By the time we got back to their house, the sun had set and the stars were out. It was super late. On our way back, we stopped at the pizza place to bring some home for the boys. They were all gathered in the living room, watching sports highlights on the tv.
"Please tell me you boys did your homework." Mrs. Atkins groaned at the sight of them.
"Mom!" Noah jumped up. He immediately came up to me. "Jake, how is it? I see no cast!"
I gave a small smile. "Just a couple of stitches."
"Did it hurt?" Kyle asked. He shifted his eyes to Noah. "Noah needed four stitches in the chin before and he cried like a baby."
"Hey! I was a baby!" Noah shouted back.
"No way, you were already six-years-old." He refuted.
"It's good to be home." Mr. Atkins mumbled, then he raised his voice. "Okay, that's enough. Pizza is on the table. Let's eat, then go straight to bed."
"But I still have to finish my homework." Dave groaned.
"You should have been doing that to begin with." Zeke told him, moving to the kitchen.
"I got distracted." Dave grumbled.
"Hopefully you don't get distracted on Thursday." Kyle rolled his eyes.
"At least I know I'll do better than you." Dave huffed.
"BOYS." Mr. Atkins raised his voice. "Come sit down and eat."
Everyone went to the table and sat down in our normal seats as Mrs. Atkins went to get plates and started to pass them out.
"So you'll be okay to play?" Noah asked.
I nodded, but then stopped to look at Mr. Atkins. "Well, maybe."
Mr. Atkins nodded in agreement. "We'll see. Your mother and I will have to have a talk with Coach, Drew, and the school. But I can guarantee that he won't be practicing."
I'm okay with that.
"Coach might not play you if you don't practice." Kyle pointed out, not letting me be happy for two seconds.
"Who knows." Dave snorted. "He still let you pitch today even though you didn't watch Saturday's game. It's a miracle you didn't lose us this game."
"It was an optional outing!" Kyle frowned at his twin.
"Yea, and we almost lost because of it." Dave told him flatly.
"David." Mrs. Atkins scolded. "You do not speak to anyone like that. Say you're sorry."
"I'm not five anymore Mom." Dave rolled his eyes. "Why apologize when I won't mean it? Kyle knows he did poorly. All because he rather go on a date with Marie. How dumb."
"It's not dumb! It's called having a life outside of baseball." Kyle argued. He had once said that before...with more conviction. Something he was lacking right now. "I'm done." Kyle suddenly got up and left the table, hurrying up the stairs.
"David, I'm very disappointed in your behavior." Mrs. Atkins stood up. "You're grounded for two weeks." She went upstairs as well, no doubt to talk to Kyle.
"Whatttt." Dave groaned. "Why! That's not fair!"
"If you have to ask why, then I can extend the punishment." Mr. Atkins said sharply.
Dave dropped his head and focused on his food.
Mr. Atkins sighed and shook his head. "You should know better than to tear someone down like that. What happened to, if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all? Take it to heart. You should respect others and their choices, even if you choose not to agree."
"What if their choice is to be a selfish jerk?" Dave mumbled, not daring to look up.
"Is it hurting anybody?" Mr. Atkins asked.
"It almost hurt the team today!" Dave finally looked up.
"Is it physically putting someone in harm's way?" Mr. Atkins rephrased.
"Not physically, but mentally!" Dave argued.
Mr. Atkins shot him a look, narrowing his eyes at him. "Don't you feel ashamed?"
Dave hung his head once more. "It's important to me. It's not like I'm only mad at him. I'm mad at Coach too. Why start someone like Kyle?"
"It was optional." Zeke spoke up. "That's all there is to it. Coach couldn't make him go and couldn't hold it against him. Same with the others. No need to beat him down when he's already feeling bad for his performance."
Mr. Atkins nodded in approval. "Isn't it enough that Kyle feels bad and that you guys won. Don't be so caught up in the past, that you're unable to focus on the present."
"Get in the right frame of mind if you want to pitch Thursday." Zeke added.
"Dave's pitching on Thursday?" I spoke up, trying to change the conversation.
"Yea, Coach told us on the way home." Noah nodded, speaking between bites of food.
"Do we already know who we're playing against?" I asked.
"We should be finding out soon." Noah looked to Zeke.
Zeke checked his phone. "Not yet."
"What are you waiting on?" Mr. Atkins asked.
"Mr. Cameron said he would call Zeke when he finds out the CIF playoff schedule since he'll know first." Noah said.
"You spoke with Mr. Cameron?" Mr. Atkins asked Zeke. "Was a coach present to supervise?"
Zeke nodded. "Yes, Coach was right next to me as we both were interviewed. Even if he wasn't, I'd still be okay. I'm 18 now Dad, an adult."
Mr. Atkins slowly nodded. "Right. Okay. Mr. Cameron is a good man; he didn't give you a hard time..did he?"
"Not at all. Very straightforward." Zeke answered. "He only talked about the game. Asked how Jake was. Wanted to talk to Noah-"
"But he declined!" Noah rolled his eyes. "This was a chance for me to be famous."
Mr. Atkins chuckled and I smiled.
"He even said he would help me get some information on our next opponent once they set the playoff schedule." Zeke continued as if Noah's interruption didn't happen.
"That's nice of him. Make sure you thank him properly." Mr. Atkins told him.
"I will."
We went back to eating and eventually Mrs. Atkins came back down. She didn't say anything about Kyle, but you could tell she was still upset with Dave by the disapproving looks she would give him.
"Be careful in the shower." Mrs. Atkins told me after dinner as we cleaned up. "Don't soak the stitches and make sure to pat them dry."
I nodded.
"Dave, homework. Noah, bed."
"But Mom-" Noah groaned. "It's only 10pm. One more hour."
"No. Go to bed and get some rest. It's not the weekend." She lectured. "A healthy mind leads to a healthy body. You did so well in the game today, don't ruin it."
Noah pouted. "I did so well and yet, didn't get to pick dinner."
"You can pick tomorrow night." She said warmly. "Now go to bed."
'Knock, knock.'
All eyes shifted towards the front door, one suspicious gaze at a time. Only Noah was carefree, hurrying to open the door. Mr. Atkins was right behind him, wondering who could be knocking at this time of night.
"Mr. Cameron?" Noah asked after opening the door, revealing the high school sports reporter. "I thought you were going to call Zeke? Or message him. You didn't have to come over."
Mr. Cameron was flushed in the face, a mix of red in his normally pale face. "I wanted to see you guys in person." He looked right at Mr. Atkins. "It's important."
Mr. Atkins opened the door a little wider. "Come on in. We were just getting ready for bed. Can I offer you some coffee?"
"Maybe later." Mr. Cameron gave a tight smile, walking in and closing the door behind him. "You might kick me out soon enough, after you hear what I came to say."
"It's not about the playoffs?" Zeke asked.
"No, well yes, I do have some info for you, but this is bigger." He answered.
"What is it?" Mrs. Atkins asked. "What could be so important that you have to make a late night visit?"
Mr. Cameron gave her a slight glance before facing me. He looked me in the eyes with a knowing look. My stomach dropped and I started to feel nauseous. This can't be happening.
"Jake, you know I haven't pried too much in your life. I don't ask too many questions and just report the facts on your baseball skill." He started, inching closer. "You can probably guess why I'm here, right?"
"You know?" I asked, scared of what was coming.
"I do." Mr. Cameron nodded. "You're Jeremy Patterson's little brother."