Ryan
We are at the basketball training room, listening to our coach explaining about the sports competition coming up soon.
Daniel is here and a few other person I know are here too, except Tyson, and I think Darius should be into another game, maybe football.
As for Tyson, I guess he isn’t interested in the competition at all and if you ask me I don’t know where he has been or what he has been up to lately. The only place we get to see is at home.
We are about twelve interested in basketball this time, last time it was baseball but now we are into another game and it just started getting fun, especially the plan I have in mind about my poor brother.
“So guys, you all have to listen to the rule, a very simple rule. This is a semi-stage to know if you are going to be chosen or not. Once there’s any mistake you are going to be eliminated from here, and kiss a goodbye to the final game. Got it?” he asks, clapping his hands for us to get started.
” Got, it coach,” we mumble. Daniel has been focused on Mr John, our basketball coach, while I have my eyes fixed on him all this while.
He splits us into two teams, six participants in each team. I’m the leader of my team so I have the basketball on my court. We prepare to begin, he uses his whistle to tell us to start and we begin.
Darius is an opponent making it more exciting that he is not in my group. I throw the ball up, running from the guys that try to steal the ball from me. One is so close that he almost slaps the ball off my hands, but I was smart enough to take the ball below my pants and bring it up above my head.
I get close to the ball net and make my attempts, and just like that, it went through the net and down again.
A member of my team beats me to snagging the ball and It’s a relief that he is not from my opponent so I let him handle the ball and make his throw.
He is good like me, the ball went down the net and that’s it. Darius’s teammate comes to take up the ball but my team are in charge and will not let them at it, at least not yet until we fucking beat them with our scores.
My teammate throws the ball again and he falls from the net, Darius suddenly picks up as he saw the failure of throwing the ball through my net.
He catches the ball and he holds it tight, giving a weird smirk at me, letting me know that I won’t have a chance to hold the ball as long as it is with him now.
My chest tightens when I see he is going at it with hundred per cent, he makes his first go and it’s a success… he makes his second.. his fucking third and fourth and it’s a fucking success!
None of my teams has been able to get the ball from him, the annoying thing is that he keeps rubbing it to my face that he is gonna fucking win this game, and would be keeping his word by not letting me have my way to the ball again.
” Go guys, you got this! Remember the rules, do not flop.” Coach warns from behind.
Daniel should be ready for me, I reset my energy and plan my angles.. the skills of having the ball in my hands again and beating his scores.
I get close to him, glad I have long hands too, so I throw my hands above his head and snag the ball. A defeating smirk comes up his face, and I laugh. I laugh that only we could hear it.
I cage the ball in between my two hands, wrestling my opponents off my back, and giving the ball a nice throw. As soon as it hit the edge of the net, my heart beat fearfully praying for it not to fall down without passing through the net, suddenly it spins about a double time and just like that it comes down through the net holes.
I give an excited scream and punching into the air, Daniel stares at me and I give him the ‘fuck you motherfucker’ finger.
He only nods his head and waits for me to prepare my next throw. As I throw it up, he jumps at a height I have never seen before and snatches the ball right into his arms. I gasp.. the same way everyone gasps, I did.
It’s his turn to show me that fuck you finger, I puff air out of my lips as I push a strand of my hair behind my ears. It’s not really long, but it’s at a length that is causing discomfort to my face at this moment.
He is in charge of the ball and this time at the speed he is getting at, I doubt I would be able to get the ball from him. That causes something to rise in my chest, I feel the heat of anger roaring up inside my chest and then I remember what the rule say.
I step forward. Closer to him even though I have no hope of snatching the ball from him. He makes his next throw, but as he is about to jump up. I put a foot next to his and give him a hard spin.
He falls.
He falls so hard, slapping his face to the ground and everyone screames in awe. There we go, our coach steps in.
He blows his whistle, indicating us to stop..” Okay boys, someone is about to go out now..” he says, taking his eyes to Daniel whose nose is bleeding profusely, and he just lays down on the floor not being able to get up yet.
Coach walks up to him and helps him up on his feet, “I’m sorry boy, you got to be out of the game now. This is not good, you can’t take this skill to the real competition,” he says and stares at all of us. Since I let Daniel fall, I haven’t seen him eyeball to eyeball.
” Falling before the real game is a failure boy.” He taps on his shoulder. Daniel has not been able to speak, but I see his hands clenching by his sides.
” Coach, I can’t be out. I didn’t fall on purpose.” his eyes are red, and I see tears at the brim of his eyes.
” That’s the rule, please use the door. I need to continue training with the boys.” Coach shows him the door, he wipes his tears off as he begins to approach the door but he didn’t take his eyes off me until he is completely out of sight.
The training continues, and I begin to beat everyone with my scores. I had the final scores until we hear the sound of the whistle to round up.
” That was good boys, see you all tomorrow. For the final training, before the real day.” he taps on everyone’s shoulder, one after the other, as we make our way out of the door.
I come out of the room, hanging my backpack on my shoulder after downing the remaining water in my bottle. I head for the male bathroom to wash up. I’m drenched in my sweat after the game practice.
Walking through the hallway I bend to my right to locate the male bathroom. I sight the door and begin to walk fast towards it. I’m in front of it now, as I put my hand on the handle of the door to push it open, someone jerks me back through my clothes.
I stumble back not expecting the moves. I hiss hitting my hands on the wall. The person gives me a brief moment to recover myself, causing me to spin around to see who the fuck just did that.
I turn and meet my angry brother’s teary eyes, his expression almost squeezing out a tight laugh from my chest.
” What’s up, bro?” I mock at the expression on his face.
” The fuck did you do there?!” he yells to my face.
” Bro, are you kidding me?” I scoffs, not trying to let his question sink into my brain because if I let it, I will go wild and angry at him.
” You fucking let me fall and got me disqualified!” he shouts again and now I can see the raw pains in his eyes. I wish he had seen the raw pain in my eyes when he had been competing with me over Elena and the worse pain is when Elena is complying with his ugly plans.
” Does it hurt?” I laugh in agony as though the hurt he caused, attempting to crawl up to my chest. I feel like a real demon in from of him. The demon he and Elena created.
” You are a coward!” he clenches his teeth, he doesn’t come closer yet but his both fist harden as if he is going to break his own bones.
” Don’t you dare call me that?” My eyes grow reddish, as though he is adding more fuel to the fire he has already started.
” Of course you are! You saw that I was winning your fucking ass then you came to hunt me down!” Real tears drop to his cheek as he shouts that out. I can see that this one hurt him to his bones, and that is what I want. I want him to hurt as I did or like I still am.
” If you call me that again I’m going to hit your fucking nose!” My anger continue to grow, as the images of him snatching Elena from me every time I wanted her displayed in my head.
” Coward! Show me what you will fucking do!” he growls, my chest tightens as that one word, bangs in my head. Now my anger has gone from flames to an explosion.
I harden my fist, jumping on him as I throw it across his nose. It hit him, causing his head to spin at the nose. He pauses and begins to laugh. Daniel laughs hard as if he is about to go crazy.
I get confused by his laughter. He continued to laugh and from there he SCREAMED.. he screamed, tears running from his eyes, showing his vulnerability. I have never seen him this hurt and vulnerable.
” RYAN!!!” he screamed, no he roared.. my name. I stand in shock unable to defend myself from his attack, he grabs me.. holding me tightly, pushing me to the end of the wall. He doesn’t stop there, he still holds me firm and drags me along the wall as he uses my back.
Jesus, I feel my skin of my back peeling off and hurt as if I had been pushed into a burning furnace.
With his loud voice, everyone runs out to see what is happening. Including our teachers right now I feel unlucky because our principal also came out staring at the two of us.
But Daniel doesn’t stop, he continues to use my back to drag me along the wall. I can’t push him off me because I am too hurt to do it, for the first time I cry real tears out of my lungs that I didn’t realise I had been holding.
We hear whispers from the students as they watch us.
The teachers and principal don’t say anything yet, they all just stare surprised. I know even though this stops now, nothing matters anymore because we are already in big TROUBLE.
” The two of you, see me in my office as soon as you can.” the principal speakers, I see disappointment in his eyes.
As his voice echoes in the hallway, every other voice died down and that is when Daniel realizes the audience and drops me roughly to the ground.
I growl!
I growl out of pain from the sore inflicted on my back.