The Summer of Closed Doors

The Garden Gate

Dribble-Dribble, Shoot

Dribble-Dribble, Cross, Turn, Shoot

Tom playfully moonwalks as he just crosses his friend, Omar, during their quick pick up game of basketball. He does a celebratory skip to where their waters and towels are laying and drenches half his water bottle on his head before drinking the rest.

It's a scorching 80 degrees fahrenheit outside with the help of a slight breeze. Any other sane person would seek shelter and stay indoors during the Texas summers, but not Tom and Omar. They spend all the daylight the summers have to offer on the court until one's mother calls them in and out of the heat to come home.

Normally the boys get together at the court by Omar's house, but his dad needed him to drive his crew to a job. Omar's dad has a landscaping company, one that kept some summers busy with work for the boys. The job for the day was far out in Van Alstyne, literally out in the middle of nowhere's nowhere. Thank god Tom remembered his headphones today.

Tom only really accompanied Omar because his father swore up and down that the mansion he was working at had an unbelievable court they just had to see for themselves. Curiosity got the best of them and it wasn't like they were scared of a little hard day's dirty work in order to get some game time. So here they were, Tom was in awe of how classy and well kept the court was. They helped unload the equipment for his dad, but once they got into the property they began inching more and more to the hoop and less to the utensils the crew brought along. It was towards the end of the property, surrounded by greenery that seemed to be kept constantly in tip-top shape. The land it sat on is pretty flat compared to the rest of it considering this was more of a hilly area of Texas. The basketball court almost seemed out of place if it wasn't for the foliage imbedded in to it. Do the owners have kids? Why such a big court? It looks so un-scoffed.. Had anyone even broken it in?

Tom skims the estate, truly taking in the beauty of it. His gaze bounces from color to color of all the different leaves and flowers scattered across the lawn. Soft purple petals fall from the hands of someone caressing them ever so gently. He doesn't look to see who it is, he's more focused on how velvety yet so vibrant those petunias are in the grasp of that un-faced person with garden gloves. The name of them comes naturally to him, he gets them for his grandma every year for mothers day. Omar crouches down by Tom, searching to see where his friend is looking off and meets his fathers frame in that line of sight.