Twelve other girls chimed in, all talking at once in an effort to show their dismay at losing their practice time. “And to a bunch of boys!” Tanya, the team captain said with a horrified tone.
Laci held out her hands in an attempt to quiet them down. “Ok, one at a time. From what I understand, the gym is currently being used by a bunch of boys. Is that correct?”
“Yes!” they all said, nodding their heads for emphasis.
Laci went to the trunk of her car and took out a bag of basketballs. “Ok, well let me get inside and find out what is going on. I reserved the gym a long time ago. There’s probably just a mix up,” she said. Slamming the trunk closed, she prayed that it was only a misunderstanding.
“But before we get started, I need notes,” she said and instantly, thirteen pieces of paper were pushed into her hands. Laci had to grab at most of them as she quickly scanned each one, looking for weekly grade verification from teachers.
These girls lived in the worst part of Washington, D.C. And they only had a chance to practice once a week. Laci was part of a group of volunteers that helped inner city kids by coaching basketball or another sport. The kids didn’t have to pay a cent but they had to keep a weekly grade average of a B or higher.
The girls surrounding her all achieved a high B average each week. Laci made sure each of them were taking classes that were significant and not simple classes that didn’t require much effort. These girls had put in so much effort throughout the week, if they had lost their gym time, Laci was going to cause some problems for someone else.
She entered the gym from the side door, all thirteen girls following behind her. She heard several basketballs echoing in the large gym area as a group of boys dribbled across the court. She stopped one of them as he came closer and asked if he had a coach.
The boy politely nodded and pointed to a group of boys near the opposite side of the gym, huddled around a tall man bent over as he talked to them. The boy immediately pointed across the gym to a tall man with his back to her. He was talking to a small group of boys so she couldn’t tell who he was from this distance.
Laci’s heart skipped a beat as she walked closer and took in the tall man but chided herself for thinking it would be Sal. There was no way he would step into this area. He was strictly upper crust.
“Ok, ladies. Why don’t you start stretching out over here while I go straighten out this misunderstanding.”
Laci walked purposefully across the gym, spoiling for a fight. She’d spent the last five days arguing, negotiating, cajoling but with no clear conclusion on any issue, important or not. A basketball coach would be no problem for her, an easy win. Or so she thought. “Excuse me,” she said as soon as she reached the group of boys. And then had to smother a groan as the tall man slowly stood up. Her breath caught in her throat as she took in Salvatore Attracelli, the man himself, dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
“Well, well.” He said, his eyes wide as he realized who was addressing him. “What are you doing out here?” he asked.
“I was wondering the same thing,” she replied, ignoring the excited feeling that instantly sprang to life inside her. “But also why you’re using our court time.”
Sal smiled at her bristly tone. “We were double booked,” he explained. “Lucy, the woman at the front desk, told me to ask your forgiveness for the mistake. I think she thought it would be better coming from me. Perhaps I can charm you into forgiving her,” he said, a half smile already forming on his face as he watched her get angrier.
Laci gritted her teeth, knowing that she had to control her temper around her girls. She wasn’t just teaching them basketball, she was teaching them life skills and one of those was speaking civilly to someone and working things out instead of fighting.
“Lucy knows she won’t get off that easily,” Laci said, forcing a smile to her face as she looked behind him and saw a group of boys listening to their conversation. She knew that the boys were probably in the same situation as her girls, but after working towards a compromise with this man’s company for the past five days, she didn’t want to give in on her day off.
Unfortunately, she didn’t really have a choice. “Well how about if we split the court so both our teams can practice?”
Sal nodded. “That’s a great idea. I’ll pull my guys over here and you can take the far court. Will that work?”
“Fine,” Laci agreed and walked back to her girls who had stretched and were waiting anxiously for her to report on their practice time. She smiled brightly for her girls but was frustrated about the results.
“Are they leaving?” Tanya asked.
Laci shook her head. “No, we’re going to share the court. They’ll stay over there, and we’ll stay on our side.” She ignored their groans and called out positions. “Tanya, and Michelle, you’re both playing center today. The rest of you, play your normal positions and we’ll work through the short passes. Tanya – make sure you get the passes high today. Michelle – make sure she doesn’t get past you.”
They all filed onto the half-court and found their positions. Laci moved to the center, put her whistle in her mouth, looked around to make sure everyone was ready, then threw the ball up into the air between Tanya and Michelle, blowing her whistle at the same time.
Laci quickly moved out of the way, carefully watching the girls as they moved around the court. But her eyes were drawn to the other team too often. They were a good team, she thought as she caught their passing game. But they couldn’t shoot as well as her girls. Her eyes strayed too often to their coach. Laci didn’t chide herself too much for that action since Sal was so tall as he stood among the pre-teen boys. Laci wasn’t much taller than her girls who were about the same height as the boys.
All the girls were working on their passing game, going through the drills Laci had set them to. But working on a half court was difficult for both teams. After several balls wound up on the opposite side of the court, Laci had an idea.
She tucked a ball under her arm and walked over to Sal, cocking her head to the side, “Think your guys could take on my girls?”
Sal looked at her, noting the challenging gleam in her eyes. “What did you have in mind?” he asked and walked closer. He was looking down at her and wondering how this would play out. Could he make it work to his advantage? He hoped so.