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The Court

The hoop sat freestanding in the corner of Akie’s yard, and the court spread out from there, along the wooden fences that converged in that very same corner. The porch cut off the court 20 feet from the basket. The fences were out, but off the porch was legal. The grass and trees formed the other boundary, and the dirt patch in the middle was the court.

The basketball hoop saw many things. Standing ten feet tall in the corner, it could do nothing but watch. It saw Akie’s dominance gradually fade as Ben and Shapel improved. It saw Ben evolve from a short, wild-shooting kid into a tall guard with poise who was deadeye from 17 feet in. It saw Shapel go from a brick-chucking scrub into a powerhouse forward who could rebound and post. It saw many challengers to the three, but none who could overcome their combined effort.

Ben lived down the block and Shapel was four blocks over. The court didn’t know this, but it knew about their confrontational relationship. It knew without Akie’s calming presence, they would be at each other’s throats. It knew about the legendary Spiderman incident, and the stunned looks it had left on everyone’s faces.

Ben had been having the game of his life, wouldn’t let anyone forget. He was picking on Shay the most, and things could only escalate from there. Shay’s glasses broke during the game, and this opened the floodgates; for Ben’s mouth and his game. Shay was getting more and more tired and pissed, and Ben was rubbing in the blowout with every one of Shay’s missed shots and stolen passes.

They eventually called for a break, and started to get the refreshments on the porch. Ben rushed ahead to get first pick, just like always. He noticed Shay was looking around for something, and picked up the broken halves of Shay’s glasses. He held them tauntingly over the bucket that had always just been there, collecting acid rain and mud and god-knows-what. “Looking for these?” he called out.

Gimme those.” was the immediate reply. “I’ll drop ‘em man. I’ll do it.” With that said, Shay charged and jumped and in less than a second, was over the porch railing demanding his glasses. The eight and one half foot high porch railing. He had jumped four feet up to the ledge, and then without pausing, bounded over the four and a half-foot railing. Ben immediately dropped the glasses and made it home in about ten seconds.

The court had been there, observing silently. Just like always. It knew Akie had been the best and always would be, no matter how much Ben and Shay improved. The calm beneath the storm, Akie never let emotions get in the way; or pain for that matter. Sliced finger on his shooting hand? No prob. He’d go up lefty. Sore hip? Not to worry. He'd sit back and shoot jays. The tougher the shot, the better chance he had of making it. Open layup? Fifty-fifty. Ball fake, spin, hop, half twist, lefty hook? Money. You can cash that one all the way to the bank.

Of course, he could shoot set shots from the foul line all day. But that would be too easy. Akie always made things harder than they had to be. He’d take three-pointers instead of foul shots for ball, take the handicap in a two-on-one, and take the dreaded chair shot in horse, just to piss you off. The court knew all this, and watched.

It knew Ben had improved. When he had first came to play, he was a scrawny white kid who was happy just to be playing. Through practice, the experienced gained from playing every day, and an eight-inch growth spurt, he developed into a fierce competitor who backed down from no one and chased every loose ball. His game was decent, but hustle brought it to another level.

He could stay with Akie now, at least until Akie turned up his game and became unstoppable. He was streaky though, and had a quick temper. When he was on, he was on; but when he was off, he might as well have been shooting bricks. You could throw him off his game with a lot of talk, as Shay often did, which led to numerous stormouts. The court knew this, and observed.

It knew Shay tried the hardest. He had to because of his lack of skill. He took a lot of flack from the other guys for this. He had a funky hitch in his shot, and fouled a lot on defense. He was the biggest of the three, hovering around 200 pounds. He also got tired the quickest, which resulted in more points for whoever he was guarding, because he didn’t want to wuss out, and then he would get aggravated when his team would lose.

He had improved, though not as much as Ben or Akie. He could shoot pretty well from ten feet in, and he was a monster down low. His dribble left something to be desired, and he had to work on grabbing rebounds instead of tipping them in the air. The court knew this and watched.

The three were split up by high school. Akie and Shay went to the same school, but Ben went to a school in the city. Akie joined Sing and Ben and Shay joined their respective football teams. The different schedules caused problems, but they still managed to get together once in a while.

Even so, they became accustomed to not being around each other, and the games became fewer and fewer. Eventually, they just stopped, and the court sat there, unused. They went off to college, each one going his own way. Akie to MIT with dreams of taking over Microsoft. Shay to Nebraska on a football scholarship, striving to become an All-American. Ben to Princeton, wanting to be a walk-on basketball player and ride the backdoor pass to the Final Four.

Coming home for the holidays, they ran into each other at the train station. They greeted each other heartily, exchanged pounds, and started walking home. They went to Akie’s house and sat on the porch, drinking elixers and filling each other in on life at college.

The conversation came to momentary pause, and nervous tension filled the air. “Been a while,” said Ben. “Yup,” Akie and Shay agreed. In silent agreement they all rose. “Let’s go.” The game started up almost immediately. Akie versus Ben and Shay, just like always. “Check it up,” said Akie. Akie dribbled around both of them, faked and hit a 20 foot fadeaway jumper.

"Still got it," he said. Ben just shook his head and checked the ball. Shay guarded down low. The court saw this. It watched.