Coach and Pops talked after school. After they got through, this time instead of leaving and going to park at the hotel, Pops waited outside on the school parking lot for close to half an hour. As usual, he didn’t bother telling me what we were waiting for, but then I saw Coach come walking toward us. He waved at Pops, got in his car and to my surprise Pops started the car and we started trailing Coach.
In silence, Pops drove down Winchester, past the airport, still following Coach. He turned down a street called Victoria. Coach made several more turns before he pulled into the driveway of a house that had a For Rent sign in the front yard. My eyes got big when I saw a basketball goal on the side of the house with another driveway that looked like it went all the way around to the back of the brick house.
“Stay here,” Pops ordered me and Nyla as he opened the door and got out the Yukon.
“I wanna go,” Nyla started whining. Pops turned and gave her that don’t-mess-with-me-look and she eased back against the seat and did not say another word.
“I’ll be back,” he said.
I watched as he and Coach talked and then walked around the house. I got outside and leaned against the dirty Yukon. Nyla tried to get out but I warned her to stay in or else Pops was going to get her. She fell back on the front seat and poked out her lips, and folded her arms across her chest.
Seemed like it took a minute but I saw the front door of the house open and Pops and Coach stood in the door. They had been inside the house. Pops looked over at me. He didn’t say anything. Him and Coach talked on the front porch for a few more minutes.
“Man, you don’t know how much this means to me. How can I thank you,” I heard Pops telling Coach while I was getting back inside the truck.
“Man, I’m just glad everything worked out.”
I watched as Pops and Coach Byrd shook hands and then both of them walked off the front porch. Pops came back to the Yukon, and Coach Byrd walked over to his car, got in, and pulled off, waving at me as he passed.
Pops got back in the Yukon, looked at me, then looked over his shoulder at Nyla, then back at me again. “Looks like we have a place to stay,” he said with a big grin covering his face. “At least for the next few months.”
“What? We’re going to stay here?” Had I heard him right? Did we really have a place that we could honestly call home again? Even if it was for just a few months.
“Here’re the keys,” he said and raised them up in the air for me and Nyla to see.
I couldn’t believe it. We had a place to stay? Dang, as excited as I was, I still had some questions.
“But how? I mean, how can we live here, Pops?” I didn’t want to get too nosy but I was fourteen, a young man, not a kid like Nyla. I deserved to know what was going on.
“Coach is a godsend, son. You know they say things happen for a reason? Well, that fight you got into, well, it was bad, but it was the door that led us to Coach Byrd finding out about our situation which in turn led to us getting this house.”
I couldn’t help it. I started jumping up and down, running around the front yard and laughing like I hadn’t done in months. I was acting like I was Nyla’s age, but I couldn’t help it. This was too good to be true.
“I’m going to have my life back,” I screamed. “I’m going to be a normal teen again,” I yelled.
Pops walked over and patted me on the back then put me in a bear hug. Next, he opened the door and Nyla got out the Yukon. He reached down, scooped her in his arms, kissed her on each one of her cheeks before he put her down.
“But, Pops. Whose house is this?” I asked as I began to think about what this would mean for me, Pops and Nyla.
“This is Coach Byrd’s mother’s house. She died last year and the house has been vacant ever since, well except for the folks who stayed a few weeks and up and left. Coach said that his sister and brother live out of town and neither of them have any interest in moving in the house, and neither does Coach because he has his own house. The people who were living here moved out without telling him and he’s been looking for some new renters. He said if I wanted to move in, then I could. He’s not even going to charge me rent. Said the house is paid for anyway and he’ll give me six months to get back on my feet. After that, if I decide I want us to keep living here, then that’s when I’ll start paying rent.”
I know my smile was bigger than a basketball as we walked back to the Yukon and got inside.
“It’s got some furniture in there that he said we’re welcome to use. The lights are on too. All I have to do is pay the utility bill every month, and I believe I should be able to manage that, so what do you two have to say? Do y’all want to move in here or do you want to keep living in this here Yukon?” Pops looked at us, his eyes brighter than I’d seen them since before Momz died. Maybe there was hope for us after all.
I looked at him like he was crazy for asking such a dumb question, and then the three of us laughed and said together: “The house, live in the house!” Maybe things were about to turn around for my family. It sure looked like it.