“Hey, crybaby!”
“Shut the fuck up,” David said.
The Potterton basketball team was in the middle of a freshman-varsity scrimmage. David was center, slapping down balls coming from every direction, and even dunking, desperately trying to think of nothing but basketball, and then Adam Rickenbacher, this handsome freshman Jonathan didn’t like for some reason, had started cracking wise.
“Sorry, dude. I know you’re sensitive,” Rickenbacher said.
“I’m going to kick your ass, Rickybashay,” David said.
But his heart wasn’t in it. He went up and ripped the ball out of Adam’s hands, and Adam let him, but then some other freshman whipped around his back and whispered Waaa. David let another kid get the ball away from him and he walked off the court, slammed against the blue padded wall of the gym, and sat down.
“David, get back in there!” yelled Vijay Singram, the coach. He was usually a pretty mellow guy, but there were some prospective parents and their kids watching, so he was trying to look fierce. That made everything worse for David—the coach yelling, and the freshman, and a bunch of prospective eighth graders who’d probably heard he was a good player all staring at him. Before he knew it, David had jammed his shirt up into his face and started to bawl like he was six and somebody had kicked him right out of the sandbox.
“Everybody keep playing,” yelled Coach Singram. He went over to David.
“Someone kill me,” David said under his breath.
“What’s the matter? We need you out there.”
“Just a sec.”
“Girl problems? Is that what it is? ’Cause that’s what everybody’s telling me, you know?”
“Please, could you leave me alone?” David said and peeked through his hands. He could see veins bulging in Singram’s neck and sweat drip down his forehead.
“Me?” Coach Singram thundered. He looked around at the half dozen parents who were still watching him. Then the game slowly came to an end, and the freshman squad and everybody on the varsity team was watching.
“Are you going to force me to make an example out of you?”
“Force you?” David said. “What do you mean force you? I’m not forcing you to do anything.”
David suddenly felt too ill to speak. He stood, slowly. He sagged a little, and Adam Rickenbacher walked over and held him up by the elbow. David didn’t like it, but he ended up leaning on Adam.
“Now you listen here, young man, what you do in your free time is your business, but when you bring the sad fact that your girlfriend cheated on you onto my basketball court, then it’s my problem!”
“Take it easy, coach,” Adam Rickenbacher said.
“What’ve you got to say for yourself, David?” Singram yelled.
“Thanks for the pep talk.”
“Get out of here!”
“I’m already gone,” David said. He pushed Adam away and slumped off toward the showers, with nothing but the sound of laughter and bouncing balls behind him.