Chapter 4
Sarit spent the next day at school dreading basketball practice. She could barely concentrate in any of her classes. When the last bell rang, Sarit walked with Allie down the crowded hallway toward the gym. They had practice after school every afternoon.
At the entrance to the locker room, Sarit stopped. She could hear the other Cowboys inside. Allie sighed impatiently. “Sarit, come on,” she said. “We’re already late.”
Sarit hesitated. Maybe I should go to practice, she thought. Dad wants me to. He said so yesterday on the phone.
Just then, Coach Ritz walked out of his office. “There you are, Sarit. I need to talk to you,” he said.
Sarit wasn’t surprised the coach wanted to see her. She turned to Allie. “I’ll catch up with you later,” she told her sister.
“Okay,” Allie said. She continued into the locker room to get ready for practice.
Sarit followed Coach Ritz back to his office and took a seat. He sat down on the edge of his desk and looked at her.
“You were really upset when you left practice yesterday, Sarit,” the coach said sympathetically. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Sarit’s eyes filled with tears. She swiped at them angrily. “I . . . I . . .” she stammered.
Coach Ritz handed her a tissue from the box on his desk. “I know it must be hard for you, not having your dad as the coach anymore,” he said.
Sarit looked up in surprise. She hadn’t expected her coach to understand what she was going through.
“But I bet your dad would want to see you out there on the court,” Coach Ritz continued. He smiled encouragingly. “Let’s go out there and have a practice that would make him proud.”
Sarit shook her head. “I can’t,” she managed to say. She swallowed hard, trying not to cry. “I just don’t want to play.”
Coach Ritz looked at Sarit for a long time. Then he nodded. “Okay,” he said. “That’s your decision. Why don’t you take some time, and think about what you really want to do.”
Sarit nodded. Then she slowly stood up and walked out of the coach’s office. Inside the gym, she could hear the rest of the basketball team warming up. Sarit paused, but shook her head and kept walking.
Once she was outside, Sarit headed for the athletic field. She knew she should be relieved that the coach had given her time off. But she just felt depressed.
She noticed a group of kids she didn’t recognize playing a game of pick-up basketball at the end of the athletic field. Sarit wandered toward them and leaned against a light pole to watch.
A tall boy had the ball. He dribbled skillfully around the girl defending him, keeping the ball just out of her reach. He faked going right and then left. But he still couldn’t shake his defender. The girl stayed with him, right up in his face. She held up her arms to block him. The boy crouched low and twisted left. The girl reached out to block him.
Pass, pass! Sarit thought. Then she shook her head. She was supposed to be done with basketball. But she couldn’t take her eyes off the game.
As if he heard her, the boy glanced around the court. The defenders were crowding him. His back was to the basket, but he twisted hard, jumped, and shot. Sarit knew he could barely see the basket. The ball teetered on the rim and fell out.
The boy caught the rebound and passed to another girl on his team. She stretched her arms up high and leapt for the basket, going in for a lay-up. But a big defender on the other team stepped in front of her. The girl with the ball tripped and almost fell.
Foul! Sarit thought. She realized she was holding her breath. Her fists were clenched in excitement.
The girl caught herself and looked for the basket. A group of defenders stood in front of her, blocking her way. Her teammates were all being guarded.
In a split second, Sarit saw, the decision flashed through the girl’s mind. She jumped for the basket and shot the ball right over the heads of her defenders. Swish! The ball soared from her hands straight through the basket.
“Yes!” Sarit cheered before she could stop herself. All the players turned to look at her.
Sarit felt her face turning red. “Uh, sorry,” she mumbled, looking down at the ground. She turned and hurried away from the court. Her heart was pounding from the excitement of the game. As she wandered back toward home, Sarit realized that she was smiling for the first time in days.