We Come Alive 3

Basketball Game

Saturday early afternoon, Manny was finishing curling her hair and making sure her outfit was on straight before she heard Clover calling for her to hurry up and that Ethan was there to pick them up. Manny quickly finished putting on her nude lipstick before straightening out her pale pink sundress with flats. The dress showed off her growing baby bump so Manny was happy with it.

She put on her flats before grabbing her purse and walking out of the bedroom and into the living room where she saw Clover talking to Mateo. Clover flipped her flat ironed black hair over her shoulders as it stayed nearly perfectly still on top from the backwards SnapBack she had on. She paired it with a white jacket that was unzipped to show off her black tube top and black jeans with dark sneakers.

"Come on, Ethan's outside waiting for us." Clover spoke, turning towards Manny. "It's your fault I'm going to this stupid game. I don't even like basketball."

"Yeah, yeah." Manny complained, following Clover through the living room and towards the front door. "You're a football person, that's your whole thing. You're a quarterback. Blah blah blah. Nobody cares anymore."

Clover giggled as she went outside and saw Ethan waiting in his car parked on the side of the road. When he saw them coming he unlocked the car doors and waiting for them to climb inside. Clover got in the passenger's seat while Manny got in the backseat.

"No drug tests today?" Manny asked, putting on her seatbelt and feeling Ethan pull off.

Ethan shrugged. "Wouldn't know. They're surprise. Either they'll show up at my house and my aunt will have to call me home to take the test, or they'll show up wherever I'm at and make me take it there. Or, the best one, I don't have a drug test that day."

"How often are they?" Clover wondered, looking out the window as Ethan drove to downtown Dallas.

Ethan shrugged as he stopped at a stop light. "Sometimes once a week, sometimes every other day, sometimes every day. I gotta stay clean."

"Are you?" Manny asked.

Ethan just chuckled as he pressed on the gas when the light turned green. "Wouldn't be a smart idea to take drugs when you're being drug tested would it?"

"Drug addicts aren't smart." Clover pointed out. "They do what they need to do to suppress the cravings."

Ethan nodded slowly as he dragged his hand over the top of the wheel and kept his other one in his lap. "That's a very good point."

~~

20 minutes later, Ethan pulled his car up to the sports facility before parking, getting out the car, and leading the girls inside. The moment they walked inside, they saw a group people standing at the check in trying to get in but big bulky security guards guiding them out the doors. Ethan pulled Clover and Manny out the way before they got swept outside with the group.

Clover slipped her arm gently out of Ethan's grip before walking up to the man with a clipboard as he stood in front of the barricades. She could already hear the loud noises of the basketball game and see players running around in their uniforms going from the locker rooms, to the court, and back.

"Name or ticket?" The man asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Jones." She answered. "Clover Jones."

The man looked at the list before looking at Clover with Manny and Ethan behind her. He grabbed a walkie talkie out of his back pocket and spoke into it.

"Shit." Ethan muttered. "He's gonna kick us out for sure."

Before Clover could even think of what to do, they saw two big bulky muscular men walk up to them. They were dressed in all black and had very intimidating looks. They moved the barricades and motioned for them to walk through. Once they were through, the men put the barricades back and escorted them through the facility.