Arise | Jordan Poole

101 | first stone

"We wanna do it right away! Please say you guys can be here. I know Jordan has a game tonight but tomorrow we wanna go down to City Hall."

Amaria had just finished dressing Jade for the Warriors vs Celtics game and her mother called to spring this insane idea on her.

Warren and Karena wanted to get married.

Not a big ceremony at all but just small gathering at the courthouse and then maybe dinner afterwards.

"I'll let him know before the game. Y'all are so crazy for doing this."

"Jade will be my little flower baby and then you can be my maid of honor, oh and I gotta get on the phone and call— baby I'll talk to you later."

Karena didn't even wait for Amaria to respond before she ended the call.

"Jade Alexandra Poole, where are you at?"

The small child had a habit of running off and doing her own thing, especially when they had somewhere to be. Jade was in the office, a place she was normally told not to go but she found herself sitting on the beanbag chair and looking through a stack of papers.

"Young lady, what are you in here doing?"

"I—" the five year old was caught red handed. "I'm sorry mommy." Amaria could tell by the tone of her voice the little girl was on the verge of tears.

"Don't cry baby." Amaria cradled her daughter as they sat on the floor, "You know you're not supposed to be in here alone. Tell mommy what you were you in here looking at?"

The small sniffles pulled at her heart strings. Jade didn't mean to do anything bad but her little imagination ran wild as she remembered seeing papers with her dad's name on them.

"I— I wanted to read this cause it had daddy's name on it."

Jordan Poole:
From the 414 to NBA Champion
Written By:
Amaria Banks

Amaria almost forgot she had written a biography about Jordan. She finished it months ago and kept a copy in her office. It was a passion project he had no idea about.

"Well good job baby, what else does it say?"

"Umm," Jade didn't want to be wrong with her answer. She sometimes felt silly saying things because she knew her mommy and daddy were smart and brave, she looked up to them.

"It's okay baby, I'll help you."

"It says Jordan Poole, four, one, four."

Amaria smiled knowing that her daughter was more advance than the young girl liked to think, "And what else does it say?"

"To! And then it says umm, NBA...." She tried breaking down the word in her head without sounding it out.

"What's the sound the first four letters make?"

Jade sounded out "CHAM" which earned excited claps from the proud mother. "So good baby and what's the next part?"

"PION?"

"So close, it's said like PEE-un. Let's say it all together though."

"Cham-pee-un?"

"Yes baby, that was perfect." Amaria delivered kisses all over Jade's face as the young girl giggled.

She couldn't have asked for a better moment with her baby.

Jordan was always happy to see Jade at his games but there was something extra heart warming when Amaria could make it. Her schedule almost never allowed her to attend anymore but today she had the time.