On the basketball court, 4 young men could be observed in a moment of high tension in the middle of a game; while each of them was sweaty and with exhaustion on their faces, their gazes showed concentration.
Those watching the game knew that this moment was the climax that would decide this entire game.
19-18 current score.
The tension was at the limit because both teams needed a single basket to take the victory.
On Aaron and Drew's side, both had their eyes fixed on the ball while they sought by all means to defend against Marquise and Clarke, who were in possession of the ball at that moment.
In the other corner, Marquise and Clarke were both equally or perhaps more stressed than the other two since if they didn't score 3 points, Aaron and Drew's team would have an extra opportunity to win the game.
"Give me a screen, friend," Marquise said toward Clarke, who only nodded, knowing that between the two, his friend was the one with the better shot.
Once a plan was ready, both got into position while Aaron and Drew dedicated themselves to marking both, but before Drew could even get close to Marquise, his path was interrupted by Clarke.
Without any effort, Clarke blocked Drew, who was almost a head shorter than him, while giving a few valuable extra seconds to Marquise, who got into a standard shooting position and jumped.
Once in the air, reaching his highest point, he released the ball with impeccable mechanics, causing the ball to rise calmly and without many rotations, heading directly toward the hoop.
The ball was still in the air toward the hoop, following the established script, but before the ball could even enter through the rim, a large hand slammed against it, causing the ball to bounce against the backboard and fall out.
At that moment, the body of a person could be seen in the air as if suspended in time and space itself, just in time to take care of blocking what in other circumstances would be a clean basket.
Once the shot was blocked, Aaron fell to the ground, flexing his knees slightly to minimize the impact of the jump he had just made at that very moment.
"Phew, phew," his heavy breathing could be heard due to the over-effort it took to make that jump in the first place.
That jump was largely thanks to Aaron's incredible capacity for analysis and quick thinking because if he had jumped a second more or less, the ball would have entered the hoop and they would have lost the second game, which would lead them to a 3rd game.
"Friend, that was..." an astonished Drew began to articulate, not knowing how to describe that last block he witnessed with his eyes.
"Concentrate, it's our turn," Aaron said between tired sighs, already wanting to finish this game.
Once he heard those words, Drew nodded frantically, not wanting, just like Aaron, to have to play a 3rd game.
Taking the ball in his hands, Drew began to bounce it while quickly being blocked by Marquise, who, just like him, was tired and sweating buckets.
"This game is ours, old man," he said toward Drew, who simply continued bouncing the ball, staying in the same spot.
Without saying any word, or perhaps simply because he was too tired to speak, Drew did not respond to Marquise's provocation and concentrated on scanning the court.
Through his peripheral vision, he could see Aaron tangled in the low post with Clarke, who didn't stop pressing and pushing him to destabilize him, but he also saw Aaron's determined look, who with his eyes made a sign upward.
Understanding what Aaron's objective was, Drew advanced quickly with the little strength he had left in his legs while being followed by an equally tired Marquise.
To then brake suddenly and make a change of direction with the ball, which caused Marquise to slightly lose his balance and fall, giving Drew a few valuable seconds.
In those seconds, Drew made the fake of a shot which was simply a high pass that was headed toward both players in the low post.
Without losing time, Aaron jumped with the last strength he had to then catch the ball in the air and see that Clarke had jumped a few seconds late, but still blocked Aaron's direct layup under the hoop.
But without losing concentration and tensing his abdomen, Aaron stood firm while, once he fixed his gaze on the net, he was able to slam the ball with force against the rim.
"Plum," was the sound caused by the basketball upon impacting against the basket.
21-18 final score.
Still swaying on the rim, Aaron had a smile on his face bathed in sweat.
Finally letting go of the rim and falling to the ground, Aaron felt an impact behind him as someone hung onto his back.
"We won!!" shouted an excited Drew hanging on Aaron's back while moving his arms frantically in the direction of the small crowd that had gathered to watch the game.
After that, and tired by the weight of his friend behind him, Aaron couldn't help but exclaim, "Get off, dude," rolling his eyes at his friend.
"Yes, sorry," said an embarrassed Drew, slowly climbing down from his friend's back while giving him his best apologetic smile.
While both continued in the middle of their celebration, both Marquise and Clarke gave tired sighs of defeat while Clarke continued watching the hoop.
"Are you okay, brother?" Marquise asked, lifting his head toward his friend, who simply had his eyes fixed on the rim.
Without answering his question, Clarke continued with his gaze fixed on the hoop where seconds before he jumped to fight for possession along with Aaron.
In that moment, Clarke felt the difference between them, not in the physical aspect but rather in the mental one; the moment the ball was in the air, Aaron jumped before he could even process it.
"Next time," Clarke muttered more to himself, thinking about the next time they would play together.
"What did you say?" Marquise asked, not having heard quite well what his quiet friend had said.
"Nothing," Clarke finally said while taking a few steps forward and heading toward the other two boys in question who were discussing among themselves.
Scratching his head in an attempt to understand what was happening, Marquise decided to follow his friend, wanting to see what he was going to do.
"Good game," was the blunt sentence Clarke said once he was near Aaron and Drew, who turned their heads in his direction.
Without saying a single word more, Clarke turned around and went to pick up his things without even giving a glance back.
"Excuse him," Marquise said quickly with an apologetic smile on his face. "He's not very talkative, so to speak," he finished speaking while pointing with his thumb toward his friend's back.
"No problem, it was a good game," Aaron said quickly, downplaying the matter.
"Likewise," Marquise responded while extending his fist toward Aaron, who bumped it without any hesitation.
After that, Marquise turned and walked in the same direction as his friend.
"And what about me?" asked an irritated Drew, who was masterfully ignored by the other 2 players.
"When you can really play, we'll talk," Marquise said, raising his hand behind him while not turning to see Drew's face.
"You..." Drew said, being stopped by the giant hand that rested on his shoulder.
"He's right," was what Aaron said toward his friend, who turned his head to glare at him.
"Apart from that shot in the last minute of the first game and the final pass, you practically did nothing," those simple words were like daggers that stabbed into Drew's ego, which deflated with slumped shoulders.
"But," Aaron continued saying, catching Drew's attention again, "for someone who is barely learning to play, you didn't do so bad," he concluded to see Drew's mood return to how it was seconds before.
After that, Aaron gave a tired sigh and took a towel from the backpack he brought to the court to wipe the sweat completely from his face while finishing drinking the remaining water from his bottle.
"Better," Aaron sighed with satisfaction while taking the towel off his neck and slowly beginning to flex his knees and legs.
"What are you doing?" asked a dazed Drew, not quite understanding what his friend was doing.
"Stretching," was Aaron's simple response while he stretched his right leg with his left knee flexed.
"And why is that...?" Drew asked, wanting to know the reason behind it.
"Prevents injuries," was Aaron's simple response toward his friend, who waited for Aaron to proceed with his explanation.
With a tired sigh, Aaron began with his detailed explanation: "stretching after a game improves recovery, reduces accumulated muscle tension, increases flexibility, and prevents long-term injuries," Aaron finished saying without stopping stretching his body toward a Drew who made a face of understanding.
"Oh," Drew said, then began to stretch, following the movements Aaron made seconds before.
In total concentration, Aaron continued with his stretches, aware that an injury at this stage of growth could have severe consequences for his future; even more with his goal of reaching the NBA one day, an injury could greatly limit his development ceiling.
Once that was done, Aaron stood up while waiting for Drew to finish his own stretches. "What do you want to do now?" Aaron asked his friend.
"No idea, can we go to your house to rest for a bit?" Drew responded with a shrug while asking Aaron.
"Sure," Aaron said, already walking toward his condo, followed by an energetic Drew.
"Can we watch TV while we're there?" Drew suggested a way to kill time.
"No problem," Aaron said subconsciously, not quite concentrated on the conversation with Drew.
"Will your aunt still be there?" Drew asked with a slight blush on his face, making Aaron's steps stop momentarily as he directed a look at Drew.
"Excuse me?" was the only thing Aaron could think to ask.
"I mean she could watch TV with us, you know, so she isn't so lonely," Drew responded quickly while waving his hands and avoiding eye contact with his friend.
Out of the corner of his eye, Aaron saw a person approaching in their direction, and seeing who it was, a smile settled on Aaron's face. "So it's just that?" Aaron asked in a slightly louder voice than normal, making the person behind Drew stop.
"YES yes," said a frantic Drew while shaking his head up and down in a sign of confirmation.
"You say she's very lonely?" Aaron continued asking while Drew kept nodding frantically.
"What do you think, Hector?" Aaron asked, addressing the person who was behind Drew.
Confused, Drew turned his head back, encountering the imposing figure of Hector, who had his eyes fixed on Drew.
Jumping back and getting behind Aaron, Drew peeked his head toward the tattooed guy in front of him.
"Drew, I present to you Hector; Hector, this is Drew," Aaron said, introducing the two of them.
Swallowing hard, Drew said, "Pleasure to meet you, sir," the only sound coming from Hector being a grunt and a nod of the head in Drew's direction.
"What's up?" Aaron asked while seeing that Hector was heading in the same direction as them.
"Paola called me; she said there's a breakdown in her dishwasher," Hector said while lifting the toolbox he had in his hand.
"I see," said Aaron, who now walked alongside Hector, followed from behind by a Drew who seemed to want to be anywhere else at this moment.
Once they were at the door, Aaron took the keys out of his pocket while opening the door and turned toward Drew. "Aren't you coming in?" he asked curiously toward his friend, who remained standing on the stairs.
"Actually, I remembered I have things to do, so see you tomorrow," Drew said while walking quickly toward the subway station without looking back at any moment.
"Your friend is weird," Hector said, looking in the direction where Drew was heading.
"I know," was the simple response Aaron gave him while they both entered the condo.
Authors thought's
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