Chapter 4
Thud. The heavy basketball hits the school gym floor as Sticky dribbles for the hundredth time, unable to stop shooting hoops. It is two months right after the Nike camp, and the night before Sticky is about to take his SATs. Coach Bill had particularly told him to get enough sleep on this night, but Sticky couldn't sleep. Instead, Sticky is shooting hoops to calm himself down and get the adrenaline that had been present in him the whole week out of his system. "This is the last shot," Sticky promises to himself, but ends up unable to stop for the fear of facing his life outside the empty, dark school gym.
Ever since he played at the Nike camp, coaches have tried to follow him relentlessly, never ceasing to try to recruit him. They tried showering him with lavish dinner parties, promises of exotic cars while in college, pocket money that would be replaced twice a week, and everything else that an eighteen-year old from a background of poverty could ever desire.
But Sticky knows better. Ever since he almost lost his right hand after stealing money from a drug dealer, he had steered clear of any sort of material temptation, for the fear that something bad would happen again. And he didn't want to get his hopes up. What if coaches promise him ample playing time at their schools, but later reject him when they see his SAT scores if they turn out to be bad? What will he do then?
"This is going to be the last shot," Sticky repeats. Sticky had worked day and night to keep his grades up and prepare for these SATs. He wants to go to college with Ahn-thu and make it to the NBA. He wants to have a successful career and not end up in the poverty that he came from. But maybe he doesn't to lose all hope, he thinks, as the basketball softly arcs toward the net. The tutor that Dante had paid for told him that he was doing well so far, and that he had a good chance of earning a 700. Maybe he could make it to college. Maybe it isn't the last shot after all. Maybe he has a chance.
