But Colton, his face twisted with anger, shoved Jamal into the bleachers.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jamal caught Riley watching them. She looked concerned. Jamal felt fiery blood rush to his cheeks, making them burn. His hopes of being her friend faded altogether. The rest of the kids from his team surrounded him and Colton.
“Whatcha gonna do now, Invisible Boy?” Colton sneered. The other kids jeered and laughed cruelly.
Jamal’s mind flashed back to the horrific gym wedgie incident. This was going to be way worse, he could already tell. The furious expression on Colton’s face told him that much. “No, please…” he begged. “I’m sorry! I’ll play better—”
Then a shadow stretched over them. It was accompanied by a stern voice.
“Hey, leave him alone!”
The shadow belonged to Malik.
“Stop messing with my brother,” Malik said, glaring at Colton. “Don’t you have something better to do?”
“Hey, it’s chill,” Colton said, throwing his hands up and backing away from Jamal. “We didn’t mean anything by it. We were just having a little team chat, that’s all—”
“Right, well don’t let me catch you chatting with my brother again,” Malik said. “Or you’ll have to answer to me, got it?”
Colton looked down and blushed. His cheeks turned red beneath his freckles. Jamal couldn’t believe it. Then Malik shifted his irate gaze to the other kids.
“That means…all of you. Buzz off and leave Jamal alone. Is that clear?”
They didn’t need to be told twice. Colton and the rest of Jamal’s team headed for the locker room, looking chastised. Once Malik was satisfied that they were gone, he held out his arm to help Jamal up. “You okay, Little J?”
That had been his nickname for Jamal ever since they were kids. At first, Jamal hadn’t liked the name. “How am I the little one?” he would shoot back. “We’re, like, the exact same age.”
“No way, I’m older,” Malik would say, puffing out his chest.
“Please, like a whole five minutes,” Jamal would say, rolling his eyes.
“It still counts,” Malik would reply with a smirk. Then they’d both laugh. That was their routine. But over time, the name had grown on him. Now he liked it when Malik called him that.
“Yeah, thanks,” Jamal said, staggering to his feet and limping on his injured leg. He gritted his teeth.
He glanced over and caught Riley watching them from the bleachers. Just great, he thought with a grimace. Now she’s never gonna be my friend. His shin still hurt from banging it, but his ego hurt more. He burned with shame over needing his brother’s help.
“But you know,” he added, trying to look tough, “I had it all under control.”
“Under control, huh?” Malik said, shaking his head. His gaze fixed on Jamal’s injured leg. “Sure, you did.”
Even though he sounded skeptical, he let it go.
“You know, I’m always here for you,” Malik said, softening his tone. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy this year. But I’ve always got your back.”
“I know, me too,” Jamal said, feeling even more ashamed. Like Malik would ever need my help for anything.
“Brothers forever,” Malik said, holding out his fist. This was their little ritual, which had also started when they were kids.
“Brothers forever,” Jamal repeated, bumping Malik’s fist with his.
“That’s more like it,” Malik said with a grin. Jamal returned the grin, but it felt forced. Shame still burned his cheeks.
They headed for the locker room to shower. Jamal did his best to hide his limp. He didn’t want Malik to know how much he really had needed his help. He knew that his brother loved him. It went without saying. But it still bothered Jamal that he wasn’t good enough on his own, that he had needed his brother’s help in the first place.
Even worse, he had a sinking feeling that most
of his problems were because of Malik. His brother was just too good…at everything. It didn’t leave Jamal much room to get noticed.