The Hitting Zone

Mrs. Atkins woke us up earlier than if it was a school day. She urged us to get dressed and to pack up our bags in the car. We did as we were told and were the last two to sit at the table for breakfast. Mrs. Atkins hurriedly filled our plates and rushed us to finish eating so we could hit the road.

I eagerly dug in. Mrs. Atkins made more for breakfast than my mom ever made for me my whole life. She had waffles, pancakes, toast, scrambled eggs, bacon and cereal spread out across the table. It's hard to remember that this time last year, I would only be able to eat the middle school free lunch for the whole day. Maybe if I was lucky, I would be sent home with a soup can by a classmate or teacher. It's weird to look back on these moments and wonder why no one thought I was in danger. Did they just not care? Was it because I wasn't related to them? Or maybe because I didn't speak up so they didn't reach out?

"Don't stuff your face like that." Dave said in disgust as he looked at me from across the table. "When Mom said to hurry, she didn't mean to swallow it whole."

I slowed down.

"Don't worry, Jake." Noah comforted me. "Mom can always pack it for you to take on the road if you're still hungry."

"Sorry, Jake." Mrs. Atkins added, looking at with concern. "You don't need to eat like that. In a few minutes I'll pack some of the food for you to eat in the car."

"Me too!" Kyle waved his fork around. "I'm a slow eater, but I'm super hungry."

Mrs. Atkins smiled. "Yes, yes. Anyone else?"

"Same here!" Noah replied.

Mrs. Atkins went to the kitchen, and came back with a few plastic containers in hand. She filled up three separate ones and went to put them in the car.

"So what's the plan for today?" Noah asked his dad, who sat at the head of the table. "Are we going to the hotel first? Or ditching Zeke at the university first?"

"We're not 'ditching' Zeke." His father corrected. "We'll be going straight to the hotel. A player from the team will be picking Zeke up in the lobby to take him to school. From there Zeke will drop his bag off in the player's dorm room and attend a class with him. That's why we have to be punctual this morning. Can't be a second late."

"What happens after that?" Noah asked as he ate.

Mr. Atkins looked to Zeke.

Zeke pulled his phone out with a sigh, and clicked on it. "After dorms, class, and meeting the team, I'll eat lunch with them." He looked to his dad. "I'd like to attend that without all of you."

"Hey!"

"That's not fair!"

"I wanna go!"

The three brothers objected.

Mr. Atkins shot them a look to silence them. He then nodded at Zeke. "That's fine. What's next?"

"After lunch the coach and athletic director will want to talk with us in the financial aid office. Then there'll be a tour of the school and athletic facilities. Plus a meeting with an academic advisor to talk about the application process. Then I'll have a practice with the team before dinner. After that, they put down 'team event' so I guess I'll get to hang out with the other players. Saturday morning they have a walkthrough practice that I can participate in. Lunch with team. Then they have video and pregame preparations that I'll get to attend to get a feel for how they face their opponents." He glanced at his phone. "For their game on Saturday, we all get to attend for free and will be able to get some vouchers for their snack bar. After that, I'll be with the team again until Sunday morning. Sunday morning, we'll have time to ask the coach any questions we may have. That's it."

That's it? That's it...uhhh that's a lot. I looked over at Noah to make a comment, but Noah's frown stopped me from saying anything.

"What are we going to do with all of our free time?" Noah asked Mr. Atkins. "Sounds like Zeke doesn't even want us to come." Did it?

Mr. Atkins replied. "We'll have our own plans for when we're not needed. For the meetings with school officials, we'll have to find something for you boys to do. Afterwards though, you may as well join us for the tour of the school and we can watch Zeke's tryout before dinner. Zeke didn't say we couldn't join him for dinner so wouldn't eating at a college campus be an experience for you? Saturday, your mom has already planned some things for us to do without Zeke before the game. It'll be fun."

Noah squinted at his dad with suspicion in his eyes. "Okayyyy. Better not let us down. This is Jake's first official vacation so it can't be boring."

Mr. Atkins blinked in surprise.

"First ever vacation?" Kyle's jaw dropped.

"You've never gone anywhere else before?" Dave mimicked his twin.

I stopped eating and shrugged. "I traveled from Southern California to here with Mr. Duncan. That was my first time leaving the city I was born in."

The table fell silent, but only for a second before Mrs. Atkins came back in. "What are you boys doing? It's time to go. Come on!"

The sound of clattering dishes and shuffling feet filled the room once again, dispersing the sad and pitying atmosphere. We put the dishes in the sink and started to pile in the car. Noah and I had another tight fit in the very back seat since the trunk and floor were filled with bags.

But I didn't mind. Even though I was slightly claustrophobic, this wasn't so bad. Only Noah was close to me and I knew he wouldn't do anything to hurt me. Plus, Mrs. Atkins has placed the container of food on my seat.

After everyone got in and got comfortable, we were off. Mr. Atkins drove us the whole hour and a half. Like Noah said, it wasn't a far trip, just a lot of traffic. We pulled into a nice hotel, and Mrs. Atkins started the check in process.

This time we went in the lobby with her. Only Zeke brought his bags in so we could sit around and wait for the player to pick him up. We didn't have to wait long since Zeke had messaged the player when we arrived, and the hotel the Atkins picked was super close to the university supposedly.

A tall, muscular man, with a full grown beard walked with a purpose right towards us after walking in the lobby. I straightened up in my seat and my heart started to pound. I found the man completely intimidating.

"Hello, I'm Bradley Thompson. You must be Zeke Atkins and family." He gave a friendly smile as he peered down at us.

Mr. Atkins and Zeke stood up and shook his hand as they introduced themselves.

"And these are my other boys: Dave, Kyle, Noah, and Jake." Mr. Atkins gestured to the rest of us as we stayed sitting. "My wife just went to check in so you'll meet her in a minute."

Bradley nodded and continued to smile. "Sure. We still have some spare time." He looked directly at Zeke. "I've heard a lot about you from the coaches. Everyone's excited that you're here."

Zeke, who was two inches shorter than the man, raised an eyebrow. "Oh. I didn't know the coach had the time to tell the team just yet. I did call and plan this a little last minute."

A little? More like completely last minute. I relaxed a little in my seat, finally not feeling so anxious.

"We've heard about you beforehand so coach had sent a simple mass text to all of us. Very positive." He patted Zeke on the shoulder. "Your stats so far this season has really blown me away."

Bradley spoke some more before Mrs. Atkins came over. He introduced himself to her and exchanged pleasantries. After a little bit of small talk, it was time for him to take Zeke to the dorms to drop off his stuff before heading to class.