Team Mom by Franklin White Page B

out with my mom?”
    Jarques’s question seemed to make Coach swallow whatever words he was trying to get out of his mouth. He cleared his throat. “How’d you know that? I mean, yes, yes, that’s why I’m here,” he said.
    â€œOkay,” Jarques told him.
    â€œOkay?” Coach repeated.
    â€œYeah, okay. I was wondering if you were going to say something or just keep acting like it wasn’t happening.”
    Coach said, “No, no. I mean, I wanted to come to you like a man.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œSo, you’re okay with it?” Coach wanted to know.
    â€œYeah, I said, ‘Okay.’”
    There was a very awkward moment of silence.
    Jarques gazed down the street again. “Uh, Coach, I don’t really want to be seen out here just staring at you.”
    Coach looked around. “Okay, yeah. Right.”
    â€œSee you at practice,” Jarques told him, right before he turned around to go back in the house.
    Coach reached for him but didn’t make contact. “J, wait a minute. Tell me something. How’d you know? How’d you know we were going out?”
    Jarques took a deep breath. “Really, Coach?”
    â€œYeah, really. Tell me.”
    Jarques looked up and down the street again, then exhaled. “Okay, I’ll put it like this. I knew something was up when she started making me breakfast every morning.”
    Coach was listening intently. “Oh, okay . . . breakfast. Got it.”
    â€œYeah, that’s right. And I knew because when I came home from practice, dinner was always made. I knew because she started to whisper on the phone and bring home leftovers from weird places. I knew because she’s been listening to music and singing along as it plays. I knew because she’s been trying to help me with my homework, and I don’t even need it. I knew because if I made a very small mistake, like forgetting to put my plate up or taking out the trash, she wouldn’t yell at me about it. I knew because every day is a day of encouragement, so much so that I can barely stand it. And I knew because every day she’s been waking up with a smile on her face and she seems happy. That’s how I knew, Coach. And guess what, Coach?”
    Coach was blown away. “Yeah, yeah? What’s that?”
    â€œI’ve seen this all before . . . so, Coach?”
    â€œI’m listening.”
    â€œDon’t fuck this up, ’cause living with her now, it’s how it’s supposed to be.”

17
    For a few days Coach was able to get back into his normal routine of work, community meetings, and football practice afterward. The team had a big game coming up that could determine their position in the play-offs, so making sure the team understood that was on his mind. Earlier in the day, he’d sent flowers over to Shonda at her job. He’d signed the card, “Your secret admirer,” so when his cell phone started to ring while he sat at his desk, he was pretty sure he was seconds away from hearing her voice and answered the call.
    A voice said back to him, “Damn, boy, you sure are answering that phone in a sexy way.”
    Coach took the phone off his ear and looked at it, then placed it back so he could speak. “What? Who is this?”
    â€œPut it like this, sexy man. I’m not who you wanted it to be.” There was a laugh afterward.
    Coach realized who it was. “Mr. Tall, what do you want?”
    â€œHey, hope you’re not busy, because I need you to come out to the neighborhood. A friend of mine, her house was broken into last night, when she was sleeping. When she woke up, they told her to stay in the bed and go back to sleep, or they’d whoop her like they used to do back in slavery.”
    â€œThey broke in while she was sleeping?”
    Mr. Tall said, “She lives down the street from me. I’ll meet you at my house as soon as you can, because I already told