Hope X Basket : Chapter I

“Aight, I’ll play you , sixteen points and if I bet you, you’ll play with me on the same team.” I said smiling , Kelo just nodded , I passed him the ball
“Warm up , so you cant blame it on that if you lose.”
“When did I look for an excuse for losing , did the doc take part of your brain away too.” he laughed and got to the three point line getting ready to shot.
“That was mean dude, but hey even if he did take half it would be still more than you got.”  I told him as he released.
“Ah a miss, you wanna play with me and your first shot is a miss.” I said laughing, he knew I am just teasing him .
“Ok I am ready, are your legs good enough to play tho?” he asked with a seriousness in his voice .
“I am fine, its painful but I can play through it , the doc said I am good to go a month ago so I am doing just fine. Shall I shoot for the ball?” I said smiling, hiding my true feelings from him. I hated it , I couldn’t stand to be in a state like this, the truth is I could play, but my brain was scared, to scared to move the legs how it used to, it happened so many times that I just stop moving for no reason, it felt like my knees are blocked by something…
I got in position and shot, it was a miss.
“My ball I guess, you still didn’t learn to shoot from the three point line huh? Let me show it to you than.” Kelo said passing me the ball to check it.
“Show me , I might not be the best shooter in the game but there is no one better at protecting the rim than me.” I was so certain in my defensive skills , I would always go against the strongest offensive players no matter of their size. As soon as I checked the ball he shot it, it went straight in without touching the rim.
“Thats two, defender of the year pff” he smirked
“Well I dont want to humiliate you to the max, so you gonna get a few free shots.” truth is I couldn’t react again…dam it I cant let him do it again. Checked the ball and as soon as I saw him getting in a position to shot I jumped, it was a fake, he just blew by me and until I turned around he already scored.
“Free shots huh? Didn’t seem like you’d let me shoot freely.” he said still smirking.
“You think , just continue I show you, I didn’t play for a long time maybe i need to get used to the speed a bit.” I said smiling.
“That smile will be gone when I finish with you, and than I’ll kill you on 3 on 3 .”
“Well if I lose you’ll do that, if I win you’ll play on my team.” I said
He didn’t shoot now , he started to dribble, that was my chance. He switched it from the right to the left two times , I knew if I’d reach he’ll just blow by me again. A fake  reach and he tried to pass me , but my feet moved this time, I was in front of him and he didn’t have anywhere to go . He stopped his dribbling and wanted to shot , as he rose the ball I striped it away from him . It bounced off his foot into my arms , and as we didnt have to get out to clear the ball I just turned around and scored.
“Three one, and the crowd goes wild.” I said it with a smile
“Just play already.”
“Check it .”
He passed me the ball, I did the same thing as he at the start, shot it straight.
“And he scores again, nothing but the net.” I started to talk a bit to make him angry.
“You were just lucky.”
We started playing hard, a few times I got him good with a cross over , he shot a few times above me , I got some nice step back shots, and we were tied at fourteen with the ball in my hands.
“Well deciding shot isnt it? I bet you’ll miss it, so common shot it for three points , I dare you.” he said….and yeah by the way the three points counted as two while the two points counted as one. I decided to do something a bit risky. I dribbled the ball back two steps behind the three point line. I jumped and shot it. It went high up hitting the backboard and going in.
“Thats a win aint it ?” I asked laughing
“Well I wanted to play with you anyway so its a win win for me.” he said laughing.
“So who’s gonna come today, I heard some guys are back in town, well including you, how long has it been since you played seriously on this court?” Kelo asked
“Two years I think, its my home town and yet I didn’t play for two years, can you believe it …Man its like I was gone for decades, the kids don’t know who I am anymore, I am starting to feel like a forgotten legend, you know , like its crazy, I want it all back .”
“Well you might get a chance to put this town back on the map soon enough. You didn’t find a club that wants you in this state anymore right? And your still young , what are you like 19 now since you finished high school?”
“Nah I just turned 18 this year, you know I went a year earlier to school.”
“Thats even better, well I wont spoil anything for you but there might be a club you could join, and they might even pay you one day, not that you are worth any dime.” he said laughing
“Just laugh  , I be laughing when I get rich and all the cheerleaders fall in love with me.” I was saying jokingly
“Lets play some more, I need to warm up real good , no point count just playing until the rest of the guys come here.” I said taking the ball and shooting it. It went straight in.
“My ball.” I said smiling…