The Hitting Zone

Michael went back to his dugout with an ugly face. I didn't pay too much attention to him though since we headed for our own dugout. The game was over, with us winning 4-2.

"Was that always your plan for Zeke?" Dave asked Kyle as he gathered up his gear into his bag.

Kyle did a mix of nodding and shrugging. "Yea. Why?"

Dave laughed. "You talked so much smack and that's all you could come up with?"

Kyle grinned, unbothered. "How many runs did I give up compared to you and compared to Garret?"

Garret could be heard groaning as he took off his cleats. "Why are you guys always dragging me into your comparisons? It's like I'm your unofficial triplet."

"You normally love comparing yourself to us." Dave grinned. "You feel like you're in danger for not being the best anymore?"

Garret straightened up. "I'd love to see you guys try to catch me. I've led this trio the last two years and the weight is pretty heavy."

Kyle patted him on the head. "We'll take it from you, old man."

Garret slapped Kyle's hand away. "Shut up. You're older than me."

I looked at them worried. "Is Garret in a bad mood?"

Noah zipped up his bag, putting it on his back. "Nah. I think it's just hitting him that he doesn't lead the twins anymore. It'll be tough to be the best pitcher on our team this spring. They all improved in their own way." He grinned. "We're going to dominate this year. I really can't wait."

I smiled too and nodded. I grabbed my bag and we left the dugout together.

Mr. Miller and Coach were talking to one another near the mound, with Alisha just standing by with her clipboard.

Noah tilted his head towards them. "I'm going to see if Alisha is joining us for lunch today."

I nodded. "Okay."

He left me near home plate.

I looked around, admiring the field. I loved the varsity field. I played here the most and it's what I know. Compared to the sketchy JV field and the no-outfield freshmen field, this was best.

"Jake." Zeke said with a sense of urgency.

I looked at him, confused. "Yea?"

He took long, quick strides, reaching me quickly. He put his arm over my shoulders and immediately started guiding me to the exit of the field. "We're leaving!" He raised his voice. "Noah! Kyle! David!"

I had no clue what was going on. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Zeke called Dave by his full name. He never does that. I could hear movement behind us as the three rushed to catch up.

"Zeke?" Noah asked.

"What's going on?" Dave huffed, jogging to catch up.

I looked up at Zeke and saw that his lips had thinned out. He glanced down at me. "Have-"

"Hello, are you Jake Hollander?" Someone called out just as we left the field.

"That's him!" Someone else confirmed.

I looked around and saw that there were quite a few adults spread out in the parking lot. Almost all of them had cameras in hand, aiming them...at me?

I shrunk into Zeke's side; my anxiety was climbing.

"Keep your head down." Zeke gave my head a pat.

I looked at my feet as we walked to the car. Unfortunately we had parked near the freshmen field so it wasn't a short trip to the car.

"Jake! Jake!" Some guy got in front of us. "What is your reaction to-"

"Sorry you can't interview him without his guardians present." Zeke raised his voice and said firmly.

"He's in high school." The guy said, just as firm. He was walking backwards in front of us. "I can ask and he can answer. As-"

"We're on school property." Zeke shut him down. "Do you have permission from the school to be here?"

"Its a public school-"

We reached the car. Zeke had completely lifted me and put me in the front passenger seat. He closed the door for me and I watched as he turned to say something to the man.

"What the hell is this.." Kyle muttered as the three hit in the middle row together. All of us had kept our bags in our lap. I also had Zeke's in my lap, feeling lost and flustered.

Zeke rounded the car, getting into the driver's seat. We had reporters on either side of us, trying to take photos and was shouting out my name. Zeke started the car and carefully navigated through the crowd of people. It wasn't huge, just over ten people. But still...one is too many. This is school.

"I guess we aren't going back to practice this afternoon?" Kyle said, getting his phone out. "I'm just going to let Marie know that we had to go. I didn't even get to see her this morning."

Noah squeezed forward, leaning on the center console. "Zeke, what's going on?"

Zeke glanced at me.

"It's Jeremy, isn't it?" I guessed.

Zeke nodded. "Him and his uncle."

"Oh." Noah relaxed. "Just him bailing out his uncle and getting his new contract? I didn't think they would bug Jake about that though. It's not like Jake even talks to his uncle." He paused to think. Then he pulled out his phone.

"Don't look." Zeke commanded, sounding stern again.

The air in the car felt stale as we all froze, eyes were on Zeke.

Zeke sighed. "I don't want any of you guys to look. Let's just get home. Meet up with Mom and Dad. I-they-we-" Zeke was having a hard time talking all of a sudden. He sighed again. "I don't know what to do."

"It's bad?" Dave asked.

Zeke clenched his jaw. "Let's wait until we get home."

The drive home was rather silent. Somehow the silence made the drive seem longer. Once we got home, we could see Dad talking to a couple of strangers on the front porch. He noticed us and pointed towards the open garage.

Zeke pulled into the garage and put the car in park. No one got out until Dad came in and pushed the clicker to close the garage. Then we all piled out.

I was a little slow with having two bags in my hands, but soon Dad had come to grab both from me. He set them down on the floor and pulled me into a tight hug.

Being hugged by such a giant man, I was unprepared. I could only stand there until he let go.

"Dad." Zeke said. "He doesn't know. I didn't let them check their phones."

"What's going on Dad?" Noah asked.

Dad brought himself down on one knee, eye-level with me. "Jake. Don't freak out. Just breathe and listen."

I nodded.

"There's evidence...that your uncle...was paying your mother. To keep you."

I was dumbfounded. "What?" That can't be right.

Dad slowly nodded. "The financial mistakes he had made? He was stealing from his own business and eventually from Jeremy to pay off your mother."

I shook my head. "No. We didn't have money in that house."

He gave me a sympathetic look. "Jake. Your mother. She kept it for herself. The house payments were never late, yet your mom didn't have a job. Someone found out that she was receiving a sum of money every month like clockwork. Even after your incident."

Dad said to breathe, but I think I forgot how to.