Fast Break Read Online Free

De’Ron a fake smile.
    He sat down, waited for De’Ron to come back with both boxes, and tried on the Mad Handle 2s first. He took his timelacing them up, hoping that De’Ron would go help somebody else, a
paying
customer, and maybe even forget that Jayson was here.
    â€œHow those feel?” De’Ron said when Jayson had both of them on.
    â€œReal sweet,” Jayson said. “Now let’s try the others.” Then he went through the same slow process with the Zooms.
    â€œHow those feel?” De’Ron said.
    â€œJust as sweet.”
    â€œWalk around on them a little bit to make sure.”
    Jayson made sure not to walk toward the door; he walked toward the back of the store instead. It felt even more crowded in here now than when he first came in. Even the music seemed louder. Jayson gave one quick look back, saw De’Ron talking to another customer, smiling and nodding, and told himself that he couldn’t feel bad here the way he did when he was stealing food from Mr. Karlini’s store. Told himself that he was just doing what he had to do to survive. That he needed basketball to survive as much as he needed food.
    He waited until he caught De’Ron’s eye, gave him another fake smile, came back to where he’d been sitting.
    â€œI’m not sure. They’re a little bit tight now that I walk in them. I’d better try the Handles on one more time,” Jayson said. “Somebody told me once, if they don’t fit in the store, they’ll never fit. And, you know, they’ve got to be
just right
.”
    â€œTell me about it. You a player?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œWhereabouts?”
    â€œAkersville.”
    Lying really was like ball. More you did it, better you got at it.
    Jayson tried the Adidas back on, shook his head, put the Zooms on, and frowned. De’Ron seemed to be losing interest; there were other people waiting to be helped.
    â€œCan I try the next half-size up?” Jayson asked. “Just so I can make sure?”
    â€œLemme make sure we’ve got them,” De’Ron said.
    Now De’Ron was the one walking toward the back of the store. Jayson turned and looked at the front door, saw a man and woman about to come through it with their daughter.
    Now.
    This was like an opening in a game, the daylight you got between defenders, one that opened fast and closed even faster.
    He walked toward the exit, telling himself not to hurry, and held the door open for the little girl. The mom said, “Well, thank you! Maybe manners aren’t dead in our little town after all.”
    â€œYou’re welcome.” Jayson kept his head down and waited for the whole family to enter, then calmly walked out the door, like he was on the court, using them as a screen.
    Not even breathing now.
    He’d scoped out Main Street before entering the store, knew that the closest side street was to his left when he gotout on the sidewalk. He’d seen that there was a pretty long block once you turned the corner, with more side streets splitting off from there.
    Jayson walked left, heart pounding, still telling himself not to hurry when what he really wanted to do was run. The one thing he’d stopped to do once he got outside was pull down his sweatpants so they’d cover the white of the new sneakers, which he imagined were brighter than headlights on a car.
    Once he made the left at the corner,
then
he was going to run, to use his speed when he needed it the most.
    Almost there.
    That’s when he felt a large hand clamp down on his shoulder.
    â€œWhere do you think you’re going, son?” a man’s voice said.
    Jayson turned around to find a tall white-haired man. He wasn’t wearing a striped shirt, just a short-sleeved one that said “Foot Locker” on the front, and underneath that, “Manager.”
    â€œI was just looking for my mom,” Jayson said. “She was supposed to meet me