There weren't many things to do at Camp Green Lake once the holes were dug, the shovels put away, and the four minute showers were taken. The Wreck Room was definitely true to its name. Things like the chairs and tables were broken; their legs were sometimes completely ripped off or large amounts of stuffing showed through the rips and tears in the fabric. The surface of the pool table was littered with holes that reminded the players of the dry lake bed they toiled in everyday.
The T.V. had no value to the campers either. The small set's screen looked as if someone had tried to stick their foot through it, and so it never showed anything but fuzz. That didn't seem to really bother Zigzag, though. It was common knowledge that the tall, dirt blond boy liked to intently stare at the fuzzy screen as if a show really was playing.
Yet even Zigzag's "shows" lost their interest on him. So if he had any energy left, he got up from his regular spot in front of the T.V. and walked outside to play basketball with some of the guys.
Ever since the girl named Mikey Halliwell arrived at Camp Green Lake, she was almost always there sitting on the Wreck Room's porch, watching the game playing.
Zigzag always ignored her whenever he noticed her or passed her if she was already sitting on the porch, but he couldn't help feeling a bit agitated whenever he felt her eyes on his back. They were like twin dark lasers that scorched his skin through his shirt.
Before, on these occasions when Zigzag decided to play basketball, he had no trouble with making a fool of himself if he made any mistakes. All of the guys did it. Yet he had to admit, whenever Knuckles came out to watch the game from her spot on the Wreck Room porch, it was like he had something to prove under her dark brown gaze. Zigzag was very aware, if no one else was, that whenever Knuckles settled down onto her spot and turned her eyes towards the players, he would automatically play more aggressively that bordered on being a show-off. Unfortunately for him, this caused his shots to often not make it into the hoop.
"Man, Zig, what's up with you?" Armpit shouted as he ran after the player who had just stolen the ball from right under Zigzag's legs.
Zigzag was about to defend himself, but a far-off chuckle from behind drew his attention. He bared his teeth at Knuckles like an agitated dog. "Got somethin' to laugh about?" he yelled up at her.
"C'mon Zig! Get your head back in the game," X-ray told him from the other side of the court where everyone but the tall boy was.
Doing his best not to respond to the idle wave Knuckles gave him, Zigzag ran to guard his man.
From up on the porch, Mikey watched with growing amusement as Zigzag (now that he had her complete attention) continuously made minor errors that were costing his team the game. Mikey even laughed out loud whenever Zigzag had to run after the guy he was guarding because he forgot about watching him. Yet Mikey had to concede to the fact that Zigzag really did have a good jump shot if his shots went in, that is.
"Two-pointer!" ThLump declared after Zigzag sank in a particularly far away and difficult shot over the equally tall boy.
"What? That was definitely a three-pointer!" Zigzag argued.
ThLump pushed Zigzag back when he realized that the wiry boy had stepped closer towards him. "Well, I calls it a two-pointer from my point of view."
Zigzag pushed ThLump back and with more force. "Maybe our point of view needs glasses," he growled.
Their team mates quickly formed a circle around the pair. X-ray fearlessly stepped between them, hands held up. "Hey guys, back off and just chill. We can settle this," he placated.
"Oh yeah? How?" both boys demanded angrily.
X-ray smiled and pointed towards the Wreck Room. "We ask the ref."
All eyes turned to Mikey, who merely raised her eyebrow at the sudden interest in her.
Zigzag's heart sank dismally. Knowing Knuckles, she'd make the call on ThLump's favor just to spite him. This thought made Zigzag's gut clench with anger. He placed a hand on X-ray's shoulder. "How do you know she'll make a fair call?" Zigzag demanded.
The bespectacled black boy smiled calmly over his shoulder at the taller white boy before he shrugged off the hand from his shoulder. "Dude, I can tell Knuckles wouldn't do something like that." Wit that said, X-ray walked up to said girl. The other boys plus, most reluctantly, Zigzag followed.
Mikey leaned back on the beam that vertically supported the roof of the porch, eyebrow still quirked. "Got a problem, guys?" she asked as they stopped in front of her. She felt very short while they towered over her sitting form.
X-ray crossed his muscular arms over his chest and stepped out of the way for ThLump and Zigzag to come forward. X-ray nodded towards them. "ThLump says the basket was two points, but Zig says three. So, who do you think made the right call on that last basket?" he asked her.
Zigzag watched as Knuckles' eyes moved to ThLump and then onto him. She looked at him for a moment longer than she had ThLump before her eyes became clouded as she replayed the jump shot in her mind. Zigzag hated how Knuckles' vacant gaze was still on him. He swore he saw the corners of her mouth twitch upwards, but that may have been what Squid would say as the product of his "acute paranoia."
But still, waiting like this was grating on Zigzag's nerves. He clenched his fists and turned his back on Knuckles. "Forget it," he barked, to everyone's surprise. "It's a two-pointer."
X-ray blinked as ThLump and his teammates gave each other high-fives. "Zigzag-"
"Dude, forget it," Zigzag repeated heatedly over his shoulder. He was determined not to look back into her eyes.
X-ray shrugged at his other puzzled teammates as they shuffled past him. "Okay, whatever floats your boat," he muttered before he left to rejoin the game.
Mikey jumped onto her feet as Zigzag started in the same direction. "Hey, Zigzag," she called. "What was that about?" she demanded when he had stopped. Seeing that he wasn't about to look at her very soon, Mikey stepped directly in front of him so they were face to face.
Zigzag shrugged nonchalantly. "Just thought that you wouldn't make the right call anyway," he told her.
Mikey clenched her teeth and glared up at him. "What does that mean?" she demanded.
Zigzag smirked, ever the one to love making her angry. He leaned closer to her in a taunting manner. "I mean that being a girl, you wouldn't have been able to tell whether it was a two- or three-pointer."
Mikey suddenly pushed him back. "You are hella fucking sexist!" she shouted. "And by the way, not only could I have known if that was three-pointer or not, but I also could of played better than your sorry ass!"
Zigzag pushed her back. "Says so from the girl who sits on a porch watching the big boys play," he retorted. "Scared much?"
"Fine, then." For a moment, Zigzag thought that Knuckles would actually walk away form him. Instead, she turned around and asked X-ray for the basketball.
Zigzag rolled his eyes. "You gonna show me how to play like a girl?" he mocked her when X-ray handed her the ball.
"Psh," Mikey sneered. "No, you've already done a good job at that. I'm gonna teach you how to play like a man!"
There was a loud and long chorus of "ooooh's" from all who had heard.
"Watcha gonna do about that, Zigzag? Gonna run and hide in your tent?" ThLump mocked.
Zigzag's face began to slowly turn red from both embarrassment and anger. "One on one," he snarled. "One point for each basket and winner at twenty-one points."
Mikey smirked as she and Zigzag settled on one side of the court. "Ladies first," she said.
"Good, 'cause I'm not the type for sloppy seconds," Zigzag retorted. A roar of laughter from their audience met these words, and Zigzag could feel his confidence returning to him in sight of the ugly look Knuckles threw at him then.
Yet Zigzag's confidence was shaken a few shots later into the game. Knuckles really was a formidable player. On a few occasions, she even could sink in a few baskets over him. However, Zigzag still had the height advantage which he exploited fully in the number of times he out-rebounded her, and Knuckles wasn't that great at doing lay-ups, which Zigzag happened to excel in. To Knuckles' credit, she was very quick and agile. Despite her small stature, she was well built and was able to throw him off of her a few times.
"Damn. Zig and Knuckles got it going on," Armpit remarked as Zigzag just slapped the ball away from its journey to the hoop in mid-air.
"What's the score?" asked Barbag who had just tuned into the game. Almost more than half the campers and some of the counselors were glued to this intense game.
"Knuckles leading by three," Squid replied. "Nineteen-sixteen."
"Give up?" Mikey huffed as she simultaneously tried to steal the ball and keep from getting knocked over by Zigzag's broad backside. He leaned more into her, and when she responded by pushing on him, Zigzag quickly spun three hundred sixty degrees around her and threw the ball into the hoop as she stumbled back.
"This game's not over," Zigzag told her as she retrieved the ball.
Mikey rolled her eyes. "So you say," she muttered. Holding a finger up for a time out, Mikey looked over to X-ray, who stood on the exact spot she usually sat on the Wreck Room porch. "Hey, X," she called.
"What's up?" he called from the porch. He jumped down and walked over to them.
Zigzag could hear the shower tokens that X-ray had procured by taking bets on them jangling loudly in his stuffed pockets. Zigzag immediately caught onto Knuckles' line of thinking. "Winner of this gets half of your profits," he told the young pusher.
For a fleeting moment, both competitors swore that they saw a look of disappointment after those words, but soon X-ray was smiling easily at them. "Sure thing," he said before trudging back to the porch.
Zigzag gestured to the basketball in Knuckles' hands. "Yours," he grunted, the previous good humor already gone.
Mikey drove the ball towards the hoop. When Zigzag blocked her way with arms spread wide open, she pivoted and began to use her back to bump him closer to the basket like he had just done to her.
"Whoo! Getting intense right there!" someone shouted, which brought on a wave of laugher and catcalls.
"Feel her up good, Ziggy-boy, 'cause she ain't gonna come near you after ya beat her!" ThLump called lewdly.
This rather loud comment threw off Mikey's concentration. In a flash, Zigzag took advantage of this. He knocked the ball out of her hand, stole it, and threw it into the hoop.
"Give up?" he demanded haughtily as he caught the ball and chucked it at her. "No one would blame you if you did."
Mikey angrily bit her tongue hard as she bounced the ball. "If you haven't noticed, I'm still ahead of you!" she snapped.
Zigzag laughed out loud almost mirthlessly. "Not for long, baby girl," he told her.
Oh hell no, Mikey thought as rage exploded in her gut. She was now officially pissed off. As if a fire had been lit inside of her, Mikey drove hard towards the basket. As she neared Zigzag, without stopping, she bounced the ball hard right in front of him so it passed between his open legs where she then caught the ball on the other side and slam dunked it into the hoop.
Mikey pumped up her fist as a wave of "ooooh's" washed over the court.
From the Mess Hall, Mr. Sir surveyed the game through his dark sunglasses. "They're all actin' like little Girl Scouts," he grumbled through the sunflower seeds in his mouth which he had taken up to stop his smoking habit.
Pendanski walked up to him with a broad, toothy smile. "Isn't this exciting?" he exclaimed. "Those two have a natural chemistry between them!"
Mr. Sir grunted. "Like two half-starved wolves," he said sardonically.
Pendanski laughed, although the sound came out a little uneasily. He turned to a boy standing a little ways behind him. "What's the score now, Josh?" he asked the tall Hispanic.
The boy named Josh watched as Zigzag sank in another basket before answering, "Twenty even."
"Well, look who caught up," Zigzag commented out loud as he passed Knuckles the ball. He couldn't help keeping the grin the grin spreading widely on his face.
"Yeah, it took you a while," Mikey responded tartly. "Even after I lowered my skill level to match yours."
Zigzag started to crank his knuckles; which the action did nothing to deter Knuckles. She didn't even flinch. "Don't hold back, then. It makes you look more stupid than you already are," Zigzag retorted angrily. In the dirtiest move he had ever made so far, Zigzag used his upper body to push Knuckles down and stole the basketball.
"Bastard!" Mikey screamed as she stuck her foot between his legs as he pivoted towards the hoop. Zigzag fell, and in the process, the ball flew out of his hands.
"Loose ball!!" everyone shouted wildly as the basketball rolled towards other side of the court from the two players. It stopped just mere inches before the sideline; about five feet away from the hoop.
In a furious struggle, Zigzag and Mikey scrambled back onto their feet, pushing and pushing the other out of the way. Finally, Mikey succeeded in taking Zigzag by the ankle and dragging him back onto the ground. She leaped over him, as he tried to stand up again, and sprinted towards the ball. Sweeping it into her hands, Mikey pivoted around to face the basketball, ready to shoot. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Zigzag charging after her.
Mikey positioned the basketball in her hands and jumped. As the orange ball left her hands, Zigzag's tall frame clashed with her smaller body and they fell onto the ground.
Yet the ball still sailed towards the hoop. As Mikey and Zigzag regained their composures on the ground, their audience watched avidly with abated breath as the ball rolled around the top of the metal hoop. Everyone gasped as the ball tipped out, but it had miraculously tipped out of the side where the wooden board bordered the hoop. The ball hit the headboard and then fell directly into the hoop with a swish.
For a moment, everyone but the two players getting up from the ground was silent until Mikey pumped her fist up in the air victoriously.
"You go, girl!" Barfbag shouted as he was one of the first to run over to her.
Mikey threw back her head and laughed as the grey-eyed boy threw her over his broad shoulder and spun her around until she thought she would throw up. As Barfbag set her back onto her feet, Mikey turned around with every intention of rubbing it in Zigzag's face, but found that he wasn't beside her anymore. As best as she could, Mikey got on her tip-toes and looked over the heads of the boys now surrounding her. She spotted his familiar wild dirt blond hair weaving towards their tent.
At that moment, X-ray appeared next to her, grinning wryly. He pushed a few shower tokens into Mikey's hands. "Here Knuckles," he said, "half of my profits like I promised."
Mikey pocketed her winnings. "Wow X, I'm surprised that you actually did keep your promise," she said, smiling to show him that she was teasing him.
X-ray waved his hand loftily. "Ah, c'mon Knuck, have a little more faith in me," he said with only half-seriousness.
The bell that called them to dinner rang throughout the compound. Boys congratulated Mikey as they passed each other; she to the tent and them to the Mess Hall. Just outside the tent flap (which was curiously closed over the entrance), Mikey took out the shower tokens from her pocket. She counted twenty-three metal pieces, all the size of pennies. She put ten in her left hand and pocketed the other thirteen before she entered D tent.
Zigzag was hunched over his crate at the end of the tent with a towel slung over his shoulder, obviously getting ready to take a shower before going to dinner. He had looked over his shoulder to see who had come into the tent, but when he recognized it was only Knuckles, he merely glared at her resentfully and returned to digging through his crate for whatever he had been looking for.
Unfazed by her cold reception, Mikey strode towards Zigzag as the latter finally stood up. When he had turned around, Mikey was right in front of him with her left hand thrust out.
"Here, this should be yours," she told him stonily. When Zigzag merely stared at the shower tokens in her hand, Mikey added, "Take it."
And Zigzag almost did. Yet he remembered the jeers the boys outside had given him as he walked towards the tent, and anger and shame quickly consumed him. "I don't need this shit!" Zigzag slapped Knuckles' hand away from him. The coins scattered over the dirty ground as Zigzag stalked past Knuckles without so much as a backward glance into her stunned face.
Predictably, Zigzag losing to Knuckles didn't go well with the boys at camp. Everywhere Zigzag went, the guys would smirk knowingly at him. Most often, he was made fun of by losing to a girl, with no consideration that this particular girl was put in a boy's detention facility for a reason. So Zigzag talked to people less and tended to keep to himself. His hatred for Knuckles had, of course, grown and festered. Every time he looked at her, his gut clenched with anger, and if their eyes happen to accidentally meet, he'd glare hard at her before turning away.
Mikey, on her part, didn't gloat at all after winning the game. Though, she couldn't help grinning whenever her victory was mentioned. She still had the ten tokens that were meant for Zigzag. She felt like she owed him that much since his rep now was kind of ruined because of her. Was it guilt? Not really because Zigzag had played a good game. However, if Mikey thought about it enough, that last play with all the cheating had not really been right in her mind. This idea slowly took hold of her mind, and eventually she did feel the stirring of guilt whenever she looked at Zigzag until one night, she decided to settle the score.
Now, Zigzag had almost completely stopped playing basketball since he had lost to Knuckles. Almost completely, because at night when he thought everyone in the compound was sound asleep, Zigzag slipped out of his tent and played a little basketball by himself without the mocking calls that he would have had to deal with during the daytime.
If Mikey had not had a nightmare of the bitter past of her home life and had not woken up, she would have never found out about Zigzag's late night excursions. So one night, she waited until Zigzag had left the tent to follow him. She hid behind a large empty crate and watched as he took the worn-out basketball that always stayed inside the Wreck Room at the end of each day. Mikey watched him warm up for a few moments, and when at one point the ball came rolling towards her, it was her cue to make her presence known. Mikey stepped out from behind the crate, took the basketball in her hands, and walked over to the stunned Zigzag.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded after his shock wore off. He snatched the ball from Knuckles' hands before snubbing her by continuing his one-man game. As he bent his knees to shoot the ball, Knuckles stepped right in front of him with arms crossed over her chest.
"I want a rematch," Mikey said seriously.
Surprised, Zigzag's shot was way off. The boy stared blankly down at her. "Why?" he asked hollowly. "You won fair and square," he added with a bitter undertone.
Mikey turned away from him and retrieve the ball. "See, that's where you're wrong," she said as she handed him the ball again. "I've been thinking this a lot, and that last play wasn't fair at all. You remember it, right?" Although Zigzag nodded in agreement, Mikey could tell all he was remembering right now was how she had shot the winning point. Mikey snapped her fingers in front of his face to return his attention. "I mean with the cheating in the last play," she told him. "You know, the pushing and pulling each other onto the ground, thing?"
Now Zigzag understood where she was coming from. Yet he still distrusted her insistence for a rematch. She had won, why complain? He voiced these thoughts.
Mikey shrugged. "Hey, no matter how much I hate you, I still demand you play your best. Don't insult me by shit like cheating or not doing your best," she told him. "Even if I did win."
Despite having qualms, Zigzag did agree with her on everything she had just said. "How are we gonna do this?" he reluctantly asked with a heavy sigh.
"Simple," Mikey said. "We replay the last play - fairly."
"Okay with me," Zigzag said as he passed her the ball.
Immediately getting into competitive mode, Mikey bounced the ball as Zigzag got into a defensive position. Being for one point, they both played as if everything was staked on it. And maybe it was that important. For a hard hour, neither of them, through steals and missed shots, could get close enough to the hoop to score the point. As their precious time for sleep began to dwindle away, sweat coated their quickly fatiguing bodies.
"You're not trying hard enough," Mikey puffed as she pivoted around and began bumping her back towards his front in an effort to push close enough to the hoop to put the ball in. What Mikey said was a white lie, though. It was obvious Zigzag was trying to give it his best, but in reality she really was the better of the two. With that in mind, Mikey smiled guiltlessly as she passed the basketball to her weaker hand, the right. She didn't cry in surprise or even try that hard to block Zigzag as he easily knocked the ball from her, took it, and made a spectacular fade-away jumper. Mikey turned around and watched as the ball slipped into the hoop.
Realizing that he had won, Zigzag jumped high into the air, shouting, "YES!"
Mikey suppressed the urge to laugh at his euphoria as she walked up to him and stuck out her hand. Ten silver shower tokens shined in her palm. "The best person won," she said calmly.
Almost too calmly to Zigzag, who stopped jumping around and stared open mouthed at her. "Did you just let me win?" he demanded as Knuckles reached over and placed the tokens into his hand.
Mikey laughed out loud this time. "No way. Believe it or not, you really are a good player. You should have won in the first place, so that's why I wanted a rematch," she told him.
The seriousness she had faked was enough to slightly mollify Zigzag as he nodded. "You're a really good player, too," he blurted as she started to walk away.
Mikey froze as her breath slammed in her chest. She stiffly turned around. "Thank you?" she said so hesitantly that it was almost a question. Mikey shook her head and cocked her eyebrow. "But I still hate your guts," she added snidely.
Zigzag smirked. "Well that's good. For a moment, I thought we just had one of what Mom call's a 'bonding moment.'"
Mikey flipped him off to remind him why he should have regretted complimenting her. "Aw, I didn't know you were such a mama's boy," she cooed mockingly before she spun around on her heel and left with an idle wave of her hand. Her laughter softly trailed back to Zigzag's ears.
