As We Grow Old

Chapter 5

The walk to the diner was near silent. When we were just a couple of blocks away, Trev apologized to king and Elijah.

"I'm sorry y'all had to see that. My folks- they." He sighed. "My folks don' like me hangin' out wit' black kids."

Elijah stared at the ground, but King chuckled. "It's alrigh'," King said, "our Dad don' like us hangin' out wit' white kids." King playfully slapped him on the back and we all broke out in brief laughter.

"I don' think either of y'alls parents like yous hangin' out wit' a Latino." We all turned towards Jude. His snicker quickly became contagious. We were a group of all different backgrounds, and the dynamic it brought was something we wouldn't change for the world. Our relationship was just something we couldn't bring home. Well, other than the court; our second home.

"Hey," said Jude, "your Momma don' mind you bein' friends wit' us an' goin' over t' the diner?"

"My Grandad's black, she don' care." I began, "An' besides, y'all 'ill be bringin' business. She likes that." We all laughed once more, and finally approached the diner.

We settled in, and ordered swiftly. The topic of conversation was light, and the food was filling. Elijah said that the food was great, and that he wanted us to come here more often. Nobody argued that we should start meeting up outside the world of basketball. Even Alan seemed to be enjoying himself. He stayed silent, but he ate his food with great ferocity.

I had seen a cake in the display case near the cash register when we had first walked in, and I had been eyeing it the entire meal. "Hey," I said, "do y'all want some cake?" Everyone looked up at me, and I pointed to the decadent chocolate frosting.

"You wanna' buy? That way ya' don' have to get me a birthday present?"

We all looked over at Jude. "What the hell man?!" said Trev, "Why didn'cha say somethin' earlier?" Trev walked up the counter and asked for the whole cake. He brought it over and asked Jude when his birthday was, and how old he was turning.

"It's today, an' I'm turnin' fourteen." He responded. We sang him the happy birthday song, and devoured the cake almost immediately.

The rest of the school year blew by. Our relationship had grown stronger, and we met up almost every weekend. The most notable thing from that stretch occurred about a year after we had first celebrated Jude's birthday.

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On a Friday night in early August, Mom had instructed G and I to clean the whole house. She had been working a lot more ever since G had come to live with us about a year and a half ago, and the house hadn't had a deep cleanse since then. G had agreed to clean the ground floor while I do the one above.

I first started with Mom's bedroom. She naturally keeps things tidy, so I finished that off quick. Next came the bathroom. This was where Mom became messy. She consistently leaves her curling iron on the counter along with much of her makeup and healthcare products. Scrubbing the tub and toilet was never something I found entertaining, so I finished that as swiftly and quickly as I could. After I finished with the bathroom, I headed down towards G and I's room. Neither of us kept things very tidy to put it lightly. We didn't live in a pig sty, but there was a definite reason why I left that room for last that day.

I had almost finished cleaning the room when I spotted something in the far corner underneath G's bed. I crawled under as far as I could, and then reached out for it. The object had sharp edges, and was cool to the touch. As I pulled it out, I realized that it was a picture frame. The photograph was of a girl, and what appeared to be a smaller version of G. In the picture G looked about my age, but the girl who he was standing next to seemed much older. Her hair bounced off her shoulders, and her wide hips fit nicely in her faded denim jeans. She wore a lot of jewelry. She had bracelets on both arms, and a bulky set earrings and necklaces. I thought she was very pretty other than her multitude of accessories. I had never seen this girl before, and G never spoke about any girl. It was my duty to find out.