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Authors: Kristofer Clarke
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liked what my little brother saw when he looked at me. But inside I was a basket case who couldn’t deal with the fact that my father, my rapist was about to be released from jail.
• • • • •
I wanted to just lie in my bed and stare at the sun from my bedroom window, but I had so much business to take care of. I wanted to spend Independence Day savoring ribs and drinking champagne with Devaan and her family. Instead, I boarded an early morning flight back to D.C. to do damage control. I’m telling you, man, if he weren’t my brother, I would leave him to learn the lessons he needed to learn. He was a hardheaded dude who thought his money could save him from everything. An idle mind is the devil’s playground, but my brother Chance Parker’s mind was the devil’s football field. This was Chance’s third team in five years, and already he was becoming better known for his antics off the court than for his ball handling skills on the court.
Chance was the number two draft pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, straight out of St. Joseph High School, the last year before the new age limit for draft eligibility. The Atlanta Hawks drafted him behind Andrew Bogut. His short stint in Atlanta was followed by an even shorter welcome in Sacramento. Now he was entering into his third year with the Wizards, and it seems he was doing everything to end that relationship, too.
I wasn’t planning on calling Chance until I was settled in my hotel room, sipping on something cold─and I wasn’t talking about water─but he ha d something else is mind. I reserved the presidential suite in The Melrose Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Geo rgetown section of D.C. I hadn’t given that information to Chance. I also hadn’t told him he would be picking up the tab for this trip. When my phone rang, I thought about ignoring it, but I knew he wasn’t going to stop calling until I picked up.
“Wassup, bro?” he asked when I answered, as if I had come out here to run the streets with him.
“I’m going to tell you now,” I said through gritted teeth, “I’m gonna lay in that ass when I see you later. You’re still acting like you don’t have good sense.”
“Dude, you can’t talk to me like that. I’m an adult.”
“That’s the last time you’re going to ‘dude’ me. And if you’re going to be adamant about being a damn adult, start acting like it, and stop getting your ass caught up in the kind of shit that only misguided knuckleheads get into.”
Chance was silent, which was the best thing for him to be.
“Where’re you staying?”
“The Melrose Hotel on Pennsylvania. And so you know, you’re picking up the tab.”
I was driving across the Key Bridge. There was little traffic on this Independence Day. Soon, everyone would be making his or her way into the city to watch the spectacular display of fireworks illuminating the Washington Monument.
“That’s no problem,” Chance agreed.
“It shouldn’t be.”
I looked in the rearview mirror and noticed a police cruiser following one car back, behind a white Dodge Charger.
“Yo, Chance, you know D.C. gets crazy with these hands-free laws. Gonna get off this phone.”
“Aiight, bro. Oh, when and where is dinner?”
“Meet me at 901 on 9 th and I… at 6… and don’t be late, Chance.”
“Can I bring someone?” he asked as I removed the phone from my ear.
“No, Chance,” I yelled emphatically, “that’s what’s gotten you in this shit you’re in now. Come alone. And Chance…,” I paused to make certain I had his undivided attention.
“Wassup?”
“Don’t be late,” I warned.
My brother has never been on time for anything. My mother always teased he was going be late for his own damn funeral. He was even late for his own draft, thinking he wouldn’t be drafted until the second round. As soon as I hung up the phone, the police cruiser came racing by with its reds, blues, and whites flashing busily, though his
• • • • •
I wanted to just lie in my bed and stare at the sun from my bedroom window, but I had so much business to take care of. I wanted to spend Independence Day savoring ribs and drinking champagne with Devaan and her family. Instead, I boarded an early morning flight back to D.C. to do damage control. I’m telling you, man, if he weren’t my brother, I would leave him to learn the lessons he needed to learn. He was a hardheaded dude who thought his money could save him from everything. An idle mind is the devil’s playground, but my brother Chance Parker’s mind was the devil’s football field. This was Chance’s third team in five years, and already he was becoming better known for his antics off the court than for his ball handling skills on the court.
Chance was the number two draft pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, straight out of St. Joseph High School, the last year before the new age limit for draft eligibility. The Atlanta Hawks drafted him behind Andrew Bogut. His short stint in Atlanta was followed by an even shorter welcome in Sacramento. Now he was entering into his third year with the Wizards, and it seems he was doing everything to end that relationship, too.
I wasn’t planning on calling Chance until I was settled in my hotel room, sipping on something cold─and I wasn’t talking about water─but he ha d something else is mind. I reserved the presidential suite in The Melrose Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Geo rgetown section of D.C. I hadn’t given that information to Chance. I also hadn’t told him he would be picking up the tab for this trip. When my phone rang, I thought about ignoring it, but I knew he wasn’t going to stop calling until I picked up.
“Wassup, bro?” he asked when I answered, as if I had come out here to run the streets with him.
“I’m going to tell you now,” I said through gritted teeth, “I’m gonna lay in that ass when I see you later. You’re still acting like you don’t have good sense.”
“Dude, you can’t talk to me like that. I’m an adult.”
“That’s the last time you’re going to ‘dude’ me. And if you’re going to be adamant about being a damn adult, start acting like it, and stop getting your ass caught up in the kind of shit that only misguided knuckleheads get into.”
Chance was silent, which was the best thing for him to be.
“Where’re you staying?”
“The Melrose Hotel on Pennsylvania. And so you know, you’re picking up the tab.”
I was driving across the Key Bridge. There was little traffic on this Independence Day. Soon, everyone would be making his or her way into the city to watch the spectacular display of fireworks illuminating the Washington Monument.
“That’s no problem,” Chance agreed.
“It shouldn’t be.”
I looked in the rearview mirror and noticed a police cruiser following one car back, behind a white Dodge Charger.
“Yo, Chance, you know D.C. gets crazy with these hands-free laws. Gonna get off this phone.”
“Aiight, bro. Oh, when and where is dinner?”
“Meet me at 901 on 9 th and I… at 6… and don’t be late, Chance.”
“Can I bring someone?” he asked as I removed the phone from my ear.
“No, Chance,” I yelled emphatically, “that’s what’s gotten you in this shit you’re in now. Come alone. And Chance…,” I paused to make certain I had his undivided attention.
“Wassup?”
“Don’t be late,” I warned.
My brother has never been on time for anything. My mother always teased he was going be late for his own damn funeral. He was even late for his own draft, thinking he wouldn’t be drafted until the second round. As soon as I hung up the phone, the police cruiser came racing by with its reds, blues, and whites flashing busily, though his
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