“Hopefully I get decent minutes. Odds are I won’t start.”
“You never know. You’re the best shooting guard they have.” And there’s her competitive side again.
Not that I don’t agree with her.
I’m trying to stay casual about not starting on the Surge yet, but my goals are many orders of magnitude bigger than that.
Ilovebasketball on a pure level, one hundred percent, but I also want to be the best at my position in the history of the women’s game. Period.
And if I can’t succeed, I’ll probably die trying.
I learned early on to keep this vision to close friends and family. My mom, my siblings, friends like Sarah who get it (and who, as a forward, is thankfully not offended).
Because the general population couldn’t hear this goal without projecting it through the lens of my dad’s career. My brother’s career, even. Just one more Parker in the game.
Instead, I want to betheAvery Parker. To be remembered for myself, my own achievements.
“Mom, I’m going to jump off. I need to drive home, and I’m starving.”
“Okay, sweetie. I’ll text you later if I have any new info.”
When I get home, I grab what’s left of a protein bowl from yesterday’s takeout order before flipping on a true crime show while I eat.
And I realize that I’m alone, without the crutch of my family, Jack, or any of my UConn friends, for the first time maybe ever.
I think I’m okay with that.
It feels liberating, to be honest.
Twenty-one, a pro player, with my own place in Orlando.
Fourteen-year-old me would be jealous.
3
RAWLEY
SAME DAY
“All set?” Landon says from the couch as I step into his living room.Myliving room now too, since I’m staying with him for the time being.
I put my keys down on a side table. “Yeah, all signed, sealed, and delivered.”
Landon stands up and gives me a bear hug. “Shit, Rawls, this is insane. Two Battles in the NFL. Welcome to the Waves.”
That’s right; an hour earlier I signed my rookie contract at the team facility. Almost eighteen million dollars over my first four years.
Without the media BS, I would’ve been one of the top five picks, and my salary more than twice that.
Maybe some guys would be pissed at that thought. I just feel like I let everyone down.
Shaking that feeling away, I pat Landon on the back and accept the embrace. I’m glad he’s excited. At the end of the day, all we have is each other.
Landon, Grace, Connor, and me.
I was in seventh grade when our parents divorced. It was Landon and Grace who made sure Connor and I were okay, had what we needed, got us fed, clothed, to our practices and games.
Even if Landon can be overbearing, I owe him a lot.
