Death Row

9 months

"I can't believe it Jords!" Mal squealed. It has been four years since Jordan made her debut for the USWNT on the 17th April 2016 against Northern Ireland. "Was I nervous?" Jordan wanted to know. "Nervous?!"

"Jordan calm down it's gonna be OK." Mal put a hand on her shivering best friends knee. Jordan looked down "It's OK for you, you've gone and done it!" She shot back. Carli walked past. "Is the rookie nervous?" She chuckled. Jordan shot her a look.
Lindsey tried to assure her. "You might not be playing!" Jordan gratefully smiled as that did help settle her nerves down.

Although in the 71st minute, Jordan was now cursing the blonde midfielder. She saw Jill turn around to gesture to Dawn for a player to come on. Jordan never thought it'd be her. Feeling someone squeeze her hand, Jordan looked to see a grinning Mal. "You've got this." She whispered in her ear. "We've been working up to this since we were kids."

With that, Jordan got up and did her stretches.
Not long after, Jill and Tony called for her to come back and the next thing Jordan knew, she was coming on for Christen. "We believe in you." The striker whispered as they exchanged high fives.
Jordan really didn't know whether she was doing well. After all they were leading anyway.
Then Tobin got hold of the ball and was sprinting like crazy. Dribbling past several players, the crowd cheered as Heath nutmegged some of them as well.
Realising she was free, Jordan was running up to the box. Tobin looked up and spotting her, squared the ball. Talking one touch, Jordan buried it into the net and wheeled off to celebrate.
A whole bunch of players were running towards her but none as quick as her best friend. "I knew it!" Mal screamed as she jumped into Jordan's arms.
There weren't many days better than that.

The day had now come. It was Mallory Pugh's 22nd birthday. Jordan sent her a lengthy birthday message and that was it. Well. That's what Mal thought. As she had no nearby fixtures for Arsenal until the next week, Jordan decided to go and visit Mal. It would be a surprise. Ever since Jordan had went to Arsenal, she had never seen Mal on her birthday. She had always been too busy and she always felt guilty every year.

After an exhausting 10 hour flight , Jordan had arrived. With no time to waste, she called for a cab and asked for the driver to take her to Mal's home.
Mal's family knew Jordan was coming so they let her in the back door. Mal's niece adorably cried out "Auntie!" when she saw her before she was gently shushed.
In the kitchen, Mal was with some crew, it turned out she was getting interviewed about the upcoming Olympics. They had spotted Jordan quietly shuffling in and immediately changed their questions.
"We heard," the interviewer smiled "that your best friend Jordan hasn't been able to make your birthdays anymore." Mal nodded sadly. "Yeah obviously I'm a bit gutted. Like when we were in high school I missed her if we didn't see each other for a weekend!" After everyone briefly chuckled, Mal continued. "Yeah obviously the situation isn't ideal but she's very busy unfortunately."

"Well," Dansby had now stepped in, "what if we told you we had a surprise?" Mal frowned. "What do you mean?" Horace gave a massive grin. "I suggest you turn around."
This had actually caught Jordan off guard as she was trying to figure out a place to put her gift for Mal in so everyone apart from the best friends roared in laughter. Mallory's eyes widened. "OMG WHAT THE FUCK?! Jordan why didn't you say you were coming?" Jordan rolled her eyes. "Well it wouldn't be surprise then!" They then embraced with Mal practically crying with joy.

The rest of the day was pretty good. Well definitely compared to the day after. Jordan and her dad seemed to have reverted back to their first visit awkwardness. Eventually Alejandro spoke up. "It's been over 22 years now."
Jordan was caught off guard. "Sorry since what?"
Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, her dad told her "Since I proposed to your mum. That I promised her forever." Looking up to the sky he said "Obviously God had other plans."

More like you, Jordan bitterly thought. She had a question though. "Do you regret it?" This time, it was her dad who was taken back. "What do you mean?".
Jordan sighed. This was uncomfortable to say. "Proposing? Especially when you fell in love with someone else." "A man." Alejandro decided to add.
He then looked up to his daughter. "Does that bother you?" "What?"
The criminal had a blank expression on his face. "That I was in a homosexual relationship." Jordan was annoyed her dad had shifted topic so bluntly replied "Of course not." before asking once more
"Did you regret becoming engaged to Cristína Costello?" .

Jordan didn't expect her fathers reaction. "Unfortunately." Careful not to gasp Jordan asked "May I know why?". A deep breath was drawn out before she was told "Your mother is VERY traditional. Her values truly come before anything else. Also she longed for commitment. Especially after her own father left. So when I asked for her hand in marriage, she thought her life was complete, now that you were on the way as well."

There was a bit of silence. Then Jordan's dad took off his engagement ring that somehow kept a polished form as if it was new  and fiddled with it.
"Do you ever think about it?" He mumbled under his breath. Jordan thought about Fernando, then his values and realised they would never match.
After another moment of quietness she revealed "I couldn't ever get married." Her dad let out a throaty  chuckle from all the cigars. "Just like your old man." This caught out Jordan. "You never wanted to get married?" This did truly stun her. She thought her dad was a true family man like her mum.
He seemed to read her mind. "I only proposed...to be honest because I wanted to please your mum. She's very traditional in a sense and I would've done anything for her."

This annoyed Jordan. ANYTHING?

Then why didn't Alejandro stay faithful?
Then why did he break the law?
Then why did he run from the police?
Then why did he participate in a shooting?

Why did he kill 21 innocent people?

Was her dad only sorry that he got caught? Probably. But Jordan wanted to give him another chance. To prove himself. If he was only going to lie though, then Jordan didn't want to hear it.
Now she didn't know whether the months weren't coming slowly or quick enough.