Farewell, New Beginning

Martha Upshaw looked out the window. It was half past five in the afternoon. If nothing unexpected happened, Zeke should be home by now. If he was in a good mood, he might even bring his best friend Link along.

Martha liked watching out the window at this time of day. As soon as she spotted Upshaw or that boy Link, she would step outside and give those two dream-chasing boys a solid hug.

But now, Martha would never get to wait for that moment again. Her son would never come home. He was forever left on the basketball court.

Thinking of this, Martha's eyes reddened once more. The grief of the old burying the young was not something easily soothed. Zeke's departure had shattered this already broken family even further.

Years ago, her husband had left the family for drug dealing. Martha had barely managed to raise her two children, and then Upshaw was taken by accident.

Now, only Martha and Zeke's younger sister Randall remained in this house. Martha was no longer young, and Randall was still in high school. The family had lost two men, lost its pillars. What would they do from now on? This black housewife had no clue at all.

Rely on relatives? The families living in this neighborhood weren't much better off. Martha's brother had died years ago in a gang shootout. Her uncle had lived an honest life, but working at a gas station, he could barely support his own family.

Martha wiped her tears and continued making dinner. Randall should be getting out of school soon. She didn't want her daughter to see her weak and crying.

Knock knock knock.

Just then, Martha heard a knock at the door. She opened it still wearing her apron, but when the door swung wide, she found it wasn't her daughter standing outside.

It was Upshaw's best friend, the yellow-skinned boy Martha treated like a son—Link.

"Link? Wasn't the team playing in Texas today?" Martha was very surprised. Even though Upshaw was gone, she still made a habit of checking on the Blue Team's movements every morning.

"I didn't need to go to Texas, Martha. Actually, I came to say goodbye. I'm going to the NBA again. This time, it's Memphis."

"Oh!" The black housewife covered her mouth, crying tears of joy. "That's wonderful, congratulations! Zeke was right, the NBA is where you belong. Go for it, Link. Last time, those Houston folks had no eye for talent. This time, I believe you'll definitely make it!"

Martha's hug made Link feel incredibly warm. The Link before he crossed over had lacked parental affection. And now this Link, because he studied and played ball out of town, rarely got to reunite with his family either.

So in Oklahoma City, only Upshaw had been able to give Link the warmth of home, to make him feel like he had a family.

"By the way, this is a Christmas gift for you and Randall. Christmas is almost here, and I figure I might not be able to come back on Christmas Day. So I brought the gifts over early today."

"Link, you shouldn't spend so much money on us." Though she said that, Martha still accepted the gifts.

This wasn't Martha being fake—Americans just didn't go in for all that pushing and shoving. If this were in China, the gift would have been shoved back and forth a hundred times before it was finally accepted.

"Just a small token, don't worry, Martha. I'll do my best to sign a guaranteed contract in the NBA. As for Randall, don't let her go straight to work after high school. If she can get into college, I'm willing to pay her tuition. You don't need to worry about that."

"This..."

"It's an advance, an advance. She can pay me back after she starts working, no rush." Before Martha could refuse, Link cut her off.

Of course, Link didn't actually expect the Upshaw family to repay him. But if he didn't call it an advance, Martha would never accept his help.

"Stay for dinner. I'll grill some sausages."

"No, Martha. I have to head to Memphis tonight. I've already bought my ticket. There's a lot to take care of, so I'm afraid I can't stay for dinner. Remember to tell Randall—if she can get in, she doesn't need to worry about tuition."

Waving, Link turned and left. Martha stared at Link's back until he disappeared around the street corner.

The black housewife went back inside and continued making dinner. On the surface, life seemed no different.

But in truth, her life had already changed dramatically. At the very least, she now had hope for the future again.

After saying goodbye to Jon Brockman and Coach Conner one by one, Link picked up his meager luggage and took a cab to the airport.

Though this wasn't Link's first time leaving the Blue Team for the NBA, this time felt completely different from before.

Last time, Link had felt nothing but excitement. This time, he was eerily calm.

He knew very well that once he left, he probably wouldn't be back in Oklahoma City for a while. His goal was clear: sign a guaranteed contract with the Grizzlies. If he succeeded, he'd be playing with the Grizzlies until summer. Unless they had a game against the Thunder, Link probably wouldn't have much chance to return to this city.

So today, taking advantage of Christmas, he had said goodbye to all his friends in Oklahoma City.

He wouldn't forget Martha's warmth toward him, wouldn't forget Conner's fairness, and wouldn't forget Brockman—the opponent and teammate who had made him stronger.

After saying goodbye to everyone in person, Link had no more regrets. Watching the street scenes flash by outside the car window, he pulled out his phone to say goodbye to one last person.

"Don't forget to watch the Grizzlies' games."

A simple sentence. The message was sent.

Recipient: Rachel Demita.

At 12:34 AM, a solitary Link landed at Memphis International Airport. Though Memphis wasn't the most developed city in the U.S., Memphis International Airport was the world's second-largest cargo airport, second only to Hong Kong International Airport.

So even though it was the early morning, the airport was still bustling with crowds.

People from all countries and regions filled the terminal—ethnic diversity on full display in Memphis. Of course, this also brought all kinds of people and ideological conflicts to the city.

"Link, over here!" In the crowd, Link spotted Jeff Austin waving at him. Seeing a familiar face in an unfamiliar city instantly put Link at ease.

Come to think of it, Jeff Austin had it pretty rough. He wasn't young anymore, and Link wasn't his only client. But for Link's sake, he was willing to wait at the airport in person at this hour.

Just for that, Jeff Austin was far more dedicated than Carl Jones.

"Welcome to Memphis, kid! Sorry, I can't take you on a tour of the city tonight. After all, Memphis has never had great public safety. Anyway, you'll have plenty of chances to get to know this place. The car's already waiting outside. Let's head straight to the hotel."

Austin greeted Link warmly and filled him in on the situation.

"Not great public safety? What do you mean?" Link was baffled. In all his years living in America, he'd only ever heard of certain areas having bad public safety. For example, when people talked about Los Angeles, they'd only say Long Beach had bad public safety.

But hearing an entire city described as having high crime rates and bad public safety? That was a first for Link.

"What do I mean? Exactly what I said. Didn't you know Memphis is called 'America's most dangerous city'? Hahaha, but don't worry. In Memphis, if local residents voluntarily turn in their guns, they can get free tickets to a few games. So things are a lot better now than they used to be."

"Turn in guns for free tickets?! How desperate do you have to be to make a decision like that?"

Link swallowed hard. This city on the banks of the Mississippi River seemed far more complicated than he had imagined.