Samantha looked at the both of them "Yeah, end of the year talent show. She said that participation is going to be made into an assignment that''s worth ten percent of your grade."


    Jason stared out in front of him with lifeless eyes "What am I going to do? I don''t really have any talents outside of basketball. And it would be some to go on stage and dribble or shoot some shots."


    Kyle nodded in agreement "You''re right. It would be prettyme to do that. How about ying an instrument?


    Don''t Asian parents make their kids learn to y the piano or violin?" Jason shook his head "My parents didn''t want to push me into it so when I told them that i didn''t want to learn to y anything they just dropped the subject."


    Kyle ced his hand on Jason''s shoulder "RIP. Hopefully you figure something out bro." Jason looked at him.


    "Why are you acting so cool about this? Do you already know what you''re going to do for the talent show?"


    Kyle smiled "You betcha. Haven''t you seen the keyboard in my room? That''s not just for show. I can actually y some piano."


    Jason felt even more defeated after hearing that even Kyle had a talent outside of basketball "Lucky you. I feel like I''m going to end up dribbling a ball on stage for the talent show."


    Samanthaughed at Jason''s reaction "Hey why don''t we make a band for the talent show? I know how to y the guitar." Kyle looked at her questioningly.


    "A band? But Jaya doesn''t know how to y any instruments. And I don''t think we have enough time for him to take any lessons. How much can he learn in two months?"


    Samantha shook her head "He can just sing. If we do an easy song I''m sure Jaya can manage. Or is singing too much for Young Buckets over here?"


    Jason rolled his eyes at Samantha''s teasing "Ha ha Sammy. Real funny. Jokes on you because I actually don''t mind singing."


    Samantha seemed surprised "Really? You can sing?" Jason nodded his head. In his past life a ton of his coworkers at thepany were Filipino.


    Due to being forced to go to some of the parties Jason had a fair bit of experience with Karaoke "I don''t think I''m amazing or anything but I should be okay."


    Samantha pped her hands with a big smile on her face "Then it''s settled! We''ll make a band and perform for the talent show."


    The three of them split up and made their ways to their next ss as it was almost time for the next period to start.


    - - -


    At practice Jason was working with Kyle on his rebounding and boxing out "Make sure you use your hips.


    The lower you get the easier it is to hold your position but it also means that you have more disntance to cover when you''re going up for the rebound so be careful.


    If you''ve lost the battle for positioning you can always try and use a swim move to try and get around the other yer."


    Other than helping Kyle improve Jason was also using this opportunity to get better in the areas where his skills were the lowest such as rebounding.


    Jason wasn''t an expert when it came to rebounding. He had yed on the wing his entire life. But he knew enough to guide someone that was aplete novice like Kyle.


    Today''s practice consisted of defensive drills for an hour and then specified skills training for the remaining hour.


    "Alright Kyle you keep working on your box outs Ima get some water real quick." Jason went toward the water fountains to refill his sports bottle.


    As Jason was filling up his sports bottle he saw Javier and Greg walking toward him. He smiled at them "You guys getting some good footage?"


    Greg gave a thumbs up while Javier smiled back "We always get good footage whenever you''re in it.


    We could probably film you eating cereal and your fans would love it. I''m honestly a little surprised. For all the haters you have it seems like the number of brain dead fans equals things out."


    Jasonughed "Some of those fans are kinda weird not gonna lie. I think I saw one person asking for my usedpression shirts."


    Javierughed while Greg cracked a small smile after hearing that from Jason. Javier remembered what he hade to talk about with Jason.


    "Hey Jason, just to let you know we got some pretty good footage of your game against Tustin middle school.


    I''m sure if we show all the bad calls and if we emphasize it during the interview for next week''s episode we can pressure themittee to investigate the referee."


    Jason smiled as he high-fived Javier "Nice! I knew I could count on you guys. I can''t wait to see that stupid ref''s face when he gets investigated. He has to be dirty, there''s no other exnation."


    - - -


    After Jason and the team''s amazing performance the school decided to reward them by installing showers in the locker-room.


    Jason and the rest of the team loved having the showers. Now they could clean themselves up right after they were done.


    After practice Jason showered up before getting a ride home from Coach Swendel. Jason''s dad was still working at the diner so dinner was just him and his mom.


    They talked to each other about how their days went. Jason''s momined about all the new projects that she had lined up to work on and Jasonughed.


    Jason talked about lunch with Kyle and Sammy which made her smile. After Jason told her about Ms. Yuller''s oddly kind and caring attitude she paused.


    After a second she smiled "She sounds like a wonderful teacher sweety. She''s right you know? Even adults need help sometimes and there''s nothing wrong with asking for help.


    I hope you understand. I know that you''ve been growing and I know that you''re my tough little boy.


    But if you ever need anything please don''t be afraid to ask for help. I just don''t want a repeat of what happened before..."


    Jason saw his mom starting to tear up. He got out of his seat and hugged her "I know mom, I''m sorry. I won''t let it happen again. I''ll make sure to get help if anything pops up okay?"


    Jason''s mom wiped the tears from her eyes andughed "Look at me. I think hanging out with Kyle''s mom has made me more emotional like her."


    Jason and his mom finished eating dinner. After cleaning up the table and helping with the dishes Jason did his own personal training before taking another shower and getting ready for bed.


    Jason hopped into bed and covered himself up. Just as he was about to fall asleep he heard his phone ring.


    ''Fuck, is it Kyle? Nah toote. Sammy? Is she calling for more help with her homework? At least let me get some rest. Just ten minutes.''


    Jason was about to nap and ignore the call for now but then he realized that it wasn''t the ringtone for his normal phone that was ringing.


    He jumped out of bed and picked up the phone that Marcus'' goon had given him. He saw that it was call from Marcus.


    He hesitated for a few seconds as he watched the phone ring in his hand before answering the call "Hello? That you Marcus?"


    All he heard was augh before Marcus started talking "Hahaha, bro why do you sound so scared for? Like damn you still worried about me?"


    Jason cleared his throat and tried to ignore what Marcus had said "It''s almost midnight Marcus. What do you want?"


    Marcus let out another chuckle "No small talk huh? Just straight to the point? Well that''s cool. You still learnin to getfortable around me, I get it.


    I just called to see how you was doin. Still shook from hearin dem fireworksst night?" It looked like Jason''s worst case scenario was right.


    Jason answered "I lost a bit of sleep but nothing serious. Was that youst night? Were you responsible for the..... noises?"


    Jason was about to say gunshots but he decided against it. He didn''t know if any of these phone calls would end up screwing him over in the future.


    Marcus answered "That wasn''t mest night." Before Jason could sigh in relief Marcus added "That was Amare that put on the showst night.


    I wish I could take the credit but Amare was the one doin the heavy liftinst night. I would tell him thanks if I was you.


    You and the whole team was about to be in some real hot water after the game against Tustin. They had a whole crew masked up and ready to do something to y''all."


    Jason was cursing in his head ''Why the hell is this happening to me? I just want to y basketball. I don''t need this action movie type bullshit. I never signed up for this.''


    Jason sighed "Thanks Marcus. And tell Amare that I said thanks too." Marcusughed "Sure thang little man. I actually had something else to talk to you about. If you got the time that is."


    Jason got a little nervous "Sure. I have a few minutes to spare." Marcus continued "Cool, did your TV crewe with you to the Tustin game?"


    Jason answered "Yeah, they said they got some good shots of all the bs calls that the ref was making all night."


    Marcus paused for a second before jumping back in "You think you can tell em to y down the bad calls?"


    As soon as he heard that Jason got confused "Why? If we show how bad the ref was officiating then the sportsmittee will have to investigate him."


    Marcus answered "That''s the problem. If they investigate the ref then he goes down and so does the person that paid him.


    But I got dirt on the both of em. Amare managed to get a video of Julius Newman''s big bro and the ref talking about their deal.


    It''s always nice to have a ref that owes you favors. And Julius'' big bro is a small time thug that might be useful to me."


    Jason''s heart started racing as his hands became sweaty "You sure you want to do this Marcus? This doesn''t sound like it''s all on the up and up.


    And besides, how do you know that you can use his big bro? If he came up with a n like the one he used on me before then what''s to say he won''t do it again?"


    Marcus just let out anotherugh "Hahaha you smart for your age man. But you got a lot to learn when ites to the world.


    Bitches make good guard dogs because they have that protective instict. It''s written in their DNA. But that''s also their biggest weakness. They want to protect their pups."