I don’t know what an earthquake sounds like, but this has to be close. With Carver and Jackson fans stomping the old wood bleachers, the floor seems to be shaking—and I’m shaking as I finally stop to look up at the scoreboard. We’re up sixty-six to sixty-three with a minute left.
“Lucas, you okay?” Coach asks. “You’re trying too hard and trying to do too much.”
I nod my sweaty head in agreement. I’ve gotten points, but few assists or boards. Almost every time I get the ball, I shoot it. I’m good, but even hitting fifty from the floor and a hundred from the line isn’t what the team needs. I know that. I glance at the stands and wonder what the pack of college recruiters and maybe—dream, baby, dream!—somebody from the Grizzlies wants me to do.
“Slow down, Luke,” Elijah reminds me. Coach and the other starters agree.
I don’t tell them I’ve only got one speed: full-force gale like a hurricane. “I know. I know.”
I head back onto the court. I see Trina in the stands. No Mom or Mark, but it is a big crowd, so I tell myself that I might just be missing them. But then I remind myself to get rid of the fantasy that Mark’s going to leave his life of crime and Mom’s going to welcome him back into the family.
I set up down low. Elijah dribbles and I cut up. He passes me the ball. I see daylight, just a sliver in the gray between the defender and the baseline. They double-team me. It creates nothing but blue sky for Paul. I bounce it toward him. Two. And a foul. Make it three.
As the seconds tick down and we hold onto our thin lead, Coach, who is normally smart, yells out the stupidest thing: “Let’s think out there!” It feels like he’s yelling only at me.
Doesn’t he know that I play at this level on pure instinct? Since I first touched a ball at maybe age three to the first time I saw Mark play. From the first time I shot a jumper to the first time I stuffed the ball. From then until now, it has all led to this moment. This time and place.
Their forward gets the ball, fakes a pass, and tries a baseline jumper. I time it perfectly and smash the ball back in his face. Life’s done that to me. It is about time that I paid it back.