The Hitting Zone

Zeke stopped pestering me and I regained my inner peace. Instead of walking home, he called Dave to see if they were home yet and if one of them could pick us up. Apparently he said yes, because Zeke told me we would wait out front.

"I didn't mean to be pushy." Zeke told me after a minute of silence. "I didn't know what I wanted to do after my freshman year in high school either, so I did what I was good at."

"You're doing what you want to do now though, right?" I asked. He had picked college over the MLB.

He nodded. "I am. Doesn't mean that there won't be challenges. I just want you to know sooner than I did, that there are options."

I smirked. "Dad says that too. You just don't listen."

Zeke let out an abrupt laugh. "Yea...I wasn't a very good listener, but I'm trying to change that."

"So you'll listen when I say I don't like waking up early?" I asked.

He lifted an eyebrow. "You don't want to become a better baseball player?"

I looked out to the parking lot, feeling something stirring within me. "Okay. I do think I'm getting stronger and faster thanks to your early morning workouts."

Zeke smiled. "Even if you were to quit baseball, I would still take you running. It's good for your mental and physical health."

I rolled my eyes. Typical.

Dave showed up after a couple of minutes. The other two weren't inside the car so Zeke sat in the front passenger seat and I sat behind him.

"You left Kyle and Noah at home?" Zeke asked.

Dave nodded. "It would have been too much of a hassle." He started to drive us home. "Did you guys know that Marie was going to be there today?"

Zeke and I didn't speak.

Dave glanced at Zeke. "You could have at least told me. She's not my ex!"

"It didn't go well?" Zeke asked, unbothered.

Dave laughed. "Oh. You don't even know! Wait until we get home." Dave refused to tell us anymore, and continued to laugh to himself until we got to the house. We three went inside the house together, and it was completely silent.

"Did they kill each other?" Dave was surprised. "It was world war three when I left." He took a look in the kitchen and then in the living room. "I don't see them. Should we be scared?"

"Probably in their own rooms." Zeke said, hitting the stairs.

I followed. I had to put my bag in my room anyways. I was going to do some cleaning and maintenance of my bats.

Dave was right behind me, probably still looking for the other two.

As soon as Zeke hit the top step, he paused. I stopped as well and saw Kyle. Dave was the first to laugh, earning a glare from his twin as he walked down the hall. We three moved to the side to let Kyle pass as he wanted to go downstairs.

Zeke glanced at Dave once Kyle was all the way downstairs, headed for the kitchen. "Did Noah do that?"

Dave laughed a little harder. "Wrong."

"Marie?" Zeke was surprised.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner." Dave moved past us to head for his room. "Wait until you hear the story."

Zeke followed after him.

I glanced down the hall to see my bedroom door was shut so I went with Dave and Zeke to hear the 'story' behind Kyle's swollen eye.

"So we show up to Alisha's with Andy, everything go well until the girls showed up. Marie brought KJ and Kaylee, throwing me and Kyle for a loop." Dave started to explain. "At first things were awkward, but the pizza arrived so it really cooled down. I thought, hey this isn't so bad. Eventually we move to the pool and start having some fun, just swimming and tossing a ball around."

Zeke rolled his eyes. "Get to the part where Kyle gets a black eye."

"Fine, fine." Dave said. "At some point Marie and Kyle separate from us, talking on their own, off to the side. Noah thought it would be funny if he threw the volleyball at them. And it was. Marie saw it first and lifted her hands to catch it, but then Kyle reacted. A collision of the two, with Marie ending up on top. Her elbow landed perfectly on his face, right below the eye."

"So Kyle isn't mad about Noah inciting Marie? He's mad at him for throwing the ball?" I asked.

Dave pointed at me. "Yep!"

Zeke rolled his eyes and went to the bathroom.

I guess as long as no one intentionally hurt Kyle, then it's okay. I shrugged and headed for my room. I opened the door and found Noah sitting at the desk, playing a video game. My lips twitched at the sight.

Noah turned, hearing me. "Oh, hey Jake. Like my new haircut?"

"Haircut..?" There was no hair left. Noah had a complete buzz cut!

Noah chuckled as he patted his head. "I got into some trouble today."

"I've heard." I put my bag down and got a closer look. "Did Kyle do this?"

"No. Marie did. At Alisha's." Noah gave me the full version of what had happened, not too upset about his lack of hair. From the way he told it, you would think he wanted the haircut.

But at dinner time, he grabbed one of his A's hats and put it on before going downstairs. Mom and Dad were flabbergasted at the sight of Kyle's black eye and Noah's haircut.

Mom put a hand to her head. "Is this what I'll have to expect when Zeke goes off to college? How did this happen? Why did this happen? What about tomorrow?" She looked to Kyle, worried.

Kyle finished chewing a bite of his dinner. "It'll be fine. This weekend is the college visit. We'll only show some skills, with the focus being on seeing the school. The swelling should go down by the next camp."

"I've got a son with pink hair and another son with a black eye." Mom sighed. "You two are going to be the death of me."

"Hey!" Dave was offended. "My hair is only a tinge of pink. I can wear a hat next week, when you and Dad join us for the 4th of July."

Mom looked to Dad. "I think we made a mistake. We should have stayed with the younger boys. These two are a lost cause."

Dad laughed. "C'mon Mary, it's not that bad. It'll be fun for us to get away for a couple of days and spend it with the twins. Maybe instill some responsibility on the pair." He looked to Zeke. "Have you planned anything for the holiday?"

Zeke shrugged. "Rhys said we can come over for a bbq, but the giants are playing an away game." He looked to me. "We'll be in the Bay Area on Thursday next week. Want to see if Jeremy will let us come to the game? It might be tough since it's a popular game to go to."

"I'll ask." I answered. Rhys has taken us to games so it'd be nice if I could return the favor.

"That's a relief, knowing that you boys will be at Rhys' for the 4th." Mom smiled. "I'll give you a few extra dollar to do the small fireworks in the street."

"Sparklers too!" Noah told her. "We have to give Jake the full experience."

Mom looked at him. "Okay. But first, let me see your hair to make sure it's even."

Noah frowned but abided, lifting his hat.

Mom laughed. "Not bad. At least I don't have to pay for your haircut before school starts." She looked to me. "Jake, you'll need a haircut soon too. Gotta get the hair out of your eyes." She started to make plans, suggesting a place that she could take me to this weekend.