The Hitting Zone

The woman didn't even look surprised to see me as we sat on opposite sides of the table. She looked relaxed like she was visiting with her family. Which...I am.

She let out a cackle, grinning with an attitude. "I always knew I would see you again."

I clenched my fists.

"You look exactly like your father." She paused. "It's sickening." She glanced at Wayne. "Who's this? Your lawyer? No. He's not wearing a suit."

"My name is Wayne Atkins." Wayne told her. He glanced at me and realized I wasn't speaking up, so he pushed on. "We had some questions for you. On why Jack Patterson has been sending you money?"

She moved her head, still staring at Wayne. "You're not a cop. I can spot those a mile away."

"Not a cop. Not a lawyer." Wayne answered.

She looked to me. "Well? Do you have something to say? Or is the puppet going to be doing all the talking?" Her handcuffs made noise as she moved her frizzy hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear.

It's funny that such a small woman could be the star of my nightmares. She's almost a foot shorter than me. I tried to focus on the matter at hand. "Why was Uncle Jack paying you?"

"Oh! You speak with such anger." Her grin didn't fade. "You must already know, right?" She didn't wait for my answer. "Let me guess: you're hoping it's not true? That maybe your good old uncle was paying to support Jake and I?"

"Was he?" Wayne asked.

"God, no." She laughed. "He bought Jeremy. Can't just give away my boy for nothing, can I?"

I slapped the table with force. "Then why did you keep Jake?"

She stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow. "Jack didn't want a baby. He already had a few of those on his own." She stared at me. "Have you met Jake?"

I didn't answer her.

"That boy...he took after you and your father. The looks. The love of baseball. The weak mentality." She snorted. "What an idiot."

I stood up, knocking my chair over.

"Please sit down, sir." The guard instructed.

"Yea, yea, sit." The woman looked up at me, nonchalant. "You have quite a temper. Reminds me of myself from my drinking days." She sighed. "God, do I miss those days."

Wayne fixed my chair and put his hand on my shoulder to make me sit back down. "Stay calm." He looked at the woman. "Ms. Hollander, why would you agree to sell your eldest son? Do you have any proof to what you say? That he was 'bought'?"

She looked at Wayne, squinting. "Who are you to Jeremy?"

"A friend." Wayne answered, giving my shoulder a squeeze.

She looked back and forth, then laughed. "Sure, sure. I have no reason to lie. This is my home for the next twenty years. Jack was always bent on making it to the big leagues. Jeffrey wasn't the same way. He was just happy to play." She looked at me. "Jeremy had talent. And a dead dad. Jack jumped on that opportunity and gave me that proposition. He pays me for a brat that I don't have to take care of. Too good to pass up."

I wanted to throw up.

"Tell me." She leaned forward on the table, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. "Have you seen Jake? Does he hate you?"

I gulped.

She cackled again, making me shiver. "I bet he does. Sneaking behind my back just to play a little baseball. He looked up to you and Jeff. I told him it wasn't worth it. I knew what kind of life you were living. The high life. The good life. You weren't coming back." She paused. "It's too bad I couldn't put him out of his misery sooner."

"Jake is happy and has a good relationship with Jeremy." Wayne stayed steady as I shook with anger.

She looked at Wayne again, squinting. "You know Jake...?" She laughed suddenly. "You must be his foster family. I knew something was off about you. Giving me a weird feeling." She leaned closer to him. "I heard I did quite some damage to him. Can he even hold a bat anymore? Can he run? Can he ever be normal?"

"With all due respect, Jake is no longer your business." Wayne stated. "I'm here with Jeremy, as a friend, to help him get some answers on why his uncle was paying you."

"I already said." She shrugged. "I bet he was excited to hear that I'm no longer around. Saved him a few extra grand. The least he could do is send me some cigarettes. That's the only vice I have left in this dump."

I closed my eyes as she complained about the lack of alcohol in the prison. I needed to be calm. Like her. She's in here for attempted murder and it's almost like I'm the criminal. Be calm. Be cool. I collected myself and opened my eyes to stare her down. "Did Jack know that you were abusing Jake?"

She stopped her mindless rant. She leaned back in her seat. "Why wouldn't he know? Didn't you know?" She laughed. "I didn't have any problem hitting you when your father was around; why would I stop with him being gone?"

That struck a chord within me. Yes, I knew.

"I thought you would come back the day after you signed your big league contract." She grinned. "I waited months for something to happen to me. Either you coming back or the police coming to take Jake. Nothing. That's when I demanded more from Jack. Why should he get all the benefits of you making it to the show? I did the same amount of time as him. Hell, I even gave birth to ya." She laughed.

Maybe I really am a criminal. How could Jake ever forgive me? It must be because he's still young. He's going to grow up to detest me. I hate myself.

"You have more of my genetics than I thought." She said.

I immediately turned to the side to throw up. I couldn't handle it anymore. Her words. Her voice. This whole...thing...

The guard opened the door to call for assistance while Wayne got up to help me.

"You can't handle the truth?" The woman laughed. "The irony. You and your dad's family are all the same. Hypocrites. Talking to me about being a good person. Ha. We're just different kinds of assholes. There's no such thing as good people. At least I owned up to what I am."

I could hear shuffling feet and could vaguely tell that she was being taken away. Napkins and a water were held out in front of me.

"Just spit on the vomit." A stranger said. "Someone will be here to clean it up."

My eyes were watery. I could only tell myself that it was from throwing up my breakfast. I cleaned up and slowly got up on my feet.

Wayne stood close by, looking like he was ready to catch me if I fell over. "Come on, Jeremy. Let's get some fresh air."

I mindlessly followed him and a guard out of the maze of hallways.