Page 66 of Bro Code

They turned and went up the hill toward his parents’ place. The houses thinned and the rainforest took over. Les Grands Fonds. Goats on ropes were staked down on verges. Lizards the size of cats dashed across the road in front of them. They stopped outside the house and Louis was surprised at how quickly they’d arrived. A big, run down old two-story maison coloniale with steps going up to the front door and a big patio with colonial pillars.

He sat in the back seat staring at it through the window until the driver asked what the hell he was waiting for and told him to get out. He lugged his suitcase up the crumbling stone steps and found the front door wide open.

It was dark inside and the back door was open too, and he could see all the way through the house, past the porch, to the sea in the distance. A breeze came through. A ceiling fan spun. He took off his sunglasses as he stepped carefully inside and said, “Alò?”

Someone set a dish down in the kitchen. He left his suitcase by the door and came in a bit more, smelling curry and goat and roasting plantains. He heard heavy, slow footsteps creaking closer, until a big round figure came around the corner. He couldn’t see her face or what she was wearing because she was silhouetted against the sea behind her, but he heard her gasp, “Louis!”

“Hey, Manman.”

She hurried toward him as well as she could, which was not well, given her size and age, and put her arms out. He hesitated, and then hated himself for doing that, and stepped in for a hug. She smelled exactly like she always had.

“Bonjou doudou.”

“Good to see you,” he said. The words stuck on the way out. He wasn’t sure if it was good to see her, but that was the thing to say.

She stepped back and held him at arms’ length, smiling and studying him. Her hair was much grayer than he remembered and her face was deeply wrinkled. Her voice was deep and thickly accented as she said, “I didn’t know you would be so soon.”

“Yeah, the taxi got me here pretty quick.”

“You have a suitcase?” She looked around him at it, then nodded and turned, waving over her shoulder. “Come. I made your room.”

“Is Chloé here?” he asked, following.

“No, she is working at the bar, but she will finish at six.”

“And Papa?”

She didn’t answer that. Just pushed open the door to his old room and stood smiling and holding it back for him with her hip. He stepped past her, hauling the suitcase. The tiny room had been turned into storage, there were cardboard boxes and planks of wood everywhere. The window was open to the breeze and the sea.

He turned, setting the suitcase at the end of his bed. “How are you feeling?”

She waved it off. “We can talk later. When Chloé comes we will have dinner. I’m making Colombo.”

He nodded and sat on the bed, taking off his glasses, feeling worried and exhausted and weirdly nostalgic. “How has everything been–”

“Have a nap. You are very tired from traveling,” his mom said, and closed the door before he could argue.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Riley

His parents arrived in the afternoon after Louis had left. He woke up from a nap and heard them in the other room, talking to the assistant coach. His mom knocked on the door and put her head around it to tell him Coach was leaving and they would take care of him.

He had texts from the guys on the team and old friends from back home in California. Lindholm sent him well-wishes from New York. There was a voicemail from Rick, and a text saying to get in touch whenever he was feeling up to it. Riley listened to the voicemail. Did Riley want to press charges against Okafor? No pressure, but he was going to have to decide.

He napped on and off for the rest of the afternoon, and got up around six to eat dinner. His parents ordered takeout from a Chinese place nearby, and spread it out on the hotel’s tiny dining table, even though it was way too small for all three of them. His mom always insisted on eating at the table.

“How are you feeling?” she said, cracking her chopsticks apart. Her usually tidy black hair was sticking at all angles out of a bun, and both she and Riley’s dad were in jeans and socks. Riley couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his dad in socks.

“Totally fine.” Riley opened a box of rice and shook some on top of his sweet and sour chicken. “This is just precaution. They just have to follow procedure.”

“We were so worried!”

He reached out to hug her around the shoulders. “Thanks for coming.”

“Of course!” She started eating. “I can’t believe you have to go back on the ice so soon! They don’t give you any time to recover at all!”

“That’s because I’m fine,” said Riley. His mom made her mouth an unhappy line but didn’t push it. He picked up his chopsticks and realized he was starving.