It has been six months.
Six long and tiresome months from that tragic night.
I try to banish all the horrible flashbacks from my mind, but it is a challenge when I have a daily reminder on my wrist. It was the bracelet that we bought each other five years ago. We were only twelve, but knew our friendship would last. We both had big dreams. Dreams that people said were too impossible for us to achieve. We wanted to go to an American College together to play basketball and play for WNBA (Women NBA). We both had a fiery passion for basketball. It gave us freedom and a chance to show people we were good at something and not from irrelevant families. Just because I was mixed with a black mom and an Italian dad that disappeared, didn't stop me from playing and Gabriella was the same. Even though she had Romanian parents, who were immigrants, didn't stop her from dreaming of the basketballers we could become.
But that changed in a matter of a few hours. In what still felt like yesterday, my life had changed forever. I still don't know if it is for the better or worse, but all I know is I get nightmares that haunt me every night I go to sleep of that one sunny joyful evening in Torrione (my hometown in southern Italy). That night was filled with screaming, crying, sirens and pools of scarlet liquid that I still sometimes feel is coated on my skin. However, the most memorable thing is what Gabriella said to me before she left:
"Luna non dimenticarti di me quando giochi sul campo da basket in un'enorme arena americana. Realizza il nostro sogno per me, il mio migliore amico." (Luna don't forget me when you play on the basketball court in a huge American arena. Make our dream come true for me, my best friend. )
It was that she said before closing her eyes and never opening them again. That unforgettable event was what transformed me into a traumatised girl who promised that she would never play basketball again.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Prologue is out and we have been introduced to Luna and Ella.
What do you think happened to Ella, that has left Luna so traumatised?
Xxx
YOU ARE READING
The Immigrant Who Played Basketball
General FictionShe was and Italian Mixed Race Girl, with a black mom. She was looked down on and insulted by the residents of her town, who said she couldn't do anything. But she never listened when it came to playing basketball, the sport that transported her awa...
