We Come Alive 5

Revenge

Thursday mid-day, Jose, Jacob, and Diego were sitting in study hall waiting on their friends to join them. As they were waiting, they were talking about the baseball state game they were playing in only a few days.

"This season is the worst I've ever played." Diego sighed, putting his feet on the corner of the table. "We've gone through more coaches, trauma, and bullshit than ever."

Jacob sighed, playing with the pen in his hand then using it to write his name on his worksheet. "I mean, it is us. What else do you expect? First Ricky, then Mateo, then Hurst coming around....and now Baylor? It's like we gotta fight against the wind every day."

"Man, we got bitch slapped to square one." Jose scoffed. "We ain't gonna be able to win if we keep getting downplayed every other day."

Diego sighed and pulled his phone out his back pocket. "At least when this is all over we have memories of one last season together." He shrugged, looking at the bright side.

Both Jose and Jacob just hummed their responses, not wanting to admit their bittersweet feelings.

~**~

Meanwhile, Ricky was on his lunch break so he decided to visit his mom since today was her off day. Before he went, he stopped off at his apartment to change his t-shirt that he spilled some of his coffee on for another one.

When he got there, he picked up the mail and walked inside. Ricky was just about to head into his bedroom when something inside of him told him to look through the mail. When he did, he separated the important from the junk mail. By the time he had finished with everything, there was one envelope left. It was from the University of Florida.

Ricky dropped everything else and ripped open the envelope. He silently prayed to himself before reading the opening lines.

Congratulations Richard Barnes, we're pleased to inform you that we've accepted you into the University of Florida and you have gotten a position on our Florida Gators football team.

Ricky nearly burst into tears reading it. He grabbed his keys and took off running to his Jeep from his apartment. He sped to his childhood home and ran inside, surprising his mom who was in the kitchen cooking lunch.

"Mom!" Ricky yelled, running towards her. "I did it! I actually did it!"

Rachel took the letter from him and read the first few sentences before breaking out into tears. "Oh, Ricky." She cried.

Ricky engulfed his mother in a hug then lifted her up into the air as she held onto the letter. She cried holding onto her eldest son, who she always believed could make it instead of being covered in bruises and shackles for the rest of his life. When he set her down, Rachel kept reading the letter over and over again while Ricky went to find his brothers. Rachel soon followed him when she heard all three of her sons in the next room.

As she left, she set the college acceptance letter beside a family portrait of when Ricky was a baby.

~**~

That evening, the sun had gone down while the Grand Ridge baseball team were practicing on the field. Hurst and Ricky kept them out there running drills, practicing, and swinging for the fences until they believed they had enough until their big game in less than 48 hours.

After practice let out, the players showered and headed to the parking lot. Since they knew it was one of their last nights to just hang out, the seven friends headed to a small restaurant that they usually went to after football practice to meet Andrew; who was back in town for the rest of the week.