Kindred Spirits | Juan Toscano-Anderson

2 x In Need

Juan laughed at a terrible joke Jaiden told their group of friends. Kevin, Mario, Taquan and Juan's former Santa Cruz Warriors' teammate, Jordan.

"That joke was so ass." Kevin cackled. "But I had to laugh anyways cause look at how serious he is"

"Man, go to hell." Jaiden threw his fry at Kevin.
"What y'all tryna get into this weekend?"

"We gotta open practice on Saturday if y'all wanna come through." Jordan offered.

"You already know! We in there." Taquan clapped his hands together.

"I'm with it." Jaiden hadn't been to a game in awhile.

"I'll let y'all know." Juan shrugged.

The friends continued to chat at the sports bar they took over with their energy. Juan had been on his phone trying to distract himself.

He hadn't been to a Warriors anything in two years. When he played for Santa Cruz, it was a dream come true. He was one step closer to playing for his home team and it all went out the window when his grand mother had gotten sick.

Celia Toscano was the backbone of her family and when she had fallen ill, Juan centered his life around family. He left Santa Cruz and returned to Oakland to take care of her. When she died, he didn't bother going back to basketball unless he was training someone.

"Bro, I'm stopping by the house, you wanna come or get dropped off first?" Jaiden had been volunteering to drive everywhere since getting his new car.

"Yeah, I don't mind. I don't have to be to the gym until 10 AM anyways."

When they arrived to the house they saw a few cop cars outside which worried them both. Jaiden hadn't even fully parked before he got out of the car and ran to see what was going on.

"Aye, what's going on over here?" Jaiden had been stopped by a few police officers who refused to let them by.

"This is his house, let him past." Juan tried to reason with the officers.

Juan observed the bullet holes in the front door. Ricki walked outside to get them, "They're family, let them in."

The officers move out of the way, Jaiden and Juan ran to meet her at the steps. "What happened Ricki?" Jaiden looked over her to make sure she was okay, she was shaken up.

"I'm fine, I wasn't here. It was just Cynatra." That's all Juan needed to hear before he rushed past them into the house.

He saw the officers in the living room where there laid shattered glass and a broken coffee table. He spotted Jannelle first who had been wiping her tears.

"What's wrong, where is she?"
"She's in the kitchen with the EMT. This nearly gave me a heart attack."

Juan gave her a hug before guiding her to the couch. "I'll be right back"

She nodded understanding. Juan walked into the kitchen to see Cynatra sitting at the island getting her eye checked.

"You okay? What happened in here Cynatra?" He asked grabbing her attention.

She winced as the EMT dabbed the gash above her eye. "Someone tried to break in and they didn't expect me to be in here. I came down with my bat. I started swinging, they knocked me into the table and I remembered pop's gun under the couch. I grabbed it and started shooting. They ran out. I woke up and the police were here. I guess someone heard the shots and called them."

"You'll need to get some stitches." Amanda, the EMT announced.

"That's gonna look hideous, I don't want it." She pouted.
"She'll get them." Cynatra looked at Juan with a scowl.