She Got Game!

The rain poured down my face and I couldn’t tell the difference between the rain and the sweat dripping from my bangs. I was trying to make a comeback after my opponent beat me 3 games to 2 in basketball.

“Scared of a little rain?” I taunted.

“I can barely see,” he complained.

“I need to tie the series and then we can see who can break the tie tomorrow morning.”

“Selena, I beat you three times. It’s over!” he bragged, as he tried to block my three-point shot, but he missed and it went through the hoop anyway. The score was now tied. I needed to win this game to tie the series. He stared at the nets in disbelief that I had made the shot and then he stared back at me. He could tell I wasn’t ready to quit. I was ready to win.

“Alright, this is it. I’m going hard and sending you home crying!” He wiped the rain from his face and took a defensive stand in front of me with his hands in my face.

It’s all about focus and hand-eye coordination, I remember my Uncle Jay saying that to me when he taught me how to play basketball. Although my opponent had his hands in my face, I focused my eyes on the basket so that his hands became invisible to me. I shot the ball and heard it swoosh through the basket. It was like music to my ears.

“I refuse to get beat down by a girl!” he snapped, chasing me as I drove to the basket, but his sneakers slid against the slippery asphalt and he fell on his butt and I made the easy layup.

“You want help?” I asked as I extended my hand. As he reached for it, I gritted my teeth, “Never that! Stand up on your own chump!”

He abruptly rose to his feet and intensified his defensive pressure against me. He leaned his six-foot body over me when I was only 5’6”. He was hacking me the whole time by pushing me and smacking my arms, but I refused to call a foul. I remembered my Uncle Jay telling me to never punk out. So, I did a spin move and I lost him a second before he quickly got back on "D". I decided to do a pump fake and he fell for it and jumped in the air. I stepped back and tossed up a perfect release of the ball and landed an all-net jumpshot.

‘SWOOSH’

“Yeeeah baaaaby! that’s the bucket!” I jumped up and down in victory as the rain drenched down my face.

As we left the court, he put his arm around me and said, “Good win, but don’t tell anybody.”

 
She Got Game! (My Love for Basketball)- A short story coming soon!