A Brighter Tomorrow: My Journey with Julie

I tell the teenagers that we were here first. I look at Julie for backup and she says that we’ll play them for the court. Fourth graders versus the teenagers. Whoever reaches thirty-five points first. Mike says it’s a piece of cake. They could beat us with a hand tied behind their backs. Stinger turns to his brother and says he doesn’t want girls on his team. Tracy says either the girls play, or the kids don’t play at all. It’s his choice. Truthfully, I don’t want to be playing on Stinger’s team either, but it’s worth it if it means Julie will see she deserves a spot on the Jaguars team. Stinger huffs and grabs the ball.

From the first rally back and forth across the court, we can see Mike and Tracy are strong opponents, even though it’s just two of them against four of us. Every time I try to pass, Tracy is there to block it. Whenever Julie or T.J. tries for a basket, Mike knocks the ball out of their hands. I realize that these aren’t the only reasons our team isn’t scoring points. The next time we have the ball, Stinger looks for T.J., but Tracy is all over him. T.J. yells to pass to Julie, as she waves her arms right by the hoop. But instead, Stinger goes to the point and misses by a long shot.

Again and again, Stinger refuses to pass the ball to Julie or me, even when we’re wide open. Mike and Tracy have caught on and they stick like glue to T.J. whenever Stinger has the ball. After a bit, the score is 16-10, and the teenagers have blocked every single one of Stinger’s passes to T.J. The next time Stinger ignores me and Tracy intercepts the ball, I’m fed up.

I yell at Stinger that I was right there. He ignores me. T.J. passes the ball to me. I’m at a strange angle and don’t have a clear shot at the basket. Stinger is standing right under the basket ready for my past. If I go for the shot and miss, our team won’t score any points. But if I pass to Stinger, I won’t get the ball back again. Tracy is coming right at me. I need to decide.