Again on Wednesday, there is no Kase Kinshaw in school. Maybe Barry has done a great favor for everyone? Maybe Kase will stay out of school for the rest of the year? Not that I am happy. How can I be happy with Khalil on my mind?
Barry is not happy, either. Renata had to talk him into going to his second-to-last tae kwon do practice before he tests for his next black belt on Sunday.
“I’m not honorable enough to be a tae kwon do master?” he said during breakfast.
Renata stood up so fast her chair tipped over backward. “That is not true, Barry,” she said. “You are a wonderful kid. Wonderful, do you understand? I have never seen you be anything but honorable. And I will be so upset with you if you don’t follow through on your test. You will go to your class tonight!”
Barry then stood up. He placed his right fist in his left palm and bowed to Renata. She bowed back.
I think I have many weird people in my life.
The school day feels normal, and I begin to think more about Saturday. There will be no Khalil on the floor with us. I have to get over this. There will still be Devin and Rashid and Marques and Trey. There will be Charlie, too. Together we will take on Kyle Owens and his cousins, and we will find our flow. They will chase the ocean. We will destroy them. I try to gather my focus. During study hall in the library I pull out my phone and tweet @KyOw23 that the Fury will crush him to the ground.
@KyOw23 responds: @PolishHooper not a real baller. #keepyourdayjob
A few minutes later I receive a text from Devin. It is the first time I have heard from him since we played the TC Tigers. He doesn’t know about my drama. He doesn’t know about Carli and Kase Kinshaw and Barry.
He writes:
Stop the trash talk, Farmer. The game is not what matters right now.
It matters to me, though. Kyle Owens has disrespected me as a human being. He has called me a head case and says I don’t understand basketball because I am a foreigner and that all I do is run and jump. He is Kase Kinshaw, but on the basketball court where I can fight back legally. I will not keep my day job!
I don’t know what that last thing means, though.