Primed for Sin//Basketball Diaries

4 - New Friend

I smiled nervously at the man, "Georgie," I spoke as I shook his hand.

He had a warming smile on his face, "You play?" He nodded towards the ball he was holding.

He released his grip on my hand before grasping the basketball and throwing it up in the air, catching it whilst looking at me.

I shrugged, "Not really, I've played once or twice I guess,"

"You wanna? I've been told I'm a good teacher," Reggie said, a large smile on his face as he leaned down, pointing the ball at me.

"Sure, why not?"

He suddenly threw the ball at me, but I caught it in a swift motion. Once my hands made contact with the hard rubber I began running across the opposite side of the court, darting past the much taller man.

"You're fast, that's a good advantage to have against the other players," Reggie told me as he attempted to block me underneath the hoop.

I quickly shot up, not giving him time to process the action before dunking the ball. I made a hoop easily, hanging from the cold metal before jumping down as Reggie caught the ball.

I laughed, "Guess I can dunk,"

He placed a hand on my shoulder "You know a Jim Carroll?"

The name made my mouth go dry, he'd really made a name for himself here, hadn't he? Everyone knew him I swear.

"Y-yeah, I actually only met him the other day, his friend said they were on the basketball team?" I asked the man, thinking he'd know Carroll.

He nodded, "Boys' a menace, always gettin' into trouble," Reggie began, "But he's the best they got up there,"

My eyes widened, "Really? How'd you know him?" I nodded to Reggie as we tossed the ball between us, walking to the opposite end of the court. I was walking backwards while Reggie was walking towards me as we conversed.

"I made the mistake of challenging him to a couple of matches, don't think a girl like you should be gettin' involved with him and his gang," Reggie frowned, a serious tone in his voice.

I scoffed, "I'll do what I please"

He laughed, "Don't say I didn't warn ya,"

I sighed as I continued tossing the ball back to Reggie, "Sorry, thanks for the tip, I'll try staying away from him," I told the man.

Even though I'd just met this man, he already seemed like a father figure to me. He seemed to be kind-hearted.

He smiled before dropping it instantly as I backed into someone, their hands wrapping around my waist in a swift motion.

"Gonna have to try harder than that," A familiar voice whispered in my ear.

My eyes went wide, my body freezing up as I remembered the same touch, that feeling from a couple of weeks ago when I first met him: Jim Carroll.

"You not heard of personal space, boy?" Reggie perked up as he aimed the basketball at the boy who loomed behind me. I could see the anger resting in his eyes as he spoke.

The grip Jim had on my hips only tightened. I don't know why I always went so weak around him, it was like he'd drained me of my strength and power just by touching me and I lost all of my confidence around him.

I heard Jim scoff, his warm breath hitting the back of my head, "Reggie, back off, you ain't her father,"

I gulped, hearing the other boys approach us, "Get your hands off me," I instructed Jim, grasping his wrists tightly before shoving them off of my hips.