For The Love Of The Game (Book 1)

Chapter 9: Help You With Your Game

A bunch of people seemed to be packing their things off to head off and leave, as it was mostly the other team that was doing that, due to the fact that it seemed like they were a little bit embarrassed that they had just lost to a little kid, as they liked to call me. Though I suppose I was in fact a bit small for my age, as I was 13, and I also knew that I was also very young none the less, as well.
I let out a bit of a soft sigh to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I then began to start to head over to just where it was that I had left my basketball sitting at on the side lines, all at the exact same time too. I was a little bit tempted to shoot the ball for a little bit longer, but I felt like I just wanted to go back home at this point, as I could see that it was getting a bit dark out, all at the exact same time as well, as I did not want to worry my mom.
I nodded a bit to my self, all at once, as I then all of the sudden began to start to lift my basketball, that had been signed by DeShawn Glass him self, all at the exact same time as well, as I then did in fact all of the sudden began to start to head off the court, all at the exact same time as well, as it seemed like the rest of the guys that were left here, were heading in to one final 3 on 3 pick up game, all at the exact same time as well, none the less.
I did not want to bother them at all, so I made sure that I was quick to get off of the basketball court, all at once, as I then began to start to turn around the corner, all at once, to get ready to go back home, all at the exact same time as well. Just as soon as it seemed like I had turned the corner, all at the exact same time too, I then all of the sudden saw some one step in front of me to stop me, all at the exact same time too.
At first, I was a little bit afraid that it might be some one who had been on the other team, and was a little bit angry that he had got embarrassed so bad, all at the exact same time as well, none the less. How ever, I thankfully began to breath in quite a bit heavily to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to realize that was not the case what so ever, as I did not recognize the man at all.
I was not all too sure as to just what it was that the guy was doing still how ever, as I could not help but to still be a little bit worried, due to the fact that I knew that I was on the streets of Chicago, all at the exact same time too, whether or not it be a good are of the city of not, it still was Chicago. It was a bit low of a man to attack a young kid, all at the exact same time too, so I got my mind, and my focus off of all of those thoughts, all at once, as I really doubted that was the case of just what it was that was even going on right at this very moment in time any ways, none the less, in broad day light.
I blinked my eyes a few times still, as I did my best to try to stay calm, and try to stay strong, no matter what the case was, all at once, as I just stared at the man with a bit of a blank look on my face, as I was in fact a little bit lost as to just what it was that the young man was even doing right now in the very first place any ways, as I tilted my head, all at once, to let him know that I was in fact a bit confused.
The man did not seem to have a smile on his face or any thing, but at the exact same time too, he did not seem to be angry at all, all at the exact same time as well, so I felt like there was not all too much for me to be worried about in this aspect all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to breath in quite a bit softly to my self, all at the exact same time too.
It was clear at the very least that the man had in fact stopped me for a reason either way I was to look at things, as it seemed like the man seemed to want to talk to me, all at the exact same time as well. I stared at him for just a little bit longer, as in the end, the man did in fact nod to me, all at once, to let me know that he was in fact going to go on ahead and speak to me, all at the exact same time too.
I blinked my eyes a few times towards him, as in the end, I did in fact nod back to the young man, to let him know that I was in fact paying attention as to just what it was that he even had to say to me in the very first place any ways, none less, all at the exact same time as well. After he did in fact see me do as such a thing, not all too much longer after all of that, he did in fact begin to start to speak to me, all at once, as I began to start to listen as to just what it was that he even had to say to me, all at the exact same time too, as I kept the same blank look on my face that I had before, whilst I did so, as well.
"Good game Trevor! You did good out there kid! You really showed those dudes who is boss!" He said to me, as he seemed to have the same big smile on his face that I had seen on the side line at the end of the game that had just ended, as I then all of the sudden began to start to realize that this was in fact the guy who had yelled out the fact that he was actually quite a bit happy that I had hit that game winning shot, all at the exact same time as well, none the less.
I blinked my eyes a few times, as I continued to stare at him with the same blank look that I had on my face before hand, either way, all at the exact same time too, as it was a bit strange as to just why it was that this guy seemed to be such a big fan of me. I did not have a single clue as to just who this guy was, but for some reason he decided that he was going to pull me aside and speak to me, all at the exact same time too, as that did in fact kind of scare me, all at the exact same time too.
I blinked my eyes a few times, once again, as I was not all too sure as to just what it was that this guy wanted from me, as I was a bit freaked out by him, all at the exact same time as well, as I was in fact tempted to yell for help, all at the exact same time too, as I just wanted to get back home, and I wanted to get back home safely, all at the exact same time as well, none the less, as I breathed in quite a bit heavily to my self, all at once.
I moved my self around a little bit, all at once, as I did in fact begin to start to move a bit closer to the basketball court, all at the exact same time as well, to make sure that I was in fact seen if some thing was in fact to go on ahead and happen right now, all at the exact same time too, as I just stood there for a bit longer, as the young man did not seem like he had the intent to come any closer to me, luckily enough for me, all at the exact same time too.
I stared at him, as I was trying to stay calm, but it was a bit hard for me to do as such a thing, none the less, as I just simply stood there for a bit longer, and I then all of the sudden simply began to start to think on the fact that he very well could not have any sort of bad intent on just what it was that he wanted to talk to me about, as for all that I knew, he could be a basketball coach, and he might offer me a spot on a team, all at the exact same time as well, none the less.
That was if best was to come to best, as I more than likely had to guess that the guy was simply just in awe at the fact that a little kid like me had beat a bunch of grown men in a basketball game, all at the exact same time too, as I could see a bit of a strange look in his eyes, all at the exact same time as well, that did in fact still have me a little bit off, all at the exact same time as well, as I did my best to try to stay as calm as I possibly could, all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden just nodded to the man in a bit of a response, all at the exact same time too.
I was not all too sure as to just what it was that the response really was in the very first place any ways, as I was not all too sure as to just what it was that I should even say to him, all at the exact same time too, as it felt like I should simply just say a simple thank you, but for some odd reason or another, those words did not want to come out of my mouth, all at the exact same time as well, as I then just stared for a few more seconds.
That was of course, until the man did in fact nod back to me, all at once, as it was clear that the man had some sort of expectation that I was about to go on ahead and speak to him, all at the exact same time as well, as if he wanted to hear my boring and lame life story, all at the exact same time too. I blinked my eyes a few more times, all at once, as I did my best to try to get my mind off of all of those thoughts, all at the exact same time as well.
I then all of the sudden did my best to try to stay calm, all at once, as I then all of the sudden got my mind, and I got my focus on the fact that the man was in fact waiting for me to speak to him, and I felt like I should in fact go on ahead and do as such a thing, all at the exact same time too, as I breathed in a bit of a soft sigh to my self, all at once, as I did my best to try to calm my self down, all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden did in fact begin to go on ahead and start to speak to the young man, all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that he was in fact beginning to go on ahead and start to listen as to just what it was that I even had to say to him in the very first place any ways, never the less.
"Thanks I guess... I've got to go home now... I don't think I know you, so I am sorry to make things out to be a bit weird..." I said to him, as I admitted to him, all at the exact same time as well, that I was in fact a little bit uncomfortable with the current situation that I was in, all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden got my mind, and my focus off of all of those thoughts, as I could tell that the man seemed to have a little bit of an embarrassed look on his face, all at the exact same time too.
I felt a little bit bad for making things so uncomfortable, all at the exact same time too, as I let out a bit of a heavy sigh out to my self, all at once, as I could tell that the man did in fact feel quite a bit bad as to the fact that I was a little bit freaked out by the guy, all at the exact same time as well, as I was in fact a little bit lost as to just how it was that the man even knew my name in the very first place any ways, all at the exact same time too.
I would say that I felt a little bit safer, now that it was clear that he seemed to have a little bit of a guilty look on his face, all at the exact same time too, as I felt like I could not feel that way what so ever, all at the exact same time too, as I knew that the man very well could be a stalker, all at the exact same time as well, as my mother had told me all about them for one thing, as she had told me that she had a few that she had to deal with in her life time, all at the exact same time too.
Not only just that, but also the fact that it seemed like I had been told a lot about them in school, all at the exact same time as well, as I moved back a little bit more, feeling a little bit more off, by just what it was that was going on with this guy in the very first place any ways, as though I had not been paying too close of attention, I did in fact remember that the only time my name had been said, was by my self, at the beginning of the game none the less, when I had told Michael my name, all at the exact same time too.
I breathed in quite a bit heavily to my self, all at once, as I tried to stay as calm as I possibly could, all at the exact same time too, as for some reason, there seemed to be some thing that was oddly familiar with the face of this young man, all at the exact same time as well, as it almost seemed like he was a face that I had seen on TV, all at the exact same time as well. Though that did not make me feel any safer either, as that very well could be on the news, as some thing bad, none the less.
I blinked my eyes a few times, as I still was not all too sure as I got my mind off of all of those thoughts, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden got my mind on some thing else, which was the fact that I knew that it was late in the evening, and I needed to get back home as soon as I possible could, all at the exact same time too, as I felt like this man was not a stalker at all, and I was just over thinking all of this, all at the exact same time as well, none the less.
I breathed in quite a bit heavily to my self, all at once, once again, as I then just shook my head a bit to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to get ready to just leave, as I knew that a stalker would not just walk up on some one and talk so openly to them, all at the exact same time as well, as I breathed in quite a bit heavily to my self, once again, as I did my best to try to calm my self down, all at the exact same time as well, as I then just began to start to walk forward.
Just as soon as I did as such a thing how ever, I then finally did in fact begin to start to hear the voice of the young man, all at the exact same time as well, as to the fact that he was in fact speaking to me, all at the exact same time as well. I felt a little bit better, but not all too much okay still, as I simply looked at the young man with a bit of a blank look on my face for just a few moments, all at the exact same time as well, as I did in fact nod to the man, all at once, as soon as it was that I had seen him do as such a thing to me, all at the exact same time too.
I was not all too sure why I still was beside this guy if I was going to be for real with my self, but I felt like I should in fact at least go on ahead and listen as to just what it was that the young guy even had to say to me in the very first place any ways, as the man did in fact to on ahead and begin to start to speak to me, all at the exact same time as well, as soon as it was that it seemed like he now knew that he had my attention on to him, all at the exact same time too, never the less, as I did in fact begin to go on ahead and start to listen as to just what it was that he even had to say to me, all at once.
"My name is Xavier Davidson... I am long time friends with your mother in fact... Mainly friends with your father, Ethan Gates though..." He said to me, as I looked at him with a little bit of a blank look on my face for just a little while longer, as for some reason the name seemed to be a little bit familiar to me, all at the exact same time as well, as this did in fact seem like a name that I had heard on TV, but not in a bad way at all this time how ever, as it seemed like this was some thing much completely different than all of this, all at the exact same time too.
I tilted my head at the young man, just a bit longer, as I was in fact interested in just what it was that he even had to say to me in the very first place any ways, all at once. That was when it then all of the sudden hit me, all at the exact same time as well, as to just who it was that this man even was, all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden dropped my jaws, all at the exact same time as well, as I had heard his name in the DePaul sports stuff, none the less.
His brother had been the star athlete that had been shot and killed in a gang shooting, all at the exact same time as well, but not only just that, but he was in fact friends with my father, now that I came to think of that, all at the exact same time as well, none the less. I was still not all too sure as to just what it was that I should say or do how ever, all at the exact same time as well, as I did my best to try to calm my self down, all at the exact same time as well, as I controlled my breathing, none the less, once again.
I stared at him once again, just as I had been doing long before now none the less, with quite a bit of a blank look on my face, as I still was not all too sure as to just what it was that I should say or do, all at the exact same time too, as I then began to start to delve deeper in to his history in my mind, all at the exact same time as well, as I remembered that he had a really bad injury that had kind of derailed his career, as he had then got kicked out of the school due to having a DUI, none the less.
I was still in quite a bit of some shock, all at the exact same time as well, as I was not all too sure as to just what it was that I should do, or just what it was that I should say back to the man, all at the exact same time too, as I was in fact a little bit uncomfortable to be so close to a man, that had apparently been a key part in my past, all at the exact same time too, as I blinked my eyes a few times, and I did my best to try to calm my self down once again.
I blinked my eyes a few times, as I just seemed to stare at him for a little bit longer with my mouth wide open, all at the exact same time as well, as I saw that the man had a bit of a smirk on his face, all at the exact same time as well, as it was clear that he had realized that I had in fact come to start to realize as to just who it was that he even was in the very first place any ways, as it then began to start to hit me as to just how important of a moment this was in my life, none the less.
What if this guy could be a college scout?! He was a former star athlete in basketball, so for all that I knew, than he could easily be a very important person, all at the exact same time as well, as my hopes that began to start to raise up through the roof, all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that I needed to just calm my self down, as I knew that I simply needed to take this one step at a time, all at once, as I then all of the sudden looked at the young man right in to his eyes, all at the exact same time too.
I was not all too sure as to just what it was that I was thinking on the fact that he could be a college scout, when he had kind of been kicked out of college scouts in general... How ever, he could still be a very important person to help me, all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that I could not take this moment lightly, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden did in fact nod over to the young man, all at once, to let him know that I was in fact about to go on ahead and start to speak to him, all at the exact same time too, none the less.
The man seemed to just be staring at me with a little bit of a blank look on his own face this time, such as I had been doing before hand, none the less, as I did my best to try to calm my self down, and try to ignore all of the other thoughts that seemed to be going on through my mind, all at the exact same time too, as after a little bit longer, the young man did in fact finally nod back to me, thankfully enough, all at the exact same time as well, as I let out a bit of a soft sigh of relief as he did in fact do as such a thing.
I was simply glad that the guy was in fact paying attention as to just what it was that I had to say still, and he was not going to walk off and go move on with his day, all at the exact same time as well. It was clear that this was in fact some thing important to him, so I felt like this should be some thing that was important to me as well, none the less, as I then all of the sudden did in fact begin to start to speak to him, since I did in fact know that he was in fact listening as to just what it was that I even had to say to him in the very first place any ways, none the less.
"So are you here to help me get on to some big name school then? You have to be important, surely right?" I asked him, as I looked at the man right in to his face, all at the exact same time too, as I just seemed to feel a little bit uncomfortable as to just what it was that was going on still, as I seemed to be rushing a lot of this, all at the exact same time as well, as if I was in a hurry right now, all at the exact same time as well, none the less.
Though, if I thought on it a bit longer, I knew that I sort of kind of was in fact in a bit of a hurry, all at the exact same time too, as I knew that I needed to get back home, and I knew that it needed to happen soon, all at the exact same time as well, none the less, as I then all of the sudden did in fact nod to my self, all at the exact same time as well, as soon as it was that those thoughts seemed to come up in to my mind, all at the exact same time as well, as I then did my best to try to calm my self down.
The man seemed to be staring at me with a little bit of a blank look on his face, though how ever, after a little bit longer, I then all of the sudden saw a bit of a smirk on his face all the exact same time as well. I was a little bit lost as to just what it was that was even going on right at this very moment in time as well, none the less, as I then all of the sudden began to start to heat the young man begin to laugh at me, all at the exact same time too.
I was a little bit lost as to just what it was that was going on, as it kind of upset me as to just what it was that he was even doing in the very first place any ways, none the less, as it seemed like at first he had in fact been congratulating me, but now it seemed like he was taking me as a bit of a joke now, as to just what it was that I had even said to him in the very first place any ways, as to the fact that a little short kid said he wanted to go play for a college team.
I squinted my eyes at the man for just a few moments, as the man then did in fact begin to start to see that I was not amused at all by the fact that he found it funny to him, as to just what it was that I had just said to him, all at the exact same time too. The man realized that right away, and I then all of the sudden began to start to notice that the look on his face then all of the sudden seemed to turn in to a look of guilt, all at the exact same time too.
I was a little bit lost as to just what it was that was even going on with this man in the very first place any ways, as I was starting to wonder if this man was bipolar or some thing, all at the exact same time too. I breathed in quite a bit heavily to my self, all at once, as I did my best to try to calm my self down, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to get my mind, and my focus on the fact that the man then seemed to be looking at me with a serious look on his face.
I still was quite a bit lost as to just what it was that was even going on with the man either way, if I was going to be for real with my self, as I was once again a little bit uncomfortable with all that was going on right now still, all at the exact same time too, as I breathed in quite a bit heavily to my self, all at once, as I did my best to try to calm my self down, all at the exact same time too, as the man just seemed to stare at me with a bit of a blank look on his face, all at the exact same time too.
In the end, all at the exact same time as well, as it seemed like the young man had simply been thinking on some thing, he then all of the sudden did in fact nod back to me, all at the exact same time as well, as it was clear that he was letting me know that he was in fact about to go on ahead and start to speak to me, all at the exact same time as well, as I was in fact quite a bit uncomfortable with just what it was that was even going on in the very first place any ways, once again.
I blinked my eyes a few times how ever, as I then did in fact nod back to the man either way, to let him know that I was in fact paying attention to him, all at once, once again. The man just seemed to stare at me for a bit longer, as if he did in have a clue as to just what it was that was going on right now any ways, none the less. How ever, in the end, he did in fact go on ahead and start to speak to me, all at the exact same time too, as I did in fact begin to start to listen as to just what it was that he even had to say to me, all at the exact same time as well.
"No... Your mother called me... I was supposed to be there to help with your child hood, but I wasn't... But she wants me to help you now... I've been trying to better my self, so I think I can help you with your game..."