Hoops

Chapter 1

Finding the Team

"Hey what's up? We need a big man do you want join our team, for that tournament?" Edward asks the big black man.

"You need a big man?"

"Yeah."

"All right, I'm big all right so you asked the right person on that one."

"Yeah, for center."

"Yeah, I'll join ya, what time is it?"

"This Monday at 7 p.m."

"Oh yeah I gotcha. Yeah I'll join. I'm Bill by the way, but I go by the name of Train, you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I come straight at you and there's nothing you can do to stop me, hah!"

Edward smiles at the large man's response and shakes hands with him.

"I'm Edward and this is my cousin, Oscar he's going to play with us."

"Hey how's it going?"

"Pretty good." Oscar responds.

"All right, we'll give you a call when it comes up." Edward continues.

"Yeah man, no problem." The big man responds as he catches his own rebound and shoots it back up. He is at least 300 pounds, but he moves well for a man his size.

Now with their big man as the center, they go on a search for the last two people to fill their team. Edward is only 5'3, but what he lacks in height he makes up in muscle. With his buffed up body his arms never touch his sides. He is going to be the power forward of the team. His cousin Oscar is going to play shooting guard.

Oscar, however, is different from his cousin. Oscar is 5'11 and skinny. His play is limited to only shooting and he is a streaky shooter at best. His best shot is the 3 pointer, which he shoots frequently. Besides shooting he is handicapped in every other basketball category. Even dribbling is a problem for him.

Edward and Oscar drive to a nearby by playground to pick up the point guard and the small forward they need for the team.

They see a bony black kid playing. He is about 6'2 and is playing with someone else that is lighter skinned with a backward turned cap on his head. At closer viewing of him, they see he is Hispanic in descent.

The Hispanic man is only a little over 5 feet and has a pudgy body.

"Hey you guys want to join our basketball team we need two more guys." Edward asks them.

"Where at?" The Hispanic man responds.

"At the gym at Stokes, it's a tournament, winner gets 15,000 dollars."

"Oh no shit?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah I'll join."

Edward looks now at the taller guy, bones came to mind when he sees him.

"You want to join?"

"They accept people that are fourteen. I'm only fourteen."

"Yeah you can still join. They're not going to ask your age or anything."

"All right I'll join too."

"Ok. This is my cousin Oscar he's going to be playing with us."

"Can he play?" Jim asks.

Oscar's skinny body and fragility didn't make him look like he'd be a good basketball player.

"Yeah he can shoot. He's going to be shooting guard."

Jim shakes Oscar's hand.

"I'm Jim."

"Nice meeting you, I'm Oscar."

"So what positions are we going to play?" Bones asks.

"You're going to play small forward." He pointed at Jimmy.

"And he'll play point guard."

"Ok, what's your name?" Bones continues.

"My name's Edward and he's Oscar."

"My name's Kevin."

Kevin shakes both Edward's and Oscar's hand.

The team is now set and ready to compete.

*

Chapter 2

Edward's drinking problem

After repeated calls to Edward's house with no response, Oscar decides to visit him at his house as a last resort to get in touch with him.

He was in luck today. He drives in just as Edward is driving up his driveway. Edward steps out of his truck and two empty Jack Daniel's bottles fall and shatter on the pavement. He mutters something intangible and bends down to pick up the broken pieces. As he is coming up, he notices Oscar standing just outside his driveway looking at him. He is a little surprised and squints to make sure it is his cousin.

"Hey what are you doing here, Oscar?"

"Oh sorry man, didn't mean to drive up to just like this, but I needed to get a hold of you. I called your house but no one answered, I just needed to tell you something."

"Oh, well come on in man. I made mess over here."

As Edward makes his way to the front door, Oscar notices Edward's forehead is beaded up with sweat and his eyes are blood shot.

"So what's up man, what you been up to?" Edward says as he steps inside his house.

"Nothing much man, same ol' you know?"

"What did you want to tell me? You want something to drink, there's some Pepsi in the fridge if you want."

"Nah man, I'm cool. Nah man I just wanted to tell you the game is tomorrow."

"Oh yeah man I almost forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me. Yeah I'll be there, don't worry about it."

"All right you know what time it is, right?"

"Yeah 7 at night right?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah I know dude. So you guys pick out a name for our team yet or what?"

"Yeah, we're going to be the Tigers. What you think, it's a good name?"

"Yeah that's good. So you guys been practicing with each other at the gym?"

"Yeah no doubt, we wanted to get you into it too but I could never get a hold of you."

"Oh yeah, you know what, man? I've been having issues with my girl." Edward is in the bathroom splashing water on his face.

"Man, I got this huge hangover man..."

"Ey, dude, try and be sober when we play tomorrow though because I think the ref will kick you out dude."

"Yeah of course man. Don't worry about that. I'm not going to play drunk."

"All right."

"Hey I hate to cut this short man, but I gotta go fix my truck. I have an appointment over there."

"It's OK, I gotta go too."

Oscar sometimes gets frustrated with Edward's motivation to play but he hopes he comes through during the game.

*

Chapter 3

Tigers vs. Big Ballaz

The five of them arrive for shoot-around of their first game. Edward is here but he is in the same alcohol induced condition when Oscar visited him at his house. Oscar doesn't pay much attention to it. He figures he would do all right when it came time to play.

The referee for the match is a seasoned veteran who's seen just about everything happen on the court, but he never smelled such a strong smell of alcohol like he did that night.

He made his way toward the Tigers and it was obvious to him, one was under the influence. His pupils could not stay still.

"Hey guys." He points at Edward.

"That guy reeks of alcohol. We're not here to fool around. There are some serious people here that want to win that money. If any of you smell like alcohol again, I'm going to kick you out, you got it?"

"Yeah it won't happen again, we're sorry about that." Oscar responds.

When the ref walks away, Oscar turns to Edward.

"See man, I told you."

"Fuck him man. I'll like to see him try and do that. Who paid for this league, Oscar?"

"You."

"Me right? So he can't kick us out, if he does, he'll be kicked out. Don't listen to him, he's full of shit."

"You must've drank a lot though cause I can smell that from here, bro." The train says.

"And I think we need everyone to be, you know, for this team, look over there." Kevin says.

They turn their attention to the team on the opposite end of the court. They were much taller and muscular with the exception of Train.

"Oh man, they look like NBA players man!" Oscar says.

"Yep." Kevin responds.

"It's no problem, we got this guy." Jim slaps Train on the shoulder.

"Let's just ride this guy through the whole game. They don't have anyone in there that can stop this guy."

"How much you weigh?" Kevin asks.

"380."

"Damn....Yeah we better ride this guy then."

"No one can stop the Train baby." The Train says.

They make their way to the center of the court. Train and another man just as tall but not nearly as big, prepare for the jump ball.

The stands are packed with boisterous people cheering for their home team, Big Ballaz. The ref blows his whistle and then tosses the ball upward.

The Tigers win the jump ball and it is quickly passed to Jim who then walks it up the court and points at team mates to arrange a post up play.

He passes it to Kevin on the perimeter and he passes it to Train down in the post and steps back.

Train bounces the defender off his back until he is near the basket and then hooks the ball inside the net for a one-footer. Now it's 1 nothing. First one to 7 will win the game.

Home Team 0

Visitors 1

As the Tigers run back on defense, Oscar runs backwards and smiles at the crowd. The fans welcome the gesture with a barrage of water bottles thrown at him.

A Ballaz player crosses Kevin and drives it to the basket. Train reaches to block the ball, but it hits high off the glass before he can get to it, and the ball goes inside the net.

Home Team 1

Visitors 1

Jim walks it up the court again and passes it to Kevin who again feeds the ball down into the post for Train. Train starts doing his usual work but now he is doubled teamed at his spot and can't see the basket with the defender's long arms in the way. He passes out of it to Oscar who's just behind the 3 point line. Oscar aims and shoots. The ball feels good coming off his fingers tips and it arches beautifully into the basket. Swishh

Home Team 1

Visitors 3

One defender is left open down the court and the ball is thrown all the way down to him. With no one around him, he slams it with emphatic force.

Home Team 2

Visitors 3

"Hey stay on you're guy OK?" Jim tells Kevin who missed the assignment.

Jim sees two men guarding Train, making it impossible to get a ball inside to him. He decides to drive in. Both defenders jump on him as he tries to lay it up but he finds a small opening in between their bodies and passes it to Train, who slams it down hard on a defender's face.

"That's a poster right there baby, you got baptized boy." Train says to the man.

The man responds by giving him a big grin.

Home Team 2

Visitors 4

Next play the defender crosses Oscar. He does a couple of juke moves toward the center where Kevin and Train jump and foul him to prevent an easy lay up.

He shoots one free throw and makes it.

Home Team 3

Visitors 4

Jim walks it up the court but he relaxes too much and the defender steals the ball from him for an easy lay up on the other end.

The Ballaz now start to smell blood in the water and feel the momentum shift towards them.

Home Team 4

Visitors 4

Luckily Jim was not a push over point guard. His experience in the ghetto playgrounds taught him how to block the defenders from their privy hands by rotating his body and using his back as a shield. In this manner he makes his way down the court and passes it to Kevin. He dribbles and does some fancy moves but can't get past the much bigger and stronger man. He decides to pass it to Edward who begins backing his defender up, but this is a challenge. The man is twice his size and about the same build.

Edward is locked from moving any further because the defender's forearm does not budge on his back, but Edward refusing to give up, bends down and pushes from a lower height to manage a few more steps into the paint. Once he does, he passes to Oscar who is deep in the corner. He catches it and pump fakes. The defender falls for the trap and he jumps up with flailing arms behind him. Oscar does one dribble and steps away from the flying defender and shoots the ball. The ball rims out into the back board but it eventually bounces in.

The momentum the Ballaz had was now over with that shot.

Home Team 4

Visitors 6

A Ballaz teammate starts his post move and shoots, but it is rejected by Train. However another man of their team picks it up and shoots a 3 and scores.

Home Team 6

Visitors 6

Jim knows this play is going to have to be drawn to Train. He passes it to Kevin. Train gets picked up by two defenders right away, so Kevin passes it to Oscar who is on the perimeter. The defender runs to him and Oscar passes it to Train. Train starts backing up before he is picked up by an extra man and he kicks out to Oscar. Oscar's defender runs to him again and Oscar passes it back to Train, this time he's in a deeper position to the net. Train hooks and makes the shot.

Tigers win but the fans don't take it nicely. They throw everything they carry with them at the Tigers, making a pool of beer and thrown spit wads on the floor.

The Tigers make a quick exit and go straight to their car. This part of the city is known to have daily gang shootings and it wouldn't be a surprise if they would kill them.

They get into their car and look back at their rear view window. There is an angry crowd holding chains and bats running right toward them. Without further hesitation, Jim hits the gas and the car screeches out of the gate.

Final Score

Home Team 6

Visitors 7

*

Chapter 4

Celebration

It has been one day since their victory and Oscar invites the team to a local burger join to eat and discuss their next opponent. Everyone came except for Edward, who again could not be reached.

"Hey thanks for the meal." Kevin says.

"Yeah no problem."

"Where's your cousin?"

"Oh, I couldn't get a hold of him. I think he only comes when it's game time."

"Ahh, is he a busy dude?"

Oscar thought for a moment on how to respond to that question. He doesn't feel comfortable telling the team Edward has a drinking problem.

"Yeah, he works a lot."

"You guy's ready?" The waitress asks.

"Yeah."

They tell the waitress their orders and afterwards Oscar opens the newspaper to the sports section. There in print is The Champions finally lose to an unlikely winner.

He reads further. The writer tells about how one of their men was drunk during the entire game, but who needed an extra man when you had a 300 pound giant of a man taking the ball.

It goes further saying the Big Ballaz had been winners of the Tournament for 3 years in a row.

"Hey guys, we beat a 3 time champion?"

"Huh?" Kevin asks.

"Yeah, check it out. That's pretty cool, I didn't even think we were that good." Oscar says as he hands the newspaper to Kevin.

"Damn, holy shit it does say that, how the hell we do that?"

Oscar laughs at his remark.

"Man we got Train over there that's why." Oscar continues.

"What I tell you guys, we're going to win this shit, there's no one as big as me that can play like me man."

"Are the Demons good?" Kevin asks.

"What?" Oscar responds.

"The Demons, that's who we play against next. It's on the eastside of town."

"I don't know. This is my first time entering the tournament. My cousin knows more about that than me."

"I'm going to pull out my fro' for that game." Kevin nods.

The waitress returns and smiles at the men as she hands them their meals.

Through the glass window outside, the Big Ballaz watch and wait patiently for them to come out.

*

Chapter 5

Parking Lot Fight

After their meals, they head to their car. The Big Ballaz wait for their opportunity and step out of hiding, surrounding the Tigers completely. The Ballaz are each armed with bats.

"Oh you want to handicap us for that game tomorrow don't ya?" Train asks.

The Big Ballaz don't respond instead they lunge forward.

Train ducks and weaves the first two bat swings which pound and shatter the glass of the car behind him, and then with all his power, upper cuts the man in the jaw. The man's body stiffens and he falls on his back.

A few cars over another Ballaz chases Kevin around a corvette. He swings and misses just a few inches from Kevin creating crater like indentions into the car in the process.

Meanwhile, Jim finishes a guy off with a fast right hook elbow that sends his ball cap flying off his head. He takes the fallen man's bat and runs to the aid of Kevin.

"Damn that owner is going to be pissed off. Over here ugly!" Jim waves.

The man loses his attention on Kevin for a split second. Kevin seizes the opportunity and punches the man in the stomach, making the man bend and drop his bat. Jim runs as fast as he can before the man has a chance to recover.

"Uhhhh! Motherfucker!" Jim yells as he connects with his bat on the man's ribs.

The man streaks the pavement with coughed up blood and falls on his face.

"Thanks man." Kevin says.

"No, problem."

"Where are the other two?"

"I don't know."

After a long pause, they hear loud thuds and glass shattering.

"Over there man." Jim points.

The two run over there. They find Oscar and Train with one of the Ballaz's head and chest through a car window covered in blood. The man left holding the bat retreats it when he sees Jim and Kevin arrive. Knowing now he's outnumbered, he looks for an exit and runs for it.

"Hey let's the get the fuck outta here." Train says.

The four of them get in their car and drive off, leaving a wreckage of cars behind them.

*

Chapter 6

Hospital Visit

"Aww...fuck man..." Oscar says as his shoulders sag.

Edward is lying on a hospital bed with both legs hung up in white castings.

"What the fuck did you do?" Oscar continues.

"Yeah I know man. Hey pass me the remote. I have a hard time reaching it." Edward says.

Oscar hands him the remote and then sits by him.

"We have a game tomorrow man. Now I have to find a replacement."

"Yeah, you can find a replacement though, just go to the playground, there lots of players there man. Just ask them they'll join you dude."

"I don't know if they'll be any good or not though."

"They're good over there, Oscar. They play all the time, I know I been there a couple of times."

"Yeah...damn I wanted to play with my cousin though..."

"Yeah I know I did too, but now what can I do, you know?"

"What happened, did you hit someone?"

"No, I hit the side of a bridge. My car is demolished dude. It's nothing but twisted metal. I'll show you pictures later. It's amazing I'm still alive."

"I'm glad you're all right."

"Hey check this out, the Ballaz are on TV."

On the television the news of incident at the parking lot is being broadcast.

Two black men, who were best known for their play with the Big Ballaz died this evening.

"Awww fuck." Oscar falls from his seat and lands on his back with his arms folded over his eyes.

"Hey two of the Ballaz died." Edward says.

"Yeah I know."

"You know, Oscar? Wait you guys were part of that incident?"

"Yep."

"Damn, you're in a worst position than I am."

"Yeah I know. I hope the cops don't find out, we're gonna be fucked. I don't know if they'll believe our story."

"Wait was it self defense?"

"Yeah they surrounded us with bats, but you can still get time for murder can't you?"

"Not if it's self defense. You're cool then, don't worry about it."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Oscar gets up slow and makes the dreaded walk up to the door.

"I'll see you man." He says, not looking back as he opens the door.

"Hey, good luck allright?"

"Yeah."

The door shuts. The long aisle is empty like it was abandoned. No noise emitted from it except for the rubber on his sneakers squeaking off the shiny white floor as he walked toward the exit.

*

Chapter 7

Replacement

Oscar puts on his large round sunglasses and sits on the hood of his car to observe the players on this hot afternoon.

He notices one of the players sticks out. He has long black hair tied back down midway his back and is yelling Spanish at the players as he scores the ball.

That's exactly the fire Oscar wants to see in a player.

When the game is done the man hangs a towel across his shoulders and walks toward his car. Oscar stops him on the shoulder as he passes by.

"Hey are you interested in joining our team for the 15000 dollar tournament?" Oscar says, folded away his sunglasses.

"Yeah I know about it."

"Yeah we need a power forward. My cousin is in the hospital and can't make it, so we need a replacement for him."