Jacoby leaves before his mother arrives,
which is just as well. Ryan suspects this is the last time he’ll
talk to his roommate—ex-roommate, if there even is such a
thing. Sure, he might see him around campus, they might wave in
passing, but they’ll both keep walking, they won’t look back. He
almost thinks this might be the beginning of the end of his time
with the team, too, but he hopes not. He’ll walk again, he’s
planning on it, and he’ll come back next season bigger and stronger
and faster than ever before.
But he has to get back on his feet first. In
the van, he stares out the window while his mother drives, stares
at all the people walking on the sidewalk, milling at the curbs,
standing and jogging and even the little girls skipping rope, the
boys playing basketball, ever
