Christmas vacation was getting old. For the better part of a week, all four of us had been hanging around the house, getting in each other's way, and being bored out of our minds because it was too cold to go outside. Pony mostly read and drew in his bedroom, so he was the least in the way, and Soda picked up hours at the DX during the day, so he was gone for at least part of the day, but Darry and I were going nuts being housebound. He wanted to work but with the cold, the roofing jobs were slim, and the senior guys at the company got the jobs, not the part-timers.
Thankfully, I still had basketball practice every day, and a few games, so I had a bit of an escape. That Thursday Darry dropped me off for my game. We had made it a habit of eating at Angelo's every Thursday since that first one, and I knew that Darry looked forward to seeing Alison a lot. They had gone out on one or two dates, but were both so busy that finding time for each other had been tough. Anna and I held on to the fact that neither of them had been out with anyone else since they met, though.
"Bye, Scout. Good luck," Darry said, as I jumped out of the truck.
"Thanks. Seeya," I said, as I ran into the school. I was already in my uniform and it was freezing out, so I sprinted for the warmth of the building.
We went through our warm-ups, and I talked to Ben for a few minutes, who was there with Kevin and Kate, who had come to watch Kate's sister Sarah. Ben had seen me play a few times. Our team was improving a lot; we had come out on top of quite a few close contests and had gained a respectable amount of fans, as the boys' teams were faring much worse. The stands were about half full as our game started, probably in part due to the fact that, it being Christmas vacation, all our relatives were on vacation and able to come watch us, but quite a few high school kids with no obvious affiliation had come just to watch the game, as well. Girl's basketball was still kind of a novelty- some people came just to see what it was all about.
I was so much smaller than the other players that I was actually used to the opposing teams laughing and pointing when I came out. Generally in the first quarter they made the flawed assumption that I was harmless and left me open enough to do a fair bit of damage. After I had sunk a few baskets from long range they would double-team me, which, of course, left at least one other team member completely open. The funny thing is, even with two girls guarding me, I still felt like I had the upper hand most of the time. I was used to going up against three boys!
About five minutes into the first quarter, I managed to hit a basket from the baseline and draw a foul as well. I heard Ben yell in agreement with the referee and turned to look. I was shocked to see Ben, Kate, Kevin, and, to my amazement, Darry, watching the game. He was sitting there, coffee in his hand, staring at the court. He must have gone to get the coffee and come back for the game. I wondered if that had been his plan all along, or if boredom had just gotten the best of him. I actually froze for a moment, feeling nervous. Darry had never come to see me play before. I felt like I had when Dad would come watch; I didn't want to let him down.
I stood at the foul line and the ref tossed me the ball. I tried to focus, drown everything out. I followed my routine. I took it, bounced it three times, turned it around in my hands, and shot it. All net. The crowd cheered. I felt the nervousness fade. The rest of the game I felt no pressure, even as I saw Darry intensely focused on the game, I wasn't afraid he would judge me. I was just so glad he was there to support me. I had forgotten what having family watching felt like.
In the end it was close. With ten seconds left and us ahead only by one, they had the ball on our baseline. Their guard tried to inbound the ball to the center but our own center deflected the pass. The ball bounced over toward the sideline, where forwards from both teams pounced on it. Ours eventually came up with it and, seeing me unguarded, she tossed it to me. Five seconds remained on the clock. I just caught the ball, surrounded it with my body, and let the other team take me down, which they did, pretty hard. Their only choice had been to foul me. I didn't hold it against them. As I hit the floor I heard Darry yell out in protest, and I felt like I might know how he was feeling, remembering seeing him get hit so hard just before Thanksgiving. I made a special effort to look right at Darry when I got up, to let him know I was OK.
I stood at the free throw line and made both shots. Ahead by three, we just let them run out the clock, not bothering to foul them. The applause as the buzzer sounded was probably the loudest we had heard all year. We headed into the locker room.
____________
About twenty minutes later, as I emerged from the locker room, I found Darry and Kevin talking in the gym lobby. Kate was with Kevin, obviously they were waiting for Sarah to drive her home. I stopped to talk to Ben. I knew we were driving Anna home so I made plans to shoot some basketball with him in our yard the next day, if it wasn't too cold. Otherwise we would just sit around and play cards, or watch TV.
"Darry was really impressed with you," Ben said.
"He was?" I was surprised. Darry had played basketball and was OK at it, but I figured only football players were tough enough to earn his real respect.
Ben didn't get a chance to answer, because just then Kevin and Darry parted ways. Kevin motioned to Ben to come over and Darry came toward me. He picked me up and swung me around.
"Great job!" he said, taking my bag.
"I can't believe you came!" I never expected Darry to come to one of my games. I wasn't used to having any fans since my parents had died, except Ben, when Kevin let him tag along.
"After all my games you had to watch, I figure I owe you one," he said. "Plus, Kevin told me what I was missing." Kevin usually took Kate to most games, to watch Sarah.
Anna came out from the locker room just then and Darry took her bag and added it to his shoulder that already held mine.
"Nice job, Anna," he said. She had only played about ten minutes, and she pointed that out.
"Every little bit helps," Darry said. "That's what teamwork's all about."
"Since I am not very good," Anna said, "I'll take that. At least you didn't try to convince me I'm good!"
Darry knew better than to say anything that would get him in trouble.
"You ladies ready?" he asked.
"Let's go," I said.
When we got to Angelo's Mr. Harvey had saved us the usual seat. This was the first time it was just Darry and me; Soda was working and Pony was too caught up in a book to come. Anna went to change and Ali was caught up waiting some other tables; for a while it was just the two of us.
"Scout, that was a great choice, just holding the ball and letting them foul you. Most guys, in that situation, being open, would have gone for the glory and tried a shot." Darry was talking strategy with me. This was how he used to talk to Dad. It was a little strange.
"I get the game, Darry" I said. "There was no need to shoot."
"I know that" Darry said. "I wish I'd come to see you play more. I think I have underestimated you. You can play, for real. I thought girl's basketball would be all gentle and stuff, put you girls play hard. And you hold your own out there, for being so little."
I smiled at that. "You're busy, Darry. I get that."
"Yeah, well…" he hesitated.
"I'm glad you came," I said.
"Me too," he said. "I wish I had supported you better this year. I mean, you came to all of my games." I couldn't really argue with that.
Just then Alison came over and sat with Darry, taking our order as well as loving every minute of talking with him, so I pretty much fascinated myself with the menu. I eventually excused myself to visit the restroom… I just wished those two could get some time alone. It was so obvious they liked each other. They were both just so busy.
When I got back to the table Darry had already ordered and I sat down with him. Ali had a few more tables to take care of.
"Scout, I have to tell you something," he said. He sounded serious.
"What?" I asked. He usually didn't tell me anything serious.
"I'm taking the semester off from school. I'm gonna work, full time. Just to make sure we've got enough money."
I was shocked. Darry loved college.
"Do you have to?" I asked. "Is it that bad?" I regretted buying everyone Christmas presents; if I knew things were really that bad, I would have just given Darry the money.
"Not yet, but I just want us to stay ahead. If I take this semester off I won't miss football… It's just what I have to do. I already told the boys."
"And they didn't care?" I asked.
"They understood," he said.
"I wish you didn't have to," I said.
"Wishing is a waste," Darry said. That was him, all reality. "It's just what has to happen."
"Just promise me you'll go back, in the fall," I said. Darry without football was a Darry I didn't even know. He had to play.
"I can't promise anything," he said, "but that's the plan."
Ali brought our pizza and sat with us and I tried as best I could to act normal, knowing full well that my brother was about to give up on his dream of college in order to take care of me and my other brothers. Eventually Darry asked for the check and I excused myself to go talk to Anna, leaving the two of them alone.
I told Anna what Darry had told me, about taking a break from school. She pointed out that he never had said he was quitting, just taking a semester off. After about twenty minutes I figured I'd better get back. Pony and Soda expected us back with take-out for them.
Darry wasn't at the table when I came back. I knew exactly where to find him, though. I grabbed our order and went outside where I found Darry and Ali in the alley beside the shop. She was leaning with her back against the wall, and he had his hands on either side of her, leaning in. At the moment they were just talking, but it was clear to me there had been some kissing. I almost ran back in to tell Anna but I knew we had to go.
"I'll be in the truck," I said, walking by. It was never locked. I just walked past them and hopped in.
A few minutes later Darry came up to the truck and climbed in.
"It's just a break, right?" I asked.
"I hope so," he said.
"OK," I said, and he headed off toward home.