Box Out (2 page)

In the second half, Liam scratches his chin as he sits on the bench.
Rock hands.
Why didn't he catch those passes? He won't get back on the floor after playing like that. His first varsity action and he blew it.

Horizon goes on a run and cuts the deficit to two. Liam claps, but he can't stop going over his mistakes.
Rock hands.
If he'd caught those passes, Coach wouldn't have gotten so angry. Darius would still be on the team.

Gund threads a bounce pass to Drake, who knocks down a jumper. The crowd rises and cheers loudly. Tie game.

“That's the way.” Coach claps. “We're finally running the offense.”

Late in the second half, Nielsen reaches to stop a reverse layup, and the whistle blows. His fourth foul.

Liam checks the clock. Only 3:11 left. Can Nielsen make it to the end without picking up another foul? Forty-two misses the free throw and Pelke grabs the rebound.

On offense, Gund passes to Nielsen on the block. Nielsen
turns and bumps into his defender, who sprawls backward like he's been hit by a truck. The referee blows his whistle and jumps in with his hand behind his head to signal a charge.

Nielsen grimaces. “I hardly touched him.”

The ref stares stone-faced as the horn blares to indicate that Nielsen's fouled out.

“Let them play, ref,” Mom shouts. Dad tugs at her sweater and encourages her to sit down.

Coach waves for Liam. “Bergie, get in there for Nielsen.”

Liam rushes to check in at the scorer's table.
Just let the first half go. Just let the first half go.

“Let's go, Liam. You can do it.” Mom claps.

He pretends not to hear. She can be so embarrassing.

Liam battles through screens to stick with forty-two. He jumps out and waves his arms to cut off the passing angles. The game goes back and forth. Horizon's up by two. Crosston goes up by one, then by three. Chris Staley, the shooting guard who replaced Darius, hits a jump shot, and the Horizon crowd explodes with cheers.

Liam springs for a rebound and passes to Drake, who
misses a jumper. Pelke pressures in the backcourt, and his man bounces the ball out of bounds.

“Time-out. Time-out.” Coach jumps up from the bench.

Down by one with thirty seconds left. The subs stand to make room on the bench for the five guys playing so they can sit facing Coach.

“One shot to win.” Coach pulls out his whiteboard. “Let's make it a good one.”

Liam gulps water like the other guys do, even though he's not thirsty.

“Gund, when the clock's down to ten, look for Drake on the baseline.” Coach diagrams it on his board. “Bergie, set a solid screen to free Drake.”

Liam nods.
Get good position. Set a solid screen. Hold still.
He puts down the water bottle and wipes his hands on his jersey.

Drake claps. “Let's win this, baby.”

The ref blows his whistle and both teams file onto the court. Liam looks at fifty-five, Drake's guy. He's solid, about six-foot-six and built like a linebacker. The ref hands the ball
to Pelke, who passes it to Gund. Gund dribbles carefully as the clock ticks down.

Thirteen, twelve, eleven. With ten seconds left, Liam slides into position behind Drake's man. He crosses his arms at the wrist and prepares for contact. Drake cuts past, and fifty-five slams into Liam's shoulder. Drake pops to the baseline and catches the pass. He has a clean look as he rises to shoot. The shot clangs the front rim and bounces off.

Liam leaps and grabs the ball. He's got to shoot fast. He goes up.

Whack.
Fifty-five slaps him hard on the elbow and he falls to the floor.

The whistle blows. “Foul on fifty-five, Yellow.” The ref jumps in. “Two shots.”

“Great play.” Drake pulls Liam up from behind.

“You bailed us out.” Pelke slaps Liam's hand.

Liam walks to the free throw line. He needs to make one to tie and two to win. He waits for the custodian to finish mopping up his sweat spot from the floor so no one will slip. He positions his feet behind the line and rubs his
hands on his shoes. One second left. The game is in his hands. The whole gym quiets, as if silence will make it easier for him.

“Two shots, men.” The ref passes the ball to Liam.

Liam bounces the ball and hears the Crosston point guard behind him. “Broke. This shot's broke.”

Liam shoots quickly. As soon as he releases, he knows it's short. Way short. He backs off the line, and the ball misses the hoop entirely.

“AIRRRRR BALL! AIRRRRR BALL!” Crosston fans chant.

Liam shakes out his arms. He hasn't shot an air ball from the free throw line in years.

“C'mon, Bergie,” Drake says. “You can do it.”

Liam approaches the line.
Calm down. Relax. Concentrate.
The cheerleaders cross their fingers and hold on to one another. The ref passes the ball and Liam positions his feet.
Shoot it harder.
He bounces the ball and looks at the hoop.

“Broke,” the point guard taunts.

Liam exhales and shoots. Seconds slow and the shot looks good as it arcs toward the hoop.

The ball hits the back of the rim, bounces up, touches the front rim, and rolls off. Forty-two wraps up the rebound as the buzzer sounds. Liam stands at the line and stares at the hoop. All the hundreds—thousands—of free throws he's made. How could he miss both of them? He turns to the scoreboard. Crosston 61, Horizon 60. Game over.

He shuffles to the bench as Crosston fans dance onto the court.

“Get 'em next time.” Chris Staley slaps his back.

“Remember this feeling.” Coach puts his arm around Liam. “Use it to become a better player. You're on varsity now. We're counting on you.”

Liam nods. Coach could have ripped into him and sent him straight back to JV. He could have said he made a mistake and brought Seth up instead.

The rest of the guys head back to the locker room. Nobody else says anything to him. They don't need to. Liam let the team down.

He sees his parents standing at the side of the court. Mom rushes over and gives him a hug. “I'm sorry, Liam.”

“Not now, Mom.” He frees himself.

“It's okay,” Dad says.

“It's not okay.” Liam shakes his head. “I lost the game.”

“One game, Liam. You have a long season ahead. You'll have other chances.”

“Not playing like this.” Liam turns and trudges to the locker room.

The January cold slaps Liam's face as he walks to his car after the game. He scrunches his shoulders as he fumbles to insert the key in the lock. It's freezing. Nights like this are when he misses Seattle most. He starts the Toyota and flips the heat to high.

The flat, empty streets of Horizon are quiet. After two and a half years here, he's still getting used to living in a small town. Most of the guys at school have known one another since kindergarten. If you didn't grow up here, you're an outsider.

He turns left at the post office and drives past his church, Saint Mary's, with the statue of Mary holding Jesus in front. Behind the church, lights shine at the one-story, brick nursing home where Grandma lives. Last Sunday
they celebrated her eighty-third birthday. Grandma liked the cake and balloons but asked him twice whose birthday it was.

Grandma is the reason they moved here in the first place. After she fell and broke her hip, she couldn't live in her house anymore. Then she had a stroke and started to have memory problems. It was difficult for Dad to keep flying out to see her. So when a job opened up at the elementary school, he applied and they moved. Now Dad visits her every day and bugs Liam to stop by more often.

9:32. Too late to see how she's doing. Besides, what would he talk about? Blowing the game? Missing those free throws was huge. He choked on that first one, but that second shot felt good. That would have tied it and sent the game into overtime. They'd still be playing. They'd still have a chance to win.

Liam drives past the Athletic Building at Borton College, where three guys wearing shorts are carrying basketballs as they walk back to their dorms. Are they crazy? Don't they realize it's freezing?

The team needed Darius on that last possession. He would have made the shot with the game on the line. But he wasn't there because of Liam's stupid turnovers. Liam would give anything to have another chance to catch those passes. His phone breaks the silence.

“That game sucked big time,” Seth says in his deep voice.

“Tell me about it.” Liam turns the heater down to hear better. “I blew it.”

“Don't take it all on,” Seth says. “Lots of guys missed shots.”

Liam brakes at the four-way stop. “Darius quitting sucks, too.”

“What? I thought he got hurt. What happened?”

“I don't know. He walked out while Coach was ripping into him for trying to do too much.”

“Well, he was hogging the ball,” Seth says. “He didn't pass to anyone.”

“He passed to me twice. I dropped it both times. I wouldn't have passed to me after that either.”

“Where are you?”

“Right by Connie's Cafe.” The car rattles as Liam bumps over railroad tracks.

“We're at Burger King. Come on over.”

“Nah. I don't feel like it.”

“I'll buy you a Whopper.”

“Nah. I want to get home.”

“Big baby.”

“Later.” Liam flips the phone shut as he drives past the turnoff to Mackenzie's house. If she were here, she'd hold him tight and whisper that it's all right. She'd make him feel better. But he can't call her now because it's the middle of the night in France.

He stops at the red light by Lonetree Elementary, Dad's school. No other cars are around and this light takes forever. He could run it. But with his luck tonight, a cop would show and he'd get nailed.

So he replays the dropped passes and missed free throws as he waits and waits and waits for the light to go green.

Wednesday morning, Liam finds a parking place in the back lot and turns off the engine. The last thing he wants to do is walk by Jock Corner, where all the senior basketball players hang out. So he pulls down his stocking cap and hikes all the way around the school in the whipping wind.

He hangs his coat in his locker, grabs his books, and shoves them in his backpack. Down the hall, Pelke's locked in a kiss with his girlfriend, Chloe Keenan from the girls' basketball team. Sixteen long weeks until Mackenzie gets back.

“Bergie.” Seth's voice rumbles. “Cookieees.” Seth rips open a package of Oreos. He's wearing another tight shirt to show off his weight lifting. “Me love cookieees.” He has the Cookie Monster voice down.

“Thanks.” Liam takes one.

“How you doing?” Seth grabs three.

“Hanging in there.” Liam unscrews the top of an Oreo and scrapes the frosting off with his teeth.

“Don't give me that. You're on varsity hoops and going out with Mackenzie Kost. You've got it made.” Seth pops Oreos in his mouth like they're candy.

Liam eats the chocolate part of his cookie.

“You got some rebounds last night.” Seth holds out the bag.

“You would have, too. I wish we both could have been called up.”

“Somebody's got to do the dirty work on JV.” Seth bounces back and forth and fakes a punch at Liam's chest. “We won by twelve yesterday.”

Liam eats another cookie. “You used up all your fouls?”

“Count on it. A couple of hard fouls get guys thinking.”

“I know. I've still got the bruises.”

“I helped toughen you up.” Seth flexes his biceps in a muscleman pose and other kids turn to look. “If I'd gone against me in practice, I'd have been called up to varsity. Instead I had to go against a wimp.”

“Shut up.” Liam pushes him. “Next year, we'll play monster defense together.”

“Me love defense.” Seth holds out the bag again. “Cookieees.”

Liam takes two and jams them in his mouth, and he and Seth head in different directions.

Jared Drake comes around the corner and Liam ducks his head.

“Tough break last night.” Drake stops and rubs a hand through his short black hair.

“Yeah. I'd like those shots back.”

“We should have wrapped it up before then. We should have won by ten.”

Liam twists the strap on his backpack. “It's too bad about Darius.”

“Who?”

“Darius. Quitting the team.”

“Who?”

“Darius Buckner. You know.”

“I don't know him.” Drake shrugs his shoulders. “I don't know anyone who quits on his teammates.”

Liam leans up against a locker and isn't sure what to say.

“Listen, I've got an offer for you.” Drake moves closer and Liam smells his aftershave. “Now that you're on varsity, my dad says we can use you for a few hours at the store. Are you interested in a part-time job at Shoe Source?”

“Yeah. I'd love it.”

“It's every other Saturday. Not a lot of hours. Seniors get the prime shifts, but you'd still get a forty percent discount on shoes.”

“Great.” Liam looks down at his worn Nikes. He could use a new pair.

“Noon on Saturday. I'll train you in.”

“Thanks.” Liam switches his pack to his other arm. “Tell your dad thanks, too.”

“Also, remember the meeting tomorrow before school.”

“What meeting?”

“HAF.”

“What?”

“Horizon Athletic Fellowship,” Drake says. “We meet at my house at seven. See you there.”

Liam watches the clock during economics, his last class of the day. How can the hands move so slowly? Mr. Einerson diagrams something called elasticity of demand on the board. Twenty more minutes and he can call Kenz.
C'mon, time, move.

When the period finally ends, he hurries to the industrial tech wing, where the phone reception is better.

Mackenzie picks up after three rings. “Hey, Liam. How was the game?”

“Lousy. I missed two free throws and we lost.” He sets his gym bag down on the floor.

“That stinks. Did you lose by a lot?”

“No, one point.” He kicks an empty juice bottle down the hall.

“That's t…d…”

“What?”

“Th…te…b…”

“I can't hear you.” Liam moves closer to the window. “You're breaking up.”

“Who's breaking up?”

“You were. I couldn't hear you.” He stares out at the snow-covered soccer field. He's been waiting all day to call. Now that he's finally talking to her, the words are getting in the way. “How are you doing, Kenz?”

“I'm really homesick. I wish I was back in Horizon. Dad keeps saying what a great opportunity this is to improve my French, but I don't think it's gotten much better. I miss you, Li.”

“I miss you more.”

“No. Me more. I wish I was snuggled up against you right now.”

“I do, too, Kenz.”

“I miss so many things: you, my family, the food. Tonight Madame Giroux made coq au vin, but what I'm craving is chicken nuggets. Then she brought out homemade crêpes. She pouts if I refuse, so I had to eat two of them. I've already gained a pound and a half. I'll be a pig by the time I get home. Oink. Oink.”

“Stop it.” Liam laughs. Even with an extra pound and a half, she's thinner than most girls. “Kenz, I've got to get to practice.”

“Ooooh. Your first
varsity
practice?”

“Yeah.”

“You'll do great.”

“Thanks, Kenz.”

“Oink. Oink.”

“Stop it. Gotta go.” Liam flips the phone closed. Sometimes hearing her voice makes her feel even farther away. He picks up his bag and throws the strap over his shoulder.

On the way to the locker room, he passes girls from the basketball team who are laughing outside the art room.

“Cleared for takeoff.” Chloe Keenan runs down the hall and jumps into the arms of Iris Cleary, who twirls her around.

“Hi, Liam.” Leah Braverman waves. She's a senior with dark, curly hair and a wide smile.

“Hey.” Last year she did an internship with Mom at the Arts Center, and Mom went on and on about how smart and talented she was.

“Let last night go.” Her silver nose stud flashes as she turns. “Jack always says the river is never the same twice.”

Liam scratches his head. What's that supposed to mean? And who's Jack? “Whatever.” Everyone says the girls' team plays silly games and goofs around in practice.

Liam knows Coach Kloss's reputation. His practice isn't going to be anything like that.