Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 117363 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117363 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Tuesday and Wednesday followed the same pattern, but Wednesday night changed things. Wednesday night was Riko’s funeral. Jean stared at his dark TV all evening and imagined Wymack and Kevin sitting side by side in the church pews.
The funeral was a turning point. Edgar Allan, the Ravens, and the Ravens’ most strident and fanatical followers had been mired in grief and denial until now. Once the service was over and Riko was nothing but ash and bone, the conversation started to shift.
For days there’d been articles and essays about the insane pressure heaped upon star athletes and celebrities. Now the tone grew darker and angrier, as it always seemed to do when the Ravens were in the mix. The blame slowly started to slide from public consumption to the tiny team who’d destroyed Riko’s reputation and to the perfect Court who’d abandoned the King who handpicked them for glory. Neil’s name popped up with alarming frequency, but Kevin and Jean weren’t far behind him. Jean could only tolerate a day of ugly rumors and accusations before he resolved to stop watching the news entirely.
The last days of the school year were the only thing keeping people in check, or so Abby seemed to think, and Jean heard her on the phone with her Foxes urging them to get out of town as soon as possible after they finished their exams. Jean had forgotten that some—most? all?—schools actually allowed their athletes time off in the summer. Only three Foxes were staying in town, Abby told Jean at dinner Thursday night, and Jean didn’t have to ask which three. The rest would scatter to the winds before retribution found them.
On Friday Renee found him at the court, bringing with her a letter Abby must have passed her to deliver to him. It had USC lettering on it, so Jean opened it when Renee sat beside him. Inside was a plane ticket and a handwritten letter from Jeremy. They’d found a place for Jean to stay, it seemed, but they needed a week so someone named Jillian could move out first. He’d be rooming with Catalina Alvarez and Laila Dermott: a starting backliner and USC’s best goalkeeper to date. Jeremy promised he’d be there to pick Jean up from the airport when he arrived.
Beneath his signature was an almost illegible scribble in someone else’s handwriting, and Jean had to tilt the letter a few times before he made out an enthusiastic “Let’s fucking goooo!!” Jean slowly folded the letter again and looked at the ticket. Jean assumed Jeremy had hashed out the date with Kevin. He didn’t know Wymack well enough to be completely sure, but he was fairly certain the man would’ve asked him before setting something like this in stone. Having his life decided for him was a familiar feeling, so Jean didn’t waste his breath complaining.
He passed his ticket to Renee so she could see it. “That’s sooner than I thought,” she admitted. “I assume he wants you on the ground where their nurses can get a good look at you. Kevin never told them the extent of your injuries; all they know is you’re sidelined for three months.”
Renee handed it back and watched as Jean slipped both the letter and ticket into the envelope. She said, with more surety than he felt, “That will be nice. It gives you time to get used to the city before jumping into practice with a new team. I’ve heard only good things about your new captain.”
“From Kevin,” Jean guessed. “His bias cannot be trusted.”
She laughed. “Perhaps, but it is a little endearing, isn’t it? He is not normally so forward with his admiration.”
“It is refreshing only to you. I have had to put up with it for as long as I have known him. He is a fool. ‘Exy as it is meant to be played’,” he said, sharp with mockery. “He would wither away if he was on their lineup; he is too ill-tempered to survive a day on their court.”
Renee bumped her shoulder against his. “Whereas you will fit right in.”
She was teasing, but Jean said, “I will hate them, but I will do what I must to survive.”
Renee said nothing for a minute, then turned a serious look on him. “They will ask you about your injuries. Do you know what you will tell them?”
“I was injured in a scrimmage,” Jean said.
Renee answered with a wry smile. “I do not think your nurses will be impressed by that answer. And Jean? It will not explain these.” She rested her fingertips to his chest and studied his shirt like she could see through it to the scars beneath. “I do not remember the Gold Court being set up to facilitate privacy the way we are here. They will want to know what happened.”