It's not like I hated Greg and Diana, but I definitely didn't like them. The way they spoke and the way they acted just wasn't what I had in mind. Yet, thinking back, Marie and Kaylee didn't leave good first impressions either so maybe it just takes some time to warm up to them.
I ate my food in silence, staying alert.
"I just don't think a free education can be passed up on." Greg kept his voice low when speaking to Mr. Atkins. "The only reason I train my girls so hard is for the free pass. I'd be upset if either of them pass up on such a wonderful opportunity."
He trains them? In softball?
"It's different for boys." Mr. Atkins told him.
"Why? Because they don't need a good education?" I could hear Greg's displeasure.
Mr. Atkins looked thrown off. "No, nothing of the sort. I would prefer if my boys picked college too. But for boys, there's the MLB. Girls don't have the option to play professionally unless it's for the national team."
"Wrong." Greg raised his voice. "There's the National Pro Fastpitch softball league. I just won't let my daughters give it a try until they get their college degree. Why waste a free degree."
Mr. Atkins looked calm, but I was feeling a little restless on the inside. This guy was practically saying that Mr. and Mrs. Atkins are throwing away money.
"But it's different for Zeke." Noah spoke up. Greg must have gotten his attention when he raised his voice. "If Zeke is picked in the first round, he's almost guaranteed two million. That could easily cover the cost of college if he decides to even go back. But he's so good, he might make the majors his first year, so he would even make more money."
"Stop living in fantasyland, son." Greg told Noah. My eyes widened and Noah's jaw dropped. "Only .5% of high school players will get the chance to become a pro." He looked to Zeke. "Do you really think you're so lucky?"
Zeke looked at the man, expressionless. He didn't clench his fists in anger like Noah, or look stunned like his parents. He replied with a simple, "What's it to you?" He looked to his mom. "I'm done eating, may I be excused?"
Mrs. Atkins shook away her daze. "Sure, make sure to rinse your dish."
Zeke lifted his plate when he stood, then walked to the kitchen.
"Arrogance will be his downfall." Diana shook her head in pity.
Noah opened his mouth, but I quickly distracted him with a nudge. "What do you think will be for dessert tonight?"
Kyle was on the other side of the table, making unpleasant faces so I don't think he liked how this dinner was turning out. It's better if Noah doesn't start an argument with the adults. It's not our place. They would get mad, Kyle would get mad, and then his own parents would get mad.
Noah could tell instantly that I was trying to distract him. He let out a breath of air. "Oh. I don't know." He looked to his mom. "Mom, what's for dessert?"
Mrs. Atkins perked up at the subject change. "I made chocolate cream pie." She stood up. "I'll go get it from the fridge." She went to the kitchen and returned in seconds with the pie. She set it on the table towards the center. "Here we go. Everyone help themselves as soon as you're ready." She sat back down and returned to eating her dinner.
Noah was the first to reach for it, using the cake knife to heap a slice of pie on the small serving plate. He handed it to me. "Here ya go, Jake. First one for you." He got himself one next before settling down.
The feeling of someone looking at me, made me squirm in my seat, but I didn't dare to look up. I swallowed the lump in my throat and just focused on the food. Food, food, food. Good food. Sweet food. Homemade food. I hurried to finish it all. This atmosphere was stifling.
Once I was done, I stacked my plates and stood up.
"You're not going to ask to be excused?" Diana asked. I peeked at her and found her to be frowning at me.
I looked to Mrs. Atkins. She gave me a reassuring smile. "It's okay Jake. You're good. If you're done, make sure you rinse the dishes before setting them in the sink."
I scurried away, not even waiting to see if Noah would pick a fight or not. I rinsed my dishes and then snuck away, hoping not to see those people again. I went upstairs, intending to go to my room, but when I crossed by the twins and Zeke's room, I heard some noise. I peeked in.
Zeke was sitting on the floor against his bed, a laptop was projecting some kind of noise, but I couldn't hear it very well. Zeke looked up and noticed me peeking in. "Come in." He waved.
I took a few steps in.
"Is dinner over with?" He asked.
I shook my head. Then I realized I had no reason not to speak up. It's just Zeke and me. "I finished. I didn't like being there."
Zeke nodded. "It's not easy to get along with everyone." He patted the floor beside him. "I'm watching some baseball highlights from today's game."
I wasn't too interested, but it wasn't like I had anything else to do. I went over and sat down, leaving a foot between us. Zeke didn't mind. He just set the laptop a few feet in front of us so we would both be able to see. He pushed play and a rundown of the MLB games today started to roll.
After watching a few, I realized we didn't see any from their favorite team, the Oakland A's. "Did the A's not play today?"
Zeke glanced at me. "Almost all teams play every Sunday. Professional teams play a series of games: sometimes two, three, or four. But most of the time, if there's a series that start Thursday or Friday, they'll play their last game Sunday."
I glanced at the laptop. "Is their highlights coming up soon?" It'd be cool if I could watch them and tell Noah about it. We would have something to talk about.
"Are you starting to like the A's?" He asked.
"Well, Noah likes them." I looked at Zeke, confused.
Zeke just shook his head, yet he didn't explained. Instead he just told me, "They're playing at home so the game probably just started at 7pm. East coast teams would be done because of the time difference."
"Oh." Nodding, I figured out what he was saying. If the east coast played a game at 7pm, that would be 4pm our time. That's why we could watch some highlights.
"And on Sundays, games are usually played earlier. Most teams will have to start a new series tomorrow. That's why we were able to watch some games after lunch."
I continued to nod to show that I understood. "Why aren't you watching the A's game in the living room then? Do we not get the channel?"
Zeke sighed. "Sometimes its best to avoid troublesome people." He patted my head. "We can watch after they leave."