February 24, 2020.
I sprinted down the court, dribbling the ball in front of me while I ran. Seeing an opening, I lobbed it to Xavier. Xavier went up but, despite being the tallest player on the JV team, couldn't find an opening. He sent a bounce pass back my way and I picked it up while in motion laying it up nicely at just the right time before I ran out of bounds. I smiled as Wesley clapped me on the back, Xavier pumped his chest, and the crowd cheered, all while I backed my way up back down the court.
It was game 24 against McArthur, and it was looking good. The score was 63-43 and we were in the second half of the fourth quarter, meaning we had practically won the game. I wasn't ready to celebrate yet, though. I was going to see this game through until the buzzer sounded, and that wouldn't been too soon.
This was apparent as the McArthur player passed the ball to a teammate in the paint, who pulled up with Cam with him. The whistle blew as the shot went in. 2 points and a free throw for their team. They made the free throw, of course, and so it was our possession again.
Jackson inbounded the ball to me, and I dribbled it up the court before returning it to him. He passed it into Cam, who gave it to me after not finding a shot. I hauled it to Wesley, who was on the whole other side of the three point line and he caught it. His defender had been caught off guard, as the ball had been on the other side of the court a second prior, and so Wesley scored some easy three points for the team.
"Great pass," Jackson said to me. He turned to Wesley. "And great shot, too."
"Hustle, hustle!" I heared Hendrix yelling at us. "Down the court!"
We made it down the court in time to prevent what happened before. I saw the point guard attempting the same pass as he had last possession and jumped in front of the teammate that the pass was being sent to. Before the point guard could react, he let go of the ball and sent it right into my hands. I passed it to Jackson who hurled it down the court to an open Cam, giving him an easy layup.
I glanced up at the score while the ball was being inbounded. 68-46. The point guard passed it off before making it the whole way down the court this time, and the recipient was able to get off an easy jump shot. Xavier grabbed the ball and threw it to Jackson while I found my position on our side of the court. I looked over at Jackson and he nodded at me as we thought of the same thing. I immediately left my position, cutting through the court and coming out on the other side. While the man who was supposed to be guarding me looking for where I'd gotten to, I released the ball, which swooshed nicely in the net.
The clock was running down now so McArthur tried a hasty inbound, only to have it snatched out of the air by Cam. Cam tossed it to me and I glanced at the clock once more before deciding to hold the ball. A couple seconds later the buzzer sounded, and we had won the game—70-48.
The crowd got to their feet and cheered while our team huddled up.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Coach Hendrix exclaimed. "Great work, all of you. I'll see you in practice tomorrow, have a good night. Great work, all of you!"
As I broke off from the huddle, Maia ran up to me. "18 points! You scored 18 points, that was amazing! Plus the rebounds and the interceptions and assists and steals and..."
"Thanks, Maia," I said, grinning.
"That was insane!" Austin said as he joined us. "You're finally back!"
"You were great," said Wesley as he joined us.
"You were too," I told him, and then I noticed that Jackson, Cam, Nathan, Max, and even Xavier were coming over too. "You all were great," I extended the compliment to them all. "This is what the Cobras can really do!"
"Here here!" they all chanted at once as they gathered around.
We congradulated each other for a good three more minutes before I broke off from them a little, noticing Harper approach. I stepped toward her.
"Good game," she said, in a way that I couldn't tell what she was really feeling. I didn't know if she was still mad, or if she had gotten over it.
"Look, we should talk about—" but then I saw something that cut me off. It was my dad, walking toward me. I stepped forward from Harper and the bunch.
"Uh oh," I heard Austin say from behind me as my dad approached.
"What's uh oh?" someone who I think was Jackson asked.
"That's his dad," said either Nathan or Max.
"What's so bad about that?" said a soft voice, probably Maia.
"His dad doesn't want him playing," said Austin, "and he doesn't know that Blake's still on the team."
"Well, he does now," Wesley muttered.
I turned back to everyone who had gathered around me, which included Austin, Maia, Harper, Nathan, Max, Cam, Jackson, Wesley, and Xavier. "Look," I said to them cautiously. "Can you guys just—"
"Leave you alone?" Harper demanded. She shook her head and walked away, disappearing in the crowd before I could think to go after her.
"Yeah, that's not going to happen," said Austin.
"We got your back, man," Cam said.
"Yeah, we're not leaving you again," said Nathan.
"Not after what happened last time," Max said.
"I have no idea what's going on here," said Xavier, who I didn't even really know too well. "But it sounds important, so I'm stayed."
"Me too," Jackson said.
"Oh, and me," said Maia.
I sighed and was about to further protest, but everyone just stormed past me, right up to my father.
"You can't take Blake off the team, Mr. Manson," Austin spoke up first, which surprised me.
"Yeah, he's a great player," Jackson said next, which also surprised me.
"Look, guys..." I started back up, but was once again silenced.
"No," said Austin firmly. "We're going to help you, like it or not. Mr. Manson, you can't make Blake quit basketball."
"Yeah, we won't let you do that to him," Max said.
"Blake loves basketball," said Maia.
"And he's good at it too," Nathan chimed in.
"Best on the team, if you ask me," said Wesley.
"We can't let him not play basketball," Cam said. "When he tried not signing up for it this year, the guy almost exploded."
"Once again, I'm not exactly sure what's going on," Xavier said, "but it's not the Cobras without Blake here."
My dad just stood there and watched the scene take place, his gaze unwavering. It was several long, antagonizing moments before he finally spoke. "Can I talk to my son alone, please?" he asked everyone.
The group of people who had stood up to him hesitated before stepping back to let me through. I followed my dad into the locker room, which was empty.
"Quite some friends you got there," was the first thing he said to me.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about them," I replied. "I told them to—"
But my dad waved me off. "Accept their help, son. They're fierce friends, all of them."
"Look, I know why you're here," I said, not wanting what was coming to last longer than it had to. "I'm playing basketball, when I told you that I wouldn't anymore. I disobeyed you, and I get that, but I like playing basketball. I mean, I love it. It's really the thing that—"
"Ah, stop blabbering," said my dad. "I'm not going to make you quit the team."
"That's true, but I..." I stopped and let what my dad had said sink in. "Wait, you're not?"
My dad sighed and leaned against one of the lockers. "No. Kid, I came here to bring you home, but I saw you playing today. Plus, I don't want to have to deal with those friends of yours. Can you imagine what they'd do to me."
It took a moment before I relaxed and was able to smile. "But I thought that basketball wasn't a stable career for me, and I needed to focus on—"
"All that's true," said my dad quickly. "Well, most of it anyways. I still want you to stay open-minded about your future and you'd better keep up those grades of yours. But I do think that maybe I was wrong about you being able to play basketball."
"Really?" I asked, excited. "You think I'm that good?"
"I don't know. I'm no sports talent judge," my dad said, the corners of his mouth turning up, "but I did see the passion you have for the game. I can tell it makes you happy, so I think it's okay for you to chase after it."
I grinned and pulled my dad into a hug for the first time in many, many years. I could feel his surprise as he awkwardly gripped me for a moment before relaxing.
"Thank you," I told him honestly. "I mean it."
"Of course," my dad replied. "But don't push yourself too hard, okay? And don't push your friends away either. Nothing—no hobby, sport, or career—is worth losing people who care about you. I don't know exactly what's going on in your life, and that it was it is. But I thought I'd offer you that one piece of advice, in case it ever helps."
I nodded at my dad appreciatively and he nodded back.
"Anyway," he said. "I'm heading back home, but I suppose you'll be wanting to celebrate with your friends a little. Or at least thank them for sticking their necks out for you. See you at home."
I grinned and sat down on one of the benches in the locker room as my dad exited. I couldn't believe it. It was like my nightmare had turned into a dream. My dad had figured out that I was playing basketball, and he had been okay with it. After a minute to myself, I decided to return to the court.
I walked toward my bunch of friends who had stood up to me and Maia came to meet me halfway, having been the only one to see me walking over.
"Are you okay?" she asked me as we walked back to the others.
"Am I okay?" I repeated the question.
"Yeah, I thought that guy was a criminal at first, what with his unkept beard and gravelly voice."
"Not a criminal," I told her. "Just my dad."
"Right, I didn't mean to—"
"Blake!" the rest of the group had caught up. Everyone was still there except for Xavier and Harper. Wesley stepped forward first. "What happened in there, man?"
"Yeah, what'd he say to you?" Max asked.
"Is he taking you off the team?" inquired Austin.
Cam and Jackson started to speak up, but I cut them all off. "I'm still on the team, guys. He's going to let me keep playing."
"That's great!" Nathan said and everyone congratulated me.
"Look, you guys," I said when I finally got the chance. "Thank you. For sticking up to me. I don't know if it's why he's letting me continue playing, but it helped in the very least."
"Hey hey!" someone broke into our tight huddle. It was Coach Hendrix. "I'm not exactly sure what y'all are hugging on Blake for, but the varsity team has to practice now for their game."
"Oh," Wesley said, "well it's just that Blake's dad found out about him playing basketball, but he's going to keep letting him play."
Hendrix glanced over to me. "You mean to tell me that you've been playing the whole season without a parent's permission? What if you were injured or something? You know what, just forget about. And huddle up somewhere else please."
"Thanks again, you guys," I told them all. "Hey, has anyone seen Harper?"
Everyone looked around, and they all just shrugged.
"Must've wondered off," said Wesley. "Why?"
"Oh nothing, I just needed to talk to her about—never mind, it's fine. I guess I'll be off then. Again, I really appreciate all of you."
"We're not going to let you push us away that easily," Nathan said. "Not after we pushed you away that time."
"Yeah, you're stuck with us," Austin said, and the rest of the crowd added in their agreement.
"Hey, a bunch of us are staying for the varsity game and you're obviously more than welcome to sit with us," Cam said. "How about it?"
I hesitated, but soon gave in. "Why not?"