Hustle Vs Muscle

Chapter 28: Better Catch Me First

I head to the gym after school, not to go to practice but to hand in my resignation letter. But I don't see Coach Anthony here. I see a woman and a man. The woman is taller than the average woman and the man is about the same height as her. Both are wearing an orange Glenwood basketball T-shirt and black shorts, Glenwood colors. If what I'm thinking is right, then-

"We got new coaches!" says Chase. "I knew they'd give him the sack eventually!" I look down at my resignation letter. I crumple it into a ball and throw it in the trash can. There's no need for that, then. I have never been so pleasantly surprised before. "Let's go!" says Aiden. All the boys who have arrived for practice are smiling and happy, except for D'amato, and I've never seen them like that.

The coaches introduce themselves, Coach Roxanne and Coach Ricky. It's a practice I enjoy for once. Instead of yelling at us, Coach Roxanne and Coach Ricky explain it to us as many times as we need to for us to understand. They're the type of coaches who are unbiased and nice but will put you in your place if you're acting out. It takes a while to get used to having such nice coaches instead of having that monster Coach Anthony.

I am on cloud nine the rest of the week. I actually enjoy coming to practice. Also the bright side of having a female coach on the team is having someone I can relate to at last. Someone who understands that I am a girl, I think like a girl and I play like girl. Someone who doesn't say that like it's a bad thing.

"Yes Christina!" says Coach Ricky as I score on D'amato again. I am enjoying practice. But I feel like D'amato and his friends are doing everything they can to make me quit. They taunt me more than ever about my height. At one point during class, D'amato snatches my History textbook out of my hand and holds it high above my head. I jump for it, but I can't reach it. "D'amato," says Katrini. "Just wait til I come over there and you're going to have to run like you've never run before!" "Ooh feisty.." says D'amato, raising his hands, holdup style. "Fine, you win." He drops the book down on my desk.

"Why's he so afraid of you?" I ask. "Well, before he got his growth spurt," explains Katrini. "D'amato was a scrawny, skimpy little wimp. He was shorter than me by like two inches." I am having trouble picturing D'amato as a tiny, skimpy boy. "Anyway." continues Katrini. "He was beating up this sixth grader. So I punched the lights out of him. And he's been afraid of me ever since."

We're scrimmaging in practice. Right now, my team is on defense, until Aiden catches the rebound. D'amato uses his elbow to keep me from getting in front of him to receive the ball. I try to get around him but he sidesteps in front of me, pushing me back. I sprint towards the basket, D'amato behind me. Aiden passes the ball. I make the layup.

I guard D'amato on defense. He seems really mad about a short girl being able to guard him. He pushes to try and get past me, and uses his elbows. Christian shoots and the ball hits the rim and bounces off towards D'amato and I. We claim the rebound at the same time. I slip and fall, still holding onto the ball and D'amato falls on top of me, trying to pull it out of my hands.

The posession changes and it's our ball. I pass as soon as I get to the half-court line. The boy passes to Chase who makes the three-pointer. It doesn't matter who won the scrimmage as we get a drink of water, laughing and talking to each other. D'amato comes up to me and shoves me against the wall, a hand on both my shoulders. "What are you playing at?" he yells in my face. "What do you mean?" I say, rolling my eyes. "Don't play stupid with me." says D'amato. "I don't know what game you're playing but you're never going to be the "it girl" of the basketball team, because you're the short girl. Just face it!" "Get out of my face!" I say firmly, looking him in the eyes, staring him down.

"Don't talk back to me." D'amato threatens, releasing me. "I'm coming for you." "Well, you're gonna have to catch me first." I say.