The Hitting Zone

As the family loaded up the car and drove to the hotel, Zeke made the call.

"Hello Coach."

"My dad asked me to visit the athletic trainer on site."

"No, it's not anything too serious. Just a contusion."

"Yes, I was going to tell you that it was recommended that I sit and rest. My dad helped me come to terms that tomorrow's game isn't as important as the season overall."

"...I didn't give anyone a hard time."

"We're heading to the hotel now. We'll shower at meet everyone in the restaurant at the hotel."

"Yes. I'll let them know."

"Okay, see you at dinner."

Zeke hung up and put his cellphone away. He looked at his dad, who was driving. "Coach said everyone will meet for dinner at 7pm at the restaurant in our hotel. He sent you a list of players that'll be staying with us tonight."

"What did he say about your injury?" Mrs. Atkins turned her head to look back from the front passenger seat.

"That it's best to rest one game instead of missing league games later on." Zeke said, sounding like Mr. Atkins from earlier too.

"Tomorrow is going to be tough." Kyle sighed. "I don't envy you guys at all."

Dave snorted. "This afternoon was tough. Down by six no thanks to you."

"What do you mean by that?!" Kyle glared at him. "We were only down by two when I left the game."

"Yea..the first time we were down this season.."

"At least I didn't get ejected. You can't even sit in the dugout tomorrow."

"I didn't give up any runs though." Dave shot back. "You were shaking like a leaf up there."

"We should make the seventh inning runs your fault." Kyle argued. "We wouldn't have been put in that situation if it wasn't for you getting kicked out."

"Well I-"

"ENOUGH." Mrs. Atkins raised her voice, making me jump in my seat.

Noah raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't say anything.

"No more fighting today." Mrs. Atkins declared. "I swear, you boys can never just get along."

"We get along." Dave rolled his eyes.

"Yea, all the time." Kyle agreed.

My jaw dropped at their blatant lies. I shook my head in disbelief.

"The best of friends and the worst of enemies." Noah leaned in to whisper in my ear. "Don't even bother." He leaned back and spoke up. "Hey, Mom, can you read coach's text to dad to find out who'll be staying with us tonight?"

"Yes, hold on." She grabbed her husband's cell from the cup holder and started to use it. "It says we'll be hosting three extra boys for the night. It's some of the seniors since they drove themselves and don't want to drive home and back. Which I agree; It's too long of a drive for kids. Let's see...Mahki, James, and Ryan."

"How are we going to do the bed arrangements?" Noah asked.

"There's an extra bed in our room. You and Jake can have it. The twins will take the couch bed. And the seniors can split the beds."

"Mommm." The twins groaned in sync.

"Don't 'mom' me." She said back. "Neither of you will be playing tomorrow. Kyle you're on three day rest and Dave...I don't even know if we'll be able to sneak you into the stands. Your comfort is not my priority."

"Zeke won't be playing tomorrow either." Dave poked Zeke in the cheek.

Kyle joined in and poked his other cheek. "Yea. He's just on the injured list."

"And because I'm injured, I need to have the most comfortable spot." Zeke grabbed each of their fingers to force them to stop. "Touch me again, and you won't be pitching for the rest of the season."

The twins didn't take the threat seriously and just laughed simultaneously.

"Look who's in bad mood because he can't play tomorrow." Kyle wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

"Poor Zeke. Do you need a new ice pack?" Dave said in a baby voice.

"Stop the teasing." Mrs. Atkins said, exasperated. "Can't we just get to the hotel in peace and quiet?"

"Mom, we're already at the hotel." Noah pointed out. He unbuckled his seatbelt before the car was even parked. "You should have made your request sooner."

Their mom just sighed and shook her head. Mr. Atkins found a parking spot and soon we were filing out of the car, grabbing our baseball bags, and heading inside.

"I don't know why I have to carry Zeke's bag." Noah grumbled as he struggled to squeeze in the elevator with the rest of us. "I was hit by a pitch too."

"Yea, but you're not hurt." Kyle shrugged.

"And, you're a freshman." Dave added.

Noah pouted at his parents. "I'm being bullied and you're not even stepping in?"

"It's called building character, sweetie." Mrs. Atkins patted Noah's head.

He looked pitifully at his Dad.

Mr. Atkins shook his head, fighting off a smirk. "I carried enough of your bags when you were children. Just think of this as a rite of passage, being forced to carry a seniors bag."

The elevator filled up with laughter.

Soon, we were on our floor. Mr. and Mrs. Atkins helped me and Noah grab our clothes and move it to their room. Then we hurried through showers and getting dressed for dinner. Mrs. Atkins gathered all of our dirty uniforms, saying she would use the laundry room in the hotel so we could have clean clothes for tomorrow.

"It's not like the older three need it." Noah snickered as we walked from the elevator to the restaurant. It was almost time for dinner and I was starving. Today had a lot of excitement...ups and downs.

"Punk! I could still play on the field or bat!" Kyle pulled him into a headlock, giving him a noogie.

We navigated through the seating area to where some of the team and their parents had gathered already. I started to slow down, thinking about Chris. He was really upset today and I don't think I could face him just yet.

"Don't drag your feet." Zeke said behind me. "You're slowing up the rest of us."

Noah peeked back at me. "Jake? What's up? Aren't you hungry?"

I started to nod, then shook my head no. I wouldn't really be hungry with Chris around.

"Why don't you guys go ahead?" Mr. Atkins stepped up next to me. "Jake and I will talk it out."

Mrs. Atkins ushered the twins and Zeke away, knowing that Noah wouldn't agree to leave me behind. Noah tilted his head, trying to make eye contact with me. "What are you afraid of? It's just dinner with the team...like lunch earlier today."

I clasped my hands together. "But...Chris...will he be there?"

"Chris went home." Mr. Atkins stated, catching both, me and Noah by surprise.

"Dad, you saw what happened?" Noah asked.

He gave a nod. "When Coach Luis walked him out of the field, I approached them. We shared a discussion. Chris will be benched for a week. Tomorrow he won't be welcomed in the dugout."

I let out a sigh of relief, and then let out a cough before speaking up. "I really didn't know about the infield fly rule." I turned red with embarrassment.

Mr. Atkins chuckled. "That's okay. You're learning. There's never any reason to lay your hands on someone else. Chris received his punishment, I'm sure he'll reflect on his actions." He pushed mine and Noah's backs. "Now let's get to the table. The team is probably waiting on us now."

Sure enough, they were. Everyone was already seated. The three of us filled up the vacant seats as Zeke suddenly stood up. Coach also stood up and walked over to stand beside him.

"Boys, Listen up. Your Captain has something to say." Coach demanded the attention of the players and parents.

Zeke took over. "Unfortunately, I'm unable to play tomorrow." The table went ice cold, no one spoke up. "I have a contusion on my lower back. It's not that bad, but I don't want to risk it and get seriously injured later on as a consequence and risk our chance as league champions. That being said, I still want all you to try your best to kick butt tomorrow. It's not everyday we get an opportunity to play the best team in the Northern Section. Don't let me down."

His words felt heavy, making the atmosphere depressing. No one had any smack talk to share or laughs saying that we didn't need him anyway. I nervously looked at Noah to see what he would say, but he also looked to be fighting his own depression.

"Sorry to hear that, Zeke." One of the Dads spoke up. "We love watching you play. We were expecting a good game for tomorrow."

"You can still expect one. We're no pushovers either." Zeke spoke with confidence.

Other parents shared their well wishes and soon coach directed us to order food, eat, and get some sleep.