Page 4 of Love & Streetball

“Ah!” I hollered when my right shoulder hit the floor.

A whistle was blown, and a foul was called, but the pain shooting up my arm wouldn’t allow me to hop up fast enough. One of my teammates, Alicia, came to see about me while the rest of my team rushed to confront the girl who pushed me, which, of course, was the shit-talking bitch. The refs got involved and broke it up.

“You good to shoot?” Alicia asked.

Rolling my shoulder in circles, I nodded and gritted out, “Yeah, I’ll ice it later.”

After assuring the coach and the ref that I was fine, I grilled the player who pushed me while walking to the free-throw line. She smirked. One thing I wasn’t gon do is lose the opportunity to get a full-ride basketball scholarship over beating her ass. I rolled my shoulder again to ease the throbbing. The ref passed me the ball. I winced, reaching for it.

I shot the first one and missed. My head dropped, and I shook it.

“That’s aight, Slim!” Vani. I knew his voice, and I knew he would be here. “Shake that shit off!”

Vani didn’t give a damn. He’d end up in the principal’s office tomorrow morning, only for Principal Duncan to remind him about cussing at the games.

I shot the second one and —

Swish!

We were now up by seven points with less than two minutes on the clock. I had to eat the pain for now and worry about it later.

The game ended with us winning by five. Instead of sticking around, I headed to the locker room. Upon heading there, a familiar face stood out to me. Not just his face, but the blue and white letterman's jacket he wore that represented Heart Heights.

What the hell was he doing here?

2

When I made it back home from playing ball that Saturday, I’d showered and hopped on my laptop to look up Slim’s basketball schedule. The way she moved on the court intrigued me. She was smooth and had heart to play with a bunch of niggas. Shit, she dressed like one, but up close, Slim was beautiful with her tawny skin that carried a reddish undertone, and her light brown downturned eyes were framed by thick, curly lashes that brushed her cheeks when she blinked. I was looking at her really hard to notice that. Her eye color mixed well with her complexion. Slim had high cheekbones and a slim nose, too. Underneath the ball gear and durag, Slim was still a female.

Monday, I couldn’t wait until school ended. I bought a ticket to Slim’s basketball game tonight to check her out. My dad was still at work, and Ma was over her sister’s house. Instead of driving my Maybach, I ended up getting a Rideshare to her school. I had niggas that lived on the side of town Slim did, and they were always putting me up on game. I knew my Maybach wouldn’t be out there when I left the game. I was surprised at how packed the gym was for the girl’s game. There were people with signs with Slim’s name and number on them. It was that deep.

“Kane!”

I reached my home boy, Jalen, and slapped his hand, bringing him into a brotherly hug. We’d been friends since we were sophomores at Heart Heights. Just like me, Jalen didn’t care too much for Heart Heights High. He wanted to be at a hood school, and so did I. His mama had withdrawn him and let him go live with his aunt. My dad wasn’t having that shit.

Jalen wasn’t at the court on Saturday, but I told him I was coming to check Slim out.

“Slim? Durag and big ass clothes Slim?” he asked.

“Yeah, man. She cold,” I snickered.

“You sure that’s all, my nigga?”

I cackled. “Yeah.”

We stood near the door, my hands in the pockets of my Heart Heights lettermen jacket. Females were skinning and grinning in my face, but I wasn’t here for that or them. My eyes found Slim warming up, her hair in straight backs. Her tongue was hanging out the side of her mouth as she dribbled and hit a layup. I attempted not to be obvious about who had my attention, but I couldn’t help it.

“When you meet Slim?” Jalen asked, nudging me with an elbow.

“Whatchu mean?” I quizzed. My gaze lingered back over to her, now dribbling the ball through her legs.

“Maaan, nigga,” Jalen snorted, laughing. “You know what I mean. You watching that boy, I mean girl, hard.”

I pushed him. “Man, watch out.” I licked my lips and picked up my falling sweats. “She a female, Jalen.”

He held his hands up. “Aight. It was just a joke, bro. Damn, you got it bad for Slim. I can’t wait to see how this plays off. She’s a tough cookie.”

He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already get from her. Slim was a no bullshit ass female. She had her guard up. She was in survival mode.