Zach, standing beside Dad's Mazda, groaned. "Really, Dad? Do we have to plant all of these?"
Dad hefted an entire tree—a young tree, granted, but still tall—out of the pickup bed and set it on the ground. There were nine more. "You got it, pal," he said. He lifted a second one out.
"But we spent the whole morning digging trees out from here! Now we're putting them back in? And it's Saturday!"
"Yes, it is." He grabbed a third tree and set it beside the other two.
"Baseball fields don't need trees, Dad."
Dad put his hands on his hips and faced Zach. "No, but the fans do. It's called shade. And having trees down the edges helps keep foul balls from hitting people's cars."
"Can't we do this tomorrow? I'm hungry. It's almost lunch time."
"Derek and Douglas have most of the holes dug already. We'll be done soon."
"But why do we have to plant—?"
"New ones? Because the old ones were dying. We've already discussed this."
"Couldn't we—" Zach began to protest, but it was no use. Dad, ignoring him, was already several steps down the first base side of the Little League field with a tree in each hand. He set them beside the holes Derek had dug in foul territory where the spectators sat. Derek sent Douglas to help Dad bring the rest of the trees.
Zach huffed, picked up his shovel, and walked out to take Douglas's place helping Derek dig holes. He didn't want to help Dad right now.
Derek thrust his shovel into the ground and broke up the dirt for the last hole. Then he pulled the nearest tree out of its pot while Zach scooped out the soil he had loosened. Dad and Douglas finished setting out the five trees for this side of the field and began to set out the five for the other side.
Once they had moved out of earshot, Derek glanced up at Zach. "A little tension in the Fleming household today?"
Zach scooped out more dirt. "I just don't understand why we have to do all this work on a Saturday."
"It's strictly an economic thing," Derek replied. "We fix up these ball fields for free, but to make our money we have to work all week. But I think there's a deeper problem here. You"—he smiled broadly and slapped a huge hand on Zach's shoulder—"are being mistreated."
"Huh?"
Derek set the tree in the hole, and Zach held it straight as the big man shoveled dirt around its roots. "You and your parents used to always go out for a fun time, right? But now it's just work, work, work, even on Saturdays."
"It's not always work," Zach shrugged. "It's just not as much fun as it was. Now we mostly do normal stuff. It's okay, though. Mom said we don't have enough money to do special things all the time."
"I see." Derek beckoned Zach to the next hole. They set a young tree in it and began to fill it. Dad and Douglas were doing the same on the opposite side of the field. "Tell you what, young Zach," Derek grinned, "if you want more fun, I'll talk to your dad, make him a deal. Maybe he'll trade straight across, you for Douglas. If I'm lucky, maybe he'll take Shauna, too."
"Trade us?" Zach said.
"Oh, yeah. You and me and Shanice, we'd have a wonderful time! We could go wherever you want—Canada, Alaska, maybe even Hawaii. And we could afford it, too, because of all the money we'd save, trading two kids for one!" Derek chuckled at the thought.
He's joking, Zach thought, gawking at him. He always jokes about stuff.
Derek's massive arms maneuvered a shovelful of brown soil atop this tree's roots. "Oh, yes. We would have great times together. Games every night, movies all the other nights, you could stay up late… You could have two bedrooms of your own…"
Lines creased Zach's forehead as he tried to imagine life in the Hopper household. Could children be traded like professional baseball players? He had never known any friends who had traded families. One, though, had moved from living with one parent to living with the other. Was that the same kind of thing?
Derek shrugged. "Of course, you'd have to do double the chores to make up for Douglas and Shauna. And Shanice, she might expect you to go clothes shopping with her, go to tea parties—you know, mother-daughter things…"
Zach's eyes grew large. "Tea parties?"
"Oh, yeah. Don't worry—the ladies would love you."
"Please, no," Zach shook his head. Surely Derek was joking, but…well, he was getting really excited about this idea.
The man glanced up at him as he tamped down the dirt. "Just think about it—all the fun stuff would make up for the tea parties. Plus, your parents only have one dog. We have two dogs and a bird."
"A bird?"
"Uh-huh, Roger the parakeet. Yeah, I'll have to ask your dad if he's tired of you yet, see if he wants to trade."
"Tired of me?" Zach caught Derek grinning at him again. Did Derek really like this idea that much? Zach stared back at him, incredulous and increasingly uneasy. Derek seemed a little too happy and a little too serious. Zach bit his lip; he liked Derek, but he wanted to stay with Dad and Mom.
Derek finished that tree, and they stepped back from it. Noting Zach's look of concern, the big man smiled. "Hey, don't worry about Douglas and Shauna. They'll be fine. They'll enjoy the change of pace and getting to share a room and all that. Actually, Douglas will probably have to sleep on the couch. And Shanice, she'll be fine with it, I'm sure. We'll try it out for a month or two, see how it goes. I mean, what could go wrong?"
What could go wrong? Zach repeated silently. But what if it goes so well that Mom and Dad don't want me back? What if, after all these years of wondering if they were still alive, if he would ever meet them, they traded him away and didn't want him back? Hadn't Mom told Dad they needed to find another place for him, soon? That had been before the DNA test. Things were different now. Or were they?
Zach and Derek planted the rest of the trees on their side of the field, Derek continuing to laugh about this or that thing they might do together. Zach wished he would stop. Dad and Douglas finished their side a minute after Zach and Derek.
"Hey, Craig!" Derek hollered as Dad and Douglas walked back toward the pickup. "I had a great time with your son over here. You want to trade straight across? I'll throw Shauna in to make it even!"
"Sure, all right," Dad called back. "Kara would like having a daughter. And Douglas here is a lot of help."
Zach frowned. He could be a lot of help, too.
They put their tools away, and Zach sat down under a tree to rest. He leaned back against the trunk and closed his eyes, but snapped them open again when his ears caught Derek and Dad conversing in low tones. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but Dad kept glancing over at him. Derek kept shooting quick looks at Douglas, too, who was stretched out across the hood of his dad's truck. Their conversation lasted two or three minutes, and they clapped each other on the shoulder at the end.
Derek turned and yelled to Douglas that it was time to leave. Dad walked over to Zach's tree and offered a hand to help him to his feet. He led the way back to the pickup.
Trying to hide his concern, Zach risked a question. "What were you and Derek talking about, Dad?"
"Oh, just…you know, dad stuff. Making arrangements."
"About me?"
Dad gave him an odd look. "Never mind, Zach." There was a light in his eyes, though. Whatever they had talked about—and Zach had a pretty good idea what it was—Dad liked it.
*****
The Boy Who Appeared from the Rain Page 72