I reminded him that there were things far more important than school at the moment, but he wouldn’t listen. He pointed out how disappointed my mom would be if I let my grades lapse. I know he’s right, but it doesn’t make it any easier to hear. I did think about pushing the argument, but my uncle looked emotionally drained and exhausted. So, I gave in and went to bed.

When sleep finally comes, it plays tricks on me. I dream about shadows coming for me. And no matter how far or how fast I run, they always catch up to me. In the dream, they grab hold and pin me to the ground, that’s when I wake up screaming. Thankfully, Uncle Ty and Nai are sound sleepers. I’m sweaty and take a full minute before I can control my breathing again. It’s been a while since I thought about Alex getting his locs chopped off by the coach. He was in my dream; he was one of the shadows. I owe him an apology and it’s way overdue.

I look at the time on my cell; it’s just after midnight. Alex and I are friends on Facebook. I send him a message asking if he’s around to meet up. He agrees. An hour later, we meet in front of the mural, just across the street from me.

He comes wearing jeans and a thick leather jacket. His hair is in a low Afro. All the other times I’ve seen Alex, he’s been mostly happy. He’s a really chill guy, or at least he was. Now he looks . . . somber.

“What’s up? Why’d you need to see me?” he asks.

“The letter that coach sent to my mom . . .”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“She didn’t sign it. I did.”

He smiles. I didn’t expect that. “I knew it! I knew she wasn’t gonna do me dirty like that. When we talked in her office, she got what I was trying to say even before I said it, and then . . . Yo, why would you do that?”

I lean on the mural and hang my head. “Just . . . being a selfish jerk, only thinking about what was good for me. Turns out that’s a gift of mine.”

“Nah, don’t just say it like that. Why did you sign it? Are you taking the coach’s side?”

My head snaps up quickly. “What? No. Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know. Why would you forge your mom’s signature?”

“Because I wanted someone to like me, and that’s what I had to do to make that happen. So I did it. It was wrong. I’m sorry.”