They had me practice at every speed . Zeke even started to get specific and would tell me to either foul it down the first baseline or the third baseline . After almost two hours, they completely stole the joy away from the cages . It use to make me feel relaxed and like I was in my own world . And now . . . . it was boring . Zeke wanted to control my every swing and I was losing my passion for it .
Noah noticed first . "I think we should take a break and do something new . Jake looks annoyed . "
Zeke frowned . "We could practice more . "
AdvertisementFrustrated, I took off my helmet and gave it to him . "I don't want to do this anymore . "
He looked at me in surprise . The twins and Noah were shocked as well . This was my first complete, clear sentence since my mother's attack . Besides frustration and boredom, I was angry . I can't even say why I was angry . Just upset and off-balanced .
Their silence was crushing me, making me feel even worse so I took off with just my bat . I walk through the doors to go back inside and slithered my way through the crowd that was just showing up for lunch . I didn't have a destination in mind, but I just wanted to be alone in my turmoil .
Unfortunately, Noah wouldn't let me . He was always five steps behind, just following me wherever I would move to . It took me awhile to settle on sitting out by the mini golf courses .
"I would ask if you were okay, but you're obviously not . " Noah plopped down beside me . "I can't believe your first full sentence, that I would get to hear, was that you don't want to hit anymore . You're so good and you look like you really enjoy it more than actual baseball practice . "
I shook my head . "That wasn't hitting . " I pulled my knees to my chest, resting my head on them . "That wasn't fun . "
Noah blinked at me a couple of times, making me embarrassed . Then he surprised me by letting out a laugh . "So you don't like fouling the ball?"
"Not satisfying . " I mumbled .
He laughed some more . I turned my head the other way . "Sorry, sorry . I'm just shocked that out of all the things in the world, this is the one that'll get you to talk . " I kept looking away . "Ya know, in games, it won't be like this . Zeke just wanted to see you practice fouling the ball off in different ways . But we're not going to want you to foul off fifty straight pitches, that would be impossible . A pitcher would give up and just intentionally walk you at that point . Or maybe even hit you with a pitch after five or six straight fouls . "
I faced him once more so I could get a clear understanding . I had never truly faced a pitcher before unless you counted my tryout . No one had ever kept a count against me though . And the twins and Garret all threw nice-looking strikes so it wasn't like I had to try very hard .
"Realistically, Zeke and Coach may want you to work it to a full count, foul off some extra pitches to increase the pitch count and tire out the pitcher . But then, at the right moment, you can send a hit to wherever you see fit . You'll be able to hit it how you want to and where you want to . " I started to brighten up . "It's hits that get the game exciting, Jake! You'll be able to drive in runs and that's what wins baseball games . "
"Fielding?"
He grinned . "Hitting wins games . Bad fielding loses games . You can never win a defensive battle in baseball . Someone will eventually make an error . "
I nodded thoughtfully . I realized I was being too rash . I took a deep breath and let it out slowly . "I shouldn't have ran . "
Noah nodded . "You shouldn't . Face your problems head on . Even if that problem is a controlling Zeke . Older brothers are too bossy sometimes so you have to put them in their place and lay down the law . "
. . . . what . There's no way I could tell Zeke, straight up, that I didn't want to listen to him . I shivered at the thought . He would make me run laps for the rest of the year, I'm sure .
Chapter end
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