Basketball is Not Life

Chapter Twenty-Two

It was amazing having Parker back. He ate my leftovers that I saved for him every morning, and he laughed constantly. It was no more him walking around looking mopy and eating his own concussion of mac and cheese and ramen noodles. He would stop and ask how I was doing from time to time; I had yet to tell him that Ryan still kept sending me horrible text messages. They had escalated the following days after my parents left, and he must have learned what my father's plans for him were for him on his team. I was going to tell them at some point about the text messages, but my parents had been outstanding since they left. My father, if he didn't call, even if it was for a couple minutes, would send me a text even if it was just a gif, something my mom had just taught him how to do.

Melissa stopped over before getting ready for the next away game in Louisville to check to see how we were doing.

"How is he?" She asked.

"I'm sorry, Melissa, I've been so busy I haven't been able to monitor him." My voice took on an edge, and she stopped to look at me. Everyone acted like every emotion Parker had needed to be dissected and then dissected again. I was on edge after just receiving a message from Ryan.

"Excuse me. I'm just worried about my brother."

"I'm sorry. It's just sometimes I feel like everyone thinks Parker is so breakable, and he is not." I may have been projecting what I was feeling. My parents and Parker may have been excellent, but sometimes the constantly asking how I felt was a bit much. I was fine. A year ago, when I was in an abusive relationship, I was not.

"Has he told you about our mother?"

I shake my head no.

"She killed herself." She waits for my face. "When he was seven. He has glimpses of her, but nothing like I had with her. He sits and wonders why our mother have killed herself. Didn't she love us enough?"

"I didn't know." I had looked Parker up on Instagram and his other social media pages, but nothing about his mother had appeared. I had just assumed she was not in the picture anymore.

"It's not that we think he is breakable; we just worry about him. Who knows if suicidal tendencies are passed down, but I am for sure going to make sure my brother never ends up like my mother."

She leaves to let me get ready, and I stop in the kitchen to give her a hug and a peck on the cheek. At least Melissa was able to let me see a little insight into her and Parker's life. It looks like I wasn't the only one trying to leave their past far behind. The more I had talked about Ryan and what he had done to me in the past, the more real it came. I couldn't fake that it never happened like I had been trying to accomplish.

Larry nods at me, telling me to sit next to him on the plane. I sit down, but Parker picks me up and moves me across the aisle, and sets me across the aisle from Larry.

"Hey, we have a pact," Larry said to Parker.

"Nah. We had a pact."

I look up at Parker. "What pact did you two have?"

He smirks and looks over at Larry, and he's been caught at whatever he was keeping from me. I look over to Larry. "Spill."

"It may have been Parker who had asked me to be your seat buddy, not Daisey."

"Uh-huh." I nod my head looking at Parker, who had taken the seat window.

He smiles and shrugs at me as if it was not a big deal. I would have gotten up and moved next to Larry again, but Trent had been watching us, and I knew Parker would make a scene if I got up and moved away.

I bring my cell phone out, ignoring him while everyone else is still loading onto the plane.

"Ren, it is not that big of a deal."

And of course, as he is reaching for my phone, I see the text notification pop up with Ryan's name. And I try as hard as I can to grab the phone back out of his hand, but it is too late; Parker sees what I had already seen. His face darkening at the name. I try reaching for it again, but he holds me back with his arm, and his other hand swipes at the notification. The screen opening to the text messages Parker had been sending me. All of them in grey bubbles coming from him, no responses from me. I can only imagine what he had sent to me today. The last one I saw had been a pretty horrific text about smashing my head in between the closest door he could find.

Parker's thumb swipes up, reading more of them, as I try to get past his arm, trying to grab the phone back.

Larry talks, sticking up for me. "Parker, dude, just give her her phone." "Stay out of this," he grimaces. "What the hell is this, Renee?" It was the first time since calling me Ren that he called me by my full name, and I knew he is one hundred percent pissed.

I laugh. "Love letters." And I know Larry must be sitting there thinking I have been caught cheating which would be impossible since Parker and I are not dating. We are just roommates that snuggle with one another from time to time.

"This is not funny. Why didn't you tell me?" I can tell how Trent is leaning back in his seat a row up from us is trying to listen to what is going on with us.

"I'm not talking about this right now." He relaxes a little, which is when I have my chance to grab my phone back out of his hand. I plug in my headphones and turn up my music. I know it is blasting, and everyone can hear the music I am listening to. Still, it is better than sitting there quietly dealing with Parker's tension.

He taps me on the shoulder after take-off, and I just shake my head at him. There was no way we would have this conversation on the plane where everyone could hear us. Michigan State plays Louisville. The game goes into overtime. Parker fouls out with two minutes left; it was his first time fouling out in college. We lost by four. It was a heartbreaking loss.

In most away games, it did not matter what time the game got done. We would load up and head straight for home. Even if we got back in the middle of the night. Most of the players and coaches caught shut-eye as soon as the plane took off.

Parker grabbed my hand and dragged me on the plane, not caring who saw him reaching for my hand and everyone who stared. He sits down in the same aisle, retaking the window seat. He turns to talk to me, and I'm grateful when Coach Rizzo yells, "Parker get your ass up here now."

His eyes sweep mine, his hand trailing across my knees as he gets up and makes his way to the coaches section in the front of the plane. I watch his back as one of the coaches yanks the curtain shut as if it gave them ultimate privacy.

I can see arms waving around and Coach's face looking frustrated. I can hear his gruff coach's voice coming out as "Don't let it happen again."

Parker's voice "It won't happen again."

Coach hits his shoulder with a wad-up paper. "Good." They open the curtain, and he yells, 

"Larry. You are next."

He slumps back down in the window seat, his body turning to me. He's going to talk to me. But instead, I bring my finger up to his lips and say, "shhh" I turn him forward and lean my head against his shoulder. He pulls out his iPad and ques up a comedy movie, "Game Night" he puts one of his air pods in my ear. I fall asleep before the wheels are up.