CHAPTER 5
GROUNDED
School. Basketball. Staring at the wall. Those were the only things Devon had to focus on during his grounding. Two weeks for semi-accidentally missing one practice.
Devon found it harsh. He’d tried to explain to his parents that it had been an accident. But his teammates had been irritated, and Dad hadn’t wanted to hear it.
As far as Dad was concerned, there was no excuse for blowing off basketball. The two-week punishment was his way of forcing Devon to focus.
But it wasn’t working. In fact, it was having the opposite effect. The more Devon’s father pushed him toward basketball, the less Devon wanted to play it.
What Devon actually wanted to do was ride.
Not that anyone seems to care, Devon thought miserably.
The time he’d spent on Jamal’s bike had made him feel free. He wanted to be as good at BMX as he was at basketball. It was a new personal challenge.
When he wasn’t at school or attending mandatory basketball practices, Devon soaked up online videos of BMX tricks. His favorite was BMX street. Those athletes turned the bike park into their own personal playgrounds.
BMX vert was a close second. Devon loved seeing how much air the riders could get off the ramps. It reminded him of dunking a basketball.
Because they were in different classes at school, Devon hadn’t seen Jamal in almost two weeks. He certainly hadn’t been able to try any more BMX tricks.
After Coach Walker called his parents, Devon’s dad had taken to texting her to make sure Devon got to practice on time. And after practice, Dad was right there, waiting to pick Devon up.
But even the grounding couldn’t put a damper on Devon’s interest in BMX. He couldn’t stop thinking about Jamal attempting the Superman.
Devon must have watched more than a hundred videos of people doing the trick. In all the videos, the riders removed both feet from the pedals and kicked them outward to resemble Superman mid-flight. It was a tough move that required a lot of core strength.
Sometimes riders would extend their legs out with too much force and struggle to time the landing. In other videos, it looked like riders didn’t have the ab strength to get their legs high enough.
Devon knew the move was probably too hard for a beginner. But he still couldn’t help imagining himself doing it. He was determined to get back on a bike, whether his parents liked it or not.
* * *
The day before Devon’s grounding was due to end, Mom knocked on his door. “Can we talk?” she asked, opening the door a crack.
Devon shrugged and continued to sulk. Mom must have taken it as a yes, because she came into the room. Devon avoided her gaze and instead stared up at the posters of famous Knicks players on the walls. He wasn’t in the mood for another lecture.
“I wanted to talk to you about basketball,” Mom said. “You made a commitment to your team, and skipping practice breaks that promise. Is this going to happen again?”
“That’s not really up to me, is it?” Devon snapped.
Mom fixed Devon with a no-nonsense gaze. “It’s entirely up to you,” she said. “If you go to practice when you’re supposed to go to practice, we won’t have any more problems.”
Devon sighed, feeling frustrated. “Sorry, Mom,” he apologized. “It’s just . . . I used to love basketball. It used to be fun. But now it feels like it takes up everything. There’s no time for anything else. And it’s all Dad cares about.”
Devon’s mother paused to think. “And this change in attitude is due to what? Bike riding?” she asked. “You clearly like it enough to miss basketball practice.”
“BMX freestyle,” Devon responded eagerly. “I’m obsessed. It’s not as easy as basketball. But when I did it, it was just about me, you know? And it was fun.”
“I have no idea what BMX is,” Mom admitted.
“Let me show you a video,” Devon said. He loaded one of the Superman videos he’d been watching on repeat.
Mom watched, looking interested but concerned. When the trick was finished, she said, “Look, Devon, I want you to be happy. Your father and I both do. We want you to challenge yourself and to try new things.”
“Sure doesn’t feel like it,” Devon muttered under his breath.
“You have to be open with us,” Mom told him. “You can’t go behind our backs when you have a schedule.”
“Even if that schedule isn’t fair?” Devon argued.
“If there’s something you want changed, come to me and your father,” Mom said. “Tell us why. Give us reasons with respect. Talk to your dad. Convince him.”
Devon looked back at the YouTube video and sighed. He was pretty sure he would have to be Superman to convince his father to let him do anything other than basketball.