Marcus looked at Jason "Go for it little man. I''m all ears." Jason took a deep breathe and tried to calm himself down before telling Marcus about Coach Butler''s visit.


    He was nervous the entire time. As he was retelling the story he looked at Marcus'' face but he didn''t see any changes in his facial expression.


    Finally, after he was done talking Jason just looked at Marcus. After a few moments of silence Marcus spoke up "Okay. And?"


    Jason was surprised "What do you mean and?" Marcus chuckled "I meant is there anything else to the story?


    I don''t understand why you were so serious about bringin this up. And the entire time you was talking you looked shooked haha."


    Jason looked at Marcus with a confused look on his face "You''re not upset?" Marcus pped his leg and startedughing.


    "Bruh why would I be upset? You didn''t even decide if you''re going to the school yet. And even if you did I wouldn''t be feeling no type of way about it.


    I was already sure that you would end up going to a school that''s a ways away. There ain''t a school close by that''s good enough for someone as good as you.


    I''m a little surprised that yous still considering going to a no name program like Beach Side Academy.


    But even if you leave that don''t change the fact that you from here bruh. Whenever we see you ballin out on TV or hear about you on the news we still gonna be proud as hell.


    We can point at that dude on TV and say that he''s from Riverside. That we went to school with him. That he went to our block party.


    We ride for our own like it ain''t nobody''s business. So no matter where you end up going for high school just remember that your roots are here.


    No matter how rough things get for you out there you got people back here that got your back no questions asked.


    Just don''t forget about us when you make it big alright Young Buckets? You don''t want to end up like some of those other folks that blew up and act like they forgot where they came from."


    Jason nodded his head ''I don''t think I could ever turn my back on this ce. From Amare and Marcus to the random people that I bumped into they all showed so much love.''


    - - -


    The day passed quickly passed as Jason''s family threw their usual Thanksgiving party with Tory and her father.


    But there was a new addition this year as Kyle and his mom showed up as guests. The most shocking part happened during the dinner.


    Just as Jason''s dad was about to start carving up the turkey Tory''s father announced that he had something to tell everyone.


    He made it official as he and Kyle''s mom announced that they had been seeing each other for a while but now they were officially in a serious rtionship.


    Tory was the first one to react as she jumped out of her chair squealing in joy "Oh my god dad! Congrats!"


    She then ran over to Kyle''s mom and pulled her into a tight hug "Congrats Aunty Vee! I knew something was up. My dad had been to happy recently."


    Tory''s dad chuckled "Geez, sorry for being happy. You say that like it''s a bad thing for your dad to be smiling."


    Kyle was shocked as he turned to his mom "You and Tory''s dad are dating? You guys are like boyfriend and girlfriend?"


    Kyle''s momughed as she pulled him into a hug "I know it might be a little shocking baby. I should have told you sooner but I didn''t want to say anything just in case it didn''t work out.


    But it looks like things are getting serious so I thought it would be best to tell you along with everyone else."


    Kyle had aplicated expression on his face. It wasn''t so much sadness or anger. It was more along the lines of confusion.


    Everyone congratted uncle Jin and aunty Vee on their rtionship. The dinner continued as Jason''s dad went back to carving up the turkey.


    Jason took a look at Kyle''s confused face before turning to Tory who was bouncing up and down on her chair from excitement.


    ''Well this never happened in my past life. For better or for worse I guess I really am making some serious changes.''


    - - -


    The first two games of the tournament finished. With December rolling around it was finally Jefferson''s turn to start ying some games.


    Jason and the rest of the guys from Jefferson were warming up as they shot the ball around on their half of the court.


    Jason shot the ball five feet away from the three point line. He held his right hand up from the follow through as he watched the ball hit nothing but.


    Kyle walked up to Jason and patted him on the shoulder "Dang bro that was like your tenth shot in a row. You might be in for a real hot scoring night."


    Jasonughed as he yfully elbowed Kyle in the side "Don''t you know you''re not supposed to bother a sniper when their in the zone?"


    Kyle smiled ashe shook his head "Not like it''s actually going to affect you. I''ve never seen you get bothered by anything when you''re standing on the court."


    Jason responded as he shot another three pointer "It doesn''t matter Kyle. It''s all about the principles.


    So you ready? First game of the tournament and we''re starting things off on our court. Tonight would be a bed night to wet the bed."


    Kyle shot a three pointer that came close but ended up nking off the ss "I guess I''m ready. To be honest I don''t feel any type of way about it.


    I feel like tonight''s the same as ourst game of the regr season. I don''t feel any butterflies in my stomach and I''m not really super hyped.


    If anything I''m just excited that we get to y some ball again. I feel like that short break was more like a long detention.


    I never thought I would miss the feeling of sweating in a gym as much as I did during the break."


    Jason smiled "That''s a sign that you are officially a hooper Kyle. If you get a chance to rest and all you can think about is putting the ball on the hardwood then you a hooper for real for real.


    During the break all I could think about was getting some runs in. I almost went down to the park just so I could get a couple reps against some casuals."


    Kyle shot another three pointer that ended up hitting the front of the rim "I hate to break it to you but I don''t think you would be able to get a single game in.


    Everyone that''s remotely interested in basketball around here knows your face. I don''t think they would want to end up on a episode of Through the Hoops as one of your highlights."


    After a few minutes the clock buzzed indicating that it was time for the game to begin. Jason went with the rest of his team as they went to go shake hands with theirpetition for tonight.


    Their first opponent of the tournament was a school that they had yed against earlier on in the year.


    They would be ying against Vista Heights tonight. Vista Heights had what they would consider an incredible year so far.


    Not only did they finish as one of the better teams in the county. They managed to make it through two rounds of the tournament.


    If they could make it on to the next round they would have set a new school record in terms of sess.


    The yers got on the floor as they positioned themselves for the tip off. Kyle managed to make it look easy as he effortlessly jumped into the air and swatted the ball in Jason''s direction.


    It looked like Vista Heights had done their homework as they scrambled to get a defender to mark Kyle.


    Unfortunately for them Kyle had began sprinting to the basket as soon as he tossed the ball toward his team.


    With the ball in his hands Jason threw aser of a pass as it went straight to Kyle''s hands as he was running toward the basket.


    With no defenders around him Kyle decided to show off what he had been practicing in his backyard during the break.


    Kyle measured the distance to the basket as he positioned his feet for the jump. As he jumped off of both his feet he began to spin.


    Kyle spun aroundpletely before mming the ball down toward the rim. He hanged off the rim with one hand for a second before letting go.


    As hended Kyle turned toward the home section and started moving his arms up and down at his side gesturing for them to get hyped "This our house! Make some noise!"