Airball

cked jerseys too, but I didn pay much attention to them because I didn know their names. After Coach Hendrix was done giving out jerseys numbers, everyone started another drill. I decided to approach the coach to ask him something that had been on my mind the entire practice.

”What is it, son? ” Hendrix asked, looking up from his clipboard.

”Oh, well I was just wondering, ” I said, ”why did you accept me onto the team? ”

The coach looked confused. ”What do you mean? ”

”I mean youve surely seen my shots today, and in tryouts. Its horrendous. So why am I on the team? ”

Coach Hendrix seemed to take great interest in this question. I watched as he tossed around the answer in his head before coming to a conclusion.

”You
e Blake, correct? ”

I nodded.

”Well Blake, being a high school basketball coach, it is beneficial for me to go to some middle school games, to get a look at my upcoming talent. Ive been to your middle school games, and Ive seen the way you play. Thats why I accepted you onto the team. ”

I thought about this, and decided it didn answer my question. ”Okay, but you saw me out there several minutes ago. Do you want that on the team? ”

”I accepted Blake Manson onto my team, ” the coach said flatly. ”And maybe your shooting skill right now doesn match that of the Blake Manson I saw play, but I didn accept Blake Manson on the team for just his shooting skill. Sure, his shooting was impressive. But I also saw the way he single-handedly led the entire team on the court. I saw how he calculated his opponent before making a move. I saw the way he looked at the court like it was a maze and everything on it like obstacles. I saw the way he came to visit my games just as I had visited his, just to see what he needed to prepare for. Thats the Blake Manson I accepted on the team. Now maybe you
e not there right now, for any number of reasons, but I figure that its my job as a coach and yours as a player to get you there. So go out and improve your game, to become the Blake Manson that you want to be. ”

Wow. I knew there was nothing I could possibly think of to say to that. So I nodded and turned to join the drill, smiling all the while. That coach could give one heck of a pep talk. So I finished the practice strong. We didn do anything other than drills and I didn necessarily perform any better at the drills, but I never gave up. I kept on trying, because I had an end goal in mind. One that exceeded the middle school Blake Manson for a thousand miles. And I was going to reach that end goal, no matter how long it took or how hard it was.

Practice wrapped up and Gavin lead the cheer to end the practice. Afterwards, Cam, Nathan, and I (Max had some other business to attend to) went to the Shake Shack to refuel ourselves and talk about practice.

When I got home, I collapsed on the coach and welcomed a wildly licking Otis onto my lap.

”And where exactly were you? ” asked my dad, who I hadn even noticed sitting in the recliner several feet away.

”Practice, ” I answered simply.

”Practice? ” he repeated. ”Practice for what? ”

”Basketball, ” I replied.

”I thought you had given up that sport, ” he said coolly.

I realized that he must have overheard one of my phone conversations with my friends. That, or he had been eavesdropping. Either way, I didn see why he seemed to care. He never seemed to be too involved in anything else I did.

”Well, you thought wrong, ” I said before I could stop myself. It had come out colder than I had wanted it to. I found sudden interest in the backsides of Otis ears.

”Don talk back to me boy, you hear? ” he said just as cold.

”Yes sir, ” I answered, trying my best to deescalate the situation. I wasn sure if it worked, and I didn plan to stick around and find out. I leaned forward to let Otis know I was moving and give him time to jump off before I headed upstairs, with the pug right on my heels.

I entered my room and sat down on my bed. Liv looked back at me and started to close the tab on the laptop, but I motioned that she could keep playing. She smiled really big and went back to whatever she was doing as I leaned back on my bed. All I wanted was a quiet place to think. But I should have known that no room with Liv in it was a quiet one.

”So howd it go? ” she asked enthusiastically.

”How did what go? ” I asked.

”Your practice! ”

I smiled. It felt nice to have someone be genuinely interested in what I was doing.

”It went fi— ” I started to say, before stopping myself. I had decided not to keep anything from friends, and Liv was just trying to be friendly. The least I could do is be honest with her. ”It was the first practice, ” I explained, ”and Im not exactly where I want to be just yet. I know I can do better. ”

”I know you can too, ” Liv said, turning toward me and grinning. ”My big brother can do anything! ”

She turned back around and I slid off my bed and crossed my arms around her neck.

”Which big brother? ” I demanded playfully. ”What big brother aren you telling me about? ”

Liv shrieked with laughter and wriggled out of my reach to resume her game, continuing to giggle for the next several minutes. I leaned back and started to imagine myself playing basketball as a high schooler, as I had many times before. Except this time, it was close to becoming a reality.