ricky and nini's realizations

chapter 70

ricky's pov

it's officially been a week since i lost the best thing i've ever had. if it were my choice, i would stay in my bed under the dark covers. this wasn't gonna fly with my dad though. it's my first day back to basketball since my head injury finally having the doctor clear me. this was supposed to be a really exciting time, but i don't see the point in getting back to the sport now. my dad bursts into my room and yanks the comforter off of me. definitely not my preferred option on how to spend my saturday though. "i'm sick of this. get up and out of bed. you better be pulling out of the driveway in twenty minutes rick," he tells me throwing the blanket down to the ground. i groan completely annoyed with him. this. my life right now. i grip the pillow closer to me. i don't need the blanket. his attempt isn't gonna get me out of this bed. nice try dad. with my eyes closed, i can still feel him standing at the foot of my bed. "19 minutes," he says. i imagine him with his hands on his hips like a mom would. "you've been looking forward to basketball for months! what's going on?" he says loudly, but not coming close to yelling. only my mom brings that out of him. "go away," i say like a preteen does to their 'annoying' parent. "get your ass out of this bed and to practice. i'm all ears when you want to share why you're acting like this," he walks out of my room. i know he cares and he's right. i should get out of bed and i have been looking forward to this. but i just don't have that in me anymore. nini shared my excitement for going back to basketball with me. she was so supportive of me. she even came over to shoot hoops with me to "help" me practice. she can't make it into the net for the life of her, but it didn't matter because she joined in on what i cared about. i think back to the day i went in for my second check up texting nini the good news that i could get back to light physical activity for the time being. she came over that afternoon to practice with me in my makeshift basketball court. which is just a basketball hoop at the end of the driveway. i practiced shooting hoops and nini would pass the ball back to me after each shot. we did this for so long. she never showed any sign of boredom even though passing me a basketball over and over isn't her ideal source for fun. but she did it anyway because it was important to me. eventually, i had gotten in enough hoops, so i asked her to play with me. of course she was hesitant, but i insisted. i started off teaching her how to shoot a hoop. i moved her by her hips to stand right in front of me while she held the ball. i brought my arms around her placing her hands where they needed to go. this made my front go flush against her back. once she had a hold of things, i took a single step back and told her to shoot. she made it with a "oh my gosh. ricky did you see that! i didn't miss." the rest of that afternoon was spent scrimmaging against each other. "hey! that's cheating!" she whined at me with a gaping smile holding her hand up. "don't hate the player hate the game nins!" i say going for a lay up. "but you didn't even dribble!" she defends. "i didn't have to," i say catching the ball as it fell through the net. "this game gets confusing. i wanna go again," she determinedly says. i pass her the ball letting her start off with it. i wasn't gonna go too easy on her. that's not how we are with each other. she dribbles it while using her free arm to try pushing me back and i decided to have a little fun of my own with her accidentally forgetting the game. i pick her up from behind and her knees come up to her chest as she squeals. the balls rolls off somewhere neither of us seeing where. "ricky! put me down!" she giggles trying to pry my hands off of her pulling at my fingers. "nah i'm good." "so is this how people play basketball these days? they pick up their opponents?" she says giving up dropping her legs from her chest letting them dangle off of the ground. "actually yes. they just added it to the updated playbook," i tell her matter of factly while walking us to the grass. she crosses her arms having completely given up, "that's interesting. i would like to see that in print." "well that's not gonna happen," i say putting her back to the ground not letting her out of my embrace. her hands find mine again trying to pick her way free, but it's no use despite her continuing to try. "yeah and why not? lemme guess," she sarcastically says, "because that's not a real thing." i dramatically roll my head around, "oh no. it's a very real book. but only special people can see it," i tell her. "oh really? and i'm guessing you're one of those special people and i'm not then?" she squints her eyes turning her head to the side to make eye contact with me. "precisely," i smile really big on purpose and she rolls her eyes with a smile she tries to suppress. "alright let me go," she sweetly taps my hands standing normally now. i comply and she goes to search for the basketball coming back with it soon after. "alright bowen lets go. i need to score at least one point," she says walking up to me determined. it's adorable. she gets into her stance again and i take the opportunity to tickle her side that's pushing up against me. "ricky!" she says bending into me dropping the ball once again. "what?" i innocently ask after the ball is out of sight again. she gives me a blank look, "i'm guessing that's in the new basketball playbook too?" she dumbly states on purpose. "sure is. you gotta know how to distract your opponent. that's just how you win roberts. sorry not sorry," i wink at her. i quickly bend down standing back up with her over my shoulder as she gasps scared from the surprise. she fists my shirt into her hands on my back scared of me dropping her even though there's no way i would. "this is the worst game of basketball in history. this is definitely a foul bowen. put me down!" she then wraps her arms around my waist as she's upside down. "in a second," i tell her going back over to the same spot in the grass. "what are you doing?" she says gripping tighter around my core. i just smile although she's unable to see it. i quickly and carefully bring her to the ground laying her underneath me as she gasps again at the sudden movement she wasn't prepared for. she doesn't have the chance to say something because i start tickling her right away taking her breath away. "i can't- breathe," she says gasping for air in between laughter. "ricky! ricky stop!" she says wiggling under me. i pause my movements trapping her in,"why? i think you already lost the game. this is the loser's punishment," i inform her. "you just made that up!" she exclaims dropping her jaw in disbelief switching back to smiling up at me adoringly. i was gonna go back to tickling her, but i decided against it when her eyes started looking all over me. we spent the rest of our time laying in the yard talking. and now it's just a memory. so what? i go back to practice. get back into the game that nini cheers at. just to see her avoid looking at me. she can't even look at me. now way do i wanna deliberately put myself through that hurt. seeing her on the sidelines training her eyes to avoid contact with me. i was so deep in thought that i hadn't heard my dad come back into my room. cold water soaks my hair and back, "DAD!" i say shooting up in my bed. "get up. you have 14 minutes." and he's left my room again just like that. i don't want to make him upset. i know he doesn't know why i'm acting like this, so i just get out of bed like he's been telling me to all morning. after getting changed and minimally freshening up, i head downstairs to the front door announcing that i'm leaving. "k, i'm leaving," i say twisting the door knob. "not without breakfast," he says waving me over. i release my hold on the doorknob to walk to the kitchen. "i'm not hungry." "you can't go workout without food in your system. you'll pass out or get sick," he says filled with concern. i soften a bit noting how much he's trying to care while sending me off to the practice he's been excited for me to get back to, but i'm not in the same headspace i was a week ago looking forward to this. i take the paper plate of food he specifically made for me to take to go, "thanks," i mutter.