Chapter 25 - What Darius Refused to Become
Darius’s Accord broke down three weeks later.
Jordan received the call at 6:47 a.m.
“Don’t laugh.”
Jordan sat up.
“What happened?”
“It won’t start.”
“Does it crank?”
“What does that mean?”
Jordan closed his eyes.
“You bought a fifteen-year-old car and learned nothing.”
“That’s why I have you.”
Jordan drove over.
The problem was a dead battery.
Simple.
He jumped the Accord and followed Darius to the parts store.
Darius bought the battery himself.
When they finished installing it, Marcus pulled into the parking lot.
Darius frowned.
“You call him?”
“No.”
Marcus exited carrying coffee.
“I saw Jordan’s car.”
Jordan stared.
“That’s almost creepy.”
“I was getting gas across the street.”
He held out two cups.
“Peace offerings.”
Jordan took one.
Darius hesitated.
Then accepted.
Marcus looked at the old battery.
“Need help?”
“We’re done,” Darius said.
“Got it.”
Marcus stood awkwardly.
That might have been the most important part.
He did not reach for tools.
Darius wiped his hands.
“How much did Jordan tell you?”
“Nothing.”
Jordan nodded toward Marcus’s Accord.
“How’s downsizing?”
“Humbling.”
Darius smiled.
“Welcome.”
Marcus laughed.
Then Darius became serious.
“My dad called.”
Keisha’s ex-husband.
Marcus stopped smiling.
“Okay.”
“He wants to come to my game Friday.”
“That’s good.”
“Maybe.”
Darius looked at him.
“I need you not to make it weird.”
Marcus frowned.
“How?”
“Don’t act like you’re competing with him.”
Jordan watched Marcus absorb it.
Darius continued.
“You used to do that.”
Marcus looked ashamed.
“I know.”
“My dad sucks at showing up.”
Darius’s voice tightened.
“But he’s still my dad.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t get points because he misses things.”
Marcus nodded.
“You’re right.”
“I liked having you there.”
Marcus looked up.
“Liked?”
“I still would.”
Darius shrugged.
“But not if you’re there to win.”
Jordan looked away.
The conversation felt private.
Marcus swallowed.
“I’ll come if your mom and you want me there.”
“I do.”
“Then I’ll sit wherever you want.”
Darius smiled faintly.
“Good.”
Marcus left soon after.
Jordan watched his Accord disappear.
Darius leaned against his car.
“He’s different.”
“A little.”
“You trust him?”
“No.”
Darius looked surprised.
Jordan sipped coffee.
“Trust isn’t noticing change.”
“What is it?”
“Seeing whether change survives inconvenience.”
Darius nodded.
“That’s annoyingly mature again.”
“Shut up.”
Friday night, Marcus attended the game.
Darius’s father, Darren Grant, arrived late.
He sat beside Keisha.
Marcus sat three rows behind them.
Jordan noticed.
Marcus did not move closer.
Did not introduce himself to Darren.
Did not perform.
Darius scored fourteen points.
After the game, Darren hugged him awkwardly.
Marcus waited.
When Darius eventually approached, Marcus said one sentence.
“Great fourth quarter.”
That was all.
Jordan watched Darius’s shoulders relax.
Keisha noticed too.
Outside the gym, Marcus found Jordan.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“You drove?”
“Yeah.”
Marcus nodded toward the Camry.
“Scratch is mostly gone.”
“I buffed it.”
“Used my polisher?”
“No.”
Marcus laughed.
“Cold.”
Jordan smiled.
Then Marcus said, “Therapy is awful.”
Jordan laughed harder.
“That bad?”
“I pay a woman to ask why I do things I already regret.”
“Sounds efficient.”
“She says I treat usefulness like affection.”
Jordan’s smile faded slightly.
“That tracks.”
Marcus nodded.
“She also asked why I needed Darius to need me.”
Jordan glanced toward the teenager laughing with Keisha.
“What did you say?”
“I didn’t know.”
“And now?”
Marcus thought.
“I think being needed feels safer than being loved.”
Jordan looked at him.
“Because?”
“People stop loving you.”
Jordan understood.
Leon Price.
His grandfather Marcus never mentioned.
“But if they need you…”
“They have a reason to stay.”
Jordan sighed.
“That’s sad.”
“Yes.”
“Still doesn’t excuse anything.”
“I know.”
Jordan studied his father.
“That was a test.”
“What?”
“I expected you to defend yourself.”
Marcus smiled faintly.
“How’d I do?”
“Don’t ask for grades.”
“Fair.”
They stood beneath the parking-lot lights.
Marcus pointed toward Jordan’s car.
“Drive safe.”
“You too.”
Jordan started walking.
Marcus called his name.
Jordan turned.
Marcus looked uncertain.
“Can I hug you?”
The question hit harder than Jordan expected.
For years, Marcus had simply hugged him whenever he wanted.
Jordan hesitated.
Then nodded.
Marcus approached.
The hug was brief.
Careful.
Jordan felt his father’s hands tremble.
When they separated, Marcus did not say anything dramatic.
He simply nodded.
Jordan drove home with wet eyes.
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Not because everything was fixed.
Because for once, his father had asked before taking closeness.
