The Hitting Zone

We moved on from talking about that woman thanks to Jeremy starting to drive.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Dinner." He answered simply, not giving any hints.

I looked down at my dirty practice clothes. I was still in baseball pants and probably didn't smell that great. "It's not going to be somewhere nice, is it?"

He let out a laugh. "Even if it is, it's not like anyone would turn us away."

No, but I would feel very self-conscious.

"Don't stress, we're just grabbing food and taking it to-go." He explained. To prove it, we went through a drive-thru and he ordered half the menu, including a plethora of drinks.

"Um..." I stared up at him as I held the bags of food.

"Don't worry, you don't have to hold the drinks." Jeremy told me as he put the drink holder on the center console and then filled the cup holders around us.

I was thoroughly impressed with how organized he was. Like he had done this before. But, that's not what I was worried about. "Are we going to be able to finish all of this?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter if we don't. I just don't want to regret not getting enough. It's always good to have too much, than not enough."

Ah. I understood what he was saying. "Was there not a lot of food around when you were little?" Didn't our birth father provide enough?

He revealed a sad smile as he drove. "I'm sure it doesn't compare what you've been through, but I did have some food insecurity when we all still live together. Mom wasn't working and Dad didn't earn much playing in the minors. We were living paycheck to paycheck. It wasn't like I was starving, but the days of having a cheese sandwich for lunch really stuck with me." He laughed. "Dad used to tell me it was a cold grilled cheese."

I didn't know if it was appropriate to laugh at someone struggling to provide food so I stayed silent until I thought of a question. "Was it better when you moved in with your uncle?"

"Our uncle." He automatically corrected. Then grimaced. "Sorry." He glanced at me. "You don't have to call him uncle, it's just a blood relation thing. I didn't mean it-"

"I understand." I cut him off to stop him from rambling.

He chuckled. "Sorry. Again. Uhh, but yea, my food situation did get better. I was surprised to have so much when I first moved in with them. I would stuff my face the first couple of weeks and started to put on weight a little too fast."

I grinned. "Did you get fat?"

"Of course not." He denied. "I was a very active kid, running everywhere, playing any sport available."

We reached the coast, driving almost along the beach. He turned into one of the parking lots and parked in the first row but backwards. I watched him in action, opening the trunk of the suv and moving my bag to the backseat. Then he motioned for me to sit in the trunk.

I sat down with my legs crossed, putting the bags of food between us. Jeremy came back with the drinks and started putting them down before going back for some more. When we finally had everything in the trunk, he sat on the ledge and started to pull the food out of the bags.

He handed me a salad and grabbed one for himself. "Veggies first. Need dressing?"

I nodded. "Ranch."

He found some in the bag and tossed it to me.

I put the ranch in my salad before mixing it up. I started to eat, then realized that Jeremy didn't put any dressing in his salad. Weird.

We ate in silence for the most part, watching the sunset over the ocean in between bites. It was very picturesque. I'm sure we were close to the spot Dad took me to a few times. The bench that he once slept on.

"Jake, there's something I want to tell you." Jeremy spoke up after finishing his food. We actually didn't have much left over besides some extra drinks. He really could eat.

His sentence made me lose my appetite. I put the fries down. "What is it?"

He could see the anxiety in my eyes. "It's nothing to do with you. Or about you. I just wanted to give you a heads up before it's put in the news."

I tilt my head, confused. "Are you okay?"

"I will be." He nodded. He looked out at the beach. "You remember that emergency I had a few weeks ago?"

I nodded.

"Well. It was Uncle Jack. He got into some financial trouble and needed to be bailed out." He spoke without looking at me. "Nothing bad like gambling or something like that. He just made some terrible business decisions and on top of that, got an unfavorable loan that didn't pan out."

Okay... "What did that have to do with you?" I asked. And why would that be in the news?

He let out a heavy sigh. "I had to bail him out. I...didn't have all that money in cash so I had to move a lot around. My investment portfolio had to be cashed out and that just takes time. I have to pay a penalty fee on that and the taxes will be a nightmare next year."

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked. I didn't understand a whole lot, but it sounded like Jeremy wasn't going to have any money. I swallowed a lump in my throat.

He laughed suddenly. "Yea. Didn't you hear me earlier? I signed a big deal with the A's. Everything worked out. It was such a long process of hashing out the contract and handling Uncle Jack's problems. For awhile, I felt like I was drowning."

I thought back to a couple days ago during our call. He was tired. "What can I do to help?" I asked.

Jeremy was surprised for a second before laughing again. He reached over and flicked my hat off my head. "You just focus on school and baseball. These problems belong to me and Uncle Jack."

I picked my hat up and put it back on. "You really think this will make the news?"

The laughing stopped and the smile wasn't the same. "Yea, unfortunately. I lost all my rookie contract money, then signed a new big contract midseason. It should make headlines. You don't have to worry though. It'll blow over in a little bit. I just wanted to warn you in case some kids try to ask you about it."

I shrugged. "I'll be okay. Tomorrow is our last day of camp and then it's a little over two more weeks until school starts."

He looked relieved. "Good. That's great." He showed me a real smile. "What are you going to do these next couple of weeks? I know you're coming to the A's game on Saturday, but maybe you can come to a few more. You and Noah can come stay a couple days again or something."

I pulled my legs closer to my body. "Actually, on Tuesday, I'm...going to the doctor."

"Doctor? For what?" He frowned.

"A laser treatment for my scars. To help heal them and make them slightly less visible." I answered.

Jeremy didn't speak.

"It won't take long to heal. Just a couple of days of rest and staying inside because I'll be sensitive to the sun." I continued to explain.

He sucked in his cheeks. "How bad is it?"

I shook my head, not wanting to get into it.

"Can the Atkins afford the treatment? Do they need some help?" He asked.

"It should be okay." I answered. I had similar worries, but Dad said it was fine.

He frowned. "I'll talk to them."