There were grumpy looks all around for the Atkins family and me…the other adults only held pity and sympathy.
"I have a suggestion." Mr. Pickens spoke up. "A legal suggestion." He glanced at Mr. Duncan. "It may be troublesome to you, Doug. I hope you don't mind."
"What kind of suggestion?" Mrs. Atkins asked, looking hopeful.
"We can file an injunction to stop the removal." He threw out. "It's a lot of paperwork and a costly fee, but it would put a pause on this for now. And at the very least, it would take us to a judge to decide if Jake has to leave or not."
Mr. Duncan stood up abruptly. "I'm not here. I didn't hear about this. I know nothing. I'm just going to get back to work." He headed for the door.
"I'll walk you out." Mr. Atkins stood up and went with him. "Thanks for coming, Doug. You do everything you can and we appreciate it." They left for the door.
"Why is he leaving so suddenly?" Kyle asked.
"Yea, shouldn't he be helping us come up with a plan?" Dave asked.
Mrs. Atkins gave a tight smile. "Don't blame him, he has a job to do.
"It's not wise to have him present." Mr. Perkins said. "He has a job with the state so he has to act on their decisions."
Mr. Atkins came back in the room. "So Mr. Duncan knows that the injunction is our best bet?"
"Precisely." Mr. Pickens nodded. "I don't see any reason for the state to take him out of your care when this is an environment that he's thriving in." He looked at Dr. Moore. "You would say that he's thriving, correct?"
Dr. Moore nodded in all seriousness. "Jake has shown tremendous improvement. In fact, I could make the argument that it's detrimental for him to be taken away when they don't even have a set plan laid out for Jake to see."
"Great." Mr. Pickens lifted his briefcase from the ground and put it on the table. He grabbed a notepad and started to write some things down. "I'm assuming you're all good with this arrangement?"
"Yes! Of course!" Mrs. Atkins nodded.
"The sooner, the better." Mr. Atkins stressed. "There isn't a set plan just yet on when they want to take him. They haven't found a new home to put him in."
A new home? I would be placed with a new family?
"Even better!" Mr. Pickens exclaimed. "This would work in our favor if we file this injunction before they have it figured out." He took some notes.
"I don't really understand why they want to take him anyways…" Noah huffed. "It's not like we're bad people."
"They think we have bad intentions." Zeke spoke up. "Conflict of interest. We're adopting him so we're biased." He glanced at Coach. "It's why Coach came."
"What?" I blurted out. I just thought he was here for moral support.
Coach ran a hand through his hair. "Some of the CIF participants reached out to the committee. We might play with an ineligible player after all."
"How?!" Noah asked.
"Jake has been with us all season!" Dave said.
Coach sighed. "But everyone knows about him and his brother. If his brother, or even his uncle, get custody of him, he would no longer be in our district. He would be transferring schools."
"They don't want me though." I said, feeling the sting. "I don't get why all of this is happening at all. I want to stay here. I want to play baseball."
"We want you too, Jake." Noah clung onto me.
"One step at a time, Jake." Mr. Atkins said. "For now, we'll let Mr. Perkins take the lead."
"What should we do then?" Kyle asked. "Just sit here and wait? What about school?"
"The school knows what is going on." Coach injected.
Mr. Atkins nodded in agreement. "Today, you all can stay home, and stay out of the limelight. No reporters have come knocking just yet, but I know some have visited the school already. Your teachers will put together your class work and homework, and bring it over by lunch time."
"Ah, man!"
"Noooo."
"Why, Dad, why?"
"Alright, settle down." Mrs. Atkins told the unruly boys. "You boys knew you weren't just going to skip school today. That'll put you in jeopardy to miss Thursday's game."
"Can we go in the backyard and play for a bit then?" Noah asked. "At least until the school work comes?"
Mrs. Atkins looked to her husband. He nodded. "Okay, but after lunch, it's time to focus on school."
Noah got up first. "Yea, sure, okay. C'mon Jake."
"Eh! No 'Jake'." Mrs. Atkins wagged her finger, making us freeze. "He has stitches. He shouldn't be doing anything strenuous for now." She looked at me. "Jake, how about I put a movie on for you?"
Noah hung his head. "Oh, right….never mind then. I'll watch movies with Jake. I can set it up." He pulled my sleeve. "Let's go Jake."
I looked to Mrs. Atkins for assurance.
"Go ahead Jake, we'll take care of things. You just relax and watch a movie. Everything will sort itself out."
I sighed. There wasn't anything I could do anyway. I'm just a teen. I followed Noah out, and we both headed for the living room.
"This is crazy." Noah mumbled to me. "I can't believe this is happening. I don't get what they want from you."
I frowned. "Apparently they think I want money…"
Noah shook his head. "Impossible. We never even asked. Heck, we didn't even know who he was until this past month. This isn't making any sense." He put a dvd in and pushed play, letting a movie start.
"Stop stressing over it." Zeke came in.
"What are you doing here?" Noah asked, surprised by our new addition.
"The twins are pitching outside. Nothing for me to do." Zeke said, making himself comfortable on the couch. "Why not just relax with you two?"
"Relax?" Noah repeated. "How can we relax with all of 'this' happening?? They want to take Jake!"
"Even if they did, we'll get him back." Zeke said plainly. He looked at me. "Don't get me wrong, we want you here. But think of the bigger picture. The long run. I don't want Mom and Dad to force the issue so much that we can't even adopt him after this blows over."
That made me and Noah straighten up. Zeke was right. It's not like the state was going to take me away for good.
"Just let Mr. Perkins do his job." Zeke focused on the tv. "Watch the movie."
With his final command, Noah and I got comfortable and started to watch the sports movie he put on. We spent the mid-morning watching the movie, and it helped. It calmed me somehow. With Noah and Zeke there, I didn't think too much about what was to come.
Mr. Pickens left at some point. As did Dr. Moore and Coach. It's not like they could stay with us all day.
As Mrs. Atkins prepared lunch, the smell made my stomach growl. It was then that I realized that I had skipped breakfast. Idiot. During lunch, our school stuff came in thick piles, hinting that the real world didn't care if you were having a bad day or not.
