I stay in the park with Lara and Sammy until the sun, as orange as an egg yolk, paints the sky with vibrant colours.
"It's beautiful!" I breathe softly.
"I know but..." Lara starts.
"We have to go, don't we?"
"Yes, sorry, Luna, but we do. I need to return Sammy home and I'm feeling a bit hungry. Have you had your dinner, yet?"
I shake my head.
"I wouldn't want to starve you and worry Sammy's owner. And not worry your mum, of course!" Lara tells me.
"She would be relieved if I never came home," I mutter under my breath.
"Of course she would care! She may not have shown it today-."
"That's an understatement!"
"Well, tell Miss Smarty Pants, what do you plan to do?" Lara prompts, folding her arms across her chest and raising an eyebrow.
"Well, a certain friend could let me stay at her place until Mamma's cooled down a bit," I try to convince her.
"Don't even try, girl!"
I pout and give her the sad puppy dog eyes.
"Nice try! But I don't melt for the sad puppy dog eyes so tough luck: you're going home," Lara sticks to her decision stubbornly.
"Fine," I sulk.
Lara, Sammy and I exit the park.
"I'm going home," I announce because my house is in the opposite direction of Lara's house.
"Oh, no you don't!" Lara exclaims.
I lighten up.
"So I can go home with you?" I question.
"No! I'm walking home with you to check that you're actually going there and won't take a detour. This way, Sammy," Lara imposes, pulling on the golden retriever's lead, who was heading in the other direction.
"Suit yourself," I mutter.
Sometimes Lara can act like an annoying mosquito, buzzing in your ear when you're trying to sleep at night in the heat of the summer. It has its advantages because I get to hold Sammy's lead, whose energy is like a contagious disease because I'm laughing wildly. That is even though I'm facing the fact of having to be in the same house as the person who I had an argument with a few hours before!
Without realising, we're approaching my house. Now, my laughter tastes bitter on my tongue and I'm struggling to hold Sammy's lead because my hands are clammy with sweat. Lara senses my discomfort.
"I can come inside with you, if you want," Lara suggests.
"I thought you needed to get home," I argue, secretly relieved that I won't be alone with Mamma.
In the end, Lara enters the house after tying Sammy to the gate.
There's nobody in the living room, giving an eerie atmosphere.
"I'll get something for both of us to eat," I state before entering the kitchen.
It looks like the kitchen hasn't been used to cook dinner. I open the fridge, browsing through its content. I find a packet of a ham and cheese sandwich and a packet of an egg and mayo.
"Ham and cheese or egg and mayo?" I ask.
"Ham and cheese."
I toss her the requested sandwich and we consume the food hungrily.
"Thanks for the food. I suppose now that I have fuel, Sammy and I need to get home," Luna explains sadly.
I nod.
"Thanks for having to babysit me," I say.
"That's what a friend does," Lara adds," Bye, Luna. Good luck for tomorrow!"
"Thanks. Bye, Lara. Bye, Sammy," I greet, stroking the golden retriever's fur.
They leave the house. I'm on my own, now.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm fiddling with my French braid pigtails, nervously. In the changing room, I'm trying out exercises to overcome my nerves.
"Hey!"
I jump in surprise. Lara's leaning against the door.
"They're all waiting for you," Lara informs me.
"Ok. I'm coming," I say, leaving the bench.
"Good luck, today!" Lara wishes as I walk past her.
"Thanks."
The team will need all the luck we can get. I find Coach and my teammates leaning against the walls of the corridor.
"You ready, Luna?" Coach Taylor asks.
I nod, the words dried in my mouth.
"Let's go and show those amateurs what we've got!" Coach encourages us," Right?"
"Right!" we shout back.
We run out of the corridor and step onto the court.
The referee blows the whistle.
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We did it! Even though we played badly at the start of the game, we recovered and won. We have qualified for the American High School Basketball Teams Tournament!
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...
