Cheeto and Sammy helped Claudia bring the donations and supplies in. Other people helped out seeing the four of them unload the car. The whole process of unloading, sorting and arranging took about thirty minutes. Once they finished, the four of them headed back inside to the yard at the request of Sammy and Cheeto. Claudia started to explain the details of her schools organizations fundraiser to David when he spotted Allen with the jocks.

"Sorry Claudia, you excuse me for a minute. I want to say hi to someone," said David.

"Oh sure. Who you want to go see?" asked Claudia.

"I want to see Allen," he replied.

"He's here? I haven't seen him in a few days. When did he come in? I didn't notice him coming in," she said.

Some of the kids would come in through a hole in the back fence that kept appearing. It was against policy to not sign in so the personnel made great effort to enforce this rule. That's why Claudia wanted to check on Allen since she didn't see him come in through the front.

David and Claudia headed to Allen's direction who had his back to them and didn't see them coming. As both Claudia and David approached, the kids stopped what they were doing as if to hide their intentions. Allen turned back and motioned to leave but Claudia called his name.

"Allen, did you remember to sign in?" she asked.

"No I didn't sign in," said Allen, his face down avoiding eye contact.

"You know the rules. Come on, let's go sign you in," said Claudia as she tried to guide Allen to the front desk.

"Wait. Why aren't you looking up?" asked David.

"Come on. Look at me," he continued as he tried to lift Allen's face to reveal it was bruised on the eyes and mouth.

"What happened to you?" asked Claudia alarmed at the sight.

"Nothing. It's not a big deal," said Allan pulling his face away.

"Is this why you haven't been coming the last couple of days? How did you get this?" asked Claudia.

Cheeto and Sammy came in as they saw Claudia and David with Allen.

"Que paso (What happen)?" asked Cheeto of David as Claudia addressed Allen.

"Allen's got bruises," said David to Cheeto quietly.

"Aver (Let me see)? Pa su (Damn)!" was Cheetos reaction upon seeing Allen's face.

"It's nothing. Don't make a big deal of it," said Allen trying to dismiss the issue.

"Did you get it at home? Did one of your parents do this?" asked David.

Cheeto intervened since he was sure of the answer to the question.

"Nah, man. His pops aint around and his mom wouldn't hurt him. He's her baby," said Cheeto discreetly.

Claudia looked over at David and Cheeto and nodded in agreement.

"Did you get into a fight then?" asked David.

"He's too much of a chicken to get into a real fight," commented one of the kids in the group.

"Shut up Manny. I ain't no chicken!" said Allen lunging at the boy.

"Hey, hey! What is all that! You know I don't tolerate any fighting here. Come on let's go," said Claudia as she led Allen with her.

"But he started it!" pleaded Allen.

David and Cheeto followed suit.

"Hey wait. You not gonna kick him out are you?" asked Cheeto concerned.

"No, but I'm going to find out what happen. Now Allen, please. You gotta tell me what happen to you. Please sweaty. I need to know. Because if you don't tell me I have to write up a report and all sorts of things are going to happen. So come on, please tell me," asked Claudia as she had led Allen to a secluded area away from the other kids and staff.

Allen was still excited from the exchange with Manny and took a moment to reply.

"Nothing, I Already told my teacher and principal. I fell. I slipped and fell is all. They even called my mom and everything," said Allen, exhausted by the ordeal.

"Are you sure it didn't have anything to do with the kids from the other day?" asked David.

Allen looked on at David with a blank stare. It was a stare that reflected a hidden meaning, a secret between the two of them. It was a betrayal by someone who interfered and made things difficult for the other person. Who now had to figure out how to undo the errors of the one who put him in that situation.

"No, it wasn't them. I fell," said Allen like many victims say to protect their attackers for fear of reprisals.

David didn't believe Allen one bit but knew he had no other choice at the moment. He also understood he was responsible for getting Allen into trouble. Claudia also did not believe Allen but if the school had already cleared things up and not found anything to raise a concern, then there wasn't much she could do.

"OK. I'm still going to call your mom to follow up. It's nothing serious. I just want to make sure everything is OK," said Claudia trying to reassure Allen.

"Fine! Whatever!" said Allen as he ran off.

"Allen!" yelled out Claudia but did not chase after him. She figured he had been through enough.

"I don't believe him," said Claudia.

"It's not his fault. He's clumsy," said Cheeto.

"No. That's not what happened. I don't believe that he fell. Something happened to him. I'm sure of it," said Claudia.

"Neither do you," said Claudia towards David who didn't reply.

Now David was experiencing firsthand the struggle. The tug and pull of the streets on the most vulnerable.

"So what do we do?" asked David of the more experienced on the subject.

"That's the question. Can't keep an eye on them 24/7 and can't intrude too much in their lives. I can call the mom again like everyone does but poor woman works all day long just to make ends meet. She tries so hard but there's only so much she can do. I can't force him to come here so if I'm too hard on him he'll stop coming. He'll only listen to the older kids and follow who he believe in. Even if they lie to his face. How's he going to know better?" said Claudia to the question David posed, having worked it out in her mind countless other times.

"He needs something that interest him," said David.

"We already offer everything we can," replied Claudia.

"Do you have a basketball team?" asked David.

"No. It isn't in the budget. We can't have a full time coach and provide the equipment and supplies for it," said Claudia.

This was true, but also Claudia wanted to encourage academic involvement other than sports as she thought it would be more beneficial to the kids in the long run. Team sports would be a distraction that would put emphasis on the wrong principles.

"A team takes a lot of time and commitment from the kids and we need a full tie coach and it's been brought up before but never takes off," she said regretfully.

David knew from experience that team sports might be a great way to interest some of the kids, especially like Allen, keeping them of the streets long enough to keep an eye on them.

"Maybe it's worth giving it another chance," said David walking off in the direction Allen ran off too.

"What do you mean?" asked Claudia as she and Cheeto followed.

"When are you going to pay me back my shot?" asked David of Allen who was sullen, picking up his bags from his friends as he tried to leave.

"You never made up the point you owe me. A man always pays his debts," said David getting Allen's attention as well as the other kids.

"I haven't had a chance to practice," said Allen surprised by the sudden demand.

"Really? What have you been doing after school then?" asked David.

"Nothing. Just hanging around," said Allen innocently enough.

"I see that. You don't do the workshops or classes that are offered in the Center and you only stand around here. All of you actually," David said addressing all of the jocks.

"Cuz them things are boring. And we play. We don't just stand around. That's why nobody can beat us," Allen's typical banter started to come out.

"Who are you playing? Are any of you even on a team?" challenged David.

"Not right now. But next year when I go to middle school, I'll be going straight to varsity. Shoot probably even go straight to High School to shoot for them," said Allen confident of his claims.

"Why next year? Why aren't you in a team right now?" asked David.

"Because no team out there can handle me right now," said Allen saluting his cheering crew.

"Sounds to me like excuses," replied David.

"No excuse. Not my fault there aint no teams to join right now. That's why I have to wait till next year. If there was a team to join, I'd be the first one to sign up," boasted Allen.

"You know. I'm so glad to hear that because I'm starting a team so it'll be great to know that I'll have the great Allen to play for me as my first player," said David.

"What are you doing?" asked Claudia.

"You going to start a team?" asked Allen incredulous.

"Yeah I'm starting a team. If you're up for it," replied David.

"You for real?! Who we going to play against? There are no teams around here," asked Allen.

"You let me worry about the details. You in then?" asked David.

"Hell yeah I'm in!" said Allen with excitement.

The rest of the kids were just as excited as more kids started to gather and word spread of the news.

"Yo! You really going to start a team with the kids?" asked Cheeto just as surprised of the news as Claudia was.

"David, you can't just promise them that you are going to start a team. I told you we don't have the money and I need to talk to the people in charge of the center and a ton of other things need to be approved before this can get picked up," said Claudia concerned with the daunting task of starting up a team.

"Don't worry about the money, and if I need too, I'll do it as an independent team," said David not concerned of the details.

"That's not the point. It's going to take time. They can't just set up a team by the end of the week or something," said Claudia.

"That's right. The kids are nowhere near being a team, ready to compete. It'll take time before they are ready. Giving us plenty of time to sort all of the details," said David sure of his plan.

"Us? I thought it was your team," said Claudia.

"I did, but I know you guys won't let me fail on my own," replied David.

"Que, yo tambie (What, me too)?" said Cheeto.

"You should have talked to us first. Now we have to figure out a bunch of details and I don't even know where to start! We should have talked about it first," said Claudia upset at being blindsided.

"We did. A minute ago," said David.

"That wasn't it! You know that's not right. I'm going to stop them before the kids get their hopes up and get more disappointed later," said Claudia.

"Look, you know nothing gets done by just talking. You even said it yourself. It's been brought up and nothing ever happens. Well it's my experience that once you are forced too, things happen fast. So the Center can decide not to back me but I'm going to make this team happen. With or without your help. But hope you guys won't leave me alone," said David.

The kids were still excited, running around eager to join the fictional team. Claudia looked around and couldn't bring herself to crush the kid's excitement. She also couldn't let David take on the task by himself but was annoyed at the idea of proving him right.

"No need to be dramatic. You should have still warned us first," said Claudia.

"And you Cheeto? You going to let me do this on my own?" asked David with a light smile.

"Man, it's a lot of work. Pues le echamos monton, aver que sale (We'll dog pile it, see what comes out)," said Cheeto. His eyes and his expression gave away his fear of commitment and responsibility, but this was not something he could say no too.