by Rita Ewing
“Mommy. Daddy said five minutes is up. Come on.”
“Yeah, Casey. We’re gonna miss the groundbreaking ceremony, and I promised Paul we’d be there.”
Casey tuned them out as she looked down at the faint blue line appearing on the rectangular stick and was determined not to get excited, yet. As she glanced at her watch, she knew Brent was right. They had to hurry if they planned on making it in time for the groundbreaking for the Crissy Jackson Community Center. Paul and Lorraine, in conjunction with the city of New York, were opening a youth center, devoted to keeping the children of Harlem safe, in memory of the little girl whose gang-related murder Lorraine had witnessed in high school. Lorraine had finally contacted Crissy’s mother. It had taken a lot of talk, more than one conversation, but finally Lorraine had told Mrs. Jackson the whole story of that night. And Crissy’s mom, though not ready to forgive, at least had stopped wanting to do damage. Casey would meet Mrs. Jackson that day at the center’s opening.
When Lorraine had reported the identity of the murderer and his accomplices to the police, they’d discovered that he had been killed two years before in a prison fight while serving a double life sentence. The two others were serving time, but both were about to be tried for Crissy’s murder.
“You promised, Mommy,” Nikki cried into the door.
“You’re right. I did promise and I’m coming out now,” Casey said, taking one last look at the unmistakably solid blue line.
Holding the stick behind her back, she pulled the door open, and Nikki and Brent almost fell into the bathroom. She was so excited, she could scarcely suppress a scream from escaping her mouth. The result of the pregnancy test defied her doctor’s prognosis and confirmed a dream she’d no longer dared to think possible.
“Well, it’s about time,” Brent began as he kissed her on the forehead. “If you were trying to make yourself look beautiful in there, you did a good job.”
“You look pretty, Mommy,” Nikki cooed as Brent picked her up with one arm and led Casey out of the bathroom with the other.
“So it’s me and my two girls today. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.” Brent beamed looking at Casey and then Nikki.
“Brent …” Casey glanced at Nikki. Yeah, she was old enough. Casey tried to keep a lid on her emotions. “I have to tell you something and I can’t wait.” She pulled the stick from behind her back and held it up for them both. Clearly they were clueless.
“What’s that?” Nikki asked, scrunching up her face.
A light dawned in Brent’s head, “Is that what I think it is?” he asked, a grin developing on his handsome face.
“Yup,” Casey answered quickly.
“And does it mean what I think it means?”
“Yup.”
“What is it, Mommy?”
Brent lifted Nikki above his head and spun her around in a circle. “What it means is that you are going to have your very own little brother or sister and that I am beyond the luckiest guy in the world. I’m the luckiest guy in the galaxy!”
“Yaaaay,” Nikki screamed as Brent and Casey joined her, all of them hollering at the top of their lungs as if there were no tomorrow.
Acknowledgments
Biggup’ to my husband, Patrick Ewing. Without you, I’d just be an innocent bystander.
A huge “thanks” to all my NBA partners—current and ex-wives, fiancées, and girlfriends. Stay strong!
For all my friends (and you know who you are)—thank you for all the insight and support.
Thanks go out to my family (Mommy, Daddy, and Kelly)—without your support I still would have done this, but it wouldn’t have been as much fun.
To our editor, Carrie Feron, and our agent, Denise Stinson: I thank you both for believing in our story and making it happen. Sandi Gelles-Cole, a huge thanks for helping us tighten this up.
Jeanne Moutousammy-Ashe, an amazing photographer and beautiful friend, thank you! You captured our good sides (with a little help from Angel).
Thank you Terrie Williams for your friendship, advice and unlimited resources!
And the BIGGEST thanks of all to my true partner in crime and best friend, Crystal McCrary-Anthony. Without you, girl, this would still be just another good idea.
R.E.
I want to thank God. Much love and respect to my family and friends; Kyra, my uplifting positive best friend, I’m so thankful there are people like you in the world; Dominique Sims-Lash, Nikki Doss, Leslie Danley, Carla Diggs—thanks for giving the first draft read; Lisa Handley Bonner, Shaun Robinson, Dena Dodd-Perry, Shauna Neely, Marcia Mackey and the whole Detroit crew, Jay Norris, Peter Simonetta and Patrick Orr, Kery and Samantha Davis, the Wu Clan, Fran Rauch, Tonya Lewis-Lee, Nikki Skalski, wherever you are, Sheree Carter-Galvan, for your friendship and great legal advice; Nancy Taylor Rosenberg, you’ve been a friend and mentor; Nick Ellison; Denise Stinson, for believing in the book; my editor, Carrie Feron, for your enthusiasm throughout the project; Sandi Gelles-Cole, for teaching me more about writing; Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, it was an honor and a privilege working with you; Angel Raphael Gonzalez, for fabulous make-up; Rita, we got it done with commitment, vision and professionalism. To My Friend up above for everyday guidance. To Monga, my first angel. To Vikki, for life.
C.M.
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.
This book was originally published in hardcover and mass market by William Morrow and Avon Books, November 1998 and October 1999, respectively.
HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE. Copyright © 1998, 2004 by Rita Ewing and Crystal McCrary Anthony.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © NOVEMBER 2010 ISBN: 978-0-062-06949-8
FIRST TRADE EDITION
The William Morrow hardcover edition contains the following Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ewing, Rita.
Homecourt advantage: a novel/Rita Ewing and Crystal McCrary–1st ed.
p cm.
1. Basketball players–Fiction.
I. McCrary, Crystal. II. Title.
PS355.W54S33 1998 98-18175
813’.54—dc21 CIP
04 05 06 07 08 JTC/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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