nothing less ➸ demar derozan

twenty-nine

i mean...he doesn't look that bad in that uniform, but i swear the raptors are so stupid man. now my sorry ass gotta root for the spurs, which is the team i hate. :| kyle and demar...

-

Isabella

"Where have you been?" I ask my father as I slam the door of his Cadillac Escalade.

He grimaces, "Gentle with the doors and I've been at my brothers house."

"Why?" He keeps his eyes on the road and I notice his hand tighten around the steering wheel. I knew I shouldn't have been mad at him, but my mom has been worried sick about him. I have too, but not like my mother. And the way he was acting right now was upsetting me because he hadn't said one word.

"Put your belt on," he says. I sigh and put it on.

"Why did you pick me up from school early?" I ask him and he shakes his head.

"Why are you questioning everything?"

"You've been gone for like three days. Do you not expect someone to ask a question?" I adjust my backpack between my knees. "Dad, for real...can you please just answer one question?" He sighs and pulls into the Starbucks that DeMar and I had went at the beginning of the school year. I knew that we weren't going to get out and that'd we stay in the car talking.

"I was at my brother's house, but I'm back. I just needed to cool off for a second, but I'm not leaving again. I'm sorry I left," he grabs my hand and holds it in his. I purse my lips together. "While I was gone, I quit my job. I quit because I know I haven't been home that much and I need to be."

"Mom doesn't have a job, so what are y'all going to do?"

He chuckles, "We're not that broke as you think. We still have a good while before we can start freaking out. Beside that, I am going to get a new job. This job is so much better and a higher pay than the one I was doing."

"Okay, then do it," I furrow my eyebrows. I wasn't sure what the point of this conversation was, but I knew he wanted me to listen. If he got a new job, what's the problem?

He sighs, "The job is in Glendale."

My eyes bulge out because I automatically know where this conversation is going. Glendale is about an hour drive from Compton and I didn't want to move. There was no way that we could just leave everything here and leave.

"If we leave Compton-"

"No!" I interrupt him. "I'm not leaving here."

"My job will-"

"I'm not leaving. My whole life is here, Dad!" I whine. "What about school and my friends?"

"Your school," he exclaims, "just threatened two innocent black boys for doing absolutely nothing—one smoking weed and obligating while the other was being stubborn, but the cop didn't have big enough balls to handle it."

"What about Reggie? You're just going to leave him here? He views you as a father and now you're just going to leave him."

He shakes, "I'll adopt him if I have to, I don't care. And Arion-"

"You'd really adopt Arion? You barely met him a few days ago."

"I know that he needs a safe home and scared. He's a project but so was Reggie. And now look at Reggie. He is out here threatening to kill a cop." He leans back in the seat and scratches his head. His lips tighten in a thin line as his face reveals disappointment.

"I know why you want to move," I say and he looks at me. "You messed up with Reggie—you failed him. He was your project and you failed. You're trying to do better and restart with Arion."