Loving Wright

Chapter 22: One-on-One

Eli...

"We aren't playing outside are we?" Kyle asked from the passenger seat of my car, staring out at the snow-covered ground.

"There's no way we're doing that in this weather," I said, eyes still on the road. "We're going to an indoor court."

It's been a few days after Christmas dinner with Kendra and her family. I was a bit scared of how Kendra's mother would react to me, wondering if she was one of those women who thought no man was good enough for her daughter. But she was nice and seemed to really like me. I enjoyed the entire dinner, and I wouldn't mind doing it again next year. Hopefully, by then, I'll be more than just her friend.

But, as much as I enjoyed it, the pressure of my secret was still very present. It was hard talking about my family without letting any incriminating information out. I even stumbled with my words a few times. But at the end of the night, they seemed none the wiser and my secret was safe.

Now, I was on my way to a country club to play some basketball with Kyle. Kendra had finally taken me up on the offer to help her out with Kyle. According to her, his behavior hasn't gotten worse, but she simply wanted him to be a lot better. Knowing how much he liked the sport, I thought it would be good to let him play and let off some steam. Maybe then he'd be a bit more open to talking.

Some minutes later we arrived at the Springwood Country Club. It was one of the most expensive and exclusive country clubs in Washington. Given who my father was, it wasn't difficult to get a membership here.

After flashing my membership card at the front desk and getting changed, Kyle and I found ourselves in the indoor court. The wooden floor was shining, with the Club's large logo in the middle. I could almost see my reflection in the thing.

Kyle's eyes widened as he looked around. "This place looks so cool."

"I know right," I agreed, "How about we do some warm-ups?"

After a quick warm-up, both of us started a game of one-on-one. This boy may be a whole foot shorter than me, but he was amazing.

"Yes!" He yelled after throwing the ball over my head and into the basket.

I turned just in time to watch the ball go through.

"The hell?" I said to myself in frustration and he laughed.

Here I was thinking I would purposely let him get some shots in so he could feel better about himself, but he was holding his own and kicking my ass. This boy has a lot of potential, and the NBA doesn't seem like such a far stretch for him.

"Ok, I think we should take a break," I said, hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath.

"You tired old man?" he teased.

I straightened up. "Did you just call me old?"

"I mean, you are old," he shrugged.

"I'm gonna tell your mom," I said going over to the bleachers. He chuckled following behind me.

As we sat and cooled off, I thought it was the right time to start a conversation.

"How's basketball going?" I asked.

"Awesome," he grinned, "Did mom tell you we won the championship?"

"Yes, she did. And she told me you got MVP too."

He grinned proudly.

"And how about school as a whole?" I asked

"Good, I guess," the excitement left his face as he shrugged. He looked down at his sneakers, fiddling with the string attached to his water bottle.