Except for one thing, thought Tiki. In that final game, he would not be on the team. Dave Bassin would be back from his injury, presumably. And Sugar’s suspension would be over. There would be no room for Tiki on the team he’d just helped lead to victory—and everyone in the visiting locker room knew it.
One by one, they all came up to Tiki and shook his hand and hugged him. “Thanks,” they all said. “You played awesome ball.”
Tiki felt good that he’d played so well. Best of all was that he and Ronde together had led the team to this important victory.
Ronde would be back at substitute shooting guard for the final game. And Tiki would be back at Landzberg’s, shuffling boxes between shelves.
He and Ronde exchanged their personal handshake and hugged each other. “That goes on our lifetime highlight reel, yo,” said Ronde with a wide grin.
“Yeah,” said Tiki, his feelings in turmoil.
“You were fantastic, Tiki. I’ve got to give it up to you. You said you could shoot, and you proved it. No doubt.”
“You got me the ball at the right time,” said Tiki modestly.
“I did, didn’t I?” Ronde agreed with a big smile. “But you put the ball in the net. I could not have done that.”
“Well, you’d better practice between now and next game,” Tiki pointed out.
“Why? You think Sugar’s gonna get me the ball? Come on.”
Tiki shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he read my column and will change his mind.”
“Yeah,” said Ronde with a sad laugh. “And maybe I’ll find a hundred-dollar bill in the street.”
• • •
Funny, thought Tiki afterward, how life turns out. Just when you think there’s no way around an obstacle, something surprising happens, and there is the way, staring you in the face.
He was late getting to the team bus—last one out of the locker room. As he crossed the empty North Side gym, he heard a familiar voice call out to him. “Barber!”
He stopped, looking up at the bleachers. There was Sugar Morton, coming down the rows toward him! He walked straight up to Tiki, looking right at him.
“What are you doing here?” Tiki asked.
“It’s a free country, isn’t it?” Sugar retorted. “I rode over on my bike.”
“That’s what, three miles?” Tiki tried to guess. “Weren’t you freezing?”
Sugar shrugged. “I wasn’t going to miss this game.” He had a bitter look on his face. “No matter what anybody says, I do care about this team.”
“I know you do,” Tiki said. “Um, listen, they’re all waiting for me on the bus. . . .”
“Yeah, anyway, what I wanted to say . . . I saw the whole game. You and Ronde did a great job running the team.”
“Huh?” Tiki was stunned. It was the last thing he’d expected Sugar to say.
“You got the whole team playing great. And they beat a great squad on their home court. When I get back, I’m going to run the team just like you guys did . . . spread the ball around more. You really showed me something, man.”
Tiki nodded soberly. “Well, that’s good, Sugar. I . . . I guess you read my column, then?”
“I read it,” Sugar admitted. “And I get what you were saying. But it’s the way you played today that showed me you were right about everything. I can’t be treating the team like it’s their fault my family’s a mess. After all, they’re my family too, in a way. Right?”
“Hey,” said Tiki. “Your family’s going to work it out, one way or another. Just hang in there . . . and remember, your mother loves you too—no matter what she thought she had to do. Give her a chance to make it up to you, and you’ll see.”
Sugar was silent, staring at the floor. “Don’t you have a bus to catch?” he finally replied.
Tiki left him there, in the darkened gym, a lonely figure, but one who’d learned at least one key lesson. Tiki only hoped it would help him heal as much as it would help the Eagles win.
He sat quietly on the bus while the other team members whooped it up, celebrating the biggest win of their season.
On the one hand, he was pleased that Sugar seemed to be getting the message. On the other hand, he’d really enjoyed his moment in the sun on the basketball court.
In the end, though, he decided he was satisfied. After all, there was no doubt Sugar was a better basketball player than he was. Besides, in addition to helping the Eagles win this one key game, Tiki had done an even more important service for the team—he’d taught them to play like one.
13
A TEAM CALLED THE EAGLES
Ronde couldn’t help but feel a little letdown at the team’s next practice. Instead of Tiki’s intensity and excitement, there was Sugar, back again and in control. Dave Bassin was also there, his eye back to normal, thank goodness. But that meant there was no room anymore for Tiki.
Ronde could tell he wasn’t the only one who was disappointed. The team had played its best overall game of the year without Sugar. Would its members respond to his leadership, now that they’d had a taste of life without him at the helm?
Ronde realized, of course, that Tiki couldn’t have kept it up anyway. Mr. Landzberg had not been happy about giving him the day off for the last game. Letting him take two more days—for practice and the team’s final game—was out of the question.
And Ronde sure wasn’t about to give up his own spot on the team to cover Tiki. With Sugar back at point guard, Ronde was more valuable for his defense than Tiki would have been for his shooting.
What really hurt was that Tiki would not even get to be there for the big game against the Panthers of Jefferson Junior High. With their school located just half a mile from Hidden Valley, the Panthers were the Eagles’ arch-rivals in every sport (except football, where they’d never been much of a factor). Jefferson had a winning record, but the Panthers would only make the play-offs if they beat the Eagles.
If having a shot at a winning season wasn’t enough to motivate our team, thought Ronde, spoiling the Panthers’ chances ought to give the players added juice.
This was going to be an exciting game, even if Sugar tried to do it all by himself. Ronde wished Tiki could have been there, but he understood. The money from his job was important to their family right now, and that had to come first.
Ronde was worried about these Eagles, though. Looking around, he saw Rory and Bobby hanging their heads. Larry looked distracted, and Jake seemed downright bored.
None of them wanted to play with Sugar at the point, Ronde realized. He had been their superstar, the one they all looked up to—but with his selfish behavior, his pouting, his sniping and raging at his teammates, he’d lost their trust.
But if Ronde was worried, that was because he’d assumed he was looking at the same Sugar Morton. And that, it turned out, was a mistake.
As soon as Dave Bassin came into the gym, he got a round of applause from his teammates—including Sugar. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, Sugar came up to him and offered his hand.
Dave didn’t shake it right away, but Ronde saw Sugar lean in toward him, saying something Ronde could only imagine was an apology. Sugar seemed to look closely at Dave’s eye, wincing at the bruise that was still plain to see.
Finally, Dave nodded, and the two boys shook hands. Looking around, Ronde saw the surprise on everyone’s faces. Even Coach Jackson seemed unprepared for this unlikely turn of events.
Ronde shook his head. Coach J. had done little to correct what was wrong with his team. He’d gone and recruited Ronde and Tiki, and more or less left it up to them to transform Sugar’s attitude.
However, from the looks of what he was seeing now, the coach’s strategy seemed to have worked! Sugar began leading drills—three men running downcourt—one in the middle, one on either side, passing back and forth, the ball never touching the ground, until one of them tossed up a layup.
Usually, Sugar would insist on being the one taking the shot. Today, though, he made sure he dished off to on
e of the kids running alongside him, every time.
When they did sprints, Sugar, who always won, or became upset if he didn’t, eased up so that Dave Bassin could reach the finish line first.
Ronde exchanged wary glances with Bobby and Rory. They were obviously as surprised as he was that Sugar seemed so much more humble and giving.
Of course, this was just practice. Ronde was not yet convinced that, come game time, Sugar wouldn’t revert to his usual ball-hogging ways. Still, for now at least, it was a refreshing change.
Then, before the scrimmage, Sugar actually asked Coach Jackson for permission to speak to his teammates. Coach J., stunned, shrugged and said, “Sure, Sugar. Go ahead.”
“Okay,” Sugar said, when he was sure they were all paying attention. “I just want to say that I know I’ve been a jerk sometimes.” He drew in a deep breath, then blew it out. The rest of the team was dead silent.
“I’ve been having some . . . well, some problems . . . at home . . . and . . .” He paused, gathered himself, and continued: “I know I took some of my temper out on a lot of you guys . . . and that hurt the team. So I want to say, I’m sorry for that, and . . . it won’t happen again.”
He bit his lip and blinked his eyes several times in rapid succession. “I hope you’ll all forgive me, and that we can play like a team this week against Jefferson. I’m sure going to do everything I can to make it that way, starting right now.”
He clenched his jaw, looked over at Coach Jackson, and nodded. “I guess that’s it,” he finished.
Coach J. smiled, nodded back, and clapped Sugar on the shoulder. “You’re a good man, Morton,” he said. “Okay, boys—let’s give it a go!”
Everyone burst into a spontaneous cheer, whistling, clapping and shouting, “Yeah!”
Now it was back to practice, and the mood in the gym could not have been more different from how it was before. Everyone had a bounce in his step, a gleam in his eye, and a smile on his face.
Sugar was everywhere, dishing the ball, spreading it around, shouting encouragement to his teammates, and generally being the leader they’d wanted him to be all along. Ronde could scarcely believe the change in him—but he certainly welcomed it!
When practice was over, he waited around for most of the others to leave. Then he approached Sugar. “Unbelievable,” he said, smiling and shaking his head. “What happened to you, dude?”
Sugar furrowed his brow. “What are you talking about, Barber?”
“Come on! You know!” Ronde said with a laugh. “Are you Sugar’s identical twin, or what?”
Sugar had to laugh. “Okay, okay,” he said. “I’m just messing with you.”
“So what really happened?” Ronde pressed him.
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Sugar. “I read your brother’s column, for one thing.”
“I told you it’d be worth your while.”
“But that wasn’t really it,” Sugar stopped him. “It was more the way you two guys ran the team that last game. I watched the whole thing—did Tiki tell you?”
Ronde did recall Tiki mentioning something about Sugar being there, but the brothers hadn’t really had time to talk about it.
“I thought about what you said too,” Sugar went on. “That night when you came to my house?” Sugar clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks for hanging in there with me. I don’t think I would have gotten through this without a little help from my friends. And by friends, I mean you and Tiki.”
“Well, gee,” Ronde said, a little embarrassed by the compliment, “we were just trying to help—” He’d been about to say “the team,” but didn’t want Sugar to think they didn’t care about him personally.
“And you did,” Sugar said. “I actually took some of your advice, too—about other things, I mean.”
Ronde was dying to know what Sugar meant, but he figured that if Sugar wanted him to know the details, he would have shared them. So he left it at that. Instead, he simply offered Sugar his hand, and the two boys shook on it.
“Great,” Sugar said. “Now let’s go beat the Panthers!”
“I hear that!” Ronde agreed. “Let’s make this a winning season!”
• • •
Ronde could feel the familiar game-day rush of adrenaline as he suited up for the Eagles’ final game. This was why he’d been excited to be a player again, even if it was on a basketball court instead of a football field.
Today, there was a lot of added pressure. This was a big game, for sure. Also, since the Eagles weren’t going to make the play-offs either way, it was definitely their last game of the season.
If they won, it would mean so much—to everyone on the team, to the Hidden Valley fans, who’d expected so much of their team this year, only to be disappointed. And most of all, to Sugar.
During these past few weeks, Sugar’s life at home had been in crisis. Ronde wondered how he would have handled things if he were in Sugar’s place. After all, it was easy to see what other people were doing wrong in their lives. Seeing your own faults was much harder. And Sugar had certainly grown a lot since Tiki and Ronde had joined the team.
If they won today, Sugar could take that precious feeling with him into the future. He could work on his own happiness, on his leadership and basketball skills, so that when he came back next fall as a ninth grader, he would lead a more experienced team than before—and would lead it better.
On the other hand, if the Eagles lost today, it might just prove to Sugar that all the changes he’d made in his attitude were a waste of time. He might go right back to dumping his anger on everyone around him, just like before.
So yes, this game might be important to a lot of people, Ronde included—but it was everything to Sugar Morton.
Ronde looked over at him, standing on the other side of the court, casually shooting (and sinking) shot after shot in pregame warmups.
Sugar had an ease about him that Ronde hadn’t noticed before. Was Sugar really that calm? Or was it just a good job of masking the energy inside him?
It didn’t take long to find out. Right off the opening tip, Sugar was everywhere on the court. He stole the ball from the opposing point guard, and quickly tossed it inside to Bobby Dominic, who was ridiculously free, since all the Panthers had immediately swarmed Sugar.
So free was Bobby, in fact, that he held the ball for an instant, not sure what to do with it. All season, he’d have felt pressured to pass it back to Sugar. But now, Sugar was yelling at him, “SHOOT! SHOOT!”
Bobby did, and the ball caromed off the backboard and in. It was a good start for the Eagles, and the grin on Bobby’s face was soon shared by all the members of the team.
The Eagles laid a suffocating defense on the Panthers, forcing turnovers and bad shots, while on offense, Sugar was beating the double-team by making quick passes to the men left free by the defenders.
Rory, Bobby, Larry, and Jake didn’t make all their shots, but that was understandable. They weren’t used to shooting when Sugar was on the court.
Soon it was Ronde’s turn to enter the game off the bench. Only a so-so shooter at the best of times, Ronde wasn’t looking to score—just to get rebounds, play good defense, and maybe help out on the fast break.
But Sugar kept finding him free on the perimeter, and Ronde found himself with open shots.
With Sugar’s call of “SHOOT!” ringing in his ears, Ronde launched a couple of shots he had no prayer of making—and was amazed to see them both go in!
The first ten minutes of the game were amazing, with the Eagles playing their best basketball of the season. The Panthers seemed panicked, off-balance—but Ronde knew they weren’t done yet. Not by a long shot. The Panthers were a good team, and they needed this game to make the play-offs. That made them a desperate bunch.
When Coach J. subbed Dave Bassin for Sugar, the Panthers saw their chance. They swarmed Dave over and over again, forcing turnovers and cutting the gap to a mere seven points before Sugar came back in with five minutes left in t
he half.
Their star might have returned, but the rest of the Eagles were tired. They’d been playing with such high energy that they were bound to flag sooner or later, while the Panthers, with a much deeper bench, kept coming at them with pressure defense and a running style of play that left the Eagles breathless.
Only Ronde seemed to have the stamina to keep up the pace. His conditioning as a cornerback, running sprints down the field over and over again, gave him better endurance than most kids his age.
But even Ronde was starting to tire by the end of the first half. The score, 32–29, was still in their favor—but for how long? Was the Eagles’ burst of energy played out? Or did they have another half of great basketball left in them?
Sugar was silent in the locker room, but everyone else was excited, even if they were exhausted by the effort they’d just given. They all high-fived Sugar, and one another, knowing that they’d lifted their game to a higher level as a team.
But Ronde—and Sugar—knew that was not going to be enough by itself to beat the Panthers today. Their opponents were bigger, stronger, and overall, faster, not to mention deeper.
If the Eagles were going to beat them, it would have to be on the strength of their desire. They would have to have the hearts and souls of hardcourt warriors.
Ronde wished that Tiki were there in the locker room with them. With both of them revving up the team, he knew these Eagles would find the inner strength to win.
But on his own, tired as he was, he was afraid that he just couldn’t manage it. He was still breathing too hard to talk, and his heart was pounding so loudly he was sure everyone could hear it.
By the time he’d recovered enough to consider saying something to psych up the rest of the team, it was too late. Coach was already ushering them back into the gym, where the bleachers full of screaming Eagle fans were yelling so loudly Ronde couldn’t even hear himself think!
Coach Jackson pointed to him, indicating that Ronde was going to start the half at shooting guard. He high-fived Rory, who was still panting heavily, and went out to join Sugar and the rest of the team.
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