Chapter 27: Nets vs Cavaliers

Derrick P.O.V

I was a little bit bummed out after learning what happen to Alicia and Ace I was living in New York all my life so I knew things like this were happening often but since the victims aren't people you know you just brushed it off and say to yourself shit happens but when it happens to someone you love it's a different story even if I know they are alright now I still can't calm myself ill need to see them so that it can reassure me I hope Ace isn't disgust by New York because of this he's been here only for 2 days and a situation like this already occurred to him sigh I need to get out of the house or Mom will smell that something fishy was going on

-MOM! Alicia and Ace will be late I'm going out to hoops at the park I'm too excited to stay inside

Without waiting for her to respond I sprinted out of the house the park was only 10 minutes away ill text Sis so that she text me when they were about to arrive home

Derrick: Sis text me when you are close to home I ran away from the house so that Mom wouldn't sense something is amiss

Alicia: Good idea Bro you are a real man hehehe

Derrick: Shut up laugh while you can, wait until Mom learns what happened remember when Aunt Nancy witnessed an armed robbery at the convenience store she called her every day for a year ... good luck

Alicia: Shit!!!

Derrick: Hahaha see you soon Sis 

Alicia P.O.V

Shit I forgot about how my Mother would react, I'm really thinking about taking this story to my grave now but I know I can't do this sigh and Ace wouldn't want to hide this from my Mother he hates lying 

-Say Handsome... I said coyly

-Oh boy I won't like what comes after this right?

-What do you say if we don't tell what happened to us to my Mother

-Sigh! Babe your mother is a reputed lawyer even if we don't say anything she will eventually find out so it is better that she learned it from us 

-But but... she will overreact like always 

-I don't think that worrying about her daughter is overreacting Love. Ace said with a smile 

-You don't understand... let me tell you a story

So I told the story I had forgotten but that my brother kindly reminded me of earlier which made Ace laugh of course he will find it funny, humph seeing that I was getting upset he stopped laughing 

-Sorry I wasn't laughing at you Babe but it is funny that all Mother and mother figures I know react almost the same you know when I was 6 years old I decided to play hide and seek with Lena without telling her she looked for me all day long I was so busy avoiding the staff of the mansion that I didn't realize it was already so late in the afternoon. Anyway when I got so hungry I almost couldn't move I waited in the dining room after this little stunt Lena didn't leave my side for almost a year she was waiting at the door when I had to go to the bathroom she slept in my room to make sure I wouldn't disappear in the middle of the night your story reminded me of this sorry

-You were such a pest when you were little ... do you have other stories like that 

-You want to hear them? he said looking at me from the corner of his eye

-Yes! I almost squealed when saying this which didn't escape Ace's perception seeing the little smirk he was making now

The car ride was really enjoyable I got to know a lot of things about Ace most of them made me speechless saying this man was a genius was an understatement I knew he was smart but again the word smart couldn't start to describe Ace intelligence with all the stories he told me about his childhood I really want to see some pictures when he was little now, with how handsome he is now I can picture how cute he was looking when he was young... well younger than now (giggles) 

I texted my brother that we were almost home like he asked me to i also sent a message to my mother that we were almost there i still don't know how to tell my mother what happened to us earlier of course she would ask why we were late I even if I wanted to lie she would know (Mother's instincts are scary)

15 minutes later Ace pulled into the driveway since we were already late we didn't get out of the car but waited for my Mother and Derrick so that we could leave for Barclays Center it would be the first time I would be going there I was really getting excited but then I saw my Mom coming

-Ace I will sit in the backseat with Derrick I can't let Mom sit in the back

-Hmm you're right give me a kiss before you go so far away from me he said giving me a fake pitiful look

-Fuck off I said going out of the car and giving my seat to my mother

Of course, the first thing my mother asked us when she got in the car was why we were late so I didn't have any choice now but to tell her what happened and just like my brother had said my Mom started asking one question after the other and I won't say what she said about those thieves but let just say that a priest would probably had an heart attack if he was with us 

Teresa P.O.V

I still don't know what kind of person is Ace but I know my daughter so the fact that she was late was weird she would have warned me if she knew she would be late but she didn't so something unexpected must have happened and when she told me the reason I was scared, what if an accident had happened and something bad had happened to my precious little girl then I was angry, I know it wasn't Ace fault but his car wasn't the most discreet vehicle out there people would know that the owner of such a car must have money but I was even angrier to those fucking thieves who thought they could get scotfree after targeting my daughter humph I think I will use a favor or two that people owns me to make sure these two jerks rot in jail as long as legally possible than I started to be worried if my girl was still at home she would never have been there than again I start to resent Ace a little bit 

-MOM! Are you listening to me? Alicia's shout took me out of my thoughts

-Sorry honey I was elsewhere for a moment

-Yeah tell me about it she said rolling her eyes at me 

Before I could say something back to my annoying daughter who didn't take her mother's emotions into consideration Ace spoke

-I'm sorry Ms. Augello when I spotted these guys around my car I should have left right away with Alicia my ego got the better of me and I confronted them head-on that was stupid when I realized my mistakes they both spotted me it was already too late to turn around I put Alicia in danger and for that, I feel really guilty I can promise you that it won't happen again

-Yes you were really reckless did you know that they could have had weapons on them that could have been much more dangerous than it was you put yourself and my daughter in danger so even if you are sorry, I'm still angry at you 

-I understand you have all the right in the world to be upset with me

-but they were armed... I heard Alicia whispering at the back

-WHHHHAAATTT! Now you little girl better tell me what happened without forgetting any details and if you lie I will know don't forget that I'm your lawyer and mother I can get your deposition from the police at any time am I clear?

-I... I... hum I mean ... hesitate Alicia

After seeing the scowl I had on my face she told the whole story without omitting anything knowing the complete sequence of events I wasn't angry at Ace anymore but I would say it to him he must know that he did something reckless even if the choice he made wasn't necessary the wrong one in lights of the new information I got, knowing one of them had a gun change a lot a thing what if seeing Ace and Alicia turning around abruptly like that had made him take out his gun to threaten them maybe they wouldn't have realized he was the owner of the car but maybe they would it was 50/50 at least now I know that Ace is a martial art fighter and from the way Alicia described the scene he was a good one at that I don't like the stars she was having in her eyes when she was talking about Ace's fight but ... I too had been young sigh. I would have to talk to Alicia about some things later because we were already at the Barclays Center parking lot

Derrick P.O.V

The car ride dampened my mood a little but as soon as I saw the arena I forgot everything else i will for the first time in my life see an NBA game live not the kind of Live like on TV but the physically present kind of Live. Before entering the Center Ace gave us our tickets when I look at them and saw we were on the courtside I shouted out loud in pure joy I had so much fun I didn't even realize the game was over until the reporters started filming the post-game interview right in front of our seats

CLEVELAND (AP) Cam Thomas scored 29 points in 31 minutes, Mikal Bridges had 25 points and the Brooklyn Nets pulled away to beat the injury-riddled Cleveland Cavaliers 120-101

Dennis Schroder added 17 points and eight assists, and Nic Claxton had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Brooklyn, which built a 26-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Nets only trailed for 1:41 in the game, all early in the third period.

"This game, I had to get out of my comfort zone, get the team fired up and lead the guys by example," said Thomas, who also had seven rebounds and five assists. "Cleveland always tries to take away the mid-range a little bit, but with certain lineups, I can be a little more aggressive."

Georges Niang scored 20 points and Jarrett Allen had 15 points and nine rebounds for Cleveland, which fell a half-game behind Milwaukee into third place in the Eastern Conference. Darius Garland had 14 points and five assists.

"We just never really got out of the mud," Niang said. "We never really seemed to get it rolling tonight."

Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell missed his sixth straight game because of soreness in his left knee, but resumed on-court work earlier in the day. The five-time All-Star is the fifth-leading scorer in the NBA at 28.0 points per game.

Cleveland also was without two additional starters in forwards Evan Mobley (left ankle sprain) and Max Strus (right knee strain), along with backup big man Dean Wade (personal reasons).

"Our guys competed and I'm proud of them, but at some point in time, you just run out of gas," Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "The third quarter kind of broke our back."

The Cavaliers took their first lead at 53-52 on Isaac Okoro's layup to open the second half, but the Nets answered with a 44-27 run behind 11 points apiece from Thomas and Bridges. Thomas and Schroder each made 40-footers during the surge.

"Cam displayed it all tonight, it wasn't just his scoring, he was contributing in other ways," Brooklyn interim coach Kevin Ollie said. "We want him to be a masterpiece on offense and a masterpiece on defense. Just his toughness, his resiliency, it means the world for us."

"If we want to get in the finals, we just have to do it," Thomas said. "That's all there is to it. I'm tired of all the talking about energy after games."

Nets guard Lonnie Walker IV had four points after sitting out at Charlotte with an illness, but forward Cam Johnson missed his third consecutive game with a sprained right ankle. Ollie said Johnson is considered day-to-day.

Witnessing all this was surreal for me finally I will have something to brag about when school begins in September I thought