Grace

Prologue

Jordan still remembered the day Caleb showed up in khaki. He had seen it coming, but their mom hadn't. She got shocked out of her Writer's Daze pretty quick. Jordan remembered standing by the fridge and watching her expression go from bewildered to scared to angry to sad in the space of five seconds.

"Caleb! What-"

"I'm joining the armed forces, mom. Training starts in two weeks." Very blunt. Just like Caleb. Sage shakily got to her feet and hugged her son. Much crying followed. Jordan, uncomfortable and feeling like an intruder, slipped out the back door and began shooting hoops in the driveway.

He was firmly devoted to soccer, but there was something soothing about the thunk of the basketball on concrete and the swish of the ball falling through the net. He kept it up for what felt like hours, giving his body over to the rhythm of bouncing and throwing. It was June, but the evening sun was setting behind the house, making the heat more bearable.

On his next shot Jordan missed the net. The ball hit the rim of the hoop and bounced sideways into the waiting hands of his older brother. Jordan hadn't even heard him come out of the house. Caleb gave the ball two bounces, then shot it flawlessly through the net. Jordan caught it.

"So how'd it go?" he asked, not taking his eyes off what he was doing.

"Not as bad as I thought it would. She was mostly upset that I hadn't talked to her first, but she was pretty cool with me going once she got over the surprise of it. Said that there were worse things a young man could do with his life. She'll probably end up writing about it at some point."

"Probably," Jordan agreed.

The two brothers shot hoops in silence for several more minutes.

"So, do you think they'll send you overseas? Afghanistan or wherever?" Jordan tried to sound like he knew what he was talking about, but his knowledge of geography was rather limited.

"That's what I'm training for," said Caleb briefly.

Jordan missed the net completely. The ball banged against the headboard with a jarring thud. "I don't get it."

Caleb caught the ball again and began tossing it from hand to hand. "Don't get what?"

"Why you're going to put yourself through hell in training and then maybe go get yourself killed in some place a million miles away when you could stay here and live a normal life."

Caleb calmly threw the ball through the net.

"That's something dad would say."

Jordan tried to catch the ball as it fell from the net but missed. It rolled down the driveway and into the alley. He jogged after it and kicked it back up to Caleb.

"I'm not like dad."

"He's the reason I'm going. All he's ever done is work for himself. You know how he never had time for us growing up. Always too busy working. And then when he met Sharon- well, you know all that crap. Never thought once about what it would mean for us or mom. Just went off with her, and somehow it was okay because it was his "choice." Except only his choices mattered." Caleb's voice was bitter.

"I hate that about him. I decided when he and mom split that whatever I did with my life, I wasn't going to be like him. I wanted to do something worthwhile. I wanted to fight for something good, live for something besides myself." He bounced the ball to Jordan. "Does that make sense?"

Jordan caught it and nodded.

The two brothers bounced the ball back and forth in companionable silence. After a while Caleb said, "We better go in. Mom said she would order Domino's to celebrate, sort of." He turned to go inside, and Jordan followed.

"Hey," he blurted just before Caleb opened the back door. Caleb turned, his tanned, young face expectant. There was a stubble of beard on his chin, and he had a mild case of acne on his forehead. A kid's face, just out of high school. But his decision had somehow made him a man.

"I get it," Jordan stammered, "and I think it's cool, what you're doing."

"Thanks baby brother." Caleb slapped him on the back, which for him was the equivalent of a bear hug. "I figured you'd understand if no one else did."

Caleb held out his hands for their secret handshake, which they had established years ago. The brothers slapped the tops of each other's hands, then the backs, then did a double-fist bump and broke apart with rocket noises. They grinned at each other, and Caleb ruffled Jordan's already wild hair, which was not part of the handshake.

"Now don't get all soft on me," he said, "Let's go get some food."