Page 304 of Ruthless Court

“You’re still difficult.”

“He came back the next day.”

“Persistent.”

“The third day he brought an assistant.”

“What did your parents think?”

“They thought somebody was trying to scam us.”

That gets another laugh.

“Eventually he talked to them. School waived my tuition. Books. Fees. Everything.”

“That’s huge.”

“It changed my life.”

I look at her.

“Coach drove me.”

Her face softens.

“Every morning?”

“Practice started too early for my parents to get me across town and still make work. No bus came anywhere near our neighborhood.”

“So he picked you up.”

“Five twenty every morning.”

“For how long?”

“Three years.”

Hannah looks away toward the lights.

“That’s a good man.”

“Yeah.”

My throat tightens unexpectedly.

“He didn’t have to do any of it.”

“But he did.”

“And I took the opportunity.”

Every early morning.

Every insult.

Every parent who thought their kid deserved my minutes.

Every class I stayed late for because I refused to let anyone say I was only there to play.