Rebound: A 2nd Chance

After watching TV for a few hours Jason and his mom ordered a pizza for dinner. After they told each other good night Jason made his way to his room.

After he closed the door Jason took a deep breathe to calm himself down. He opened up the system to take a look at the notification that he had been ignoring.

[Congratulations! Mission "Change of Heart" completed. Reward: ???]

'Finally! This fucking mission has just been sitting there for the past few months and its been driving me crazy! Now it's time to see what my reward is.'

Jason reached out to the floating wrapped gift box. As soon as he touched it confetti flew out as the top popped off.

[You have received a random badge as well as the ability to equip another badge as your core!

Badge recieved: Box-Out King (Bronze): Gives a slight boost in your ability to control post positioning. Boosts your ability to box out and fight for rebounds.]

Jason was slightly disappointed in getting another badge that he probably wouldn't be using all that much but he was excited about being able to equip another badge as his core.

'I can have two badges equipped as my core now! Not only can I put an offensive and defensive badge so that I develop quickly in both areas.

I can have another badge that I can activate during games! Defensive anchor isn't useful in every situation so I can activate another badge depending on the state of the game.'

Jason was excited about finally completing the mission about Shania. But then the excitement drained out from his face as he thought about one important thing.

'I don't know how Marcus is going to react after he hears that I was recruited to go to Beach Side Academy.

Even if I'm not planning on accepting the offer Marcus might think that I will and use it as a chance to run away from him and his squad.

And as scared as I am of telling him it's probably better than if he finds out from an outside source.....'

After a few moments of internal struggles Jason decided that he would tell Marcus in person about the offer from Beach Side Academy as soon as he got the chance.

What he didn't expect was that the offer would present itself so quickly. Jason got a text but it wasn't from his regular phone.

Jason picked up his other phone and saw that it was a message from Marcus 'Sup Young Buckets. How was the whole training camp thing?'

Jason texted back and answered 'It was good. I feel like I really learned a lot from going to the camp. I feel even better going into the tournament.'

Another text came in with a sunglasses smiley face emoji 'Good to hear man. Good to hear. Hey I got something planned the day before Thanksgiving. I would really appreciate it if you could stop on by.'

Jason was caught off guard by the invite. After moment to think about the offer Jason sent his reply.

'Sure thing Marcus. If it's the day before Thanksgiving then I don't have anything planned. I'll see you then.'

After a few seconds another text came in 'Cool. I'll send someone to pick you up so don't worry about getting a ride. Oh and make sure you bring yo appetite hahaha.'

- - -

A few days passed uneventfully as Jason spent most of his time doing his personal workout routine and helping out with some shopping as his parents got ready for Thanksgiving.

Before he knew it it was already the day that Jason agreed to meet up with Marcus. Jason told his parents that he was going to go hang out with some friends before stepping out of the apartment.

It was around one o'clock as Jason waited in the parking lot. He had just eaten lunch with his parents but he was already beginning to feel hungry as he stood under the shade of one of the nearby trees.

After about ten minutes of waiting Jason saw a car pulling in to the parking lot. The roof of the car was folded down as Jason saw a familiar face.

Jason walked up to the car as he extended his hand out "Amare right? I didn't really get a chance to thank you the first time we met."

Amare dapped Jason up as he smiled "No need for thanks dog. Marcus said to treat you like a part of the fam and that's all I was doin.

I ain't too good with the plannin and big brain shit that Marcus does but if anybody come after my family best believe I'm ready for war.

And besides we outta be thanking you Young Buckets. You really showin out for Riverside. You got folks excited the same way Tyreek been doing for years.

It's good to know that even after Tyreek makes it to college and hopefully into the league that we got another star in the making."

Jason smiled as he got into the car. After a fifteen minute ride they pulled into the community close by the park where Jason and Trell had their bet.

Jason was amazed by what he saw. The cul de sac was filled with stalls and people as the entire neighborhood seemed to be partying.

As they were getting down from the car Jason turned to Amare and asked "What's going on here? It looks like a huge party."

Amare put his arm over Jason and laughed "Bruh you ain't never been to a block party before? You missing out man.

We gon change that today. You gonna taste some of the best food and have a hell of a time here."

Amare took Jason with him as they walked deeper into the cul de sac. A bunch of people seemed to have recognized Jason as they were constantly stopped and asked for pictures.

"No fuckin way. Yous Jason Yang right?! Yooooo! I told you that was him. Is it cool if we snap a few pics with you?"

"Yo that's the Asian kid I was tellin you about. He on that TV show about basketball. Can we get a couple shots with you?"

A few females fans also stopped him for some pictures and autographs.

"Girl that's the little Chinese boy that was on TV last week. He so cute! Just like one them Kpop idols. Is it okay if these big sisters get a picture with you?"

Amare laughed as Jason wiped the different colored lipstick marks off of his face "Damn bruh you hella popular. Remind me to take you out as my wingman next time hahaha."

After walking for a bit they finally bumped into Marcus. He was wearing his sunglasses as usual as he was in line for what appeared to be a hot dog stand.

Marcus smiled at Jason "Hey Young Buckets. Glad to see that you could make it. Can I interest you in a freshly made dog?

You ain't gonna find a better dog in Riverside my man. I give all of Willie's hot dogs the Marcus stamp of approval."

Jason nodded his head "Sure I guess. I am feeling a little hungry." Marcus turned to Willy and ordered two hot dogs with everything on it.

Jason took the hot dog from Marcus and bit into it. The grilled bell peppers and the crisp onions formed a symphony of flavors with the ketchup, relish, and mustard.

The bun was soft and fluffy while the hot dog itself had the perfect amount of snap and a well balanced flavor.

Jason's eyes glowed with happiness as he inhaled the hot dog. After wiping his mouth with a napkin he turned to Marcus "You weren't kidding Marcus. That hot dog was delicious."

Marcus laughed "I had a feelin you'd like it. I ain't never ran into a person that didn't like ol Willie's dogs."

Jason turned around and looked at the man behind the hot dog stand "Why does he seem so familiar?"

Marcus tipped his sunglasses up for a bit as he looked in the direction that Jason was looking at.

"Who? Old Willie? If you've been to Newberry then you've probably seen him before. He's the coach for the basketball team.

He also works a hot dog stand, he clips grass, delivers packages on the side, paints walls, you name it.

If you got a job you need done and some extra cash to spare ol Willie is the first person people call around here."

Jason was a little confused "Isn't he a little old to be doing all that work? He should take it easy and watch his health."

Marcus put his sunglasses back down and sighed "Yeah I'm pretty sure he wishes he could do that too.

Ol Willie didn't have any kids that were his blood. He adopted a son in his late thirty's. If you saw those two together it would have put a smile on your face.

I ain't never even seen anybody look at they kid the way Willie looked at his son. You could tell that that boy meant the world to him.

He was even more overjoyed when he found out that he was gonna be a grandpa. His son got married to a real nice girl that he met after college.

The two of them had just moved into their own place in a nice neighborhood when they were killed during a botched robbery.

It's been a couple of years now but Ol Willie been taking care of the twin girls that his son and the wife left."

Jason was speechless. He didn't know what to say after hearing such a sad story. Marcus looked at him.

"Jason part of the reason why I asked you to come here today was so that you could see the part of Riverside that not everyone gets to see. 

You can see the people that are struggling to get by and yet they still know how to smile and enjoy life.

I know that me and my boys ain't no saints. We got dirty hands and stains that won't wash away. But we ain't heartless monsters.

Who do you think helped Ol Willie get that hot dog cart? Who got him all the papers so that he could sell those hot dogs without having to worry?

When he didn't have enough to buy his little girls new clothes and school supplies it wasn't the government or the city that came through for him.

We was the ones that pulled together some money and made sure that his little girls didn't have to wear clothes with a bunch of holes in em.

We was the ones that worked our asses off to make sure that his son and daughter in law could get the proper farewell that they deserve.

I ain't tryin to make excuses. Me and Amare both got blood on our hands. But we didn't do that shit for fun.

We out here trying to make the best out of what we got. And after you get into the league we can do so much more for this place."

Jason was touched by what Marcus had to say. After a moment of hesitation he decided to come clean with Marcus "There's something that I want to tell you Marcus."