The Hitting Zone

Saturday morning I woke up still dressed in the clothes from the night before. I rolled out of bed, grabbed some clean clothes, and hit the showers, completely ignoring the snores coming from Noah. He went to bed slightly before me and even slept on the ride home; he should be waking up soon.

When I came downstairs, only Zeke and Mr. Atkins were at the kitchen table.

"Mom went to a clients house." Zeke told me when he caught me looking at the slim pickings for breakfast. The only choices were bagels or cereal.

I took a seat and poured myself a bowl of cereal with milk.

"We'll have lunch a little sooner today, so don't eat too much." Mr. Atkins explained.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Today's the baseball banquet."

I stared at him blankly before focusing on my food. I vaguely remember a few mentions of the word banquet but I didn't know what it entailed.

It was a relatively quiet breakfast until the twins and Noah came racing down. They stuffed their faces like they hadn't ate in days, completely making a mess of the kitchen table.

"Make sure you boys clean up properly." Mr. Atkins frowned at the sight of spilled cereal everywhere.

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

Dave and Noah smirked towards Kyle who was the last to yell.

"Zeke and Jake didn't say anything." Kyle argued.

"They didn't make a mess." Mr. Atkins intervened. "Do all of you have clean suits for tonight? Have you tried them on?"

I was clueless as the others focused on eating, not daring to make eye contact with their dad. Even Zeke cleared his throat and paid more attention to his phone.

Mr. Atkins sighed. "Try your suits on. If they're dirty, we need to get them washed. If something doesn't fit, we'll have to make a trip to the mall. We're already going to the mall to get Jake a new phone so let's do just one trip."

"Jake's going to get a phone?" Noah asked.

"That's weird. He doesn't need one." Kyle frowned.

"Yea, he's always with Noah. How hard can it be to find him?" Dave added.

"We treat you all the same." Mr. Atkins told them. "Jake might not have too many contacts, but we won't deny him a phone because of it. If Jake wants to do something on his own, it's best if he already has a phone and doesn't have to borrow one of yours."

"What would he do on his own?" Noah asked, bewildered.

"Is this coming out of our baseball camp money?" Kyle grumbled.

"You're all growing up. Jake included." Mr. Atkins explained. "He won't be attached to your hip for your whole life, Noah. What if he wants to do something different for the summer? What if you want to do something that he doesn't want to do?" Noah looked at me like I was betraying him. "And no it won't be coming out of the summer plans budget. I hope you all made your lists, by the way."

"I have my list!" Kyle said excitedly. "As soon as you give me the green light, I'll start finalizing the plans and visits and camps. It's going to be the busiest summer."

"You have to be prepared to cut some camps out if you get too out of hand." Mr. Atkins frowned. "Your mom and I are firm on this budget."

"Yet you're ready to spend a few hundred on a phone for Jake?" Kyle rolled his eyes.

"Why are you still on that?" Dave looked annoyed. "We all have phones. Why can't Jake have one?"

"We have someone to talk to." Kyle said. "No offense to Jake, but we're his only friends. Who would he talk to on the phone if not us? And where would he be without us? Let's be real, it's a waste of money." Kyle sounded upset.

"Hey!" Noah yelled at him.

Zeke and Dave were also astounded by the outburst.

"Kyle." Mr. Atkins voice was a bit deeper. "You apologize this minute or prepare to spend the whole summer in your room."

Kyle's face had a hint of guilt, but he folded his arms across his chest. "Dad. You can't blame me. Mom says I can't do this pitching camp in Texas, but you guys can suddenly afford a new phone for Jake? This isn't fair."

"Go to your room." Mr. Atkins said firmly, making me shake in my seat. I wasn't the only one. "NOW."

Kyle's lips thinned as he stood up, and walked out, barely having any breakfast.

"I don't really need a phone..." I mumbled.

"You do." Zeke said.

"Yea, why not?" Noah chipped in. "Kyle's just being a jerk. You can't be a normal teen without a phone."

"Kyle didn't mean it." Dave told me. "He's just been going through something. You know how weird he's been."

I nodded slowly, accepting Dave's excuse for Kyle. He really had been 'off'.

I looked up at Mr. Atkins. "I don't have any summer camps in mind, so you can give that money to Kyle so he can do his pitching camp. The one that he really wants to do."

"What are we going to do then?" Noah asked.

"You don't have to do that Jake." Mr. Atkins told me. "A budget is there for a reason. We can't just let everyone go and do what they want without knowing the consequences."

I shrugged. "I'm just saying...I don't mind."

Mr. Atkins sighed. "We'll have to talk more about this tomorrow. For now, hurry up and finish eating. Check your suits and then we'll hit the mall."

"Do we really have to wear suits?" Noah asked. "Is a dress shirt good?"

Mr. Atkins shook his head. "You five will all wear suits. Formal wear. I'm talking slacks, belt, tie and jacket. The whole nine yards."

I gulped. I didn't have anything that formal. The best I did was wear Noah's hand-me-downs.

"I probably have something for you." Noah told me, noticing my discomfort.

"And I have something for you, Noah." Dave nodded. "I was only a little taller than you my freshman year. Not as scrawny though."

And just like that, our Saturday morning was filled with closet digging, clothes searching, and constantly trying on what could fit. It took us hours to put something together with clothes constantly being passed around. Shortly before lunch we came up with a list of who still needed what.

Me-shoes

Noah-shoes

Kyle-shoes and belt

Zeke-shoes and jacket

Dave was the only one who had a full outfit with no problems. Meanwhile the rest of us didn't have the right shoes that Mr. Atkins requested. Zeke was able to give Dave his old ones, but the twins shoes were too big for me and Noah.

We piled up into the car and headed for the mall. It was rather quiet with Mr. Atkins still being upset with Kyle.

When we arrived at the mall, Kyle couldn't keep up the silent treatment. He sighed very loudly and looked down at me as we got out of the car. "Jake. I know what I said was mean and uncalled for."

"It's okay." I told him quickly, ready to ease the atmosphere.

"No, it's not." Mr. Atkins came around from the driver's side. "Kyle, what you said wasn't only wrong, but hurtful. I didn't raise you boys to be like that. I want to see more love, care, and compassion out of you. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." Kyle hung his head in shame.

"You should ask for reparations." Noah whispered, just loud enough for the others to hear.

Zeke's face twitched and he cracked a smile.

Mr. Atkins sighed again. "Noah, how do you even know what that is? Aren't you too young to be learning about these court terms?"

"You're never too young to know the law." Noah proclaimed proudly.

Mr. Atkins just shook his head.

"What are reparations?" Kyle asked, confused.

Dave rubber his two fingers against his thumb, the universal sign for money. "Better hide that wallet."

Kyle looked offended. "You would scam your own brother??" He asked Noah.

Noah shrugged, looking harmless. "It's not a scam. It's the most common way to make amends after you offend someone."

"No one is paying anybody." Mr. Atkins waved his hands to break them up. "This isn't a court of law. I'm the judge, jury, and prosecutor. Let's get a move on."