Hoop Dreams Read online

Chapter 7

  The words of the textbook she was reading began to blur, so Gemini opened her eyes wide to try and bring the writing she was staring at into focus. It didn’t really work and she tilted her head from side to side before lifting her hands to rub her eyes.

  “Take a break,” she let out quietly.

  Her last lecture of the day being cancelled allowed her to go home earlier than usual and she used the time to carry on with some coursework she needed to complete. She hadn’t stopped since she got in her bedroom and a glance at her watch showed that she’d been working for almost two hours straight.

  Getting up from the small desk she was sitting at, she moved across the room and threw herself down on the bed. She immediately knew it was a mistake. Without the focus of concentrating on her books, her mind turned to the argument with Darius the night before. It was something she didn’t want to think about and she needed another distraction to get her mind off it, so she got up from her bed and walked across the room to switch on the television.

  It was the last few minutes of a comedy show she liked that came on the screen, and she returned to her bed to lie down and just relax for a while. A local news program came on after and she wanted to change the channel, but the remote control was still sitting on the top of the TV set and she couldn’t be bothered going to get it.

  It meant she was watching when the news anchor started reporting details of a liquor store robbery that took place the evening before. She wasn’t paying all that much attention until the grainy CCTV pictures were run. The poor quality of them made her squint, but she sat up with a start when something caught her attention.

  “No,” she let out straight away, but it didn’t stop her getting to her feet quickly and moving closer to the television to get a better look.

  She was staring intently when the footage was run for a second time. The sight of the three African American men helping themselves to packs of beer then disappearing out of shot was over quickly. It was almost impossible to make out their faces, but the way the middle man of the three walked was so recognizable to her and she couldn’t shake the notion that she was watching Darius.

  “Don’t be stupid,” she told herself.

  She said the words again, but couldn’t quite convince herself that she was wrong. She’d walked away from him at his home last night and just assumed that he went inside after their argument. There was no way of knowing if he did that for sure, although Darius helping to commit a crime at a liquor store seemed a completely ludicrous idea to her. She watched the screen to see if the CCTV pictures were shown again, but the news anchor was now giving more details of the robbery and she listened.

  “…with the owner of the store apparently being distracted by a female accomplice while the robbery was carried out. It is also being reported that the four-strong gang were responsible for the theft of a Mazda SUV, with this vehicle later being found crashed at the side of the road.”

  Gemini put her hand to her mouth as the scene of the accident was shown. The SUV was lying on its side and the damage to the front of the vehicle was substantial, but the picture on the screen returned to the news anchor quickly.

  “No one was found at the scene when the police arrived,” he went on. “And the fate of the driver and passengers is unknown at this stage. Police are requesting that anyone with information on the robbery or accident get in touch. This is also the case for anyone that recognizes any of the men involved.”

  The report ended with still frames of the three men on the screen from the footage at the liquor store. Gemini moved forward and stared, but the pictures were such low quality that it was impossible to really recognize any of them and she wondered if she just made a mistake. She couldn’t quite convince herself that she did, but the only way she was going to know for sure was if she called Darius, and she didn’t really want to do that after their fight of the previous evening.

  “Shit,” she cursed as she threw herself on the bed and put her hands over her eyes.

  The grainy footage of the three men walking out of shot in the store played on her mind over and over. The more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself that Darius was one of them, and she knew that she needed to make the call just to be sure. As much as she hated him at that moment for the spiteful comments he made the day before, she knew she couldn’t just sit and do nothing. She couldn’t bear to think of what might have happened to him if he was in that SUV when it crashed.

  Reaching to the bedside table to get her phone, she quickly dialed his number. The fact that the call went unanswered increased her concerns that she might be right and she hung up and tried again. It got her the same result and she glared at her phone when she pulled it from her ear. She waited five minutes then tried again, but still there was no answer and she decided to see if she could get him at home.

  “Hello,” Mrs. Darnell said when she answered the call.

  It wasn’t what Gemini really wanted to hear, although Darius’s mother didn’t sound particularly upset and she took that as a good sign.

  “Hi Mrs. Darnell,” she said. “Can I speak to Darius please?”

  “He’s not home from college yet,” the older woman answered.

  “Oh OK,” Gemini replied. “I was busy today and didn’t get the chance to see him.”

  “You and me both,” Mrs. Darnell said. “He must have got up early today because he was gone before I went downstairs.”

  Gemini was unable to stop the sudden sense of foreboding washing over her.

  “You didn’t see him this morning?” she asked.

  “No,” Mrs. Darnell replied. “But that’s not unusual if he decides to get up early. You know what he’s like. He was probably playing basketball with his friends somewhere.”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” Gemini replied, although it wasn’t what she thought at all. “If he comes in could you ask him to phone me please?”

  “Is it important, dear?” Mrs. Darnell asked.

  “No, nothing important,” she went on. “I just wanted to have a chat.”

  Gemini wasn’t about to say anything that might worry the woman on the other end of the line and just wanted out of the conversation. The fact that Darius wasn’t at home combined with the calls to his phone going unanswered didn’t confirm that what she was thinking was right, but her apprehension grew as she said goodbye and hung up.

  “Where the fuck are you?” she murmured.

  She threw her phone down on the bed and started flicking through the television channels to see if she could find any other mention of the robbery and accident. Her frustration mounted when she couldn’t and she sat wondering what she should do. Calls to Darius continued to go unanswered and she decided it was a bad idea to try and contact anyone else that knew him. Phoning around his friends asking if they’d seen him was only going to come across as suspicious, and she couldn’t exactly tell them the reason she was looking for him. It might start rumors flying. She decided that if she was going to find him, she would need to sort it out herself.

  How she did that was the problem to solve. She sat thinking about it and decided that if he was in the crash and got injured, he would likely be taken to the nearest hospital. That meant only one place and she debated whether to call or visit. She connected to the internet and searched for the number then decided that there was probably more chance of getting information if she was face to face with someone.

  Saving the number in her phone, she got to her feet and went across to the wardrobe to get a coat. She caught sight of herself in the mirror and ran her fingers through her dark hair to tidy it.

  “Are you really going to do this?” she asked her reflection.

  She knew the answer straight away, so she put on her coat then made her way out of the bedroom and walked downstairs.

  “Where are you off to?” her mother asked.

  “Oh… I just needed some fresh air to clear my head,” Gemini lied. “I’ve spent the last couple of hours staring at textbooks, so
I just needed a break from it for a while.”

  “Will you be long?” her mother went on.

  “No, not really,” she answered. “I might call in on Darius, but I won’t stay long.”

  “OK, I’ll see you later.”

  Gemini nodded her head as she went to the door to leave the house. The hospital was a bus ride away, but the direction she was going meant she would pass Darius’s home and she walked by the first couple of stops. Her hope was that she would see him shooting hoops on the small basketball court in his parents’ yard, but it was empty and being at the place only brought to mind the argument of the night before.

  She let out an irritated expletive and wondered why she was even bothering to try and find Darius after that, but she knew there was no way she could stop herself. If he was in trouble or injured, she needed to find out, so she set her mind to visiting the hospital and carried on walking. When she got to the next stop, she waited and it was around ten minutes before a bus arrived.

  “How much to Mercy Medical Infirmary?” she asked when she got on.

  The driver told her and she paid the fare then went to sit down. Her gaze remained on the passing scene as the bus set off and fifteen minutes later she caught sight of her destination. The chill trickle of dread rippled down her spine to make her shiver, but she couldn’t tear her gaze from the hospital.

  “Are you in there?” she let out under her breath as she stared at the cluster of white-painted buildings.

  She hoped the answer was no, but that would leave her still not knowing where Darius was and that somehow seemed a worse prospect. When the bus approached the stop she wanted, she got to her feet and moved to the door. There was no one else getting off and she stepped down to the sidewalk then watched as the bus set off. A glance either way showed no other traffic on the quiet street, so she crossed over and walked the rest of the way to the hospital entrance.

  The sense of foreboding was unnerving as she looked up at the large cross on the main building and she quickened her pace to get inside. She remembered the one and only occasion she came to the hospital as a patient. It was when she broke her arm at twelve years of age, but the layout looked different from her recollections of that visit and she guessed they must have carried out renovation work at some stage. The main reception counter was now to her left and she could see it was busy, so she walked across to the waiting area just in front of it and dropped down on a seat.

  It was around ten minutes before things began to quiet down and she glanced around to see there were only a few people now sitting around her. She scrutinized the two older women behind the counter in an attempt to decide which of them would likely be more sympathetic to her request, but she couldn’t really make up her mind.

  “Just pick one of them,” she finally urged herself and got to her feet.

  The receptionist she opted for smiled as she approached, but the friendly greeting did little to calm the sudden bout of nerves that afflicted her.

  “Hi,” Gemini started. “I wonder if you can help me.”

  “Well, that’s what I’m here for,” the receptionist said.

  “Yeah,” Gemini went on almost to herself before speaking louder. “I’m trying to find if someone I know was admitted to the hospital.”

  She was aware of the woman’s eyes narrowing in a slightly suspicious manner, but tried to ignore it.

  “What makes you think someone you know came in here?” the receptionist asked.

  Gemini’s nervousness grew and she was aware of her palms becoming clammy. She surreptitiously wiped them on the side of her jeans as she considered how to answer the question. The lie slipped out easily when the idea came in her head, and it avoided needing to make any mention of an accident.

  “Well, I had an argument with my boyfriend last night and as far as I know he didn’t go home after it,” she said. “I’ve been in touch with his parents and they told me he wasn’t there, so I’m kind of worried he might have done something stupid.”

  “We only give out information to family members,” the receptionist said.

  “I practically am,” Gemini went on. “I’ve been going out with him for years.”

  “That may well be,” the woman said. “But it doesn’t qualify you as a family member.”

  “Please,” Gemini pleaded as she resorted to begging. “All I’m asking is to know if he’s here. I don’t want to be left feeling guilty and not knowing if something has happened to him because of me. If he’s here, then I’ll get his parents to come and visit to see how he is.”

  The receptionist tightened her lips together as she stared at the obviously distressed expression on Gemini’s face. The silence stretched out for a few seconds before she spoke again.

  “I shouldn’t really be doing this… but what’s his name?”

  “Darius Darnell,” Gemini replied.

  “Spell it,” the receptionist said as she reached out to the keyboard in front of her.

  Gemini carefully spelled out the name and heard the click of the keys as the information was entered in the hospital’s database. She watched as the receptionist checked the details that came up and couldn’t shake off the feeling she was about to hear something bad when the woman’s gaze came to hers.

  “There’s no record of a Darius Darnell being admitted to the hospital,” the receptionist said.

  “You’re sure?” Gemini enquired and saw the irritated expression cross the face of the woman standing opposite.

  “Do I look like I’m making up stories?” the receptionist said almost scornfully. “The system shows no record of a Darius Darnell at this hospital. That mean’s he’s not here.”

  “Oh yeah, sorry,” Gemini apologized. “I didn’t mean to question you and thanks for your help.”

  She stepped away from the counter quickly and went to sit down on one of the seats again. There was a sense of relief to the information she just received, but there was still the concern that she couldn’t get in touch with Darius. The urge to call his parents again came over her, but she knew that Mrs. Darnell would pass on the message she gave earlier in the evening. That didn’t mean her boyfriend would actually act on it and call her after their argument of the previous evening and she considered what she should do.

  “Maybe you were wrong,” she told herself.

  There was always the chance that she mistakenly identified Darius as one of the men in the CCTV footage. The pictures were poor and it was possible she was wrong, but she couldn’t quite convince herself that was true. Something just didn’t feel right about the whole situation, but other than continuing to try and get in touch with her boyfriend, she wasn’t sure what else she could do. Getting her phone from her pocket, she tried his number, but it rang out and she stared at the screen afterwards. There was no point in sitting in the reception area any longer, so she stood up to set off towards the exit and was unaware that she was under observation as she walked out of the hospital.

  “Good riddance, bitch,” Phaedra cursed under her breath and a smile flashed across her face as she watched her cousin leave the building.