“I never saw that picture before,” Lucas said.

“I didn’t even remember I had it,” Julia said. “Pretty sure it’s the only one I’ve got of your grandfather as a young man. The ones with him and your dad, he’s a lot older, obviously.”

“Could Gramps have had a brother named Joe or Tommy?” Lucas said.

“Your dad didn’t have any uncles or aunts,” Lucas’s mom said. “And at our wedding, the only family on your dad’s side was Gramps and your grandmom.”

Lucas reached down and moved the pictures around, just to be doing something with his hands.

“Where is Gramps from in California?” Lucas said.

“The few times I ever talked about this with your dad,” she said, “he just said that his dad had been a foster child, and moved around a lot when he was a boy. I think he mentioned Bakersfield. Maybe Fresno. One time in particular I asked your dad, ‘Aren’t you curious about what your dad’s life was like growing up?’ And he kind of shrugged and said that Gramps didn’t like talking about it. He just assumed it hadn’t been a particularly happy childhood, that going from one family to another had been like having no real family at all.”

“And you never asked Gramps yourself?”

“You know him,” she said. “He talks about what he wants to talk about. Like he’s calling the plays even when you’re having a conversation with him.”

Lucas said, “Maybe I don’t know him nearly as well as I thought I did.”

The Wolves’ next practice was the following night, the first of two practices before they’d play the Grisham Mavs the Saturday after next. Lucas had been excited from the time he’d seen the schedule and realized this would be their third game. He was going to get the chance to go up against Jake Farr, who’d been one of the best point guards in their league last year. Jake was the Twin Lakes League version of Steph Curry, because of the way Jake could handle the ball and make shots from just about everywhere. He’d been a little taller than Lucas when they were sixth-graders, just as fast, left-handed. A total star. Lucas couldn’t wait.

Tonight they worked a lot on their transition defense. If the Mavs hadn’t changed their style, they liked to run as much as the Wolves did. So Gramps had a chance tonight to talk about one of his favorite subjects: turning good defense into offense.

“No matter how fast they come at you,” he said, “you can always slow those boys down with good D. You make them miss. You make them rush. You take the ball away. And then it’s you coming at them fast. Like you’re trying to give those poor boys a case of whiplash.”