*In order to prevent confusion, there will be times before each point of view indicating when certain events took place. The times won't be in chronological order with each point of view, so if it goes from 1pm Cali time to 10am Cali time, don't be alarmed. I just want everything to make as much sense as possible.*
Excuse any mistakes or grammatical errors.
San Fransisco, CA
11:00am
Daniella
I feel like everything that was going on outside of basketball has been taking over. Our season has been going great. We were undefeated in our regular season and we'd only lost two games in our conference. That's why we were currently ranked #2.
Today was the day we played in the conference championship game against the only team we'd lost to and Coach was on edge. The practices leading up to this had been stressful. She was on our asses like white on rice. We'd done every defensive drill known to man and she still didn't seem satisfied.
Our offense was great and that's why it was the least of her worries. It was defense that killed us against this team both times we played them. They'd out rebounded us offensively and defensively and Coach was not happy about that.
We'd only lost by one point the second time as opposed to our 5 point loss the first time, but it was a missed box out by us and an offensive rebound by the other team that made the difference. Not to mention we had to crawl out of a twenty point hole. We can't let that happened today. We have to be focused and disciplined. We can't take any plays off or our season is over.
I felt pretty good about this game. I knew we could beat this team if we did what we had to do. If we play defense like we're supposed to we're gonna win. Defense wins championships right?
The arena we were playing in was in San Francisco, so we'd been staying in a hotel for the past four days. I was roomed with Jayla, of course. Even though she wasn't eligible to play yet, Coach still let her come with us since she's been practicing with us and stuff. She puts in just as much work as any of us, she just can't play yet.
"Man, I wish I could play today. It's torture just having to watch." Jayla said as we got ready to leave the hotel and head to the arena. We didn't play until later on in the day, but coach wanted us there early to go over stuff before walk through.
I think she was on edge because her parents were coming. Her dad used to be the head coach and she probably didn't want to disappoint him. I don't think he'd be disappointed in her if we lost, but I don't really know about her relationship with her dad. All I know is she's been on edge for like two weeks now.
"I feel you, bro, but don't stress about it. You'll be able to play next year." I tried to make Jayla feel better. "I know that seems like a long way from now, but the time will fly by."
"Man, now you know that's not true. Time goes by slow as hell when you want it to go by fast. I appreciate you trying to make me feel better though."
Jayla was in the mirror fixing her bow tie and making sure her outfit was neat. She dressed up with coach and the student assistants that helped with the team since she wasn't on our roster.
"How do I look?" She said turning to me and I licked my lips.
"Good enough to make me cuff you if my sister doesn't hurry up and do it." I joked.
"Shut up, dumbass." She said turning back to the mirror and messing with her curls.
Jayla's hair was growing pretty fast and the longer it got the cuter she became. She looked a little younger with longer hair. It was March now so she had going on five months of hair growth.
"Stop hogging the mirror." I said getting up and bumping Jayla out of the way so I could examine myself. I got Raquel to braid my hair the night before, but my hair still looked good. I was just wearing our Nike travel suit, but I still looked edible. I was a whole din din.
"It doesn't even matter how you look." Jayla said letting me get my mirror time.
"But how do I look?" I said doing a little pose and Jayla rolled her eyes.
"You look like you're about to play a basketball game." She stated plainly and I frowned.
"You really need to step up your compliment game. I always gas you up, but you stay hatin' on me." I pouted.
"You look good, Dani." Jayla gave another weak compliment.
She's trippin'. I look more than just good. I'm gonna have bitches getting wet just from playing defense on me. Bitches are gonna thank me for breaking their ankles. When I foul a bitch, the refs are gonna let me shoot free throws. I would go on, but I think I made my point. I'm fine as hell no matter what I'm wearing and Jayla better put some respeck on that.
"You know what, I'm not even gonna trip. I know you know I look good because you're in like with my twin." I shrugged.
Jayla chuckled.
"I never said you didn't look good. You know you always look good."
"Then why didn't you just say that?"
"You're mad annoying." Jayla said making me burst out laughing.
"You've been spending too much time with Niya. Since when do you say that?" I asked and she blushed.
"We need to hurry up and get to the bus." Jayla tried to change the subject.
"Nah, you weren't worried about getting to the bus when you were all in the mirror."
Jayla ignored me and grabbed her book bag and phone before leaving the room. I just shook my head and grabbed my things before doing the same.
-
My main concern for today was whether or not my mom was coming. She said she'd try to make it. I wasn't gonna be upset if she didn't because this is a long way to travel. I know she wouldn't drive here with how hectic her work schedule is right now, but still. I don't like making her go out the way to come see my games. It was my insistence on my parents making it to every game I played that cost my dad his life.
She hasn't called or anything, so as of right now, I'm gonna assume she isn't coming because that's easier than getting my hopes up and getting disappointed. I was also sad that Aniya and Nadia weren't coming. It was a pretty far drive, so I told them they didn't have to.
Before going to the arena we went to get lunch. We stopped at Subway and just like every time we did, I wasn't happy about it. I'm not that big of a fan of Subway, but I don't complain. It's just than there are corner stores in New York with subs better than this place.
After we ate, we went to the arena and Coach gave us our game plan in one of the locker rooms.
"We're going to start off in man because the first two times we played this team, they shot us out of our zone way too easily. I know I've been working you hard these past few weeks but it's because I wanted to prepare you for this. I need everyone to be ready to play tonight because you're going to get tired. You're going to need breaks and that's fine, but I need all of you to keep in mind that this isn't about you as an individual. It's about the entire team, so play hard and play through fatigue. This isn't going to be easy, but I need you to give your all for 40 minutes. This is the toughest team we've played all year and we've lost to them twice, but neither time did I believe that they were better than you. They were more solid than you both times. It's about who wants it more. We have to want it more than they do."
Coach continued on with her speech and I tried to focus, but I kept zoning in and out. I had a weird feeling in my stomach and I didn't know if it was nerves or what. This was my first time playing in a conference championship. It would be normal for me to be nervous, but that wasn't it. It was a feeling like something was wrong, but what?
"Fuller, what did I just say?" My coach asked putting me on the spot and I just gave her an apologetic look because I had no idea. I was zoned out.
"I'm sorry coach. My head is all over the place right now." I admitted and she looked unimpressed with my response.
"Well you need to get it in basketball because we play very soon and I didn't work you guys this hard to come up here and lose."
"I'm sorry." I apologized again and my coach went back to talking.
I listened to the rest of what my coach said and then we got ready for walk through.
I know my head will be in the game by the time we start warmups. It's just the jitters. I'll get over it.
Los Angeles, CA
9:00am
Aniya
I texted Jayla to let her know that Chastity, Nadia, and I were about to get on the road. We wanted to surprise Dani because she said we didn't have to come, but I knew she wanted us there.
We didn't come for the first two games they played in the tournament, but we didn't want to miss the championship game. Plus, we knew Dani would play better with some support in the crowd.
To top the surprise off, our mom was gonna be flying to San Francisco and we were going to pick her up from the airport. Her flight leaves at 12pm New York time and it's gonna land at 2pm our time which is when we should arrive in San Francisco. There's a three hour time difference. Dani's game is at 4pm, so that gives us more than enough time to get situated and that way if we run into traffic, we'll have time to spare.
I spoke with my mom a little earlier and she was at work. She was getting off early so she could catch her flight, but she had some paper work she needed to get done before then. She said she'd call when she landed in San Francisco.
I was excited to see Dani play. I'd been to games since I'd been at school and they were really fun to watch. Every game I watched, I could see my sister talking shit to whoever she was guarding and vice versa. It was funny because I could tell she was pissing people off. The only thing I was waiting on was for someone to hit her so I could have a reason to fuck a bitch up.
Jayla told me about the time that she punched a girl for punching Dani and I told her that I would have done the same thing. My sister is off limits, no matter how much shit she's talking. You fuck with her, you fuck with me.
Anyway, I highly doubt Dani's gonna get herself into anything today. This game is way too important.
Jayla was nice enough to let us use her car which is why she was in on the surprise. She had a used black 2010 Toyota Camry. She saved up for it and bought it after she graduated. Even though she wasn't playing today, I was excited to see her too because it's been a whole four days since I've seen her face to face and I miss her. She can't be leaving me like this. I might have to try out for the basketball team so we can spend all of our time together.
I'm kidding. I suck ass at sports. When Dani was playing basketball when we were kids, I'd be somewhere reading a book or doing something equally as "nerdy". I know I don't seem like it because I'm cool as shit, but I'm a dork. I'm just a fine ass dork, so I get away with it.
Honestly, that's all I could do sometimes. My...the people my parents gave me to never let me do normal kid things. I only got to do that when I was with my mom, dad, and Dani. When I was home, I was usually locked in my room, so all I could do sometimes was read, that's if they allowed me to turn my light on. There were nights that I'd use the light from the street light shining through my window, just so I could read in the darkness of my room.
"Niya, I have to pee." Nadia whined and I glanced over at her with an amused look. She sounded like a little kid.
"I told both of you to use the bathroom before we got on the road. We're not making a pit stop for another 2 hours." I said as I drove up Interstate 5. It was supposed to be the fastest way to get from LA to San Francisco.
"I will piss in this seat, Aniya." Nadia threatened.
"I kinda have to pee too." Chastity spoke from the back seat and I felt like a mother because I wanted to throttle them both.
I told them to pee before we left! Ugh...
"Fine, we can go at the next truck stop, but it'll be another 30 minutes." I informed the hardheaded girls.
"I can live with that." Chastity said going back to whatever she was doing on her phone.
"Well I can't." Nadia complained. "I swear I'm not trying to be annoying, but I'm gonna piss my pants if we don't stop."
"You don't have to try to be annoying. Sometimes it just happens." I said rolling my eyes and Nadia thumped me in the neck.
"Ow!" I winced at the little, but big sting it caused. "Keep your hands to yourself, pissy. You should have gone when I told you to."
"I didn't have to go when you told me to."
"Well you should have tried."
"That doesn't even make sense!"
"Would you two stop arguing? It's weird because she looks like Dani I kind of want you to kiss, but that would be weird because she's not Dani." Chastity said making Nadia and me go quiet at the randomness and weirdness of her outburst.
"We need to get you some pussy ASAP." Nadia said giving her friend a confused and concerned look.
"Not to butt in, but doesn't she have a boyfriend?" I asked slightly confused.
"Yeah, but she's going through it right now."
I nodded my head in not so much understanding because I was still confused, but I didn't need Nadia to explain further. It wasn't really my business because I don't really know Chastity like that. We're cordial, but that's about it.
Once we made the pit stop and both girls got to relieve their bladders, the ride to our scheduled stop was pretty smooth. There were no complaints, or random awkward outburst.
We made a stop to get food and gas and then got right back on the road. Nadia and Chastity slept the rest of the way to San Francisco and I was grateful for that. I felt like a mother with those two.
-
We arrived at the airport with a little time to spare. My mom's plane was supposed to land at 2pm and it was 1:50pm. We sat in the waiting area of the airport and I texted Jayla to let her know we'd made it, while Chastity and Nadia used each other as pillows. I took a picture of them and sent it to Jayla and also told her how they annoyed me when they weren't sleeping. I also mentioned how Nadia threatened to pee in her car seat.
Jayla found the whole situation funny, but what she didn't understand was that I'd have to go through it again on the way back. We weren't leaving until tomorrow morning.
My mom was gonna get a hotel for all of us to stay in for the night. Then we'd take her back to the airport in the morning and get back on the road to LA.
After ten minutes had passed I woke Nadia and Chastity up so we could go meet my mom whenever she landed. I got up and walked over to the electronic board displaying flights that had landed and ones that were expected. The one for my mother's flight had the words 'Go To Info Counter' plugged into the section labeled 'Remarks'.
I just stood there staring at it because that couldn't have meant anything good. If the flight was delayed, it would have said it. If it was cancelled it would have said that and I'm sure my mom would have called had either of those things happened.
I was frozen in one spot as I stared at the message on the board, willing it to change.
"Why are you just standing there? Has Mrs. Fuller called you, yet?" Nadia asked standing beside me, but I didn't respond to her.
"Niya." She said tapping my shoulder and I let out a breath to keep myself calm. The message could have meant anything.
"We have to go to the info counter." I said pointing to the message.
"What does that mean?" Nadia asked and I shrugged.
"I don't know." I admitted.
"Well, let's go see." Nadia said placing a hand on my shoulder. "It could be anything."
I know Nadia was just trying to keep me from thinking the worst, but it possibly being anything is what scared me. I wanted to know what the hell was going on with my mother's flight. It had me even more worried that she hadn't called. I know that she couldn't call me from the plane anyway, but still. I was worried.
Chastity walked up to Nadia and me, but she didn't say anything. I guess Nadia gave her a look. We made our way to the information counter and I tried not to be pessimistic. My mother was fine.
San Francisco
3:30pm
Daniella
We were in the locker room for our pregame pep talk and I was finally focused on the game. My mind had been wondering earlier, but it was on one thing now: basketball. Well, that and the fact that I hadn't seen Jayla in like thirty minutes. She took a phone call while the team was shooting around and I haven't seen her since.
It was probably Aniya calling her and for all I know, they were probably having phone sex or something equally inappropriate. I know they missed each other. It had just been four days, but they were sure to FaceTime each other everyday and talk about how much they missed each other. Nadia and I did the same, but we're a whole couple. Aniya and Jayla just talk. They need to stop playing and get together. They've been talking since January. It's March now. Just give us shippers what we want.
I'm just playing. They can keep the pace they have going. There's no use in rushing into anything. If they're not ready, it's all good.
Jayla coming back into the locker room caught my attention. She wouldn't make eye contact with anyone, but I noticed that her nose was red. That meant she was cold or she'd been crying and I know she wasn't cold because it was hot outside.
I tried focusing back on my coach, but now I was worried about Jayla. I couldn't think of a reason for her to be crying and I know she wasn't that sensitive about not being able to play.
"This is it ladies. This game can either be the end of your season or the start of a journey to Nationals. I know we can win this game. Just go out there and play this game like it's your last because depending on what mindset you go on that court with, it could very well be."
We did our normal breakdown and then lined up to leave the locker room. Before we left out, I pulled Jayla aside to see what was wrong with her.
"Yo, you good?" I said grabbing her face so she'd look at me since she kept trying to avoid doing so.
"Y-yeah." She said forcing a smile. "I just really wish I could play."
"Don't lie to me." I said knowing she wouldn't cry about that. She barely cries, so it had to be something serious.
"Dani come on, girl."
One of my other team mates came and basically dragged me out of the locker room. I would have resisted, but it was a senior. Jayla was off the hook for now, but she was going to tell me what was wrong with her.
How am I supposed to focus on the game when something is wrong with her?
San Francisco
2:15pm
Jayla
"Niya, slow down. What happened?"
As the team was shooting around, I got a phone call from Aniya. I stepped away in order to talk her because the second I picked it up, she just started speaking and I couldn't understand what she was saying.
"M-my mom." She was able to get out before choking on what I realized were her own sobs.
"Baby, you have to breath, I can't understand what you're saying. What about your mom?" I asked trying to stay calm.
"Her plane....it c-crashed."
When Aniya said that, my heart plummeted to my stomach.
"What?" I asked hoping to God that I was hearing things.
"Her plane crashed. It's not even on radar anymore. The last they heard from the pilot was that the plane was in rapid descent."
Aniya words were kind of hard to understand because she was crying, but I understood enough.
"Aniya, just calm down, they don't know anything for sure right now." I heard Nadia in the background.
"How can I calm down when there is a huge chance that my mom is dead? It's a 6 hour flight, if the plane isn't on radar explain to me where the fuck it could be?"
"Niya, stop talking like that. If they don't know anything thing, expecting the worst isn't helping the situation." I said trying to get her to calm down.
"Don't tell, Daniella. I don't want to scare her." Aniya said seeming a little more calm. "You're right expecting the worst isn't helping. We don't know anything for sure, so there's no use getting her all worried."
I didn't want to keep anything from Dani, especially something about her mother, but I promised Aniya that I wouldn't say anything until we knew something for sure.
A part of me knew that the only logical explanation for this situation was that the plane wasn't on radar because it experienced electrical failure from the crash. Either that or the plane disintegrated which most likely meant that it's passengers were most likely...I'm not even gonna finish that thought.
There's no way God is that cruel. Dani lost her father in a situation like this one. There's no way he'd do that to her twice.
And Aniya just found out that Mrs. Fuller was her mother some months ago. To have her taken away from her right when they finally have the mother daughter relationship she always craved for, that would just be too tragic.
"I won't say anything, but call me as soon as you find something out." I told her.
"I will."
After I got off the phone with Aniya, the team was already in the locker room, so I went in and tried not to make it too obvious that something was wrong with me. Hearing Aniya cry made me cry, but I made sure I was straightened up enough as possible.
San Francisco
4:00pm
Daniella
The second the ref threw up the ball for tip off, I tried to clear my head of everything that didn't have to do with basketball.
Stevie tipped the ball back to Malaya and she dribbled the ball up the court. Our opponents dropped into a zone defense, so it went without saying that we were going to do our "zone motion" or "high low". This focused mainly on our forwards or the 4 and 5.
They alternated from the block to the elbow depending on the rotation of the ball. Once a guard got the ball in the corner and dribbled up to the wing, they'd pull the forward on the block out to the short corner. If they made that pass to the short corner, the forward at the elbow would cut to the basket. If they were open on the cut, the short corner forward would make that pass, if not, a skip pass would be made to the opposite guard for the shot or a reset. Luckily for us, the pass from the short corner was open and Janina was able to assist Stevie on an easy lay-up.
Our bench cheered for us as we scored the first basket of the game.
The second we scored we got into our press. The other team threw the ball in and Malaya and I were at the top of the press. We waited for the guard to dribble to the corner and we trapped her hard. She ended up having to make a wild pass and Raquel jumped up and got the steal. She took the ball to the basket and hit a nice in and out on the girl that picked her up before finger rolling the ball in. She's such a show off sometimes. I like it though.
Our coach wanted us pressing this team from the start because she knew it would shake them up. She planned on pressing them the entire game because she knew we had the wind for it and that we'd dominate them because with as much work we put in, our press was vicious and pretty much unbreakable.
Eventually, the guard for the other team figured out how stupid dribbling to the corner was. We'd gotten up on them 10 to zero and their coach called a time out to talk some sense into his players.
Our coach told us that we were doing great and to be prepared for them to change things up a little.
Once they started passing, it was easier for them to break our press because everyone knows that's how you break a press. Trying to dribble out of it is stupid unless you have the handles for it.
Our press wasn't doing us much good, so we got out of it, but stayed in man defense.
By the time second quarter came we were only up by five.
"Okay, ladies. You started off strong, but you're letting up a little. I want the second group to sub in at 5 minutes. Fuller, I never thought I'd have to tell you this, but shoot the ball. I've seen you hesitate too many times out there. You're too good of a shooter to be passing up shots. Malaya you're doing great with finding everyone, but don't be afraid to drive it sometimes. There were times that you dished it out and you didn't need to. I get that you're being unselfish, but getting points on that board is never selfish."
Coach Young was going to continue, but the ref blew his whistle indicating the start of the second quarter. We broke it down and got back on the court. It was our ball, so Raquel threw it in to Malaya and we set up for a play called 'Double' that was designed to get the two guard a shot on the wing. We ran the play through and I came off of ascreen and got a pass from Malaya. I caught the ball with my feet already set for the shot. When the ball left my hands, I knew it was money.
As expected my shot when it, barely touching the net and I heard my coach cheering for me. I slapped Malaya's hand telling her good pass before getting back on defense. I came down three more times and Malaya found me open on the three point line each time. I'd hit four threes in a row and the girl that was guarding me became visibly frustrated.
Their coach made them start the second quarter in man to man defense, but it didn't really help because the girl guarding me was playing off of me like I wasn't shooting her damn lights out.
I winked at her after making my fourth shot, so I'm sure that added to her frustration.
"Don't get cocky, bitch." She said once I was back on defense.
"Don't get pissy because you can't guard me. Your coach needs to sub your sorry ass." I said talking shit as usual.
Raquel ended up getting another steal and I took off down the court for the fast break pass.
Raquel threw the ball up the court and as I was going for it, the girl guarding me pushed me out of the air. I caught the ball, but I fell down with it and I hit the court hard as hell. I just laid there for second because I got the wind knocked out of me.
I heard one the the refs blow their whistle. I looked up and the same girl that fouled me was standing over me with her hand out. I took it and she helped me up and patted me on the back like she was showing good sportsmanship, but really she got close to my ear and whispered, "Keep talking shit and I'll end your career."
Before I could respond she walked away from me and my teammates came to see if I was okay. I was fine, but I knew I had to watch my back now. I knew that she was gonna play dirty and if I wasn't careful, I'd end up hurt. This wouldn't be the first time someone threatened me like that, but with the way she hit me, I knew she wasn't bullshitting. Not only that, but she was able to make what was clearly a dirty move look like an accident.
At five minutes, our second group subbed and and coach stopped me when I was walking to the bench, so I'd sit next to her.
"What did #22 say to you out there?" She asked having noticed our interaction.
"She just said "My bad." And told me good hustle." I lied.
"I'm not stupid. She hit you on purpose. Are you forgetting that I played basketball at one point?"
My coach always knew when I was doing something I didn't have any business on the court.
"It's just normal in game trash talk." I said not wanting to talk about it.
"Play basketball. Stop running your mouth because it never ends well for you."
After saying that, My coach focused back on the game. Our second team was doing great. The tempo of the game didn't change much, but the lead still wasn't that big.
-
By half time we were only up by two. Our coach gave us another game plan in the locker room and then we shot around before the second half started.
The same girl from before was guarding me. I guess her coach told her not to let me get open because where ever I went, she went. She wouldn't let my jersey go at some point so I kept having to slap her hands off of me.
"Yo, just play defense. The fuck are you grabbing me for?" I said smirking at her and she just glared back at me. I guess her coach told her not to talk to me anymore.
She continued to grab me, so I just decided to ignore it. I could play through it.
Raquel passed me the ball and I jab stepped twice before going around my opponent. I easily got to the basket and laid the ball up.
"You can't guard me." I said smiling at her as I ran ahead of her to play defense.
I could tell I was getting to her because she clenched her jaw in anger and called for the ball.
"You keep talking so much shit like I can't do the same thing to you. There's a reason why our coaches make us guard each other."
She tried to do my same move on me but I read it and cut her off, unfortunately, she hit a spin move immediately after and got around me. Luckily, Malaya slid over in help and cut her off.
She ended up passing the ball to one of her teammates and cutting right across my face. Her teammate passed the ball back to her and she got a wide opened layup at the basket.
Fuck.
I looked over at the bench and I saw coach telling the shooting guard from the second group to sub. Damn.
"That's why your dumb ass is getting subbed. That second string girl can't guard me either." My opponent said making me roll my eyes.
"I'm gonna get right back in and embarrass the fuck out of you." I said sighing when the ball went out of bounds. Stevie tried to pass it to Janina, but someone deflected it.
The ref blew the whistle and Farrah, the 2 guard for the second group called my name.
"You got number 22 I told her so she'd know who to guard."
Right when I got to the bench my coach grabbed my jersey and made me sit beside her. I thought she was going to snap on me, but she didn't say anything. That's even worse than getting snapped on because it's no telling when I'm getting back in now. Damn.
-
The whole third quarter passed and my coach still didn't put me back in the game. We were down by two now and I was sure that she'd put me back in. The same player I was defending was the one scoring points for the team now.
The score was 57-55. I was getting frustrated watching Farrah struggle to guard number 22. I looked at my coach and I guess she felt me staring because she turned to me and said, "Don't give me that look. I told you to stop talking to her. Not only did you talk to her, but you let her cut right across your face. That shows that you weren't focused on basketball. I need people on the court that are focused on ball, not trash talk."
"Coach, you know that's a part of my game. I can do both." I argued, but she didn't seem convinced.
"You weren't doing both when she cut across your face. You were just running your mouth."
Some possessions after my coach told me that, Farrah ended up fouling number 22 as she went up for a layup and it went in. The bench for the other team went crazy at the and 1.
"Go get her."
Coach barely got the words out of her mouth before I hopped up and went to the scorers table. I knelt down and waited for the ref to beckon me onto the court. He waited until number 22 shot her free throws and then he called for me to sub.
I told Farrah I had her and got back in the game.
The score was 67-62 now and we were down. There were 7 minutes and 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Raquel threw the ball in to Malaya and she dribbled the ball down the court. She called a play named 'B' and I went down to the corner like I was supposed to.
The two post players set screens at the top of the arc: one on the left and one on the right.
I was happy when Malaya used the left screen because she was coming to my side. She went off of Stevie's screen and drove to the basket, the girl guarding me slid in to help her teammate and Malaya kicked it out to me. I caught the ball behind the three point line and shot it. It went straight in the goal and I kept my mouth shut and got ready to play defense. I only opened my mouth to tell Malaya good pass.
It was now 67-65.
We got back on defense and Raquel ended up getting another steal. Thank God for her defense.
I ran ahead and she threw it to me, this time I caught it without getting tackled (yes that's sarcasm for any of you non athletes) and laid the ball up.
The game was tied now.
We scored back and forth a few times, but then Raquel got another steal, this time number 22 stayed close to me so I couldn't get a break away. It was two on one and Raquel faked a pass to me before laying it up.
It was now 77-75.
There was 4 minutes and 10 seconds left in the game and the opposing team's coach called a 30 second time out.
Our coach just told us that we were doing a good job and gave Raquel props on her steals.
After the timeout we went back to playing defense.
One of their players shot a three and missed. Janina got the rebound and passed it to Malaya. When we got to the other side Coach Young told us to run A, which was a play designed for the five or the four to get the ball in the paint. It depended on which side Malaya went to.
Stevie ended up scoring on that play making the score 79-75. We were up with a little over 3 minutes to go.
This game was a little too close for my liking, but usually when two good teams play, it's a close game.
The other team went down and hit a three, making it a 1 point game.
We came back and ran double to my side, but Malaya faked the pass to me and hit Raquel on the back door cut.
It was now 81-78 with a little over a minute left. The coach for the other team ended up calling a time out.
"There's 1 minute on that clock. It's a two possession game and we're up by three. The odds are in our favor. All we have to do right now is play hard defense and knock down free throws because they're going to foul us to stretch the time if they have to. Just play smart defense. We don't need to foul, so don't reach. Keep your hands off of them. You've been playing a really good game, so keep playing hard and we're not only going to beat this team for the first time this year, but we're going to do it when it counts the most. Defense on 3! 1-2-3!"
"DEFENSE!"
We broke it down and got back out there. It was their ball. Their point guard passed it to the player I was guarding and I fought the urge to trash talk. This was definitely not the time.
Unlike me, she didn't mind trash talking at the moment; that's if what she said even counted as trash talk. "After we beat you, I would love to take you on an apology date." She smiled and I gave her a look of confusion.
While I was trying to figure out why she went from wanting to end my career to flirting with me, she pulled up on me. I got a hand in her face, but somehow she still made the three. Her teammates went crazy. It was a tied game now and our coach was the one calling a timeout now.
"Fuller-"
"Coach I swear I didn't say anything this time. I got a hand in her face. It was just a good shot." I said and she shook her head.
"No, I was going to say I want you guys to run Cali. I want to score quick because I don't want to take a chance with this team. I want you in the point guard position to take the three. I want everyone crashing the boards for the rebound. I know you're going to make the shot, but missing rebounds is what killed us the first game against them."
"Oh." I said laughing awkwardly.
"Calm down, Fuller." My coach chuckled. "Let's win this game."
We broke it down and the ref gave Raquel a spot behind the side line. The rest of us set up for Cali. The fact that coach was trusting me with this play meant a lot to me. I'm just a freshmen and she's putting a championship game in my hands. I was not going to disappoint her.
The ref gave Raquel the ball and she slapped it after calling the play. I faked to the basket to make it seem like I was going for the lob, but Janina set a screen for me and I cut back to the top of the key. Raquel threw the ball in to me and I caught it. Number 22 was already back in front of me by the time I jumped for the shot, but it was too late for her to block me.
I release the ball and I was sure my shot was going in. What I wasn't expecting was for her to go under me while I was in the air. I ended up coming down on her foot and I let out a blood curdling scream as I came down wrong on my own foot. I literally felt my ankle snap and there was no doubt in my mind that it was badly broken.
I fell to the ground holding my broken ankle and trying not to cry. I didn't want to give her the satisfaction. She did that shit on purpose.
She knelt down next to me and said, "You made the shot. Too bad you won't be able to play at Nationals."
I didn't respond to her and a second later the trainer was by my side.
"Can you move it at all?" He asked and I shook my head no.
"I felt it snap. It's broken." I said failing at keeping my tears in.
"It's gonna be okay." Two trainers helped me off of the court. "You played one hell of a game and you made the shot if that makes you feel better. The ref called a foul as well, so it's definitely over if you guys make the free throw."
"Good game, Daniella. You got us this win today." Coach Young said coming with the trainers as they carried me off of the court. "I'm so proud of you."
Hearing my coach say that made me cry even more. I was happy we won the game, but I just had to get hurt.
"Can I watch the rest of the game?" I asked the trainers and they said I could. They helped me on to the training table that was behind our bench. I sat down on it and they started examining my ankle. They instructed me to lay back, but I asked them if I could just watched the rest of the game first. They looked hesitant, but agreed.
Malaya lined up at the free throw line for the chance to make it a four point game. The ref bounced her the ball and she let out of breath before bouncing the ball twice and then shooting it. It circled around rim, causing me to hold my breath and then it went in. I cheered along with everyone else, but then I winced at the pain in my ankle.
The other team took it out, but Raquel's super power having ass ended up stealing the ball on the inbound throw. She was immediately fouled, so she was going to the free throw line with a chance to make it a six point game.
I didn't even look at the trainers as they untied my shoe and began loosening my laces so they could get it off as painlessly as possible.
Raquel lined up at the free throw line. She made both free throws and I cheered both times and ended up getting scolded by the trainer for moving too much as they were trying to carefully remove my shoe.
Coach instructed everyone to push up when the other team inbounded the ball. There were only 20 seconds left now and it took them almost half of those seconds to get the ball up the court because of our defense. By the time they got to their side and were able to get an open shot there wasn't much time on the clock. Their point guard shot a three, but it bounced off the rim and Raquel caught it. A girl tried to foul her, but she dribbled out of her reach causing the time on the clock to expire.
My teammates went crazy after the buzzer went off. I wanted to celebrate with them, but I was stuck on the stupid trainers table. Jayla came by the table and dapped me up.
"Good game, hoe." She said making me laugh through my tears. "You killed it out there."
"Yeah. Too bad I got hurt. You know she made me break my ankle on purpose?" I said making Jayla frown.
"Number 22, right?" She asked looking ready to fight.
"Chill. No need in you getting into trouble over something I can't change. The good thing is that we won."
"You're right." Jayla said looking more calm.
She looked down as the trainer peeled my sock off and gasped at how swollen and bruised my ankle was.
"Damn. Man you sure you don't want me to beat her ass? Look at your ankle."
"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that." Coach said walking up to where I was.
"Is it broken?" She asked the trainer and he gave her a look that said it all.
"I don't want to diagnose it without her going to a doctor first, but the fact that she can't move it is alarming and could mean that it's broken. X-rays will give a solid answer."
I didn't need an X-ray. I knew my ankle was broken. I felt it break. There's no use in me trying to be optimistic only to have my hopes shattered. My season is over.
San Francisco, CA
6:00pm
Aniya
The plane crash was confirmed.
I wasn't the only worried family member at the information desk at this point. There were over fifty people looking distraught over what had taken place. The plane went off radar because of the crash. It crashed into a forest due to an unsecured cargo door. At some point in the flight, the cargo door broke off completely and that resulted in a explosive decompression; which is why the plane was in a rapid decent.
I'm not sure how they found this out so quickly, but I'm not gonna complain about receiving the information. None of the passengers survived.
What confused me the most is that when I gave them my mother's name, they said that no one with a ticket purchased under her name boarded the flight. I was relieved to hear that, but I still couldn't get in touch with her and that worried me.
I called Jayla to let her know and she told me not to worry and that she was sure there was an explanation for why my mother never got on the plane and why she wasn't answering the phone. She also told me that Dani broke her ankle while shooting the game winning shot. Well, part of it anyway. Malaya made the free throw that sealed the win, but hey. They won.
Nadia, Chasity and I were heading over to the hospital they took Dani to so we could see her when my phone rang.
I almost lost control of the car when my mom's name popped up on my phone screen.
I immediately answered it even though that's not very safe. I put her on speaker phone, so it wasn't that bad.
"Today is just not my day." She spoke right as I answered the phone. "I missed my damn flight because I got stuck in traffic and I couldn't even call because I left my damn phone at the office. I was trapped on that damn road for four damn hours. Apparently a truck driver fell asleep behind the wheel and overturned his truck. He caused a least twenty other cars to crash and one of the largest traffic back ups I've ever been in. I didn't even go to the airport because I knew that plane was long gone. I was cutting it close as I was on my way there anyway. I probably would have missed it without the traffic. I'm sorry for blurting all that out. How did the game go?"
I didn't even say anything at first because I was both relieved and pissed off. I thought my mom was dead. I really thought she died.
"Ma, I don't even know what to say to you right now. Do you know how worried we all were?!" I asked sounding like I was the mother in the conversation.
"Baby I'm sorry. Everything was going wrong this morning. I finished the paper work I was supposed to do, but then the printer wanted to act up. I spent a good hour trying to get that situated. It's like something just did not want me to make that flight. I would have called, but like I said. I left my phone at the office. I'm sorry that I worried you guys. And watch who the hell you're yelling at."
"Ma, the plane that you were supposed to get on crashed. Everyone died. I thought you were dead." I said breaking down. I ended up having to pull over because I could barely see with me crying and all.
"What?" My mom said sounding shocked. "Crashed where? How?"
"I don't know where. Some forest or something. Not to sound like an asshole, but I don't care. I'm just glad you're okay. We were at the airport forever trying to get information. We didn't even make it to the game."
"That's so crazy. Where are you now?" My mom asked. "Did you speak to Dani and Jayla?"
"Yes, we're on the way to the hospital to see Dani now."
"The hospital?!" My mother yelled into the phone in normal worried mother fashion. "Why is she in the hospital?"
"She broke her ankle. Some girl did a cheap shot. I don't really know, but we're gonna find everything out when we get there. They won the game though. Dani hit the game winning shot." I told my mom.
"My poor baby. I'm gonna fly out to LA when-"
"Ma, look. Can you lay off flights for a little while? I know the drive is long, but after today, I don't fuck with airplanes."
"Watch your damn mouth. I told you about cursing at me like I'm one of your little friends."
I couldn't do anything, but laugh at being scolded. I don't know what I would have done if I couldn't get snapped on by my mom anymore. I don't know how I would have handled losing her.
"But, I'll make the drive since you're worried. I clearly have an angel watching over me because I tell you everything was happening this morning to make me miss that flight."
I don't know what was going on, but I was glad my mom was safe.
"Thank you. Can you call Dani now? I'm sure Jayla's wherever she is. She was worried about you too. I told her not to tell Dani anything because we didn't really know what actually happened and the last thing we wanted to do was worry her before the game." I explained.
"Okay, I'll call her right after I get off the phone with you. I'm so sorry for scaring you girls like that. Where are Nadia and Chastity; that is her name right?"
"They're in the car with me, you're on speaker, and yes that's her name."
Nadia and Chastity said hey to my mom and she told them that she was sorry for scaring them again. She told Chastity that she was looking forward to meeting her since she hadn't yet. After telling all of us that she loved us, she got off of the phone to call Dani.
"Yo." I let out a breath of relief. "What the fuck happened today? Why was it so hectic?" I asked no one in particular.
"Who knows?" Nadia shrugged. "The important thing is that she's fine. She was just having a bad day, but then again...If her day hadn't been so shitty, she might have ended up on that plane, so let's just be grateful for all of today's chaos. It just sucks for the people that were actually on that plane. I don't get why things like this happen. All of those people."
I could tell that Nadia was sadden by the tragedy and honestly I was too, but I was just happy my mom was alive.
"I don't even want to think about this anymore. Let's just go see Dani." I said getting back on the road and heading to the hospital.
Today had been a crazy ass day.
*************
Yooooo, I dead ass thought Mrs. Fuller died. 😱 Nah not for real.
But how many of you did? 🤔
Poor Dani. 😢 Do you think she should have let Jayla beat that girl up?
Why can't Dani just stop talking crap to people? 🤦🏽♀️
I hope this chapter wasn't confusing at all. If it was, I apologize and I will fix whatever it is that confused you, so let me know. This book needs major editing and I'm gonna do that as soon as it's finished. We're one chapter away from the last one, so I just want to say, thank you to everyone that's read this far. I really really REALLY appreciate you and your patience. I love y'all. 😭 On some real shit. Thank you for reading this poorly written jumble of words that my brain just pukes out every now and then. Thank you for the comments and the votes. Thank you for the messages some of you send me telling me how much you enjoy my work. It means a lot to me and it really motivates me. Y'all some real ones.❤️✊🏽
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