━ ❝ kissing, I hope they caught us, ❞ 彡★
Basketball players, their families and their coaches get swept up into the youth-sports economy. They all must walk a fine line between dreams and ambition, and opportunism and corruption.
( 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐒...
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❝ you guys are not my family❞
━ ALL ON THE LINE★彡★
"YOU TALK A WHOLE LOT OF SHIT FOR SOMEONEWHO SPENT MORE TIME ON THEIR ASS THAN ACTUALLY SKATING." IMANI CHUCKLED AS THE TWO SAT IN A BOOTH AT THE SKATING RINK, EATING ICE CREAM
━━━━━━━━━━
"Chill on me," Nick Mendez laughed, "The last time I went skating was when I still lived in Puerto Rico. I'm a little rusty." He defended. "Puerto Rico," Imani repeated. "What was it like over there?" She inquired, putting a spoonful of vanilla ice cream in her mouth.
"Puerto Rico," Nick started as he began to think of his life back home. "It was beautiful, but then Hurricane Maria hit. It completely destroyed our house. We had to rebuild our home but also our dreams. It made us realize how short life is, which is when I started to take basketball more seriously. I built a name for myself back home. Coach Bobby heard about me and flew down to Puerto Rico to scout me. My father and older brother worked three jobs just for me and my mother to fly back and forth before deciding that I should move in with Coach Bobby and my mother should stay in Puerto Rico. But then the whole signing rights away thing happened, and now here we are." Nick explained.
"Although I miss my family and friends back home, this is the only place where my dreams truly feel in reach." He concluded.
Imani had a dreamy look in her eyes as she spoke, "Your life could be a movie." Nick chuckled, thinking that she was just kidding. But Imani was serious. "I truly believe it," she said. "And when you make it to the NBA, I could be your manager. We could pitch your story and maybe even get a biopic made." Imani's words were filled with hope and support for Nick's dreams.
"But if you're my manager, when would you have time to pursue your WNBA career," Nick asked. "Well, I don't really want to play basketball professionally." She shrugged. "Why?" Nick inquired, wondering how someone who puts in as much work as she does, wouldn't want to go pro.
"I don't know. I'm at a point where I'm asking myself, who do I really do this for?" Imani began, making Nick nod, "That's real."
"My dad, he was a coach. He coached Ike all throughout high school, and I know his heart is full up in heaven every time I walk on that court. That's enough to keep me going, as well as knowing that coaching me is like a full circle moment for Ike." She explained. "But doing this forever, playing forever." Imani began to shake her head, "Nah, that's not me."
"What I've noticed about you so far, Imani, is that you sometimes do things for the sake of others' feelings while completely ignoring your own." Nick expressed, causing Imani to stare at him, knowing he was right. "While it is good to be selfless, it is also not horrible to sometimes be selfish."
