Neutral Zone (Jordan Baker) COMPLETED

Chapter Nine: Forgiveness

     We walked into the house behind Coop and Coop stopped before she got into the kitchen.  "Who is this El Debarge-looking dude?" Coop asked.
     Spencer looked at Coop confused as he walked around her. "You got to be kidding me. Jordan, what you doing here, man?"
     I stood on my tippy toes to see over Spencer and there was Jordan.  "There they are,"
     Coop took over whatever Jordan was doing from him. "Look like he bastardizing them poor greens is what it look like. You never been in a kitchen before?"
      A lady comes into view "Jordan was sweet enough to help me out while you were out," She looked at you. "I don't think I've met you,"
      Spencer pointed at me. "Moms, this is Chrissy. She's from Beverley. Chrissy, this is my moms Grace,"
       "Hi ma'am," I said.
      She looked between me and Jordan. "Oh, so you two know each other too?"
I looked over at Jordan and Jordan clearly was so wanting to say something but didn't. I looked away and back at Gracie. "Yeah,"
     Grace was about to say something but then realized what was going on. A little boy came into view as well.  "I don't know that 'help' would be the word I would use,"
      "OK, everybody's got jokes today, huh?"
      Spencer ruffled the little boy's hair. "And right here is my little brother Dillon,"
        "Hey,"
       Spencer walked out of the kitchen and into the living room with Jordan and I following.  "Why are you here?"
      "To talk about the team," He said and then looked at you. "Why are you here?"
      Before I could say anything Spencer beat me to it again. "No, man, now is not a good time and she needed away from that town for a night,"
      Jordan looked at me but then looked back at Spencer and dropped what he asked me. "Look, we don't stand a chance this season unless we all work together. Or do you not care about winning anymore?"
        "Look, I'll play, I'll practice, and I'll damn sure do my part on the field"
         "But nothing more?"
         "I came to Beverly to play football, not force myself into fake friendships with folks who want nothing to do with me,"
       "Fake friendships? I welcomed you into my home,"
       Spencer looked very annoyed. "All right, look, no shade. You cool. But if we're being honest, you don't know nothing about me, dawg, or where I'm from,"
       They sound like a bunch of seven years old bickering over some toy. "You know what? I'm here now. Let's fix that,"
       "Look, I got plans, I got friends coming over,"
       "I know, yeah, your mom already said I could stay for the cookout and you know, Spence, I can't think of a better way to really get to know you and Crenshaw,"
      "Jordan, I ain't playing,"
       Which Jordan walked out the back door.
"You want to tell me what's going on?" Gracie said.
     "It's gonna be one long-ass day,"
     ---
      We were all sitting outside while listening to Coop. "I'm just trying to enjoy this fine-ass food, this fine-ass company,"
    The girl blushed and looked away."Oh, my gosh,"
       I don't know what they started talking about cause my eyes went to Jordan who was sitting alone but Dillon came over to him and sat next to him. I saw Spencer motioned for Jordan to join us when he looked over at us. He got up from his seat, said something to Dillon and walked over to us.  "About time you joined us babyface,"
     "My name is Jordan,"
     "My name is Jordan," Coop repeated. "Look at you. Standing up for yourself. I might like you. I mean I already like your girlfriend over there,"
      I felt my face go red with blush. "Oh. We're not dating,"
"Oh I thought cause the fact yall can't go five seconds without stealing a glance towards each other,",
     "Ah, that's cause she's currently not speaking to me,"
     I rolled my eyes. "And whose fault is that?"
     "Obviously, mine,"
     I just looked at him. "Glad you finally admitted it,"
    Jordan rolled his eyes and sat down.
    The girl that Coop brought looked over at us. "This just got awkward,"
----
        We were all inside Spencer's house playing a trivia game that I had no idea was about with Spencer's friends from earlier so I just kinda listened while I was scrolling through Instagram. "Hey, man, you know, bro, Nas is trash,"