After school let out, Jack went to Ox’s garage to see if he could find his friend. The garage was closed up and there was no sign of Ox. Jack thought about hanging out and waiting to see if Ox would show up, but he knew that Ox usually didn’t hang out at the garage if he hadn’t planned on shooting hoops or sleeping. Jack knew Ox had not planned either and so he thought he’d ask around the neighborhood.
By the time Jack canvassed a dozen homes, the super market, a gas station, and cleaners he gave up hope of finding his friend. He reluctantly went home in hopes that his mom might provide some answers. Deep down though, he knew that she would only use this as more reason for Jack to join Greg’s team and to switch schools at the end of the month. Jack quickly came to the realization that he would need to carry the weight of this decision on his own shoulders. He suddenly had sympathy for the male lion Mrs. Cordova had told him about. Jack did not want to protect Ox on his own. He wanted to march out and meet his enemies with a pride of other lions, but this battle felt like it only belonged to Jack.
For the next hour Jack worked on listing the reasons why Ox should move out of his garage before he was kicked out. He made another list for his mom describing why Ox should be allowed to move into the small apartment. He knew it was a long shot, but it was the only thing Jack could think of to fix the pickle he was in. Shortly after he finished both lists Jack’s mom came home. She looked tired and word down, but Jack knew he had to take this on now.
“Mom?...Can we talk?”
“Did you start dinner?”
“Nope…but this is kinda important.”
“Alright Jack…I’m listening.”
“I’ve got a friend at school who doesn’t really have a place to live…he pretty much lives in a garage right now…”
“Keep going Jack…I said I would listen.”
Jack smiled and suddenly perked up.
“Well my friend can’t live with his mom because she’s a drug addict, he’s a hard worker and isn’t afraid to do what he needs to survive. He’s super nice and he’s also the best basketball player I’ve ever met…So I don’t know if this is possible…but can he move in with us before the weather gets cold?...He won’t be here except to sleep and get ready in the morning…he’ll take care of feeding himself and all the other things…”
Jack’s mom jaw dropped and her eyes quit blinking.
“How long have you had this friend Jack?”
“He’s the kid I shot hoops with the first day we were here.”
“I don’t know Jack…this is a pretty small apartment and we’ll be moving at the end of the month.”
“Where are we moving?”
“Greg has a rental house that he said would be ready for us to rent next month. It’s in a good neighborhood and has three bedrooms.”
“So could Ox go with us if we moved?”
“That’s my point Jack…I don’t think he’d be comfortable in the neighborhood we’re moving too.”
“What do you mean mom?”
“Isn’t he black?”
“Yeah…but that has nothing to do with someone being comfortable or not.”
“Look Jack…I don’t think it would work that’s all.”
“But he’s my friend mom and he’s not gonna have a place to go if we don’t help out…didn’t you tell me we should help people in need?”
“Yes Jack I did…I’m just not sure we can help your friend.”
“He can sleep on my bed and I’ll sleep on the floor until we move. I’ll help work so he can have a bed and stuff…come on mom…I’ll do whatever you want if he can live with us.”
“You’ll do whatever I want?”
“Yeah, whatever you want.”
“Why don’t you go invite him to dinner and we’ll see what happens.”
“Really?”
“Really…go find him…dinner will be ready in an hour…this is your only chance though.”
Jack let out a huge smile, grabbed his jacket, and ran out the door. He didn’t know where he would look for Ox, but he knew he would have to find him.