We Come Alive 5

Acceptance

The next morning almost afternoon, Mateo was finally out of the meeting with the school board and the principal of the school. He slowly made his way to the athletic building but knew he'd have to explain everything to his three co-workers. And that's exactly what he faced when he walked into his office.

Mateo walked around his desk while the three men were sitting around his office waiting for him. None of them moved, but watched with their eyes as Mateo sat down in his chair and let out a heavy sigh, the weight of the world on his shoulders.

None of the men said anything for a few moments. Victor was staring at the top of Mateo's head since he was sitting in the chair across from the desk, but trained his eyes on Danny and Sam on the couch. Both men were slouching and wanted to know what they had to do.

"So?" Victor asked, biting into the apple that was in his hand and throwing his legs over the arm of the chair so he was sitting sideways. "What now? We shutting down shop?"

Mateo shook his head, leaning on the table with his arms barely holding his head up. "We need a new baseball coach. That was the ultimate conclusion after going back and forth with them. Told them it was a freak accident and we kept it under control as much as we could."

"You protected him." Danny blurted. "Have you heard from him since?"

Mateo shook his head again. "No. Not since I fired him. But we need to focus on us right now." He worried, looking up at them. "Undefeated baseball team, can't just drop them. We need a new coach and I'm running thin so one of y'all gotta do it. I gotta focus on everything. I don't have time to full time coach a team."

Victor held his hands up. "I'm the basketball coach. I can't coach two different sports with the season."

Sam nodded his head agreeing, sitting up from his spot on the couch. "I'm the track coach. We have meets all the time and random schedules that interfere."

Danny shook his head, putting his arms on the back of the couch. "I'm the trainer. I can't possibly be qualified."

"All you gotta do is blow a whistle and make them hit the ball with the bat and not each other." Mateo answered honestly. "It's not rocket science. I'll call in a colleague to help you work so you're not completely abandoning your duties. It's only temporary anyway. Just until we find a new coach."

Danny sighed, but eventually nodded to agree to the arrangement.

~**~

Since there was no baseball coach, baseball practice was canceled for the night. Diego did his usual routine of dropping Clover, Stephen, and Jacob off at home while Jose got a ride from Colby and Ethan walked to the facility. Instead of going straight home, Diego decided to go to Ricky and Jacob's apartment.

The moment the two walked into the small apartment, Jacob groaned as he made his way through the small living room. Diego chuckled, closing the door behind himself and locking it when he saw Ricky sitting on the couch watching tv.

"Hey." Diego greeted, slowly walking around the couch. "How you hanging?"

Ricky glanced up at Diego standing there then stared back at the tv. "Fine. What's with Jacob?"

Diego chuckled, sitting down when Ricky scooted over to make room. "He has a killer headache. Says he's going right to sleep when we got here. But I wanted to check on you."

"What's there to check up on?" Ricky sighed, muting the tv so they could talk. "You were there, you saw what happened, you know what happened afterwards. What's there to say?"

"You were wrong." Diego shrugged, dropping his phone and keys on the small coffee table the apartment had.

"I know." The older boy rolled his eyes. "Don't mention it."

"No, I mean...really wrong." Diego pointed out, looking at the side of Ricky's head. "You could've costed him his life with a rookie mistake like that. They could've just had it out in the middle of the field."

"Trust me. I wouldn't be much of a fight." Ricky sighed. He hesitated but met Diego's stare. "Elijah had a gun. He would've shot Baylor dead right there in front of y'all."

Diego scoffed, throwing his head back against the back of the couch. "Even better." He laughed. "He shoots into a crowd of people. You'd be coach of the year then." The Latin boy looked at his friend, but didn't move his head from the back of the couch. "You're a smart kid, but you're a real dumb-ass. That's probably why Clover blew up at you."

"I don't wanna talk about Charms right now." Ricky muttered.

"Y'all will bang it out later anyway." Diego shrugged, earning a punch in the arm from Ricky. He laughed softly, rubbing the sore spot. "But you did imply that she's a slut. She might have your head for that. And you accused Baylor of murdering three people. That's a big deal. Can't do that."

"What are you helping here?" Ricky complained, glaring at Diego to see him just staring at him.

"You screwed up, so fix it. You're a changed man. Don't just sweep it under the rug. Apologize. Say I'm sorry for once. Start with Baylor. Cause honestly, if I was him and we hated each other like y'all do, I'd feel like that was a set up." The younger Latin boy admitted.

"How?" Ricky rolled his eyes, looking away from Diego.

"You know Elijah." Diego pointed out, looking up at the ceiling with his arms crossed. "You know what he's about, what he does, what he's going to do."

Ricky shook his head. "I ain't know they were rival gangs."

"Let's start with not bringing a murderer to your high school baseball practice." Diego chucked, sitting up.

"You sound like Charms." Ricky complained.

"She's a smart girl, but let's focus on you. Talk to Baylor." Diego instructed. "He showed up to third period today so he's still alive after this whole incident. Then, talk to Mateo. Apologize, but don't beg for your job back. Show that you accepted your fate and you're not going to just need him to baby you. Tell him you'll get a new job, even if you don't know where you'll get one."

Ricky looked around the room as he listened. "I need to pay for this apartment somehow." He admitted.

"Then maybe say something to the team. You did put us at risk too." Diego reached over and clapped a hand on Ricky's shoulder. "After that talk to Clover. She was kinda right even though she was also wrong, too. You needed to think first. Can't do dumb shit like that anymore. You're not a kid. You're a grown man with a criminal record and a reputation to re-grow."

"Thanks." The Egyptian boy scoffed, sarcastically. "You talk to Charms about this."

"Nah." Diego shook his head, standing up and grabbing his keys and phone. "We didn't talk about it. But If it makes you feel better, I know a fast food joint that's hiring."

"Thanks." Ricky sarcastically replied again. "You leaving?"

Diego nodded, walking towards the door. "Yeah. I got dinner with Mila's family tonight. I'm on the come up. Getting better at this relationship stuff."

Ricky snorted, listening to Diego unlock the front door to leave. "Good luck."

"Thanks!" Diego called out. He walked out the door and let the door swing close behind him.

Ricky let out a loud groan. He knew he was ultimately wrong even though he didn't mean to be, but maybe could could still make it right.