The Hitting Zone
chapter-300

Mary sat there by herself for a few minutes before getting up and going to the field. Even though she was thrown off by Zeke's lack of a reaction, she still had to go and support him. She arrived in the stands just in time to watch them finish warming up. Zeke was already out there, fitting in with a group of serious looking young men. She glanced to a separate group that were sharing a laugh and looked like they were having fun.

She sighed to herself. She loves her sons all the same, but sometimes she wished they weren't so baseball crazy. Just a mini side hobby would make her feel that they're more balanced.

A ding from her phone alerted her that she had a text.

From Wayne: I found out why the boys went to a party on Saturday night=girls. Specifically, Kyle and a girl from the softball team. He's trying to use this to get out of being grounded so he can go on a date. Lord help us.

Mary brightened up. Just what she wanted. She sent her husband a reply.

To Wayne: Let him! Finally! A normal teenage boy out chasing girls!

From Wayne: So you just want me to let them all off the hook just like that?

To Wayne: No, of course not. But I'll allow him to go on a date. On the weekend. After midterms. But, he'll have to take Noah and Jake as chaperones. Either them or Zeke. He can decide.

From Wayne: Wow. Who knew you were such a cool mom? Shouldn't we just make it a double date?

To Wayne: Do you want our boys to be single all their lives??

From Wayne: Just kidding. They'll be fine. They're only in high school. I didn't get my first girlfriend until college.

Mary didn't reply to that. She remembered his so-called first girlfriend; twenty-five years later and it still ticks her off just thinking about it. She turned her attention to her son and watched as he practiced with the college team. Even though she wished he wasn't so baseball crazy, she was proud of how great he was. He practiced super hard to get to this level and it's good to see baseball opening doors for him. She sent out a mini prayer: please go to college.

After watching the full practice/tryout, she made plans with Zeke to pick him up tomorrow morning to bring him to the third college, California State University Fullerton (CSUF). It was more inland and outside of Los Angeles so she would have to switch hotels as well. She gave Zeke the same old speech about being safe with these strangers before leaving him again. She wanted to be there for every step of the college picking process, but knew Zeke liked being on his own and had to find out by himself whether he liked the school or not.

Just as she got back into her hotel room and started to get comfortable, her phone started to ring. Thinking it was her husband, she blindly answered. "Hello?"

"Hello Mary, it's Camila. You came to my house a couple days ago?"

Mary almost dropped the phone out of shock. She fumbled it before pressing it firmly against her ear. "Yes, of course I remember you. I practically inconvenienced you and your grandfather and wasted some of your Sunday."

"It wasn't too much trouble. My grandfather could only talk about how relieved he was to know that the boy had found a new, good mom. It's put him in a good mood."

Mary beamed with happiness. "I'm glad he thinks so."

"These past few days, he's been talking to the neighbors to find some clues for you."

"Oh, I hope he didn't go to too much trouble." Mary said, no longer enthusiastic to find Jake's missing father or his potential brother.

"It's actually good for him to get out every once in awhile. He enjoyed the little mystery and was more than happy to solve it." Camila sounded more friendly on the phone than in person. She was obviously pleased with her grandfathers happiness. "I have an address for you if you still need it."

Mary froze. "An address? Of his former residence?"

"Yes. It's not too far, but definitely in a better neighborhood. Maybe it was before he was stuck with just his mom. It's definitely a two person income housing area. I don't know if this will help at all."

Mary hesitated before going to the small desk and found some scrap paper. She grabbed a pen. "Okay, I'll take the address."

Camila shared it with her, then continued to talk. "I mean, I don't know if the current owner will remember the former owner, but a neighbor might. After all, it was able to get to my grandfather's ears so they must still remember to some extent."

Mary relaxed her clenched jaw. "Right. Yea, alright thank you. I'll definitely look into it. Thanks again for your effort and time. And please, thank your grandfather for me too. He didn't have to go through so much trouble."

"I'm happy he's happy and he's happy to help." Camila said. "I hope you find what you're searching for." She hung up, leaving Mary to her own thoughts.

Searching for? She already called off the search. She made up her mind just yesterday to adopt Jake. What if she found his father? A brother? Would he want to go back? Mary shook her head and reminded herself that Jake had an aversion to talking about his dad. Heck, he didn't even mention a brother. They might not exist. No need to get so riled up.

She calmed herself down and put the scrap paper in her purse. If the address was close to the old neighborhood, she'd be able to visit it tomorrow after moving Zeke to his next college to visit. Then she'll check into her new hotel nearby before heading over. Yea. Good plan.

She picked her phone back up and dialed her husband's number to share the news. Not bad news, but not good news.