The Hitting Zone-Chapter 1209: V4 ch57 BBQ Planning & Prepping

Grampa kept his word and took us out for lunch, picking our favorite taco place. We loaded up on chips and salsa as we waited. Dave tried looking up Kyle's opponents later tonight but there wasn't much he could find. Half the team had a few stats, but the other half was also just recently drafted so the results were all over the place.

"We can only hope he does well for himself." Noah said.

"Consistency is key." Dave waved a chip at Noah. "You should be focusing on the same quality. Try to get a hit every game, not every at bat."

"I'll try my best every time, all the time." Noah declared, smacking the table with some energy.

"Quit that." Grampa sent a glare his way.

Noah grinned. "Don't worry, Gramps. Not like I can hit it hard enough for it to break. But I appreciate the confidence."

"It's about respect." Grampa lectured him. "This isn't your house. How would you like it if someone was banging your possessions?"

Noah shrunk in his seat. "Sorry."

Grampa signed. "I don't want to nitpick with you kids, but your father says we should be more strict with your attitudes and outwards appearances. You all want to play in the big leagues and have to seriously consider your images. Anything that can be misconstrued to portray you in a negative manner is something I want to stop early on."

I cringed, knowing he was going to talk about us getting busted for driving when we shouldn't have.

"Yea, yea, we'll use our heads a little more." Noah sighed. "We really didn't know it would be troublesome if we got caught." fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

"You're just kids." Grampa said. "You'll make a lot more dumb mistakes just like me and your parents. No one gets through life without a few errors. Am I right, Noah?"

"I haven't made an error yet." Noah crossed his arms defiantly.

"I have." I spoke up, feeling the heat gather in my face.

"And it's not the end of the world, is it?" Grampa focused on me.

I shook my head. "In the moment though, I feel extra bad. Now, I'm just embarrassed."

"And that's normal." Grampa nodded. "We all make mistakes. It's how you handle it afterwards that really matters. Now that you guys know what you did was wrong, you won't do it again. And that's good enough for me." He looked to Dave.

Dave held his hands up. "I already admitted my guilt and ignorance. I promise to not lead them astray again."

Grampa laughed. "You learn fast. But no, what I was going to say was to take me next time. Just stick me in the backseat and I'll let you do the teaching."

"You trust him to teach us?" Noah asked, jaw dropped.

"Of course!" Grampa said with a grin. "He's taken the test within the last couple years. I haven't taken that test in decades. I don't want to teach you wrongly."

"Oh, so you want to blame it on me when things go wrong?" Dave asked Grampa, throwing a wadded up napkin at him. "Just so you know, I would only be willing to teach them late at night in the empty parking lot."

"That's where most get their start." Grampa wasn't bothered.

"Did you?" I asked.

"Not exactly, but same concept." Grampa said. "I learned how to drive in empty farmland. My own mother started teaching me on the tractor as a kid. Never alone though. We weren't strangers to farm accidents and my mother would take a belt to my behind if she caught me fooling around with the farm equipment. She had me driving the old truck by the time I was 13."

"Talk about illegal." Noah laughed.

Grampa talked about his learning experience as the tacos came and we started to eat. Dave would pitch in every now and then, talking about some early mistakes he made. They really stressed that it's okay to take your time as a new driver.

After lunch, Grampa took us to the grocery store. He had each of us grabbing a cart as he sat in the store-owned mobility scooter. We trailed behind him as he led us throughout the store, instructing us to get 'this' and 'that'. We stocked up on bottled water, got eight packs of different soda cans, and eight family size bags of chips.

At this point, Noah was exasperated. "We haven't even gotten the main courses yet. How many people do you guys plan to invite this weekend?"

"I'm inviting some of the old folks from the senior center." Grampa stated. "Your parents said they plan on inviting a few of the people they work with. They also invited your girl friends families."

"Alisha and Kaylee are coming?" Noah pulled out his phone. "They didn't say anything."

"The one related to Kyle's girlfriend isn't able to come. They're doing some cookout at their church. They counter-invited your mom but she held her ground saying other people already plan to be at our house."

"Dodged a bullet." Noah grinned. "So just Alisha and her parents?"

"Sounds like it, but your mom only just spoke with them this morning so things can change." Grampa said. "If you guys want to invite anyone else, go ahead. It's not often I get to put on a feast."

"You cook a feast for us very often." Dave reminded him.

"Yea, but you boys don't compliment me like others do. You're used to my cooking. Now, come on. I want to get home before Kyle starts pitching. Maybe one of you boys can hook your phone up to the TV so I can see the play-by-play a little better."

"Sure thing."

Grampa filled each cart that we were holding. In the deli section, he grabbed an assortment of meats and cheeses. Hotdogs and hamburgers are for the amateurs, he claimed as he grabbed a rack of ribs, steaks, sausages, even chicken wings and thighs.

"Everyone will find something to like." Noah whispered as the old man selected more items to put in the carts. Fruits and veggies. Skewer sticks.

"I'm more worried about the prep work that we'll need to do." Dave whispered back. "Just look at all this. We're definitely not getting a free pass to some good food."

"I don't think there's enough room in the fridge." I voiced my own concern. The fridge was always full as it was on normal days. I can't imagine where he would find the space for all this party stuff.

Turned out, I didn't have to worry for Grampa or the fridge. Once we got home, he got us to put the non-refrigerated items on the kitchen table while everything else got the kitchen counter. He started to strip down the packaging for the bulkier items and making room in the fridge. We weren't done after bringing everything in.

Grampa had us go find some ice chests in the garage, clean them out, and set them out on deck. One would be for water. Another for soda. Even a third for diet soda. Once they were prepped, he sent us upstairs to clean our room and bathroom. The hallway and stairs still had to be vacuumed too.

There was no rest even when Mom and Dad got home. They just went to their shared office and didn't come out until Kyle's game was about to start. Dad sent Dave to pick up a pizza and salad as he got to work syncing his phone to the TV.