The secret she kept

24 - A deal with Dan

Wednesday morning around 8 AM my phone started ringing. I wasn't a hundred percent awake yet. Sleepy dust was still visibly in the corners of my eyes. I turned around to get my phone. Jaspers's ID popped up. Fuck, I forgot we had discussed calling each other around this time. Nervously I answered the call. Nervous because I am still in doubt to tell him what has happened. Should I consult Jasper on the situation, more precisely on the situation around the letter Dan send me? If I followed my gut feeling it said just don't engage with Dan but deep down 

I was really curious to meet him and know more about the whole situation.

I answered the phone. Jasper happily said good morning. I did miss him dearly. He was his normal happy self but I noticed that something was bothering him so I asked.

"Well, to be honest, If I can be frank, I just miss you. We don't call as much." Jasper said.

I could feel he did mean it. I also miss him a lot. He has been my best friend since we have been in primary school.

It hasn't been easy moving and starting new. Sometimes I just forget that I still have friends on the other side of the world. I should contact them a bit more often. After ending the call with Jasper I started to feel a bit better. I walked downstairs to see mum leaving the house and dad making breakfast. It was another normal morning at the Davis/Scott house I guess.

After eating breakfast together with Dad, I decided to play a bit of basketball at the river court before school. I put on my gray hoody and my trainers and started jogging towards the river court. When I was almost there saw someone sitting on the bench. It was a bit weird, to be honest. He looked like he didn't belong there. I started walking towards the basketball court to see who it was. It was Dan, my so-called grandad. He was waiting there apparently.

"Goodmorning granddaughter, how have you been?" Dan asked in a caring tone.

"Alright, I guess. How are you? I replied a bit carefully. "I am fine thanks. So what brings you here today. Ohh, wait I don't need to ask that. It's part of the family legacy right. Did you know your dad started playing here first? He and Nathan once had a basketball battle here to decided if Lucas could join the team or if he needed to quit." Dan said while laughing at the end.

"Ohh well, I didn't know that but if you could maybe either be on your merry way or let me be. So I call to play a bit of basketball. That would be great. I am not really in the mood for old stories of a grandad that I don't know."

Dan laughed and his well know smile appeared on his face. He answered" of course, let's make it a bit more interesting though. If you can beat me at basketball then I will leave you alone. If I beat you then" Dan stopped halfway through his sentence to think about what he wanted.

"Well, then what?" Mell asked in a hurry.

"Well then we meet up once a week so we can train together""Wait, you wanna train together?" This just feels like a weird deal for some reason. Why would he wanna train with me? Ohh well, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain."Deal, let's plat then" I replied in a confident tone of voice.I passed the basketball towards Dan and he shot it straight from the bench into the basket."

"Not bad" I replied while thinking that this isn't as easy as I thought it would be.

Dan passed the ball to me and we started playing. The person who got three baskets first would win. Pretending I was about to pass Dan and go for a basket, I instead took a few steps back and shot from the three-pointer line straight into the basket. Dan looked impressed and said

"Well you do play an awful lot like Lucas, don't you."

"I think that is the first nice thing you said about my dad or me so I will take that as a compliment," I replied The second shot in was for Dan he was able to pass me since defense never really was my strong point. The third shot was on my side again and the fourth Dan hit again but this time from a distance.

It was my turn and if I screwed this up, it could mean I needed to spend more time with Dan. Did I want that?

I was lost in my thoughts while playing which resulted in Dan stealing the ball from me and scoring another basket.

"Shit!" I yelled

Dan smiled and said " Looks like we are going to spend a bit more time together Mell. It was lovely playing a game with you but I think we got some company."I turned around and saw Liam standing there watching Dan and I play basketball. "Fuck me, this morning didn't start that good".

"Well that's your opinion Mell, but I will leave. See you next week. A deal is a deal after all." Dan said with a big smile on his face.

Dan passed Liam on his way and he bumped into him. I could see he was whispering something to him but couldn't quite understand it.

Liam walked towards me and said, " Who is that?"

"Ohh thats my grandad, we just played a game of basketball.""Well it looked more intense than just a game of basketball" Liam replied skeptic"It was just a game. Ready to get to school?" I asked so I could change the topic."Yeah sure," Liam replied and kissed me.