452 Mr. Cameron’s News (1/2)

By the time we got back to their house, the sun had set and the stars were out. It was super late. On our way back, we stopped at the pizza place to bring some home for the boys. They were all gathered in the living room, watching sports highlights on the tv.

"Please tell me you boys did your homework." Mrs. Atkins groaned at the sight of them.

"Mom!" Noah jumped up. He immediately came up to me. "Jake, how is it? I see no cast!"

I gave a small smile. "Just a couple of stitches."

"Did it hurt?" Kyle asked. He shifted his eyes to Noah. "Noah needed four stitches in the chin before and he cried like a baby."

"Hey! I was a baby!" Noah shouted back.

"No way, you were already six-years-old." He refuted.

"It's good to be home." Mr. Atkins mumbled, then he raised his voice. "Okay, that's enough. Pizza is on the table. Let's eat, then go straight to bed."

"But I still have to finish my homework." Dave groaned.

"You should have been doing that to begin with." Zeke told him, moving to the kitchen.

"I got distracted." Dave grumbled.

"Hopefully you don't get distracted on Thursday." Kyle rolled his eyes.

"At least I know I'll do better than you." Dave huffed.

"BOYS." Mr. Atkins raised his voice. "Come sit down and eat."

Everyone went to the table and sat down in our normal seats as Mrs. Atkins went to get plates and started to pass them out.

"So you'll be okay to play?" Noah asked.

I nodded, but then stopped to look at Mr. Atkins. "Well, maybe."

Mr. Atkins nodded in agreement. "We'll see. Your mother and I will have to have a talk with Coach, Drew, and the school. But I can guarantee that he won't be practicing."

I'm okay with that.

"Coach might not play you if you don't practice." Kyle pointed out, not letting me be happy for two seconds.

"Who knows." Dave snorted. "He still let you pitch today even though you didn't watch Saturday's game. It's a miracle you didn't lose us this game."

"It was an optional outing!" Kyle frowned at his twin.

"Yea, and we almost lost because of it." Dave told him flatly.

"David." Mrs. Atkins scolded. "You do not speak to anyone like that. Say you're sorry."

"I'm not five anymore Mom." Dave rolled his eyes. "Why apologize when I won't mean it? Kyle knows he did poorly. All because he rather go on a date with Marie. How dumb."

"It's not dumb! It's called having a life outside of baseball." Kyle argued. He had once said that before...with more conviction. Something he was lacking right now. "I'm done." Kyle suddenly got up and left the table, hurrying up the stairs.

"David, I'm very disappointed in your behavior." Mrs. Atkins stood up. "You're grounded for two weeks." She went upstairs as well, no doubt to talk to Kyle.

"Whatttt." Dave groaned. "Why! That's not fair!"

"If you have to ask why, then I can extend the punishment." Mr. Atkins said sharply.

Dave dropped his head and focused on his food.

Mr. Atkins sighed and shook his head. "You should know better than to tear someone down like that. What happened to, if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all? Take it to heart. You should respect others and their choices, even if you choose not to agree."

"What if their choice is to be a selfish jerk?" Dave mumbled, not daring to look up.

"Is it hurting anybody?" Mr. Atkins asked.

"It almost hurt the team today!" Dave finally looked up.

"Is it physically putting someone in harm's way?" Mr. Atkins rephrased.

"Not physically, but mentally!" Dave argued.

Mr. Atkins shot him a look, narrowing his eyes at him. "Don't you feel ashamed?"

Dave hung his head once more. "It's important to me. It's not like I'm only mad at him. I'm mad at Coach too. Why start someone like Kyle?"

"It was optional." Zeke spoke up. "That's all there is to it. Coach couldn't make him go and couldn't hold it against him. Same with the others. No need to beat him down when he's already feeling bad for his performance."