The Choice

Sato

Sato had paced back and forth across the length of his tiny bedroom well over a thousand times that night. He was holding his baseball, tossing it lightly in the air over and over. The room was a small rectangle with the door on one end and a window on the far end. He had his single bed, a desk, and a small bookshelf. The walls were coated in posters, ranging from baseball stars to punk bands. 

He settled onto his bed as his feet began to get sore. He found his mitt, really his brother's mitt, lying there. He put it on as he often did when he needed to make an important choice. He had worn it the night he had decided to invite Rebe to hang out. It served double duty as he began to toss the ball at a sound-dampened exposed stud in the wall. There was a rhythm to it. It relaxed him. The thumping, the catching, the throwing, repeat. 

Who was he to put his friends in danger to fulfill his desire for adventure? Who was he to, knowing what he knew, doing nothing? Sox sat outside his door and began to meow quietly. Sato got up to let the cat in. Sox was sitting, waiting patiently in the hall. He had just started his evening bath, but he paused to wander in. Sato settled back on his bed and resumed his toss. Sox jumped up on the bed, spun around, and settled in a ball on Sato's belly as he routinely did. It was comforting. The animal trusted Sato not to drop the ball on him.

Was he willing to risk leaving his mother, like his father and brother had? It wasn't the same, but they both were gone. She missed them both. What if he died? Would she be alone? Would she be okay? He wished he could talk to someone, but he had committed to not interfering in Rebe and Daniel's decisions. Who else could he tell? Who would believe him? Mrs. Cho? It was a bit late for a house call.

Sato fumbled for his cell phone, which lay closed on his desk. It was a struggle to reach without dislodging Sox, who was clearly quite comfortable. The cat grumbled but remained firmly planted on Sato's chest as he snatched the phone. Sato flipped it open and went to his messages with Rebe. They had only just started talking. He hated texting. Rebe would text him, and he would call her to respond. She seemed to find that peculiar. Perhaps it was. But he would rather be peculiar than text. He had told Rebe to let him know once she had come to a decision. No new messages. Sato lay back dejectedly. The phone suddenly began to vibrate. 

Sato picked it back up and saw a message from Daniel. It read "I can't believe I'm saying this, because it is actually crazy, but I'm in. Let's do it. I made a pros and cons list, and the pros took the day. I will say that mysterious pink-haired lady really tipped the scales in the pro columns' favour." Sato chuckled. It was good to see that Daniel's priorities were in the right place. 

His phone buzzed again, not long after. It was Rebe. It read "I know what we have to do. That doesn’t make me like it anymore, though." It was terribly unclear what it was. Sato died her number and lay back. Rebe picked up after the second ring.

"You weirdo. You could have texted me back," Rebe complained.

"Yeah. But I didn't want to, and I didn't. What's the decision?" Sato questioned.

"Are you alone?" Sato looked up at the big black ball of fur compressing his chest. He snapped a picture and sent it to Rebe. "Cute cat. Cool posters too." Sato blushed. He hadn't even thought of his posters, but they were clear in the background of the photo. "Okay. My thought is that we have got to go back, right? Like, if we don't, we will think about it and regret it for the rest of our lives. Like, what if?" She was right. This wasn't the kind of opportunity that came around often. It was once in a lifetime. Rarer than that, once in a timeline, or something like that. "What do you think?" 

"Daniel thinks we should go too." Sato left out the part about the pink-haired lady. 

"I asked what you think. Daniel and I have already discussed. Over text! Like normal people," Rebe mocked.

"Of course you did. If Daniel is your barometer for normal, then I think you lost the plot," Sato joked back. 

"Fair enough. But that doesn't mean he isn't right every once in a while. A broken moon is still blue twice a month," Rebe spurted out with impressive confidence.  

"That is definitely not true." Sato laughed. "Here's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking that I have literally hoped, prayed, and wished for something like this to happen to me for years. And now that it is actually happening, I'm hesitating. There are so many different thoughts going through my head. I don't know what to latch onto. What if we get hurt? What about my mom?"

"Listen, we only go if you want to, but we can bail whenever we want. If you don't feel up to it, we can come right back. Besides, we need snack money," Rebe parroted. Sato laughed again. 

They ended the call soon after that. Sato threw his cellphone back onto his desk and just lay there patting Sox. The cat started to purr like a vacuum. Sato had nothing planned for the summer. Just spending time with Daniel and Rebe. He would still get to do that. It was like a paid vacation... with the very real risk of death by zombie. At least it beat being bored. If they were both in, he'd be crazy to say no. Plus, it was much cooler there. He hated the summer heat.

Sato was finally able to fall asleep after he made up his mind.