Rebound: A 2nd Chance

As Jason walked down the street it was as though his body was on autopilot mode. In his heated state of mind all he could think about was the argument he had just had with his mom and how she had slapped him.

Even though Jason's parents were both Korean they had used a completely different parenting style compared to the stereotypical tiger parenting that was associated with Asian parents.

In his past life his parents had never resorted to physical discipline. They had always taken Jason's opinions in consideration while explaining to him why he should or shouldn't do something.

'Why the hell would she just hit me? She didn't even try to talk or explain anything. This is a training camp invitation from Nike!

This is literally a once in a lifetime type situation. And just because the training camp is in New York she doesn't want me to go?

She was literally jumping from joy when she first found out that I had received the invitation.

Why the hell did she switch things up when she heard that the training camp would be in New York?'

Just as he was trying to think about what had just happened he was interrupted when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Jason had ran out of the house in a hurry so he only had on a white tee shirt and a pair of grey joggers.

Thankfully he was in California. So even though it was pretty late at night it wasn't all that cold.

Jason turned his head and saw some guy that he didn't know. He gave the guy a quick scan and instantly came to a conclusion 'This guys is a creep.'

The guy smiled as he looked at Jason's face 'This kid a real cutie. Hehe I didn't think I would see something like this on my way home from work.'

"Hey there sweety. What are you doing out so late? You shouldn't be by yourself. Things can get pretty dangerous around these streets. 

Do you need a ride home or would you like to-" He was interrupted as Jason raised his arm and pushed the man's hand off of his shoulder.

"Who the hell you think you feeling up on bruh? Man get your ugly ass out of here before I call the police you fucking gay as pedo."

Jason then put his open hand up in a threatening manner. But no more actions would be necessary as Jason's words were enough to scare the man away.

Jason put his hand down "Fucking greasy looking pedo. Who the hell you trying to call sweety? I am obviously a dude."

The random predator and his attempt at Jason was enough for him to blow off a little steam as he now felt like his head was a little clearer.

'Man, I really dipped out of there in a hurry. I didn't even grab anything on my way out other than some shoes. At least I have my wallet and cellphone.'

Jason took a look around him for the first time since he had left the apartment "Jesus, I must have been walking for at least thirty minutes now."

Jason recognized the area. He was past Jefferson which was a five to ten minute drive from the apartment.

'Well at least the pedo gave me a chance to put my frustrations out on somebody. I think I'm a little more reasonable now.

But I'm still pissed at my mom. That was the first time she had ever put her hands on me. Even including my past life.'

As Jason thought back to the moments leading up to the fight he couldn't help but think back to his mom's smiling face when he first told his parents that he had received the invite from Nike.

The genuine happiness that she showed for him made it hard to stay angry at her. "Fuck!" Jason cursed as he began to feel a mixture of emotions.

He felt angry at his mom for being stubborn and unreasonable, he felt sad that his mom had actually slapped him, but he also felt confused as he was slightly angry at himself.

'She's the one that was being unreasonable. If she has a reason for not wanting me to go then why can't she talk about it?

I didn't do anything wrong. It was all her. It's all her fault.' But despite what Jason tried to tell himself he couldn't shake off the frustration that he was feeling toward himself.

As Jason continued to walk he found himself getting closer and closer to the park where Trell had challenged him.

'This brings back memories. Back then Trell still wanted to beat my ass black and blue. It's crazy to think that I really got him to join the basketball team.

And not only did he join the team but we actually managed to win a county title and make it to the top 8 in the state tournament.

Now he's over in LA living it up. Hmmm? There are people still playing?' As Jason got closer to the park he could hear some music being played over a speaker as well as the sound of basketball being played.

"Ay yo that was a foul!" "The hell it was!" "Man, get yo floppin ass off the court." "I got next!"

The lights of the park were on as a bunch of people surrounded the court. The entire park was packed.

There were people playing half court games on both sides of the court, there were people waiting on the sidelines for their turn to play, and there were people who looked like they were just there to watch and have fun. 

Jason had planned on just watching from a distance but without him noticing his body continued to approach the court.

He didn't realize it until one person that was sitting on the park bench looked in his direction before doing a double take.

The person then shouted out "Yo it's Jaya! Jaya's actually here at the park y'all!" All of the games paused as they all rushed toward Jason.

"Yo what's good Young Buckets." "What's up Jaya!" "He really here bro. Nah I ain't lying. Just get your ass over to the park!"

Jason smiled as he dapped up all of the guys that were greeting him. One of the guys asked "What you doing out here?"

Jason thought for a second before syaing "I came out here to blow some steam. Now that the seasons over there ain't much for me to do nowadays."

Jason didn't tell the whole truth but technically he didn't lie. The reason he was walking around was to cool his head off.

Everyone got excited after hearing what Jason said "Yooo!!! Jaya's tryin to run fives y'all! Who down!?"

Everyone raised their hands in a hurry as they all shouted out that they were down to play some five on five basketball.

Things started to get even crazier as more and more people began to show up at the park. Jason gulped as he saw more people flooding in.

'This isn't really what I had in mind.... Fuck it. Let's just go with the flow. This should be a good way to release some stress.

I can worry about how to fix things at home after I decompress with a little basketball.'