Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason and Samantha got off the bus. Newberry High School looked a lot different than what Samantha was expecting.

There was a thick metal fence that went all around the school buildings. Samantha was also surprised when she saw an armed police officer.

Jason laughed when he saw Samantha staring at the cop "A lot of public schools have cops. They're called SROs.

It stands for school resource officers. They are mostly assigned to schools in the rougher parts of a town or city. They're here to break up anything that teachers aren't ready to handle. Kinda like that"

Jason pointed to two students who were getting into each other's faces. At first they were just throwing punches but one person suddenly pulled out a knife which lead to the other kid responding in the same way.

The cop walked toward them and pulled out his taser "Put that shit down if you don't want to get fried!" The two students dropped their knives after they saw the police officer. He handcuffed both of them and lead them away.

Samantha's mouth was in a huge O as she was stunned silent. Jason laughed before patting her on the back "Come on let's go."

Jason walked around looking for the gym. After a few minutes with no progress Jason decided to try and stop someone for directions.

Most of the students were either black or Hispanic. Jason stopped one girl who was walking with her friend "Hi sorry to bother you. I'm looking for a friend of mine and he's on the basketball team. Could you please point me in the direction of the gym?"

The girl looked at Jason before nudging her friend "Girl look it's a cute little Chinese boy. How old is you?" Jason cursed in his head 'I'm fucking Korean!' Jason forced a chuckle before answering "I'm 12."

The girl then pinched Jason's cheek "12 years old!? Ain't you the cutest lil thang. What you doing here baby? This place for the grown folk"

Jason wanted to roll his eyes but he fought the urge 'Girl you ain't even grown! You still in high school!'

Jason smiled as he freed his cheek from her pinch "Like I said before. I'm here to see a friend of mine. He's on the basketball team. His name is Tyreek Hills."

The girl thought for a second before answering "Oh Tyreek. Yeah I know him. If you looking for the gym it's gonna be passed this building and in the back."

Jason repeated the directions in his head in an attempt to memorize it. He thanked the girl and walked back to Samantha.

Jason was surprised to see that Samantha was pouting as he made his way back to her "What's up? You look like you found a fly in your food or something."

Samantha grumbled under her breath "More like a cockroach trying to steal my cake." Jason couldn't hear what she had said "Sorry I didn't catch that. What did you say?"

Samantha puffed and blew a lock of her curly red hair out of her face in annoyance "Nothing. Let's just go to the stupid gym already."

Jason had no idea why Samantha was in such a bad mood 'We just got here. Sorry if I'm a little lost in a place that I'm visiting for the first time. Sheesh for someone that always talks about having fun she needs to loosen up more.'

The two of them followed the directions that Jason got from the girl. After a bit of walking they could hear the sounds of basketballs pounding against hardwood and sneakers squeaking.

As they walked through the doors of the gym the first thing that caught Jason's attention was how physical and intense the practice was.

Tyreek had the ball at the top of the free-throw line posting up his defender. Tyreek did a small shoulder fake to the left before quickly turning over and spinning right.

As he got passed his defender he blew by another who tried to intercept him. He was just too fast for anyone to catch up.

There was a big man probably the other team's PF or C guarding the paint but Tyreek didn't seem to care. He bent down and uncoiled his body as he shot up into the air.

Tyreek's body collided with the big man's as he jumped to try and block the shot. His shoulder made contact with Tyreek's abdomen but he still managed to power through and slam the ball in with his right hand.

There was a loud bang as Tyreek dunked the ball. Tyreek hanged on the rim while the big man hit the floor and fell on his butt.

After Tyreek saw that he had enough space to land safely on the court he let go of the rim. His teammates were all yelling and going crazy over the dunk.

Tyreek was smiling as he dapped up his teammate "Man why'd he even jump with me. Fool know's he ain't got no bounce. He must have thought he was Dikembe just cause he got the same cookie monster ass voice."

Tyreek was about to get back into the scrimmage when he noticed Jason and Samantha standing at the entrance of the gym.

He told his teammate "Hold up. Looks like I got a visitor. Ya'll keep the scrimmage going just sub me out. Oh and Tell Hash that he needs to stop skipping leg day if he wants to jump with me next time haha."

Tyreek walked over to Jason and Samantha with a smile on his face "Hey if it ain't Young Buckets. And it looks like you brought along a little cutie with you haha. How's it going kid. What can I do for you?"

Jason smiled as he looked at Tyreek "Hey Tyreek this is my friend Sammy. Did you get my text?" Tyreek shook his head "I forgot my phone today. Why? What's up?"

Jason paused for a second as he tried to think of the best way to bring up the show. After a while he just gave up and decided to be blunt "I heard that you rejected the offer to be on the show. Can I ask why?"

Tyreek's face became serious for a second before he gave a tired sigh "Yeah I told them no. I just don't have the time to be doing no shows. I'm working full time at the warehouse and I'm grinding out here on the court."

Jason was surprised to hear Tyreek say that he was holding down a full-time job while going to school and playing basketball.

Jason asked "The show was willing to pay you right? Isn't that enough? This could be a great chance for you to get your name out there Tyreek. It could boost your stock on the college radars and even your draft stock."

Tyreek shook his head "It ain't enough man. 300 a month just for playing ball sounds good but I'm the only one bringing in any bread. And a got a kid that I need to feed."

Jason was shocked to hear that Tyreek had a kid "You have a kid!?" Tyreek laughed "She ain't mine. She's my older brother's.

He got locked up doing some street shit. But he did it to put a roof over my head and food in my stomach. It's only right that I do right by him and take care of his little girl while he doing his time."

Something caught Jason's attention "Tyreek be honest with me. It's not just the money right? Because you could do the show and still work your warehouse job.

The show wouldn't take up any extra time. If anything the show would help by putting extra cash in your pocket. What's the real reason you don't want to do the show?"

Samantha spoke up "I can go if it's something personal." Tyreek shook his head "Nah it ain't nothing too crazy shortcake. You can stay. It's not like it's a secret or something."

Tyreek took a deep breath before continuing "It's my niece man. Just like any little kid her age she idolized her old man. She wants to be just like him.

She was a lot like you Jason she was a basketball genius. She had amazing talent for her age. She even got a sport's scholarship for Saint Mary's private school for girls.

But after my big bro got locked up two years ago she started acting up. She started hanging with a bad crowd saying she gonna bang and rep the hood like her daddy.

She already got kicked out of three different schools. She's going to a remedial school right now. If I do the show it's going to put her under the microscope for people to judge.

Even if she don't show up on camera if people see me on TV they gonna hop on social media talking bout how she my niece and they gonna talk shit about her. I don't want her to have to put up with having a million eyes on her judging her."

Jason felt bad for Tyreek "But saying no to the show won't make a difference Tyreek. If you get drafted and make it to the league people are still going to talk about your niece."

Tyreek's eyes looked dim "I know that man. I'm honestly at the end of my rope. I feel like if she doesn't change she's going to end up in a cell or in a casket soon."

Jason had a bad feeling after hearing Tyreek say that. During the time that Jason wasn't able to practice he learned something about the system.

It didn't just give missions related to basketball. Since he chose the heart build the system would occasionally give out missions based on how Jason felt in his heart.

It didn't happen all the time but it did happen. And a few seconds later just as Jason had feared the system popped up in the corner of his vision with a notification.

[ Mission: Change of Heart. Tyreek is holding himself back because he is worried about his niece. Convince Tyreek's niece to change her way of life and save not only her but Tyreek as well. Penalty:??? Rewards:???]

Jason facepalmed after reading the notification 'I just want to play basketball! Why does everything need to be so hard!?'