Chapter 21

They snuck back up to Anna’s room. Darius kept a vigilant eye out for Victoria but she was nowhere to be found. Once they got back inside her room, they crashed on her bed and ended up falling asleep in their clothes. Anna slept with her arm across his body and her head snuggled into his chest. He didn’t fall asleep right away, but instead lay there, wide awake and staring at the ceiling. He breathed in her sweet scent and was comforted by her closeness.

It was one of those rare moments in life where everything fit together like pieces to a puzzle and was absolute perfection. The only thing that marred it was the whirling cyclone of emotions inside him. They pressed against his mind so thickly, he felt like he was coming apart. Love. Shame. Guilt. Anger. Rage. Hatred. They all buzzed inside his head and made him feel like he was detached from that perfect moment. He felt physically present in the world. He felt his body touching Anna’s. He felt his arm wrapped around her body. He could smell the scent of her hair as it wafted into his nostrils. He experienced all of these things, but inside his head he felt like he floated a few feet up, an observer but not a participant.

A few moments later, he was able to fall asleep, glad for the potential escape from his maddening crush of emotions. The nightmare world he found himself in, however, was much worse.

***

He stood alone in a hellish recreation of Ashebrook University. On the whole, it resembled what had been his home for the last four years, but there were drastic, even sadistic changes that made his blood run cold. The lawns, which had been carefully and expertly tended, were now a barren wasteland. Dust rose off the landscape in large, billowing clouds that choked him every time he tried to breathe. It got into his eyes, making them sting and water. He wiped his arm across them, trying to clear and shield them at the same time but that was a laughably useless endeavor. No matter how many times he tried clearing them, they refused to stop stinging and watering up.

The best he could do was squint his eyes. It afforded him a little bit of protection and he was actually able to see somewhat. He looked around and found the buildings were different too. Instead of the stately, almost castle-like, architecture of most of Ashebrooke University, every building was now a grotesque mockery of their original state. Human faces distended the plain brick sides, their features stretched into expressions of not pain but weird, unnerving ecstasy. Each face had its mouth opened wide. Darius could hear them groaning and whispering at him. Their words were too faint to make out, which was probably a good thing, he figured. He didn’t want to know what they were saying and thought that if he did, he might just go completely crazy.

He whirled around, trying to find a way to escape this destroyed and twisted version of his world. At first, he didn’t see anything or anyone except the ecstasy-ridden, horror faces on the walls of every building. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something. He turned to see what it was that grabbed his attention.

Hands had suddenly burst out of one of the buildings, inhumanly long and sinuous as they reached for him. He jerked away out of pure reflex and they went past him without touching him. He was on the verge of running away, bolting out of sheer terror, but something stopped him.

It was one of the faces bursting out of the walls. One face out of a sea of hundreds that snared him like a fish hook. He recognized it as it stretched out from beneath a skin of brick and mortar. He stared, transfixed. His heart suddenly hurt. It hurt so much he thought he was dying.

The face was Anna’s.

It was contorted by the same unbearable pleasure as the others, but unlike them, her stony eyes were haunted instead of filled with ecstasy like the others. Her hands crept out now, trying to lure him into that purgatory with a sickening need that pierced him. He began moving closer to her, his legs seeming to urge him onward of their own volition.

He knew he was making a mistake. He knew that monstrous...thing...wasn’t Anna. But his body didn’t seem to agree with him. He kept walking forward and soon it was too late to get away. Her hands latched onto him with a grip so strong, he couldn’t break it. She pulled him forward, yanking on him with desperate, hungry strength. All he could do was watch as she pulled him closer and closer to her gaping mouth. It yawned open, impossibly huge.

It was an abyss of purest black.

He felt blunt but powerful teeth close on his back and crush into his spine so hard he could hear the bones there snap and break.

He screamed loudly.

He jerked awake before that black maw could swallow him the rest of the way. He felt a scream trying to rip its way out of his throat but he barely managed to strangle it. Anna still slept on him, her head on his chest. Her body rose and fell with the rhythm of her breathing. Every now and then she would twitch and jerk. He could see her eyes moving rapidly beneath her closed lids, likely suffering from her own nightmares.

His heart still raced inside his chest from the terror of his dream. It was beating like a war drum. Brief images of his nightmare were still stuck in his mind. He saw the horrible stone version of his girlfriend there complete with her impossibly huge mouth. He remembered it being so dark. So black. It was like the gateway to a personal Hell she’d trapped herself in these last few months. He forced himself to block those images out. He didn’t want to remember them.

Thankfully, they started to fade a few minutes later as he held her. He gave her a kiss on the top of her head then gingerly got up, careful not to wake her, and walked to her window. He gazed down at the world outside it. From his vantage point, he had a pretty good view of the campus. To the left was a cluster of buildings that included Thorne, Colliers, the Glass House, and the Student Union. To the right were grassy hills and a few outlying maintenance-type buildings. Directly in front of him was the tree he always hid behind when he spied on Anna. It was still dark outside. The lamp posts in front of the dorm lit the area with orange light. He could make out the headlights of various cars in the distance and could even see some of the lights in Sarver-Ingram Park.

He wiped cold sweat from his brow and then turned around. He started pacing the small confines of Anna’s room in agitation. Information, facts, and knowledge. They swam in his mind and stirred up that buzzing rage and anger. It made him feel detached from the world again. He stopped pacing and went to Anna, still asleep in bed. He bent and kissed her forehead gently and quietly. She whimpered slightly, a small and pitiful sound that cut deeper than any knife could.

Watching her and seeing firsthand what those men turned her into intensified his rage. He kissed her again and then left her room. He was tired of feeling like everything around him was too far away to touch. He was tired of his head always buzzing with anger, rage, and burning hatred. He wanted it to stop.

He had to make it stop.

He walked back to his own dorm. The only thing to keep him company were the distant sounds of traffic. After a time, the buzzing in his head disappeared and he was able to think more clearly. He got back to his room feeling drained of energy, crawled onto his bed, and was asleep within seconds.

This time, there was only blackness.

He woke up to the smells of eggs and bacon wafting through their room. His mouth started watering almost instantly and his stomach roiled in protest that he wasn’t getting food into it fast enough. He felt weak but it had nothing to do with his powers. He was emotionally drained to the point of exhaustion.

Alex turned to look over at him once he realized Darius was awake.

“Hey.” Alex picked up a Styrofoam container with large helpings of eggs and bacon tucked inside. “Thought you might be hungry so I grabbed you some food.”

Darius got out of bed, grunted something barely intelligent, and then went to work on the food, wolfing it down so fast it was gone in seconds.

“Thanks,” Darius said, bits of egg falling out of his mouth.

Darius’s thanks didn’t seem all that thankful but Alex wasn’t bothered by that. He was pretty sure Anna didn’t have a whole lot of good news for his friend.

“Not a problem,” he replied between mouthfuls of his own food. “What time did you come in last night?”

“I don’t know,” Darius answered, already getting frustrated because he knew Alex was gathering steam for another interrogation session. He didn’t want to talk about last night but Alex was watching him intently. Too intently. “Do you mind? I’m hungry.”

Alex’s eyebrows shot up in slight surprise, the only outward reaction to his friend’s aggressive attitude. He thought about cracking a joke or two but one look at Darius’s face convinced him that would be a very bad idea. Instead, he waited patiently while Darius finished his breakfast.

Ordinarily, that would have been the end of it altogether but Alex knew things hadn't been right with Darius and Anna for a long time. There was something wrong, possibly very wrong, and he wasn’t content to just let it go. Not anymore. He could see that whatever was going on with them was eating away at Darius a piece at a time. The first time he noticed it was the day he found the drug test flyer in the trash can. It was the same day Darius went to talk with Anna and came back looking like he wanted to pound something to powder. He tried so many times to get him to talk after that, but in the face of continued failure he pretty much gave up. Now, with Darius’s rising aggressiveness and tendencies to let his anger do the talking, the time for ignoring it was past.

Darius finished up the last of his food and threw his trash away, all while trying his best to ignore the fact that Alex was in the room.

Alex sighed, but pushed onward anyway.

“Anna sounded pretty upset on the phone.” He ignored the angry glare from Darius. “What happened with her last night? And why do you have a towel wrapped around your hand?”

The towel was dark purple in color and thick, so the blood underneath wasn’t clearly visible.

Alex waited.

Darius remained silent. He was staring at the wall, emotions storming over his face.

“What’s going on, D?” Alex pressed, refusing to let it go.

Darius felt his head start buzzing again. Alex’s unending questions were doing exactly what he thought they would...making him furious. For one horrible moment, he was afraid of snapping completely and would try to hit his friend. Then he relaxed. He focused on breathing in and out in long, methodical breaths. He waited a few minutes more before he turned to look at Alex. Mercifully, the buzzing rage started retreating, which made him feel better able to handle things.

“If I answer these questions, will you leave me alone?” he asked, looking at Alex and waiting for an answer. He nodded his head.

Darius wasn’t convinced. Alex was clearly lying but there was nothing he could do now. He knew he couldn’t duck out on answering his friend’s burning questions. Not anymore. It was time for it all to come out. Alex needed to know about Williams and Anna. He needed to know what that bastard forced her to become. It would give him added incentive to do what Darius wanted him to. Over the years, Anna and Alex had grown pretty close as friends. To him, she was like a sister.

“Yeah. That would be the deal,” Alex replied. “But I want the whole truth, about everything. No lies. No blowing off my questions. All right?”

“Fine,” Darius agreed. He didn’t look Alex in the eyes. He didn’t want to see the sympathy and pity about to show up there. “What do you want to know?”

“I want to know what happened with Anna last night. Is she okay?” he asked.

The genuine concern Darius heard in Alex’s voice was reassuring.

“I’m not going to lie or blow you off. You’ll get the whole truth. But don’t tell anyone else, and don’t confront Anna about it. She’s been through enough pain and shame without you adding to it. Got it?” Darius asked, his tone serious. His eyes locked onto Alex’s and wouldn’t let go until he exacted that promise from him.

“Yes. I can do that,” Alex promised. “So what happened? She’s not hurt is she?”

“She called because she wanted to see me,” Darius started and then paused for a minute or two. Alex deflated a bit and got an annoyed look on his face. “Relax. There’s more.”

“Is it serious?” Alex asked.

“You won’t know anything if you keep interrupting me with questions that are about to get answered,” Darius snapped, irritated. Alex nodded and shut up. “She wanted to tell me what’s been happening to her.” He paused as he tried to figure out where to start the story. “You know how she’s been lately?”

Alex nodded.

“She finally told me why last night. Everything wrong happened about a month ago when she went home to see her dad. He’s a drug addict, so she goes there to make sure he’s taken care of. When she got there that day…,” he stopped suddenly, as if the next words were refusing to get past his throat. Finally, he managed to get them out but when he did, the words dripped with anger and bitterness. “When she got there, that fucking bastard, Richard Williams, was there too. The asshole was there to kill her dad because the druggie piece of shit owed him a lot of money.”

Alex remembered the man from the article. Marks’ right hand. Puzzle pieces started fitting together but the whole picture was still hard to see. He had so many questions but he forced himself to remain quiet and let Darius finish.

“Williams ended up liking her. He thought she was...pretty.” Darius’s teeth were clenched in anger, but he saw comprehension dawn in Alex’s eyes. With that comprehension came his own anger. “I know what you’re probably thinking and you’d be right. In exchange for her father’s life, Williams wanted her. He wanted her...to...to...work for him.”

The rage built up to a level Darius could no longer control, and he slammed his fist into his thigh. Despite his increased strength, Darius still felt no pain.

“No. She’s been...” Alex whispered until his voice trailed off. The outrage inside him made blazing red patches show up on his cheeks.

“That’s not all,” Darius continued, tonelessly. “The day before the drug test, I went to see her. She wouldn’t talk to me but before she could get me to leave, I saw a bruise on her face. A bruise, Alex! Then, the night I followed her I watched some fat piece of shit punch her. In the same spot!”

Alex was silent as he took that in. After a moment, he looked up at Darius with concern and shock as he realized something very important.

“That’s why you want to rob Marks, isn’t it? You know if we rob him, Williams will probably be there too and then you can what? Get your revenge? Is that what you’re after?”

“It’s more than that and you know it,” Darius replied. His voice was calm but inside, his anger was taking more and more control. “Revenge is too easy for that asshole. I want justice.”

“I get that, D, but you...” Alex tried to say.

“You don’t get anything, Alex. Until a drug-dealing piece of shit forces Cassie to be his pet whore you never will.” He cut him off, his voice sharp and cruel. “I’m going to Exclusive and it’s going to happen tomorrow. I’m not waiting around anymore for them to do anything else to her. I’m going to go there and bring a living hell down on them. Then I’m gonna walk away with their money, destroy their operation as best I can, and free Anna.”

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea anymore,” Alex replied. His voice was cautious, as if his words were going to set Darius off even more than he already was.

“Don’t you dare back out on me, Alex!” Darius practically roared. “I had your back when you wanted to do the damn drug test and now you won’t have mine? You were all ready and willing to do this for a complete stranger, some punk kid that probably got what he deserved, but you aren’t willing to do it for Anna? That’s bullshit!”

“That’s why I don’t want to do this!” Alex shot back, his own voice starting to get heated and passionate. “You’re too close to this. It’s clouding your judgment and if you go in there and face the guys that screwed with her, I’m not sure what you'll do.”

“Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself,” Darius said.

He was flipping a pencil over and over again, and Alex could see a far off look in his friend’s eyes like he was turning something extremely heavy over in his mind. He could also see a raw and deep hatred flickering there, burning like signal fires and Alex worried that Darius’s ulterior motives were going to get him into something he wouldn’t be able to come back from. It was concerning. That, and about a hundred other things that he now had to consider. Not the least of which was the very strong and intense feeling that Darius shouldn’t go anywhere near Richard Williams.

It’s justice.

Those words echoed inside him and he realized Darius was absolutely correct. Williams deserved all the wrath they could bring down on him. All of it and more. To just imagine what that inhuman motherfucker was doing to Anna, someone he really cared about, was unthinkable. Not to mention what her pain was doing to Darius himself. Alex finally understood why he was angry all the time. It was justifiable, especially if Alex envisioned Cassie in that predicament instead of Anna. If it were her, even though they weren’t in a good spot currently, he would do anything to stop her from being hurt like that. So he decided that he would follow his friend and go through with their crazy plan, against his better judgment and all the instincts screaming and yelling at him. He did it because Williams deserved what was coming to him after forcing Anna into prostitution but also because he knew Darius would go anyway, with or without him. At least if he were physically by Darius’s side, he could stop him from crossing a line.

“Okay,” Alex finally said. “I’m with you but I don’t want you to ruin your life over this.”

Alex stared Darius down. The moment grew quiet and awkward, but Darius finally nodded. It was a very slight and barely perceptible nod.

“We’re going to trash the place and scare the shit out of them. That’s it,” Darius promised.

Alex had lingering doubts about the truth of that, but he dropped the matter. They could go round and round for hours and still end up not accomplishing anything significant. So instead, he shifted his focus to the towel wrapped around his friend’s hand.

“What’s with the towel?” he asked.

When he did, Darius brought the wrapped hand up to his face, peering at it like a child looking at something fascinating for the first time.

“Let me see your hand,” Alex prompted.

Darius didn’t respond. Instead, he simply unwrapped the towel. Alex immediately caught sight of blood.

“What the hell?” he asked, bewildered. “How are you bleeding? Are your powers gone?”

Darius positioned his hand to where Alex could see the shallow cut. It was roughly the same length as his palm. The blood had already clotted but the wound was still bugging him, more than he thought it would. He shook his hand a little in an effort to get some kind of relief but that only served to open it back up a little and make it bleed a bit.

Alex shot him a look of annoyance.

“Sorry,” Darius said, still looking at the irritating cut. “Damn thing hurts. Feels like it's on fire.”

“Really?” Alex thought about that for a minute. “I bet it’s because we haven’t experienced actual pain for a while. Naturally, you’d have a more heightened awareness of it because you aren’t accustomed to it anymore. It’s kind of like if a Florida native went up to a northern state for the winter. They’d find it colder there than the people that actually live there.”

“I pretty much figured that out for myself, genius,” Darius told him sarcastically.

“So, what happened?” Alex asked.

“I used a box cutter to cut my hand,” Darius replied.

“Why though?”

“I was trying to prove a point,” he explained. “To Anna. I wanted to make her feel safe so I told her what happened to us. She...uh...didn’t exactly believe me.”

“So you tried to show her by cutting up your hand right in front of her?” Alex asked, somewhat shocked. “Obviously that didn’t go according to plan.”

“What was your first clue?” he asked, waving his hand at Alex. “The real question is how did it cut me? I thought we were supposed to be indestructible, remember?”

“I don’t know how it cut you. Did you try cutting yourself with anything else blade-like?” Alex asked.

“Well...no,” Darius answered. He hadn’t really thought about it. “I just pretty much figured that other blade-like things can cut us too. What about you? You think they can?”

“Stands to reason. If one could do it, then why not other things like it?” Alex responded. “I guess Dr. Tiberius either did it intentionally as a way to bring us down if we got out of hand or he didn’t know our impervious skin would end up being weak against knives and blades.”

“That sucks,” Darius replied. “I thought superheroes only have one weakness. We got two.”

“If it’s any consolation, I don’t think over-exerting ourselves and draining the energy in our bodies would qualify as a full-blown weakness,” Alex said, giving it some thought. “I mean, all we have to do is eat something and then we recover like it never happened. Getting slashed up seems more...I don’t know...threatening? What do you think?”

“Are you crazy?” Darius asked. “What if we’re fighting someone and run out of steam? It’s not like they’d be willing to accept a time out for a snack break. It gets full weakness status in my book.”

“Really?” Alex was having a hard time following that logic. “But a knife or blade can actually cut us. How does that not seem more important or dangerous to you?”

“How would anyone even know? We’re the only two like this.” Darius posed the question, waiting with a slight smirk on his face. “Not only that but who the hell fights with knives or a blade anymore. Most people have guns.”

Alex thought about that and was almost on the verge of agreeing.

“I think I won this argument,” Darius went on, a smug smile on his face.

“But what if you do get in a knife fight?” Alex asked. The smug smile on Darius’s face faltered a bit, which made Alex happy.

“I’ll win. Hands down,” he answered quickly, with confidence. He had every reason to be too. With the powers they had, a normal person would have a really hard time bringing them down. Even a highly trained soldier would have issues. “So why do blades get past our indestructible skin and bullets don’t?”

“No idea really,” Alex replied. He took a moment to think it over anyway, trying to figure it out. “What if it’s because bullets are just too blunt? Think about it. Their tips are still pretty thick but the edge of a blade is thin. That might be why it was able to cut you. Here’s an example. One nail can pierce your skin if you lay on it right? But if you lay down on a bed of them, they won’t hurt you. Because there are more of them, they can evenly distribute your weight. Blunt objects are like many nails to us but blades are like a single nail. Does that make sense? It kinda makes sense to me.”

“Actually yeah. It kinda does,” Darius replied, smiling a bit. “Good work. Anyway, regardless of how or why blades can hurt us, it’s still good to know our limitations before we take on Marks and his crew. We don’t want to go in there thinking nothing will hurt us when there’s something out there that can.”

“Very true,” Alex nodded. “And we’re sure about our plan?”

He wasn’t really confident in it himself and thought there were a lot of ways everything could go sideways.

“Yes. It’s pretty much foolproof because those assholes aren’t going to know what hit them. As far as we know, we’re the only superpowered individuals on the planet. So no guns. We don’t need them anyway.” He smiled broadly, but Alex didn’t like that smile. It looked eerie. Crazed even. “We go in, throw some stuff around, and scare the shit out of them. We get up to the loft where the money is, grab all of it, and then get the hell out of there. I stop to make sure Richie Boy becomes...disinterested...in Anna and we're good to go.”

Darius kept the somewhat crazed grin on his face. He purposefully left out the part of the plan where he will break a couple of Williams’ bones in the process. He was kind of hoping the drug dealer would turn out to be stubborn and need...extra-persuasive methods...to be employed. He was completely enthralled with the idea of brutalizing the man that put Anna through so much pain.

Alex didn’t respond to the comment about Williams. That awkward silence filled their dorm room again so Darius got up.

“If that’s all, then I’m gonna take a shower,” he said. He went to the closet and took out fresh clothes. When that was done, he went to the door to their room. He had a hand on the knob when Alex’s voice stopped him.

“Is that the only reason why you want to rob Marks?” Alex interrogated. “Do you even care about the money?”

Darius just looked at his friend, debating internally on whether to tell him the truth or not. In the end, he went with the truth.

“Yeah, it is the only reason and no, I don’t really care about the money. But it doesn’t hurt either,” he replied, casually. He opened the door but didn’t go through it yet. He looked at Alex. “They deserve what’s coming, Alex. Don’t forget that.”

He left the room.

Alex heard the door to the bathroom open and close, his thoughts a rough, turbulent storm inside his head. He wasn’t reassured. Not in the slightest.

Darius was becoming obsessed with revenge. On the one hand, he could understand where he was coming from. Anna was a close friend and it hurt to know what Williams was doing to her. Also, if someone did that to Cassie, he would fly off the handle too. At the same time, however, he knew it would be a really bad idea for Darius to confront the guy. He sat there, internally warring with himself, for way too long. There was no right decision here, he realized. There was no clear path. His world quickly went from black and white to gray.

Despite all of those excellent reasons to stop their plan before it started, he found himself unable to do so. He couldn’t make himself pull the emergency brakes. Darius would stand by him if all that shit was happening to Cassie. The fact that he went through the drug test was enough to convince him of that.

How can I do anything less? he asked himself.

He got dressed quickly, deciding he was going to head to Colliers for a cup of coffee. He opened the door and almost ran straight into a slightly embarrassed Cassie with her arm ready to knock. She put it down after her initial shock was gone.

“Oh…uh….hello,” she mumbled, feeling lame. Her cheeks were heating up and turning bright red. “Well…this is embarrassing.”

“Hey.” Alex grinned hugely as a wave of relief surged through him at the sight of her. He was hoping it meant she finally forgave him. “What are you doing here? Wait, how do you know where I live?”

“I…kinda sorta lied. To the guy that was helping me in records,” she answered, somewhat sheepishly. The bright red color on her cheeks was starting to fade. “I told him it was a family emergency.”

“Family emergency?” Alex asked with a laugh. “I hope it’s nothing serious.”

He gestured for her to come in. She did so and scanned the room, taking it in.

“Well, I told him I was your sister.” She flashed him a mischievous grin. “And I told him I just got engaged and wanted to tell you in person. That, and a little flirty smile, and the guy was putty in my hands.”

“I bet he was.” Alex smiled broadly.

“I’m sorry if that sounds a bit stalkerish.” She leaned against the wooden frame of his bed.

“Don’t worry about it. In fact, being stalked by you is currently my second highest life achievement so far.” He smiled. “You don’t have to apologize for it.”

“Is that so? Only second? What’s the first?”

“The time I won an art contest in first grade. Got a new set of markers too.”

Cassie laughed.

“I guess I’ll just have to stalk you some more then. Maybe after a while, I’ll take first place.”

“I don’t know. Those were some really awesome markers,” he teased, which made her laugh again. Then he paused, suddenly nervous. “Is it against the stalker's code of conduct for you to have dinner with me some time?”

He rubbed the back of his neck in nervous agitation. He felt his guts twisting with uneasiness and his voice came out as a high-pitched warble. He sincerely hoped Cassie found that cute instead of lame.

“Well this is going to be easier than I thought,” she remarked, mostly to herself. Alex shot her an inquisitive look. She elaborated. “I actually came here to tell you I’m sorry for blowing up at you. I know you’re busy, and I know you don’t have a lot of money. I understand that but I thought you would still try to work something out. When you didn’t, I figured you changed your mind about liking me. It hurt, so I reacted. I wasn’t thinking.”

Alex blinked at her, confused.

“That’s why you were mad? Because you thought I didn’t like you anymore?” He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “I guarantee you, I will never stop liking you. Ever.”

“Really?” She sounded so sincere.

In that moment, as she looked at him with such vulnerability, he knew he loved her. He knew he would love her forever. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind she was the person he was meant to be with.

He smiled, and all those emotions he felt for her was in it. Cassie saw it there and a slight moment of hesitation rushed through her that Alex completely missed.

“Truly.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it.

He looked toward the bathroom and suddenly wanted to be very far from Darius. He loved his friend like a brother, counted him as family even, but his dark, rage-filled moods of late were not something he wanted to subject Cassie to at such an early stage.

“Would you like to go to Colliers with me? We can talk about everything, I promise, but let’s do it there. D’s not in a very good mood right now. Also, I was gonna get some coffee.”

“Do you play pool?” she asked instead.

“Uh…yeah. A little anyway.” Alex answered. “I used to play a lot. D’s parents had a table in their basement. His dad would teach us some pretty cool trick shots.”

“Then I guess you can teach them to me.”