Jack continued to supplement his after school runs with basketball drills at Ox’s garage. He was able to work up to 15 laps around the track and was steadily getting faster. Ox taught him how to shoot layups and Jack showed Ox how to square up for a three pointer. The arrangement worked well and Jack stopped pushing Ox to tryout with him.
Jack'’ mom on the other hand had not stopped hounding Jack about trying out for Greg’s team. Every night she asked Jack which date he wanted to tryout. Jack could never give her an answer because the tryout at Davis still had not been announced. A week before Greg was holding tryouts Jack’s mom made him commit to one of the three tryouts. She also told Jack that Greg had invited them over for dinner on Sunday night. At first Jack was resistant to the idea, but then he thought of Alan’s sister Amanda and decided it might be nice to see her again.
On Sunday night Greg arrived in another luxury car. He was dressed in nicer clothes and looked a little nervous, particularly when he helped Jack’s mom into the car. Once they were in the car Greg shifted his attention to Jack.
“Your mom tells me that you’re going to come to my teams tryout.”
“She’s kinda making me go.”
“Oh stop it Jack…you agreed to go didn’t you?”
“Yeah I did…so your team isn’t part of a school?
“No Jack…we’re part of the 5280 league…it’s the best club league in the state. I coach the under 15 competitive team. Why do you ask?”
“I think my school’s team is in your league.”
“What school do you go to again?”
“I go to Davis Middle School.”
Greg paused for a minute and took in a silent deep breath.
“Your right Jack. They are the only school sponsored team in our league. I didn’t realize you went to school there.”
“Didn’t you tell him where I go to school mom?”
“I’m sure I did Jack, but I don’t that matters right now.”
“Greg…my mom probably didn’t tell you that I’m trying out for your team and for Davis’s team.”
“Jack…I told you we weren’t going to talk about that tonight.”
“It’s okay Gina…I didn’t realize he went to Davis.”
“I told Jack that if he didn’t get onto your team he could try out for the Davis team.”
“What if you made both teams Jack? What would you choose?”
“I honestly don’t know Greg. My mom really wants me to play for your team…she says I might be able to get a scholarship to play on it or something…I really like the coach at Davis though.”
“So you’ve met Coach Roderick?”
“Several times.”
“Good Jack…I’m sure he’s excited that you’re going to try out for Davis.”
“He actually just cares about me running and getting in shape.”
“I was going to tell you that I thought you looked more in shape.”
“It’s only been two weeks since I saw you, can I really change that quick?”
“Sometimes younger bodies can get in shape faster than those of us who are older.”
“Are we gonna shoot hoops again at your place Greg?”
“Probably not…it’s just me and Amanda at the house tonight. Eileen took the boys with her downtown for the night.”
“So why are we coming over?...Mom?...what’s up?”
“Greg and Eileen separated last week…I thought it’d be nice if I came and gave Greg a home cooked meal.”
“Okay…I don’t mind hanging out.”
“Amanda decided to stay when she found out you guys were coming over. She’s been working on a school project, but should be done by the time we get back.”
The rest of the ride was pretty quiet. Jack felt awkward about his mom leaving out the detail about Greg and Eileen being separated. As he thought about it, he remembered that he really didn’t know his dad really left for good until he caught his mom crying by herself one night. He knew his mom would understand what Greg was going through. When they finally arrived at Greg’s house, Amanda was waiting at the front door for them. She looked incredibly happy and desperately sad all at the same time.
“Hi Jack…I’m glad you came…do you wanna check out my project I’m working on for school?”
Jack looked at his mom who smiled and nodded. Jack went upstairs with Amanda as he watched his mom and Greg walk towards the kitchen.
“So what kind of project are you working on?”
“Just some computer science thing.”
“Cool…I’m taking a computer class at school…we’re building a computer from scratch.”
“My class is trying to develop a video game…it’s pretty complicated.”
“It sounds complicated.”
Jack followed Amanda into her room. She had lots of pictures, figurines, and posters of unicorns, fairy’s, wizards, elves, and other mythical figures in her room. Amanda sat down at a desk that had laptop on it. She opened a file that showed a bunch of computer code. Jack looked at it blankly.
“Do you know what this is Jack?”
“It looks like some sort of html code?”
“That’s pretty good Jack…I didn’t think you’d come up with a decent answer…it’s actually java, but pretty good.”
Amanda smiled and looked back down at her laptop.
“You seem different Amanda. Are you sad about what happened between your mom and dad?”
“Where’d that come from?!”
“I just found out on the way over here…I didn’t know you’d be upset.”
Amanda covered her face and started to cry. Jack looked at her in complete confusion. He didn’t know if she should say something, do something, or just walk away.
“I never should have trusted her…I knew she was going to do something like this.”
“What did she do?”
“She left my dad for another man. She’s been dating some guy for over a year and didn’t bother to tell any of us. My stupid brothers think its fine because she going out with some football player…she cheated our family.”
“I didn’t know it was that bad Amanda…I’m sorry…if it’s any consolation my dad just up and left me and my mom and we haven’t heard from him in over two years.”
“It’s easier for you Jack…I know what choice my mom made…for all you know your dad was abducted by aliens or something.”
“He lives in Texas…at least I think he does…to be honest I really don’t know what he’s doing or where he is…and I don’t care.”
“Well I have to care. My brothers jumped at the chance to spend the weekend with her. My dad already filed for divorce. He says he’s not messing around and that he’s going to fight for full parental rights.”
“Do you think he’ll get what he wants?”
“I don’t know Jack…I just can’t believe that my brothers don’t see her for who she is. She’s always been about money and popularity.”
“How’s your dad handling it?”
“He’s doing better than I thought…he got really mad at first and kicked her out of the house, but after he filed for the divorce this week he’s been fine. Much better than me.”
“Sometimes adults don’t stop to think about how their kids are handling these kinds of things…my mom has just expected me to be the man of the house and wants me to take over certain things my dad used to do.”
“They’re probably just trying to fill a void. I’m sorry Jack…you probably want to talk about something else like basketball.”
“Actually this has been pretty nice…I’m tired of talking basketball…especially with my mom.”
Amanda smiled at Jack and grabbed his hand.
“Thanks for hearing me out Jack…should we go check on our parents?”
“Definitely…we wouldn’t want them to think we have disappeared.”