The Hitting Zone

Something to say? Who? Me? Me to him? I had a lot to say, but his sudden appearance made me blank out. Add the fact that the boys already said he should be at a game right now just made me even more confused.

"What are you doing here?" Zeke spoke up and stepped up. He took the lead, standing in front of the four of us.

"I'm here to see him." Jeremy tilted his head at me before looking at Zeke.

"Like we said before, if you have something to say or want to meet Jake, please go through his caseworker. Or our parents." Zeke told him, standing almost eye to eye. He wasn't as built as Jeremy, but he wasn't a pushover either.

"There's no need." Jeremy told him. "The results are in. He's my brother." He paused, almost like it was a dramatic scene from a movie.

But... "We already knew that." Noah stepped up beside Zeke. "We're the ones that told you. That doesn't give you the right to just show up unannounced."

"Isn't that what you did?" Jeremy said to me, looking down at me. "You just showed up out of the blue after I get traded up here. Was it really a coincidence?"

"Jake had no say in that!" Kyle yelled. "Heck, it wasn't until you got traded that he recognized you."

"How?" Jeremy folded his arms across his chest. "The last time we saw one another, you were a toddler. How could you possibly recognize me?"

Seeing the Atkins face off with my real brother made my chest and head hurt. With the question in mind, I answered honestly. "You looked like Dad. I didn't think I would recognize you, but I knew his face."

Jeremy's arms dropped, his jaw slightly dropped. "You-"

"Mr. Patterson." Coach's voice rang out. He joined our group. "As nice as it is to have such a great player here at my field, you're not welcomed here to harass my players." He glanced at Zeke. "Why don't you boys head home while I have a short chat with this young man on what's appropriate school behavior."

Zeke nodded, then looked at the rest of us with a raised eyebrow. "Did you guys not practice enough?"

"I wonder what's for dinner." Kyle was the first to turn away, heading for the car.

"Mom might cook lasagna." Dave hummed, following his twin.

Noah glanced at Jeremy. "Jerk. C'mon Jake, let's go home." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me back to the car, with Zeke following right behind. "I hope Coach lectures him to death."

I let out a small laugh.

Noah smiled. "You okay, Jake?"

I nodded. "I'm fine."

"That didn't bug you?"

I shrugged. "I don't really know why he came by. Or what he wanted me to say."

"He was probably feeling guilty as hell. The results are out." Noah deepened his voice. "Jake, he is your brother."

I stared at him, blankly. Okay?

Noah poked me in the ribs. "Kind of like 'Luke, I am your father' type of deal."

"Who's Luke?"

Noah gasped. "You know nothing, young man! We'll have to have a movie marathon some time soon to rectify this problem."

"It'll have to wait." Dave said as we joined him and Kyle at the car. "We still have one more baseball game to focus on."

"I don't need you to tell me that!" Noah stuck his tongue out and we loaded our stuff up in the car.

"Hey..." Kyle looked around at us as Zeke started the car and headed home. "Since Jeremy got the results, shouldn't Mom and Dad have it too?"

"It probably came out today." Dave replied. "They might bring it up at dinner."

"Would Jeremy come over for dinner?"

"Why would he?" Noah snorted.

Kyle looked at me. "Well...he looked like he wanted to talk. Kind of. He wasn't as aggressive as before, but that could be because he got into trouble last time. I just think it's weird he took the night off from baseball." His eyes widened. "We should look up why! See what he told the team!"

"On it!" Dave whipped out his phone and started typing. "Hmmm. The team only stated that he took the night off for personal reasons. This reporter suggests it's because his girlfriend is having pregnancy troubles."

"Does he even have a girlfriend?" Kyle asked.

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Look it up."

"That's enough." Zeke cut in. He looked in his rearview mirror to make eye contact with me. "You can't believe everything you read online. If you really want to know him, you should ask him."

"Who? Me?" I blurted out. "I wasn't-"

"If you don't want to know, that's fine too." Zeke cut me off. "I just don't want you to be misguided by these idiots."

"Hey!!" The twins exclaimed in unison.

"We're home." Zeke parked the car.

As soon as we got in the house, Mr. Atkins greeted us by the door. We could hear Mrs. Atkins in the next room over; she must be on the phone.

"We know." Zeke told his dad plainly before heading for the stairs. "I'm going to go shower before dinner."

"You know? You all know?" He looked skeptical.

"Jeremy Patterson was at the field again, Dad." Dave said, passing him by as well. "Kind of ruined the surprise."

"Again?" Mr. Atkins looked concerned. "He didn't do anything he shouldn't, did he?"

"No, not really." Kyle followed after Dave and Zeke. "Coach showed up real quick and had a talk with him so we could leave. Did you know? He's supposed to be playing a game tonight, but isn't. According to this one guy, his girlfriend is having pregnancy probs."

"What??" Mr. Atkins looked extra confused. His eyes swung back to me and Noah, still in the foyer. "What's going on now?"

"Jeremy got the news that him and Jake are completely related. Came to talk. Didn't talk. Coach talked to him instead. We came home. The other stuff is just gossip." Noah waved his hand back and forth as if to wave it away. He looked at me. "Anything to add?"

I shook my head.

"Well then..." Mr. Atkins took a deep breath. "As long as nothing happened. We'll have to talk to George and Doug about this again. He can't just show up as he pleases."

"Wayne." Mrs. Atkins walked out of the dining room and joined us, phone in hand. Her eyes were wide, looking unsettled. "Jeremy and Jack want to have a meeting. With Jake."