Noah laughed awkwardly after being caught. "Not you, Mr. Johnson. Someone else..." He kept up the awkward laugh as we made it to the porch. "How are you doing, sir?" He straightened up. "I thought you would be at the stadium already?"
"Oh, so you can make fun of my age behind my back instead? I see." He nodded.
Noah shook his head vehemently. "It was a compliment! A compliment, I swear!" He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me forward. "Jake is a hitting genius. Rarely strikes out. And I mean, almost never."
The man looked me up and down, judging my physique. "A compact hitter?"
I stared blankly at him.
"You would have to see him in action." Dave laughed. "His swing isn't always compact. He's constantly changing and adjusting to where he wants to hit the ball. It's scary."
The man looked surprised. "I'd love to see it some time. Unfortunately, I've got to get to the stadium." He lifted his car keys and jingled them. "I'll see you boys there."
"Bye, Mr. Johnson!" Noah called out as he went down the path we came up. Once he was out of sight, Noah sighed with relief. "Man, I thought I was going to be in trouble for a second."
"In trouble? You are trouble." Rhys said from the doorway, leaning against the frame. "Are you guys just going to hangout on my doorstep all day or what?"
Zeke was the first to move towards him. He held out his fist to Rhys, who responded in kind. They bumped fists. "Thanks for the invite."
Dave went next, bumping his fist against Rhys's. "Yea! It's been so long since we could hang out like this."
"Yea, I thought it would be cool to go to a game with you guys too. Especially since your birthday is coming up. Too bad Kyle couldn't be here." Rhys said.
"It's probably a good thing that he isn't." Noah went up and bumped fists too. "He's been kind of moody lately. Dad took him on a solo camping trip."
"I've heard." Rhys said, then turned to me. "You coming, kid?"
I hurried after Noah. I followed their lead to fist bump Rhys.
He waited patiently, grinning. "You look good. Zeke told me how you raked in some awards after that championship game. Believe it or not, you're better than he was at your age."
I blushed and hurried in.
Rhys closed the front door and led us to the kitchen. "Mom! They're here!"
A tiny woman came out of the kitchen, holding a bunch of water bottles to her body. She grinned at us. "Zeke, Dave, Noah, so glad to see you boys. Pizza is already here. I set it up on the back porch so you all can eat outside and get some fresh air." She zeroed in on me. "You must be Jake. Nice to meet you."
I nodded, sticking close to Noah.
Rhys grabbed the waters from her and passed them out to us. "I'll take them out, thanks Mom."
She nodded. "Oh, sure. I'll be inside if you boys need anything."
"Thanks Mrs. Johnson." The boys all said. I hurried to do the same.
She smiled at us, watching us leave. So friendly and kind. She...she's like a mini-Mrs. Atkins.
"You good?" Dave whispered to me as we followed Rhys to his backyard.
I nodded. Just...feeling a little down. My eyes stung so I quickly blinked a few times. It's wrong to wish that more people had a mom like mine. It's messed up and unfair. I have Mrs. Atkins now; I shouldn't be this upset.
The back porch was a wooden deck, slightly overlooking his actual backyard. There was a grill, hose, a table and chairs. It would be normal if he also didn't have a pool and a pitcher's bullpen taking up space beyond the deck.
I looked on in amazement. So spacious. It definitely put the twins fake backstop to shame.
"Sit down, Jake." Noah instructed, already getting comfortable at the table.
Looking around, I was the last one standing. I found a seat between Noah and Dave. Zeke and Rhys were on the other side, helping themselves to the food that was already laid out.
I waited patiently to grab myself a slice of pizza, but Zeke was quick to add another slice. "You need extra calories." He told me.
I nodded obediently.
"Why is it that when I eat too much, I'm a fatty, but when Jake does it, it's a necessity?" Noah complained.
Zeke gave him a look. "You eat way more cookies than Jake."
Noah rolled his eyes. "It's not like pizza calories are healthier than cookie calories."
"Jake is underweight. You are not." Zeke told him.
Dave laughed, almost choking on his food. "Ouch!"
"I'm a growing young man!" Noah declared proudly.
Rhys laughed. "You better hope you grow a little faster. I think I stopped getting taller at 16. You've only got a year left."
"A year and two months!" Noah corrected.
I stopped eating. "We stop growing at 16..?" I started to worry. I was barely 5'4" now and nowhere near Jeremy's height.
"It depends and varies." Zeke answered. "I still grew a little this past year. Some kids stop at 14, and some may grow until they reach their 20's. You're a somewhat special case since you were..." He trailed off. "Just eat more. Drink more milk. Exercise. Stay healthy."
I didn't grow because I was starved most of my life. Those unspoken words hung over the table like a lightbulb in the middle of the night.
Rhys cleared his throat. "Like Zeke said, everyone's different. Don't worry about it. It's pretty normal for some middle infielders to be short. José Altuve. Dustin Pedroia. David Eckstein. Joe Morgan."
"Three of those four were second basemen!" Noah pointed out. "Does that mean I'm going to be in trouble?"
"With your sweet tooth, you're already in trouble." Dave told him.
Noah threw his half-drank water bottle at his brother. "I'm working out with Zeke this summer. I'm sure I'll burn off all sweets that I eat. It certainly felt that way this morning." He sighed.
Rhys chuckled. "You worked out with Zeke this morning?"
"Jake too." Dave added while laughing. "You should have seen them. A couple days without baseball and now they get winded by some jogging and weightlifting."
"Zeke does not jog." Noah corrected. "It was a run! A real run! Poor Jake was trailing behind the whole time. Zeke has no mercy."
"It's called training." Zeke's lips twitched, fighting off a smile.
I listened as they debated, feeling more relaxed. I ate my pizza, both slices, and laughed whenever Dave and Noah started to bicker. The fear and anxiety I had earlier about coming seemed to vanish into air, almost like an illusion.
Rhys was a great host, getting more water and napkins whenever we needed it. His mom stayed out of sight and maybe that helped more than I would liked to admit. I wonder if he mentioned something about me being skittish or if Zeke had just told Rhys everything about me, and he relayed it to his mom. The more I thought about it, the more I leaned to the latter. After all, we were eating lunch outside, in the open. Compared to a kitchen or dining room I've never been in.
I glanced at Zeke while he was talking to Rhys about Stanford and how he was going to take us to the summer camp. Zeke was definitely the type to prepare and would make sure I felt comfortable. Tough on the outside, but soft on the inside. An apt description for Zeke, the eldest brother.
