The Hitting Zone

Our little makeup Christmas really stood out as winter break came to an end. It was one of the last times we were all together because Zeke had to go back to college. He started to pack up and then Friday before school started, he loaded up the car. Mom and Dad hesitated on who would take him and who would stay here with us.

Grampa solved it by suggesting they both go. "Take a break. I can hold down the fort here."

Mom looked worried as she glanced at the twins.

"They're teenagers, Mary." Grampa waved her away. "They're not babies anymore. It's not like I need to change their diapers or worry about them drawing on the walls."

"That's why I'm worried." Mom let out a small laugh. "The bigger the kid, the bigger the problem." She looked at Noah and me first. "You kids..."

"We're fine, Mom." Noah smiled. "Have a small vaca with Dad. A night or two. It's whatever. Jake and I will probably just go to the cages. Dave or Kyle can drive us." He looked at Grampa. "Do you want to watch us, Gramps?"

Grampa shook his head. "No, no. Why are you always trying to get me to leave the house? I'm trying to conserve energy. Want me to die faster?"

I cracked a smile. Grampa constantly talked about dying and I was starting to understand that it was just his sense of humor. It wasn't ha-ha funny, but it was funny to see how his comments got Mom going talking about how he's going to live for a long time.

"I'm already over the average age of death, Mary. I'll take what I can get." Grampa rested his hands on mine and Noah's shoulders. "They're good kids. I trust them to play some ball and then come home before dinner." His eyes moved to Kyle. "Now that's the one you need to speak with."

Kyle did his best to look innocent. "I get home before curfew and I don't even borrow the car. Marie does all the driving."

Mom squinted at him. Then looked at Dave. Then back to Kyle. "You two stick together. If Dave takes the boys to the cages, you go too." She looked at us. "All four of you. If one leaves the house, the other three should be right behind."

"Ah, Mom." Kyle complained. "This is the last weekend before break ends."

"You don't have any baseball next weekend." Mom pointed out. She clapped her hands together to signal the end of the conversation. "That's it. Your Dad and I will take Zeke back to school. And stay there for tonight and tomorrow night. We'll come back Sunday. Your Grampa is in charge."

"Why is it always Zeke and now Grampa? Can't I be in charge?" Dave mumbled, folding his arms across his chest.

"Can you handle it?" Mom asked, looking at Dave.

Dave straightened and nodded. "Yes, ma'am!"

Mom glanced at Grampa. Grampa gave a small nod. She sighed. "Okay, Dave is in charge. No alcohol. No girls over." She glanced at Kyle. "And Dave gets to make command decisions." Kyle rolled his eyes.

"That means you have to be responsible for breakfast, lunch, and dinner." Noah told Dave with a smile.

"You kids can eat at home." Mom quickly shot down any ideas Noah might be having. "We're only gone two nights. Not a week."

Mom left it at that and went to go inform Dad and Zeke what she had planned out. Soon, her and Dad's bag were thrown down next to Zeke's. With just the three of them, they took her car and hit the road after lunch.

Grampa went upstairs to his room to go nap, saying old people like him get tired after a meal. I didn't think it was just old people. I also kind of wanted to take a nap. Sharing a room with the twins wasn't as quiet as when it was just me and Noah. They bickered before bed and a little extra in the morning.

Dave pulled out the keys to the car and gave them a shake. "To The Arcade? Video games and some practice swings?"

"Why not go to the mall instead?" Kyle pushed. "We can all leave and go our own ways there. Watch a movie. Heck, they have an arcade too."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Lame. It just doesn't compare." He tugged on my sleeve. "Let's get our bags, Jake."

"Dave." Kyle called out to his twin.

Dave shrugged and smiled. "You're out-voted. Why don't you just invite Marie to the cages too?"

Kyle frowned. "Fine." He pulled out his phone and started to text.

I paused, making Noah stop too. "Tell Marie that Kaylee can come too."

Kyle raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yea, it'd be dumb to leave her at home when we're all going." Noah added, saving me from having to explain my unexpected comment.

"Are you going to invite Alisha too then?" Dave teased.

"Uhh." Noah hesitated.

"Yea." I nodded. Alisha is nice. And a friend. It should be okay. She can always say no if she doesn't want to go.

All three girls said yes and met us at The Arcade. Alisha was the only one not to bring a bag with a bat and helmet. Kaylee assured her that they could take turns with her gear.

Kyle and Marie split from the group first, saying that they were going to play mini-golf together. Dave was given the two bags with the excuse that he was in charge so he had to be responsible for the bags.

Dave rolled his eyes, but still held the bags all on one shoulder.

"You look like someone's dad." Noah laughed.

The five of us went back to the cages and I passed out some coins that I've had since my birthday. Dave left for the 75mph cage putting us down to a group of four. We moved down to slow-pitch so Alisha could feel included.

"I'll go first!" Kaylee volunteered and got her helmet on. She went in.

Alisha looked embarrassed as she saw that we were near so many younger kids. "Maybe I can just watch? I don't want to hold you guys back."

"Nah, it's fine." Noah shrugged. "Jake always starts slow and works his way up. I'm used to it."

I looked at him. I started slow, but not this slow.

"Hey, Jake!" Kaylee called from inside the cage. I faced her instead. "I'm going to work on batting from the left side. You make sure to tell me if you notice anything out of whack."

I nodded. "Okay."

She put the coin in and got set in the lefty's box.

"That's smart." Noah said, standing beside me as we watched her swing. "I should do the same thing. Work on batting from the left side. Probably won't ever use it in a game, but it should improve my hand-eye coordination."

I nodded. "Probably."

Kaylee was more than decent batting from the left side. It was obvious that she had practiced this before. Even though it was slow-pitch, she made perfect contact every time. I don't think Noah will be able to pull that off if he tries from that side too.

Kaylee finished and Noah went in next.

"That was good, Kay!" Alisha gave her a small hug.

Kaylee rolled her eyes, but had a smile on her face. "It's okay. I can't do anything too fast yet, but I've been working on it." She looked at me. "What do you think? Any advice?"

I shook my head. "Every swing was correct. How fast can you go?"

"Struggle begins in the 70s and then 75 is a nightmare." She laughed at herself.

"Try bunting?" I suggested. "That's what I did when I couldn't hit the ball. It's easier to make contact if your bat is already out there. Helps you get more comfortable too."

"Yea, I should. Thanks!" She smiled.

We watched Noah attempt to bat from the left and got a good laugh as he struggled with the timing. His awkward first-step motion was also getting crossed up. He was good-natured about it and laughed too, occasionally letting out a small curse.