“She’s not there,” Mercedes told Coach just before heading out onto the court. She was the Auburn recruiter who left immediately after Lincoln’s scene and hadn’t been in touch since.
“Play your game, Mercedes,” Coach said. “That’s what matters. Just let it be, let it be!”
As she walked onto the court with the other starters, Mercedes glanced into the stands. Only Jade waved. Her parents were back at Callie’s bedside, and she hadn’t seen Lincoln since his outburst. Her parents had reported him missing, but the police only seemed interested in getting information on Callie’s shooting and the people Callie had been hanging around with. From the second she saw “SNITCH” painted in red on the garage door, Mercedes guessed the shooting was Robert’s doing, but she couldn’t risk leaving her parents to deal with another daughter in the hospital or maybe in the grave. After declining to answer any of Detective Webber’s questions at school, she’d tossed the detective’s business card out with the rest of the trash.
“Let’s win!” Halle yelled before the jump ball. The ball came to Mercedes, who made a quick pass to Cheryl. Cheryl moved the ball up court and called the play. Everybody got quickly into position with Mercedes cutting to the far left. Cheryl passed to Mercedes, who set for the shot, drawing the double team to allow Cheryl to break for the basket. A quick pass from Mercedes to Cheryl, then a quicker one to Halle. She slammed home the first two to wild cheers.
Play after play, North executed Coach’s design like they’d practiced. When a set play got shut down, the pass went out to Mercedes, who nailed three-pointers with a military precision. Along with tough team defense and sloppy play by the Hueytown squad, the game was a blow-out by halftime. The only question wasn’t if North would win or even by how much, but if this time Mercedes would break the record for three-pointers in any Alabama high school game.
Even though they were ahead, Coach launched into a fiery half-time speech until she was interrupted by a knock on the door. Coach looked angry but motioned for Kat to open the door. Jade. Her phone hung as if by a thread in her left hand; tears ran down her face. “It’s Callie,” was all she said.