Maybe, just this once, I’d acknowledge genetics, because I had my mom’s shooting precision and the strength a forward needs in the paint—my dad’s position.
I could see it all clearly in my head. Farrah would step back, create space, then pass me the ball so I can hit a three.
And then my body collided with straight muscle.
The collision was enough to throw me off, my bottom angling forty-five degrees, painfully close to heading toward the floor. But then I felt strong hands on my waist, pulling me back from the ground I was about to meet, a counteract to gravity doing its job. The feeling wasn’t foreign, I was used to being touched all the time in a game. It was justwhowas keeping me steady.
I didn’t know how, but I just felt it. A hot sensation. And it wasn’t Farrah.
Before I could pinpoint the exact placement of Brittney’s hands on me, they were gone. And I heard Tashi’s voice ricochet around the gym.
“What the hell was that!” she shouted.
Yes. Right. Basketball.
“I was coming up to get the ball from White, then crossing over to the other side.” Brittney announced. Stealing the exact words I was going to use.
We had the same plan. Our bodies collided because we were doing the same thing.
Running to fill the second guard position.
I didn’t have favorites when I was playing, but it was pretty clear guards had the shiniest job. They were meant to be fast and have a pose ready for when we hit the three—the perfect eye for getting the net to swish from anywhere on the arch. I guessed both Brittney and I wanted that shiny spot.
“Let’s work on, I don’t know, reading the room? Communicating to our teammates? Erica didn’t even move three feet before you idiots collided.”
I expected Brittney to complain. Not in the name of disrespecting elders, but in the way she needed to get her side out. Probably find a way to yell at me, or mock me for the samemistake she made. I was familiar with how defensive she could be. Instead she nodded her head like a cadet at drill camp.
“You got it, Coach.”
Tashi didn’t even need an affirmative from me before she blew the whistle. Meanwhile, I was still shocked.
Brittney knew when to admit a fault? She could actually keep her mouth shut and take it on the chin?
I knew for a fact Rashida had let Brittney run the show, considering she was the unspoken captain the last two seasons. But from my experience, I knew the people who tended to be in control were the ones who didn’t think their shit stunk. Maybe I was wrong.
I got back to my position on the left side. My eyes trained on Farrah as she brought the ball up and looked for her chance. This time I eyed Brittney who was already making her way up to meet Farrah. Instead of running to the top, I shot across to the other side of the court. My practice defender gave me enough space while he eyed what the other practice players were doing.
Either Brittney and Farrah would shoot from the top, and he could grab the rebound if the ball missed the rim.
Farrah was able to successfully pass the ball to Brittney and we locked eyes, my body knowing where she thought I should go before she had to say it. I sprinted to get closer to Brittney. Ready to set a screen for her defender to get tangled in, giving her the necessary space to shoot an uncontested three. I ran up, set my feet, and watched.
Her defined calves pivoted quickly, her eyes trained on the net as she let the ball go with an immaculate arch. The net didn’t even swish with how smooth the ball went in.
“Hell yeah!” Farrah clapped from my old spot down in the corner. I glanced at Tashi, my eyes hoping to get an ounce of validation from someone I knew was just as stoic as my mother.Her long box braids moved slowly as she nodded her head at our performance. My stomach settled ever so slightly.
Turns out Brittney and I were only capable of one win a day. I didn’t know if our capability was a fluke, or if one of us had let the moment go to our heads, but the minute Tashi asked us to flip roles we might as well have been running with two left feet, blindfolded.
We were always rushing in the same direction, constantly fighting for Farrah’s attention, trying to be the one to relieve the pressure off of her and set up the shot. We were two dominant people whose worlds were finally colliding. There weren’t many people in the league who were comfortable enough to take on the role of a guardandforward. It was a skill that took years for me to dominate. A role I took very seriously.
And so did Brittney Lee.
This was why we always had been in the same conversation since we went to college. There was no one who could think in both positions like I could. No one who was an equal threat in the post and at the top of the key.
I refused to acknowledge her presence on the same side. On the same court.
It didn’t matter how often Tashi let our failures ring when we fucked up yet another run. She just clapped her hands then twirled her finger in the air.
Again.
