Team Dinner

February 27, 2020.

I dribbled the ball around at the top of the court, keeping it away from the opposing team as the clock winded down. I watched as the time ran down and my team won what could be the last scrimmage game of the season.

"Okay, bring it in, bring it in," Coach Hendrix said, and we gathered around him. "Good practice as always everyone. As you know, it's only the JV team playing tomorrow night, so I'm mainly talking to my JV players here. We're facing Southridge, which is the number 1 team in the league, so it'll be a tough game. If we win it, we make the playoffs, but if we lose we're out. So this may be our last practice together for this season, and if it is I want you all to know how proud I am of you and how far you've all came. It wasn't a perfect season and there were definetely some bumps along the way, but I think it made each of you mature and reconfigure yourselves as a team. We're going to do everything we can to win tomorrow but whether we do or not, it's been a pleasure coaching you all. I can't wait to see you all again next season. Alright now, Blake, I'd like you to lead the chant for us."

"Yeah, Blake!" said some of my teammates, since it was the first time I would be leading the chant. Usually Gavin or Jackson would do it.

"Cobras on three!" I said, kneeling in the center of the circle as everyone stacked their hands on my head.

"One, two, three, Cobras!" everyone echoed, lifting their hands up all at once.

I waited for everyone to disperse before standing up and entering the locker room. I opened my locker, slipped on my sweatshirt, and slung my bag around my shoulder. I closed the locker back and was heading out of the locker room when Cam stepped in front of me.

"I was hoping we'd catch you," he said as Nathan and Max joined him.

"We're going out to a team dinner at Sweet Shack," Nathan explained. "Care to join us?"

"I'd love to, but I was just going to—"

"Go home and be lonely?" Wesley guessed, coming from behind me.

"Or spending the whole night practicing too much and pushing yourself too hard?" Max added.

"It's a team dinner," said Jackson, who also walked up from behind me. "You're part of the team. This is mandatory for you."

"Besides," said Wesley. "We all know how good of a team Southridge is. Chances are we get blown out of the water, and so this might be our last chance for a team dinner."

"You guys have got to stop cornering me and group peer pressuring me into stuff," I told them as I tried to suppress a smile.

"Or you could just agree to come with us, and we wouldn't have to put forth the effort," Cam said.

"Fine," I finally gave in. "Let's go."

My teammates congratulated each other on successfully convincing me to come, and then we were off. Jackson managed to convince his dad to come along, who in turn convinced Coach Myers to come as well. That way, we had two cars which meant that everyone going could have a ride. Hendrix's car could fit seven people while Myers' could fit five. I went with Nathan, Cam, Mac, and Coach Myers in Myers' car while Jackson, Maia, Wesley, Xavier, Finn, Chance, and Coach Hendrix went in Hendrix's car.

"Oh man," said Fred when we walked into the diner. "I don't know if I have enough food to feed all of you lot.

Hendrix and Myers both looked as if they didn't know whether to take him seriously or not, so I stepped up.

"My boy!" Fred exclaimed, seeing me for the first time. "So this must be your team here."

"Sure is," I replied, gesturing to everyone behind me. "So, is the big booth available?"

"You know it!" said Fred. "It's there all the way in the back, but I don't suppose I need to tell you that. Ah, and Cam, Nathan, and Max are with you too. It's not all new people. I guess this group will become regulars in here just like your old team, eh?"

"Just as soon as they can taste one of your milkshakes," I ensured.

We took our seats in the giant booth that was at the back of the diner and had a nice meal. I had thought that Chance being there would dampen my mood a little, but I didn't directly talk to Chance at all and he didn't to me. Apparently he had resolved to take the night off. That or Jackson had convinced him to play nicely. As we ate, we talked amongst each other and with the two coaches about the season so far, and the coaches told us what they admired in each of us and how we'd changed since the beginning of the season.

"Blake," said Coach Hendrix as he got down the line to me. "It's very likely that you are one of my most changed players, and definetely my most improved. Something that hasn't changed, though, is your love for the game of basketball and your willingness to do whatever it takes to accomplish something that means something to you. Something else that hasn't changed is your instinct to help others, even if it hurts you. I've seen this on multiple occasions, as early as the day of the tryouts, when you ran double suicides so that Tucker wouldn't have to. I would say that your basketball skill has tremendously increased, and it has since the beginning of this season, but I saw you play in middle school. It was merely a question of regaining your confidence, which you've now done. There's no question about the fact that we wouldn't be able to win the game tomorrow without your help. That being said, I think you'll find that there's something more important to you than winning, or even basketball in the first place. You just have to figure out what it is."

"Thank you, Coach," I said, completely taken aback by his nice works. "That means a lot."

"You're welcome," he replied. "Now Nathan, you've also changed. At the beginning of the season, you thought..."

I sat back in the booth while Coach Hendrix continued to talk. I was thinking about the last thing he said, about something being more important to be than winning. I'd like to agree with him and convince myself that I wasn't a shallow person who cared only about basketball and winning, but would that be honest? It pained me to think about it, but when I reflected over the past couple of months my main focus had been basketball. So what was the thing that was more important to me?

I chose to walk home after the dinner was over, despite the fact that both Hendrix and Myers had offered to drive anyone who wanted back to the school. I had already taken driver's ed, and I couldn't wait to get my permit in a couple months, but there was really nowhere I was interested in driving. The part of town where we lived had both the school and the local Sweet Shack within walking distance, and Austin, Nathan, Cam, and Max's houses were all close by too. The only place that was further (though still walkable) was Harper's house, and I didn't think I'd be going there again anytime soon. I had tried talking to her about what happened that day when she had come to my house, but she was "still processing," so I didn't really know what to do. I had apparently hurt her more than I had thought by wanting to put practice over her. I just didn't know how to make it up to her.

"Practice run long?" my dad asked when I got home. A week ago I would've thought that my dad was trying to catch me doing something wrong, but now I knew he was just trying to make an effort to get to know me better.

"No, I went to dinner with the coaches and some of my teammates. It took longer than I expected," When I finished my dad opened his mouth, but I spoke first. "I'll be sure to text next time."

My dad closed his mouth and just nodded as we reached another understanding. We had been doing that since he had found out about my playing basketball and didn't punish me. I was helping him ease back into my and Liv's lives and we were still setting up the rules and boundaries. Things I couldn't do anymore, and things that I could continue doing. As long as we both approached it with the mindset to reach an agreement, we didn't have a problem. Things were actually going pretty smoothly. The only thing was that I didn't know how long it would last. I had been testing the waters with him, but I had been pretty hesitant about him becoming closer to Liv. I knew that she admired him and was ignorant to half the things he did around the house, and so I didn't want him to become all close to her because if all of the sudden things went back to the way they were before, Liv would be hurt way worse than I would. And I couldn't let that happen.

I hadn't told him this, but I wanted my dad to cut ties with all of his poker buddies. I knew there wasn't any liquor in this house, but I didn't know what happened when my dad went out to meet them. When he would come back I would occasionally get a whiff of alcohol on his breath. He couldn't become a changed person while still drinking. I also wanted him to try and get a job. We were okay financially, but it would be harder to stay that way without income coming in. I planned to get a job at Sweet Shack when I turned 16, but a part time job at a diner wouldn't be enough. Besides, having a job would give my dad the responsibility that he needed to have if he wanted a bigger part in my sister's life.

I climbed the steps and entered my room, opening the screen of my laptop and I laid down on my bed. I opened YouTube in one of my tabs and went to one a video that I hadn't watched since before the beginning of the season. If anything had the answers I was looking for, that video did. The video started playing and I skipped to the end.

"Number 18 shoots and... darn... two points for the Whatever-Their-Mascot-Is's. There's only 7 seconds left in the game. The Wildcats need to do something, and quick! Blake takes it and dribbles it down again. There's no one I'd feel more comfortable with having the ball right now. He's looking for an opening desperately. He's going to have to take the shot though. The defense on him isn't letting up but there's only a second left and he goes up for the far back three and..."

I closed my eyes and pictured the three point shot that was being shown on the screen. I imagined my form and the way the ball rolled of my fingertips. I imagined the sound of the crowd cheering. And then I imagined the feeling when we had won the championship. It was the best feeling in the world. Yet the best thing about my time playing basketball at South Miami Middle wasn't winning the championship. It wasn't even playing basketball, though it was connected to it. As I thought about it, something clicked inside my brain. It was like a light bulb moment. All of the sudden, I figured it out—the answer to the question that Coach Hendrix had encouraged. All of the sudden I knew what was more important than winning.