Pick Up Game #2

The sun is high in the sky. It is a little after 1:00 PM. The sweet aroma of grilled hamburgers and brats is pouring out of fenced in yards into the air. Two dogs are exchanging barks from a distance. The only people at the playground today are four kids who are swinging on the monkey bars and chasing each other around. The soccer fields are bare except for some old juice boxes and firecracker shrapnel. This morning fresh tar was spread over the blacktop to patch up the cracks. The courts are unoccupied and all is quiet until two men approach the schoolyard from the back path. They are carrying a basketball...


The pair walk casually, switching off who bounces the ball. They are young adults in their mid-20's and each about six feet tall. One of the men is a little portly, with long blond hair pulled back into a half ponytail. He is wearing royal blue mesh shorts and a plain green t-shirt. His shoes are dirty looking with a few holes here and there. His socks are white and scrunched down revealing tan lines around his ankles. His friend/opponent is a few inches taller and a little bit slimmer. He has on dark black shorts that come down past his knees. He is wearing shiny-black basketball shoes with high black socks. He has on a red t-shirt and a gray headband. His hair is brown and short.

The basketball has lost its vibrant orange hue from being played with outside. Black contoured lines run all around the ball, accentuating its features. On one side of the ball is the NBA logo. Right by this logo something is written in black permanent marker. It is very small and hard to make out. The blond haired man uses his finger nail to unscrew the air valve and pull up a thin plastic tube. By pushing tube in and out, he fills the ball with more air. Blondie screws the air valve back in and gives the ball a few quick bounces. The ball returns much better now. The sound of the bouncing basketball echoes throughout the playground.

The two men work their way around the court shooting from various locations. They each miss their fair share of shots but continue warming up for about twenty minutes. The man in black keeps traveling back and forth across the courts to a hoop, which he notices has been lowered a few inches. He tries dunking the ball three separate times but to no prevail. The man in black exclaims in a deep tone, "Let's play!"

His friend says nothing and walks to the free throw line. The two switch off shooting free throws to see who gets possession first. Whoever makes a shot when the other misses gets the ball first. For about fifteen minutes this goes on. Miss after miss after miss. Once, they both hit free throws back to back so the possesion game had to continue. They exchange hardly any words during this process. They take their time and try to focus on each shot. The thud of the ball off the rim echoes throughout the school yard. Suddenly an overcast fills the sky and tiny rain droplets start falling to the ground. The men suspend their game for the time being to try and dunk on the low hoop again.