Taken

Chapter 26

RIKKI

October 1, 2013 9:05 a.m.

"Hey, can we have a team huddle before we start?" I asked the men.

"Oh, I suppose," replied Carlos, sounding bored. "You children are about to be annihilated anyway, so I guess it wouldn't hurt."

"Ooo, using big words now, are you? What, do you suddenly think you're smart or something?" I asked with sarcasm dripping from my voice.

"Shut up, you little brat, or I'm gonna kill you before we even start," said Jeff.

"Yeah, sure you are," I replied as I walked away from the men to my team.

Our team of four got into a huddle, and I began to speak. "Okay, team, I know this seems impossible, but I think we can do this. On offense, we're just going to be doing basic screens and cuts. On defense, we'll be in a man-to-man setup. Kelsi and Adam, you'll have Jeff. Kade, you've got Troy, and I'll get Carlos. If we have good defense, our offense will follow. Kade, do you have anything to add?"

"Nope, I think you said it all. Ready, break!" yelled Kade.

"Kade," I said. "This isn't football."

"Oops, force of habit. My bad."

"It's okay," I replied with an eyeroll and a smile. My team broke out of our huddle and headed back to the court.

"Here's the ball," said Carlos in his scary deep voice as he handed me a basketball. The ball was an official NBL ball, a ball bigger and heavier than the women's basketballs I used during my school basketball season.

"Wait a second, why are we playing with an NBL ball instead of say, a women's ball. It would be better for the little ones and Rikki," said Kade.

"Hey, we make the rules here and you don't. You play by our rules, or else I'll take your little girlfriend away from you, and you don't want to know what I'll do to her," said Troy with an evil smile.

"Why you little..." Kade said as he lunged at Troy.

I grabbed Kade and whispered in his ear, "Calm down, he's just trying to rile you up. We can win playing with the NBL-sized ball or without it. We can do anything as long as we work together."

"Okay, I believe you, thanks, Rikki," Kade replied as he flashed me one of his heart-melting smiles.

"I'll take the ball out," I said as I headed for the out-of-bounds line opposite our basket. I threw the ball to Kade, and he started dribbling down the court. Since there were only four of us, Adam and Kelsi set up at the wing positions, and I set up at the post position with Kade at the top.

The men were set up in some weird zone defense, with Troy and Jeff at the top and Carlos at the bottom guarding me.

For the first play of the game, I held up my fist and went up to the top to set a screen on Troy. As I set the screen, Kade went to the right around my screen. I sealed Troy out of the play, and Jeff was slow to recover, so Kade got an easy layup for the first points of the game.

"Nice basket," I said to him as we ran to the other side of the court.

"Thanks," Kade replied. "Couldn't have done it without that awesome screen."

My team set up in a man defense, like we talked about earlier. Troy took the ball down the court for the men's team. He stopped at the three-point line with Kade close on him. Troy decided to try and show off, so he took a step back and shot a three, but Kade jumped and swatted the ball away. Adam grabbed the ball and I ran down the court. Adam lobbed me the ball and I got an easy layup. The score was 4-0.

On the next play, Troy didn't try to show off. Instead, he waited for his team to set up. All of a sudden, Carlos sealed me hard, got the ball, and made an easy basket. 4-2.

The game continued for a while, going back and forth. After about ten minutes, the score was 21-20 with the men leading. The men had just scored again on a Carlos jump shot, so it was our ball.

"Hey, Rikki, you take the ball down this time," said Kade. "Let's change things up a bit."

"Okay," I replied unsurely as Kade passed me the ball from out-of-bounds. I started dribbling down the court, but I was worried. I couldn't, and I mean I couldn't, dribble a basketball very well. I was seriously awful. After I crossed half-court, I didn't want things to end badly, so I passed the ball to Kelsi, who was wide open. Kelsi caught the ball, and then passed the ball to Adam. Adam was close to where the free throw line would be, and he took a jump shot. The ball hit the front of the rim and bounced off. Kade got the rebound and threw it out to me. I was standing outside of the three-point line, wide open.

"Shoot!" Kade yelled, so I shot. The ball had perfect arc, and it went straight through the hoop with a swish.

"Yes!" I yelled with a fist-pump. I had just made an NBL-distanced three-pointer, and with that basket, my team took the lead 23-21!

After about ten more minutes, the score was still really tight, but we were all getting somewhat tired. Jeff, Adam, and Kelsi were all exhausted, I was halfway exhausted, and Troy and Kade still looked fresh. The score was tied at 47, and the men had the ball. Troy took the ball down the court and passed it to Carlos. I tried to block Carlos, but he was way too tall for me. He shot the ball and made a bank-shot easily. 49-47. If the men made one more shot, we would lose and one of us would have to die.

Kade took the ball down the court for our team. I went and set a screen on Jeff, and Kade dribbled around the screen. Kade set up for a three-pointer, but before he could shoot, I saw Troy charging Kade.

"Kade, look out!" I screamed, but it was too late. Troy threw his shoulder at Kade's ribcage and took him down.

"Agh!" Kade yelled in pain.

"Foul!" I screamed.

Troy turned to me and said, "Sweetheart, there are no fouls in this game," and with that, he grabbed the ball and started towards his own basket.

I wasn't going to let him have an easy basket for the win, so I sprinted at Troy with everything I had. Just as he was going in for the layup, I caught up to him and tackled him.

"No fouls, huh?" I said as I punched Troy in the face and grabbed the ball. By that time, Kade had recovered somewhat from being attacked by Troy. I threw Kade the ball and he went up for the three. The shot was perfect, and with that basket, we won the game. We would all live to see another day.