Hoops

Lonnie is woken up at the Grant by Harrison, who says his mother is looking for him. When he arrives at his mother’s, she begins a sermon about the “trouble of this world” (85) and Lonnie tunes her out, pouring himself a drink. A little later that morning, Lonnie investigates the store where he cashed the checks, asking around about Paul. Lonnie figures out from the owner of the store, Ugly, that Paul has been stealing checks and selling them but can’t “figure out why Tyrone was getting them” (87). On the way back from the store, Lonnie stops to play three-on-three at the park. Afterwards, he thinks about how he’s getting much better at basketball.

Just as Lonnie is about to leave the park, he sees Paul and confronts him about what happened with Mary-Ann. Even though they’ve always been close, this conflict is too much, and it escalates into a fight. When the fight concludes, Lonnie is on the floor and Paul is crying. They talk it out over some sodas, and Paul explains how he got invested in the check-stealing scheme to impress a girl. Paul also explains how he originally just sold the stolen checks to Ugly, but that Tyrone found out and intervened, saying he’d burn the checks for Paul, but Paul would owe him.