something, but Mr. Atkins jumped in. "Zeke, That was a valid answer. An opinionated question means that there are no wrong answers."
Zeke clenched his jaw but didn't talk back. Instead, he moved on to me. "Jake, what did you like about the game?"
"Being there." I said the first thing that popped into my head. The whole Atkins stared at me. "Uh...I mean, I liked watching. With Noah. And the twins. And Zeke played well. And Garret." They kept staring, so I looked down at my feet. "And watching someone else play second. Not that I don't like playing, but I liked watching too."
After a moment of silence, Noah was the first to speak up. "I want to change my answer!" I brought my eyes back up. He smiled at me. "You make me feel like my answer is too shallow. Zeke, can I change my answer or not?"
Zeke nodded.
"Watching Daniel play the same position as me was beneficial to me." He stated. "Even though we play the same position, we play differently in certain aspects. I did learn some things and feel like I can improve my own play."
Mr. Atkins patted Noah and I on the head. "What good young men we have here. Playing is fun, but learning is important as well. I'm glad you boys still had fun. Now let's go get some food."
"Outback!" The Twins said in unison as we started to make our way back to the cars.
"Zeke gets to pick." Mrs. Atkins turned to her eldest. "What will it be today, superstar?"
"Yea, superstar..." Dave dragged out in a mocking tone, earning him another slap upside the head from his mom.
Zeke shot a glance in my direction. "We still owe Jake a trip to the soup plantation for doing well last weekend. If I remember correctly, he went 4-4 and didn't make any errors."
Noah patted my back. "Yep, yep! Jake had a single, single, triple, double. I remember it clearly."
"Guess it's decided then." Mr. Atkins brought out his own keys. "We'll meet you boys there. Drive safe." He and and his wife split away from us to head to their car, further away in the lot.
"Thanks." I looked Zeke in the eye.
Zeke gave a simple nod then started to walk ahead, beating us to the car. He opened up the trunk and started to put our baseball bags in.
"Excuse me?" A boys voice came from behind us.
I twitched and shuffled my feet closer to the car, while turning to face the stranger. Only to find...he wasn't a total stranger. He was the sophomore from Katella, Brett McCauley. The pitcher and leadoff hitter...up close, he looked even taller and bigger. More like Zeke and less like Sean. I guess age doesn't really determine your size.
"Can we help you?" Kyle asked with a friendly tone. Opposite of Dave's glare, Zeke's indifference, Noah's smirk, and my fear.
Brett stood as tall as the twins, but shorter than Zeke. "Yes, I'm Brett McCauley. The pitcher from today's game."
"Yes. We know." Dave said with attitude, crossing his arms over his chest. "What do you want?"
Brett held out a baseball and a sharpie. "I was hoping Zeke could sign this for me. It's the homerun ball he hit off me."
A weird silence fell over the boys. Then the twins started to laugh in sync. It was a little eerie when you factor in their looks and the way they sounded the same. It was like a weird echo.
Meanwhile Zeke took the ball and sharpie from the guy, then proceeded to calmly sign it. I scooted closer to him to see what he would write: "To Brett. Homerun on Feb. 23rd. Zeke Atkins." Then he handed it back to him. "You pitcher well today."
Brett took the ball back, careful not to smudge the writing. He grinned. "Thank you! I felt happy holding you to a single at your third at-bat."
Zeke frowned. "You should never put your sole focus on one player. One player at a time, one out at a time. Just think, if you faced those two before me, head on, you would have two outs with me up to bat. If I hit a single then, there would be no extra runs. Don't put yourself in a situation intentionally like that again." Zeke scolded, not holding anything back, making the twins laugh harder.
Brett turned red with embarrassment. "I knew my team couldn't win so I wanted to test myself."
"Who said your team wouldn't win?" Zeke's eyes narrowed. "Don't decide the outcome of the game before playing. It's a disgrace to the game itself, and to the other team." Zeke closed the trunk and headed for the drivers seat.
"You're a funny guy, Brett." Kyle patted his shoulder and got in on the passenger side. Dave got in the backseat, and Noah and I were about to follow.
"Uh, Noah? Jake?" Brett held us back.
I flinched in surprise and quickly got in the car next to Dave.
"Don't mind him." I heard Noah say. "Jake's not good with strangers. He's really shy."
"Oh. Sorry. I just wanted to say it was a bummer not playing against you two. I saw you both in the tournament and it was hard to believe you guys were younger than me."
"A year difference doesn't mean anything." Noah said. "I'm sure there will be more chances to play against one another. But...be careful, Jake is good. Maybe even better than Zeke." Noah laughed and got in the car, pushing me closer to Dave. He then closed the door. "Okay Zeke, Let's go. I'm hungry!"
Zeke complied and the car started to move. I peeked over my shoulder to look outside the rear window. Brett McCauley was jogging back to his school bus, still holding that ball with care. "Why did he want Zeke's signature?"
Kyle laughed in the front. Dave nudge me. "Because he's a superstar." Then he started to laugh as well.
I looked to Noah for help, not understanding.
Noah smiled. "Zeke's great. Great enough to maybe go pro either after graduation or a year or two in college. Wouldn't you want a potential hall of famer's autograph?"
I shrugged. "I haven't met any famous people before so I've never gotten anyone's autograph. What do you do with it?" This caused the twins to laugh even harder.
Even Noah started to laugh. "It's just like a collectors item. Not everyone does it. Don't worry about it. If it happens again, just laugh it off like the twins do. It's a bit weird to ask a high schooler for an autograph, but you'd be surprised how often it happens to Zeke."
I nodded. Yet...I don't think I'd be surprised. I think Zeke is great too. Maybe I should ask for an autograph as well?