Page 22 of The Perfect Deal
After breakfast, we all headed over to the basketball courts. We had four full-length courts to practice on. The concrete was heating up already, so I let the kids sit beneath the shade of some nearby trees as I went over everything with them. Liberty’s camera clicking in the distance was a reassuring sound as I started to speak to the crowd.
“All right, kids,” I began, standing with my back to the basketball courts. “Today starts day one of basketball practice. Since so many of you play basketball in school, we will only need two days of practice for this particular sport. On Thursday, we’ll start the tournament. For this one, we’ll have a girls’ winner and a boys’ winner, and then those two teams will face off against each other to crown a grand champion. Now fellas, don’t let the girls fool you. We’ve got some ladies here who can sink threes with the best of them, so if you think you’re faster or can jump higher, you’re in for a reality check real soon. Since there are twelve teams and only eight baskets, you’ll rotate through practice stations where you’ll be practicing ball-handling skills, passing, and defensive stances as well as running shooting drills once it’s your team’s turn to get under the basket. We’ll practice for three hours before lunch, which will be a picnic under these trees, and then get back at it for another four hours before we head in for showers with dinner at six. Any questions?”
No one raised a hand, which didn’t surprise me. Most of these kids had gone through this before, and those who hadn’t caught on quickly or just followed their teammates.
“All right. Coaches, you have your rotation schedule, so let’s get to it.” I clapped my hands together, and the coaches began to move, calling their groups to go along with them.
Karrie wasn’t a coach, and neither were a few of the other staff counselors, so I had extra coaches that stayed in other cabins come over and direct those teams during the actual athletic training. Some of the cabins only had one coach/counselor, like Sam’s, while others had two, so it all always worked out. Coach Rachel called over Bear House, which was Karrie and Liberty’s group, and the girls got up and followed her to the third court. Karrie followed along, shouting at the girls to be sure to take their water bottles with them. Liberty was off snapping pictures of everyone, along with our other camp photographer.
Once practice was underway, I was busier than ever, making sure to go from group to group and check on everyone. If I saw an athlete struggling with a move, I headed over to give them some pointers. If I saw someone having an emotional hard time, I provided some inspiration or sent them off to the nurse’s station to call home. Whatever it was the kids needed, I was there for them.
Axel and Robby weren’t just good at soccer. They were great at every sport they played. They happened to be on the same team, from Fox House, and as I watched them practice, I had a feeling they were going to win the boys’ tournament for sure. On the other side of things, Bear House was killing it. I thought Rabbit House might have a chance, but with the way that Monique could sink three-pointers almost every time she shot, they would be hard to beat.
All the while that I was making my rounds with the kids, I was watching Liberty out of the corner of my eye. She was really getting in there, doing whatever she needed to in order to get the best pictures. The other photographer spent a lot of time hanging out in the shade, which was what I was used to from all of the people I hired to take pictures, but she was really a part of this. I saw her laughing and joking around with the kids, even running over to refill water bottles so the kids didn’t have to. It was amazing to see her interact with them.
And they seemed to really like her, too. I watched them joke around with her, laughing and smiling. It was like she had always been meant to be here.
Every once in a while, she’d turn to look at me, and our eyes would meet. It was a wonderful feeling of warmth that radiated from wherever she was, filling me right up. Being able to do this with her was awesome. I only wished we were officially doing it together. But then, I always felt that way about our lives. We were always together but never together.
The cafeteria staff brought sack lunches out for everyone in big coolers. I went over to supervise, making sure we had everything we needed and that the kids had easy access to whichever kind of sandwich they preferred between the three choices of ham and cheese, turkey and cheese, or bologna and cheese. When the kids came over, I hopped out of the way. They were all starving. Thank goodness there were enough sandwiches for everyone to have two. The bags contained chips, a piece of fruit, and a cookie as well.
With a ham sandwich bag in hand, I had a seat near Fox House and struck up a conversation with Axel and Robby. “Your jump shot is on point,” I told Axel. “Just be careful when you land not to drift off to the left. You need to stay square to the basket or you’re going to pull your shot.”
“I’ve been telling you that, bruh,” Robby said, hitting him with the back of his hand.
“It’s a bad habit,” Axel admitted. The two of them continued to chat about it as I saw Liberty walking by with her lunch.
“Hey, come join us,” I told her, stopping her in her tracks.
She looked at Axel and Robby and said, “I don’t know. Aren’t these the two kids that were teasing us yesterday on the bus?”
Robby grinned mischievously. “We’ll be nice, Miss Liberty. Besides, you should tell Coach Joshua what you noticed about my free throws today.”
“What’s that?” I asked, not sure what they were talking about.
She sank down next to me on the grass and began to open her lunch bag. “Oh, it’s kind of interesting. When Robby spins the ball backward before he shoots, he makes it, but when he spins it forward, it bounces against the rim and falls out. Every time.”
I looked at Robby, eyebrows raised, and he nodded. “It’s true.”
“Weird. Well, I guess you know your new technique then, huh?” I was impressed that Liberty picked up on that while she was busy running around taking photos. But then, she had always been athletic. It was one of the things that I loved about her—one of the many things.
“You should be a coach,” Axel suggested. “You might be too nice, though.”
“Aren’t the coaches nice?” Liberty asked, a concerned look on her face.
Shrugging, Axel said, “They’re all cool. Everything they say is out of love and concern, but you’ve got a way of speaking that makes it seem like we’re friends, not that you’re gonna bean me in the head with a basketball if I don’t straighten up.”
“Well, I can try to be sterner,” she said with a laugh, “but I can’t make any promises.”
“Nope,” I told her. “You need to stay just the way you are.” She looked at me and grinned, and I looked away, not wanting to give these two boys more fuel for their fire.
But they were right. There was definitely something going on between Liberty and me, and it had been that way for years. Maybe it was finally time to take it to the next level.
14
LIBERTY
For not being an athlete, I sure was dripping with sweat by the time I hauled myself back into the cabin to take a shower and get ready for dinner. It was exhausting, chasing the kids around, trying to get the perfect shot, but it was also so rewarding. I’d gotten to know so many of the student-athletes already, on just the first full day of camp, and I was super excited about everything that was to come.