by Bruce Ingram
Anyway on Friday, Matthew came up to me during lunch and said he knew that it was short notice, but would I like to go out for pizza after the home game on Friday night, and I said that would be great with all the enthusiasm I could summon up. I mean, I think he will be okay to go out with. It’s better than sitting home and listening to my brothers argue about some ridiculous video game and who has the better all time score.
Chapter Thirty-Five: Marcus
Friday night before the game, we were doing just normal pre-game lay-up drills when all of a sudden Quintin pulled up lame. It was a tight hamstring or something. He’s one of the best point guards in the whole region and a real team leader as a junior. We really don’t have anybody that could replace him because the backup point guard is a freshman and he’s just not ready to play at this level yet. After Quintin went down, Coach Henson came over to me and said that he needed me to do something really important for the team. “After Quintin, you’re our best ball handler,” he said. “Can you run the point just for tonight?”
I said I could and then while everybody else was warming up, Coach Henson put all this heavy duty stuff on me and kept saying that he knew I could handle it and run our set plays just fine. He said he wanted me to think pass first, but that the whole offense was to run through me, and I was not to shy away from shooting especially after I had established a solid passing game plan the first half - that I would be working mostly to set up other players the first half. Then the second half, I would likely get a lot of scoring opportunities because the other team would be playing me to pass more than to shoot. I really was excited about the extra challenge and responsibility and proud that Coach Henson trusted me to run the team.
The first half, it didn’t take long for the team and me to get on the same page. Westside’s center didn’t have good quickness or speed, so I told our center Eric to sprint down the court on every change of possession, and I would feed him. We got three easy buckets in the first eight minutes just on that matchup advantage alone. Then I noticed that Matthew, our small forward, had a slight height and jumping advantage over Westside’s forward, so I ran some plays to get Matthew the ball in the lane and he put in two floaters and an easy jumper from the foul line early on. Rasheed, our big forward, didn’t have any matchup advantages versus their four guy, but the Westside starter picked up two quick fouls early on helping out on defending Eric, so I figured that he would sluff off some on Rasheed. That guess on my part proved true when Rasheed bulled by the guy on two straight possessions.
At the end of the first half, we were up 10, and I think I had only shot two or three times and made just one of them, but I was having so much fun distributing the ball that I hadn’t even noticed that I wasn’t getting many points. When we came into the locker room at half, Coach Henson just raved about my leadership and unselfishness to the rest of the team, and Quintin pounded me on the back and said I was doing an awesome job. I tell you I’ve never felt so good about my play on the court. Quintin even teased me that he was going to have trouble getting his point position back, and maybe he should be the shooting guard from now on.
Before we went back out for the second half, Coach Henson told me that the Westside point would likely be playing off me to start the half, and I was to take advantage of that. On the first possession, he told me to run a play where I sent the ball down deep to Eric and then have Eric immediately kick it back to me at the top of the key for a three. Then on the next possession, feed Matthew then have Eric set a screen for me, and then get the ball back from Matthew and for me to either take a short jumper behind Eric or drive to the hoop. “Let’s blitz them early and put them away,” said Henson.
And that’s just what happened. I hit a nothing but net three on our first possession and on the second after Eric set the screen, I drove to the hoop and slammed it. We were up 15 and then Westside just fell apart. Mid-way through the fourth quarter, we were up 25 and Coach Henson put the subs in. My final stat line was 12 assists, 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals. I had never had a triple double before; heck, I don’t think I’ve ever had more than four rebounds in a game before. When I met Joshua and Jordan after the game, they were both raving about my play and Kylee said she was “proud of the way you played.” Man, did I feel good.
We went out for pizza after the game, and a bunch of the guys and their girlfriends sat at the same table. We talked about the game for a little while, but then Kylee started talking about school and the neat stuff we were doing in World History II class, and Elly joined in about her project on Martin Luther, and I started talking about my research paper on the Renaissance. Elly looks really hot, I can see why Matthew asked her out.
Anyway, it was the first time I’ve ever really talked about school stuff when out with a group of people. It was kind of neat. I guess I have changed since last year. I guess I was “full of crap,” a lot of the time as Joshua used to say. I’ve gone from hating history to thinking about majoring in it. It’s never a bad night when your brother, your coach, and your girlfriend think you’re awesome.
Chapter Thirty-Six: Mia
When Luke called me on Thursday night, I could tell something was wrong from the tone of his voice. He stuttered around for a while then blurted out that his dad had died from being in a car wreck. I didn’t know what to say at first but then I realized that the most important thing to ask was if he was okay. Luke said he was fine but that he was wondering if I would mind going for a long hike in the national forest on Saturday for our weekly date. I said, “I would love to go anywhere with you, just to be with you would make me happy.” I know that sounded forward, but I don’t care. Luke needed me to help him sort through things, and the big changes that will happen because of his father’s death. I wanted to be there for him.
Like always, we met a couple of miles from the national forest entrance and rode our bikes there and started hiking around 9. Almost immediately, Luke started talking non-stop about his dad’s death and what that meant. Luke said that after his mom had died, his granddaddy and father had gone over the will, so his granddaddy knew exactly what the financial situation was.
Luke said that his granddaddy said that after his dad’s debts were paid off and the house sold, there would likely be enough money for him to go to college for at least two years at some state school. Then he could use the money that he had earned from L&M Enterprises and his savings account to help finish the last two years of college without going into so much debt that it would take many, many years to pay off his loan. Luke asked me what I thought about all that and I just had to exclaim, “That’s awesome, go for it!”
Luke smiled when I said that, but he said that wasn’t even the best part. He said that his granddaddy had been saving money in a special account for Luke to go to college, and he also had other money from his regular savings account and that, anyway with there being no need to use that money for college now, they could use that money for something else. What was that I asked?
“Granddaddy wants for him and me to go looking for land to buy out in the country, so that I can have that place to go live on one day,” said Luke. “That if we could buy the land and have it free and clear, I wouldn’t have to borrow so much from the bank when it came time to build a house when I was older.”
“That’s wonderful, Luke,” I blurted out. I could see how happy he was about the country land, and he gave me this big smile when I said how wonderful it was and then he stopped walking and held me in his arms and gave me the biggest hug and longest kiss that he’s ever given me. I felt so close to him. My mind just started running wild and thinking what it would be like to be married to Luke and living out in the country and having enough space to raise chickens and goats and who knows what else. But then I thought about my dream to go to Texas or Mexico and become a doctor, and I didn’t know which I would decide to do if I ever had to make a choice to stay here with Luke or go far away and practice medicine.
I mean, we’re only sophomores and neither o
ne of us has ever said, “I love you,” because I think we both know that we’re too young to really, truly know what love is. I just can’t stand how some girls in our class talk about “loving” some boy and then two weeks later, they’ve broken up with that guy and are dating somebody else and now they “love” the new guy. That’s not what love is. I know I don’t know what true love is yet, but I do think I know what love isn’t… and I think Luke feels the same way about all that.
I spent so long thinking about all that, that Luke thought something was wrong and asked if I were okay, and I just decided right then and there to tell him exactly what I had been thinking about - what love is and how the students at school always are “in love” and what our future might be. Right then, Luke said, “Let’s sit down against a tree and just talk.” So we did. It was so good to know that he thought the same way I did about true love and how we were too young to really know about something like that.
“But I want to tell you this,” he said. “You have made my life way better than it was. I am very, very thankful for you. Maybe one day when we’re older, maybe one day we’ll find that we love one another. Right now, you’re my best friend, and the girl I want to spend my time with.”
What he said was just perfect, and I told him so. Then Luke said that his granddaddy wanted him second semester to get his grades up, so that a state or community college would be more likely to want him to come and maybe even give him a partial scholarship because of financial need and because both his parents are dead. “Granddaddy also wants me to run cross country next fall to make me well-rounded,” he said. Luke told me that his granddaddy felt that if he ran cross country, maybe that would also help him get financial help, too. Luke added that his granddaddy thought he spent too many hours working after school instead of studying and that it might pay off in the long run to play a sport, study more, and work after school much less.
I told Luke that I agreed 100 percent with his granddaddy, that we could work on L&M Enterprises more in the summer and on weekends and less after school and it would be better for both of us. It was one of the best days that Luke and I have ever spent together.
Saturday Night Parties
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Luke
I’d never been to a party before Mia invited me to one at Camila’s house for Saturday night. Mia explained that Hannah would be there, too, plus Camila and Hannah’s boyfriends, Santiago and Manteo. They’re both juniors. I’ve been invited to parties two other times, once in middle school and once in ninth grade, but I didn’t want to go either time. I was so nervous around girls then that I just couldn’t stand the thought of being stuck in a corner somewhere and not knowing what to say if some girl did come by to talk to me.
But doing anything with Mia makes me happy. Most everything we’ve done together has been outdoors, doing stuff like hiking, fishing, and picnics - which are more my kind of things than hers. Besides, it’s February and it’s cold, and I don’t know if it would be fair if I dragged Mia up into the mountains to hike or something. We’ve been needing to do something anyway that would show that I cared about her and her friends, so I said I’d be glad to come over to Camila’s, and Granddaddy said he would be happy to bring me, and I could walk or run home. Obviously, Mia couldn’t have the party at her house knowing how her dad thinks about me and that he doesn’t even know we’re dating. One more month and I’ll have my license, and I won’t have to rely on Granddaddy all the time to go somewhere. He said I could use his pickup just about any time I needed it.
When Mia asked me to come to the party, one thing that made me really, really happy—when I had time to think about things—was she didn’t have to ask—or worry—about me being the only white person there. She knows I don’t give a crap about stuff like that. Look, I’ve been called poor white trash a couple times pretty recently. I hate those words. I’m sick of all those so called “popular” kids looking down on people like me or Hispanic kids. Caleb muttered PWT at me when he hit me from behind at football practice a couple of months ago. He said it just loud enough that I’d hear it, but not so loud that it would be obvious that he said it. Yeah, he’s a big, tough dude all right. Thomas used the same slurs when we almost got into it in Ms. Waters’ class last month.
And it’s not like Mia or me or any of the kids at Camila’s party were going to get invited to Caleb’s party at his house that same night. His “big bash” that he’s been talking about for the past two weeks—Mr. “New 90-inch Widescreen Television.” What a jerk.
Mia also didn’t have to ask—or worry—about me not liking the Hispanic food that she and the girls were going to come over early and fix. I spent months the beginning of this school year not having enough to eat and worried about when Dad was going to go off and hit me. I’ll eat just about anything.
When everybody got to Camila’s house, the girls took us downstairs to the basement, and they had everything all ready. They had made chicken fajitas, tomatillo salsa, and this other dish that I forgot what it was called. I liked everything a lot except that salsa dish—that stuff’s got a lot of chilies and garlic in it. We had churros for dessert that Mia made. She’s made those before for me and they’re really good. The last thing we ate—well, everybody except me—was in the “Hot Stuff” contest where everybody else competed to see who could eat the hottest chilies. I got a lot of teasing about not participating, especially from the guys, but I didn’t mind. Before it started, I would have bet money that Santiago or Manteo would have won that contest, and sure enough, they finished first and second. After that, we just pretty much sat around and talked and snacked, and the guys and me watched some college basketball games and talked about who was probably going to the Final Four next month. Mia was sitting next to me the whole time and holding my hand most of that time—and really, that alone would have make me happy any day of the week.
I left around nine. I especially didn’t want Mia’s dad to come pick her up while I was still there. I knew it was going to take more than an hour to walk home, and I didn’t want Granddaddy to have to come get me. He’s told me he doesn’t see so well in the dark anymore when he’s driving. I know he’s getting old, and I’m worrying more and more about that. And sometimes I confess that I worry about where I would end up if something happened to him since I’m not 18. I mean where would I have gone this year when Mom and Dad died if Granddaddy wasn’t around? Would I have gone to a foster home, and where would that have been and would I have had to change schools and then Mia might have been out of my life forever and who would have helped me through geometry and who would I have had to talk to? I’ve lucked out pretty good this year, compared to how things could have turned out.
When I got home, Granddaddy was asleep in his easy chair with the TV on. He smiled when he saw me and asked about the party and how was Mia, and I said everything was fine. Then he told me he had been calling real estate agents the last couple weeks, and on Sunday, we were going to go driving around looking at land for sale out in the country. He said this would be the best gift he could give me for my future, other than help with college expenses.
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Elly
When Caleb first started talking about the big party he had planned, I was so hoping that he would invite me. I knew he would be there with that awful junior girlfriend of his Rachel, but, still, he at least could see how good I look now, and I might get a chance to talk to him a few times. So I was thrilled when he invited me and not long after that, I got a text from Matthew saying that Caleb had invited him too and that he would pick me up around 6 if that was okay, so I texted back and said that sounded great. Caleb lives on the same street as we do, but I wouldn’t have wanted to have walked because it gets so cold now, especially after dark.
Later, I got a text from Mary, saying she had been invited too and was going to go with her new boyfriend Richard, you know, the senior on the football team. I texted Paige to see if she and Allen were going, and she said they had been invited too, but that ne
ither one of them had wanted to go. I was so shocked at that, that I called her and Paige simply said, “Allen and I can’t stand Caleb, and we’re just going to hang out at my house Saturday night.” She knows that I have a thing for Caleb, and I got mad when she said that, but now I wish I hadn’t gone to that party at all—the way things turned out.
The party started out all right. Caleb’s parents had bought pizzas for us to eat, and we all went downstairs to what Caleb called his “man cave” and we started binge watching The Walking Dead and chowing on pizza. But after about an hour of that, Caleb said, “Who’s up for some mixed drinks,” which made me get really worried. I’d never had alcohol before, and Mom and Dad have told me many times that if I’m out somewhere and other kids are drinking that I’m to have enough courage to not drink. And to call them—no questions asked—to come pick me up if the guy I’m with has been drinking and is getting ready to drive me home. I thought about saying that I didn’t care for anything when Caleb started taking orders, but then Mary came back with drinks that she had mixed up for Matthew and me, and it just felt awkward saying that I didn’t want anything after she had gone to the trouble of bringing something to me.
The drink just tasted awful, I don’t know what was in it, and I can’t remember what it was or what Matthew called it. Then about a half later, he brought me another one that was different he said, that it had some vodka in it—I don’t remember what else. That drink didn’t taste so bad, so I had another one of those later in the evening. I don’t remember if I had anything else to drink. Just about everybody was drinking and making out—and Matthew and me were too, and my head was spinning.