Chapter Three : Nikko

Nikko begins his story like any other normal night.

Silent as a mouse, I tip toe out of my room and passed my parents room. I keep my head up, knowing if I look down at my feet I’ll run into something. I’m coordinated, but not THAT coordinated. I pass by some of our old family pictures hanging on the wall and my shoulder brushes on one. I turn quickly, catching it before it can screech down the wall. As I stop holding my breath, I set it back on its nails.

I reach the end of the hallway and slink into the kitchen.  I open the fridge, holding down the button that tells the fridge that it’s open and it needs light, and look around for what I’m looking for. I grab two of the five Gatorades we have and slip them into my drawstring bag. I move to the cabinet and grab a couple of granola bars. I throw most of them in the bag but carefully open one, not wanting to wait to stuff it in my mouth. I creep out of the kitchen and let out a slight sigh of relief as I fix the Adidas bag lying on my shoulders. I reach for the door knob but I freeze, feeling a pair of eyes on my back. I tense up as she starts to speak.

                “Nikko, where in the world do you think you’re going young man? Do you know what time it is? It’s 4 in the morning mister! The light hasn’t even reached the bottom of our windows yet! You should know you can’t sneak away from me.”

                My mother’s nasally voice rattled behind me and I sighed, letting my shoulders sag as I turned to face her. My basketball shoes squeaked as I turned sharply on the rough hardwood floor.  I didn’t dare look up; I already knew her facial expression. It’s that stereotypical mom look, when she’s so angry that she can’t even put it into words. Only problem with that is, my mom can.  She stepped closer and grabbed my chin, forcing my face and eyes up as she continued to chew me out.

                “Where were you going?”

                I looked down, keeping my eyes trained on the floor, instead of on her. “Mom, I was just going to play some basketball with friends. The court is always so busy during the day so, we go at night.”

                “The court is several miles from out house Nikko! How on earth were you all going to get there? You’re one of the only seniors without a license son! You couldn’t even drive yourself there.”

                That’s when I looked up at her, directly in the eyes. Suddenly, I was fired up. “It’s not my fault I don’t have a license! If you or Dad ever cared to take me, I’d be able to!”

                She glared at me, knowing this was totally off topic. “We can talk about that another day, but that wasn’t my question. How were you even going to get there?”

“Kevin was coming to pick me up. He’s outside right now in his van. He’s been driving for a year now, and he’s really good!” I moved a little, trying to get her hand off my chin but she had such a firm grasp on it that I couldn’t go anywhere.

“I don’t care if he’s good son! You still can’t just leave with him at 4 in the morning to do who knows what!” Her cold stare was slowly turning from a stare to a disappointed look. I’m not entirely sure which one’s worse.

“Come on Mom just, please! I have to practice for tryouts and, you know those white kids don’t let us play during the day! They call us all names and block us from even trying to get on the court. If I don’t go now, I’ll never even get to try to make it on the team and �" “

                “Go.”

                I froze, my eyes still focused on her. I couldn’t believe what she had just said. I stood, baffled as I tried to form words in my mouth but she must’ve noticed my struggle because she nodded and said, “You’re right. You’ll never get to practice if you don’t go now. And I trust your judgement. If you say he’s a good driver, he must be alright. Go ahead, but be back home by 7, got it?”

                I nodded as she finally let go of my face. I finally muttered, “Thank you”, and charged out the door. I ran to Kevin’s car and jumped into the passenger seat, never looking back at the door.

                “Dude, what took you so long?” Kevin shifted his car into drive and started down the long dark road to the courts.

                “Got caught by my mom.”

                Kevin raised an eyebrow and glanced at me for a second, then putting his eyes back on the road. “What? How’d you get away?”

                I smirked, thinking back to the encounter. “She told me I could go. I told her how we could never use the courts during the day because of all the whites and she said I could go ahead, so I can get ready for tryouts.”

                “But, dude, they can’t even bother us! We run them off the court like it was our jobs! They can’t keep us off the courts, and they never do.”

                My smirk turned into a smile. “Exactly.”