“I don’t want you talking to any college recruiters without us around,” Mercedes’s mom said. Her father quickly agreed, but it was hard for Mercedes to take their stern tone to heart. Between her buzzer-beating three—clinching North’s come-from-behind victory over rival South—and Callie getting released from jail, Mercedes felt as if two Christmas gifts had arrived four days early.
“Coach said the same thing,” Mercedes said as she leaned against the refrigerator.
“You want me to screen the calls?” Lincoln asked. “I’ll act as your agent. Now, listen here, my big sister wants two first-class tickets, one for me and another for her. Now—”
“That’s enough, Jerry Maguire,” Mom said as she placed the meatloaf on the table.
“Who is that?” Lincoln asked. Mercedes laughed at how loudly her mom sighed. Lincoln crossed his arms and mumbled under his breath, “Don’t bust me like that again, Mom.”
At the word “bust,” the smile that had been on her mom’s face since Callie got out of jail vanished. Mercedes’s mom wasn’t alone in hoping Callie’s release might be a turning point. Mercedes had called Callie and left a message, inviting her to the Spartans’ Christmas Classic, a tournament Mercedes knew her team would win. But Callie hadn’t called back.
“Why was everyone laughing at me?” Lincoln asked, his tenth-grade voice cracking. Unlike tall Mercedes, Lincoln was an undersized bully target. He’d need someone to protect him, and Joel wasn’t the answer. If I go away to college, Mercedes thought, who will stand guard over Lincoln? Going away to school would be the best thing for her, Mercedes knew. Yet when she thought about everyone she’d leave behind, it seemed like the worst option. Her dad worked too much and her mom worried too much, so Mercedes felt that keeping Lincoln on the right path fell on her. Just as she was on her team, in her family she was on point, always on guard.
“Is Jade coming over for Christmas dinner?” her mom asked. Before Mercedes could answer, the phone in the kitchen rang. Her mom wiped her hands on her apron and picked up.
“Hello?” Mercedes’s mom said into the phone, her voice so soft. A softness in contrast to the hard sound her mom’s body made as it crashed onto the kitchen floor seconds later.