At dinner, Noah reminded his dad that they needed to stop at O'Conners after dinner to get me some equipment . Right after, the twins jumped in and said they needed stuff as well so the whole family decided to go .
I vaguely remember Noah mentioning O'Conners before as a sports store or something . But when we got there, I realized it was so much more . There was daily athletic wear, specific practice clothes, cleats and equipment for all kinds of sports . Mrs . Atkins went to look at their regular clothes for women . Zeke didn't say where he was going . Then the twins ran off claiming they wanted to look at cleats .
Noah and Mr . Atkins stuck with me, and started with looking at baseball pants . Mr . Atkins was quick to pick the right sizes and throw them in the cart . We passed some baseball t-shirts and he grabbed a few of those as well .
"Anything you like in particular, just go ahead and throw it in the cart . " He told me as he picked up some long socks .
I looked at Noah and mumbled, "Alcohol . "
Mr . Atkins froze .
AdvertisementNoah nodded . "Yea Dad . We need alcohol for his bat to keep it clean . And maybe some other piece of wood to keep the dents out of his bat . "
Mr . Atkins sighed with relief . "Oh . You guys mean rubbing alcohol . You had me worried for a second there . " He patted his chest . "I thought my heart almost stopped . "
I looked curiously at Noah .
Noah grinned . "He thought we wanted real alcohol . To drink . "
I shook my head immediately . Alcohol made my mom really crazy sometimes . Or it would make her pass out and then extra angry when she woke up . I didn't want anything to do with that crap .
"No need to be so adamant . " Mr . Atkins gave me a light smile . "So tell me about your wooden bat . Do you like it?"
I nodded . Very much .
"Is it harder to hit the baseball?"
"No way, Dad . He still hits it perfectly . " Noah answered .
But I disagreed and nodded . They both looked at me . I cleared my throat and coughed out . "Doesn't go as far . "
"Wow . Four words . " Noah nodded at his dad . "You've almost been elevated to my status . "
"How many words do you get?" He asked his son .
"Quite a few a day . " Noah shrugged, like it was no biggie . "Especially when he doesn't understand something . "
"Like what?"
"Well today we were discussing Garret's cutter so I had to explain what a cut fastball was . We also talked about playing second and short together . Sometimes I get a word or two . Or a nod . Or a shake of the head . "
Mr . Atkins laughed . "You must be the one he trusts the most . "
"Is that true?" Noah looked me in the eye . I turned red and gave a quick nod, then turned away to go look at something else . Noah caught up to me real quick and threw an arm around my shoulders . "Awe . I'm honored Jake . I'll be your translator and interpreter until you're ready to talk to everyone else . "
I could hear Mr . Atkins chuckling behind us, probably amused . Noah led me towards the baseball equipment area and started to point out some expensive cleats and gloves .
I felt uncomfortable with the thought of the Atkins spending so much money on me . The clothes were already enough . Plus the bat was really costly . I don't think Mr . Duncan check from the state would cover all of this .
"If you need it, grab it . " Mr . Atkins told me .
I shook my head . I really didn't need it . In fact, I don't even want it .
"You can't just keep using my old cleats . And your glove looks really worn . What if they tear or break?" Noah scrunched up nose .
I looked at Mr . Atkins and shook my head so he would know I was okay with what I had .
"Maybe Jake likes what he's using . " He told Noah . "Your old cleats are worn in so they probably don't give him blisters . And maybe his glove is broken in perfectly for his fielding . "
Noah sighed . "Okay . That makes sense . Moving on . "
They dragged me all throughout the store to look at anything I might need . We grabbed alcohol and a piece of wood for my bat . Finally after an hour of torture, the whole family met up at the front of the store to checkout . Everyone had grabbed something, even quiet Zeke . The total was in the hundreds and make me sick to my stomach . But Mr . and Mrs . Atkins didn't even blink . They just paid and passed out the bags for us to carry .
Chapter end
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