One on One

One on One

The sky was often a puzzle to him, though he never really tried to piece it all together. It was this endless existence of soft blue that appeared almost artificial. The clouds. Well, they only added complications. Their only purpose was to occupy empty space. At least that’s what he thought.

His hands were resting uncomfortably underneath his head. The rough texture of the concrete began to itch his back. Tiny stones, scattered haphazardly across the recently paved driveway, were making little indentations into the back of his arms. His eyes barely open, provided little shelter from the afternoon sun.

BEEP!

He sat up instantly and glanced around for a moment. Scanning his surroundings, he remembered where he was.

The car beeped once more before he climbed slowly to his feet. He recognized the beat-up punch bug immediately. The “No Fear” sticker on the back windshield was a clear giveaway.

His older brother, Doug, smirked through the dirt-spotted windshield as he eased the rusty clunker into the driveway before stopping abruptly.

“Danny, move the damn ball,” Doug’s raspy voice barked.

It must be his usual one-weekend a month visit, Danny thought, avoiding the metallic-smelling exhaust that shot out from the tailpipe.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, then leaned over and picked up the basketball that had been resting silently at his feet. As he staggered onto the front lawn, the punch-bug sputtered the rest of the way into the driveway, stopping just short of the garage.

Danny glared at pile of junk, stalled directly in front of the basketball hoop. Any plans to shoot hoops this afternoon were now ruined. He waited impatiently, shifting the ball from hip to hip, as the driver exited the car.

An overwhelming stench of cigarettes and greasy pizza lingered in the air around his brother as he casually walked by. Danny was taller and more muscular than Doug, often mistaken for the older of the two. Doug was dressed in a pair of imitation designer jeans frayed at the ends, cheap sunglasses and a retro Pepsi t-shirt.

“What’s with you?” Doug asked after noticing he was being watched so intently.

“Why do you always park in the driveway?” Danny replied, motioning to the car.

“Because that’s where cars usually park.”
Doug lurched by him, brushing his arm slighting against him and headed to the front door of the house.

“I’m serious Doug. Why did you park in the driveway when you know that I’m practicing?”

“Practicing?” Doug spun around to face him. “How much practice can you get done when you’re lying on the ground daydreaming?”

“I was taking a break,” Danny insisted.

“Well, now you have time to rest some more.” \

“You’re such an asshole!” Danny’s voice rose. “I don’t even know why you bother to come home. No one misses you around here, especially me.” His eyes were vacant and they did not match the anger in his words. Doug easily passed the comment aside.

“Ouch, that one hurt,” he mocked. “Excuse me while I go inside and cry.”

Danny cocked his arm back and let it go. The basketball flew at Doug with such velocity that it threw him back a few steps when it hit him.

“What the hell is your problem?” Doug asked once he regained his balance. He removed his sunglass and shoved them angrily into the breast pocket of his t-shirt. “Every time I come home it’s the same old bullshit. You have this chip on your cocky ass shoulder and you take out all of your stupid little problems on me. Look, I can’t be held responsible for your shitty life. You chose to devote your entire life to basketball. You. Not Me. Be glad I parked in the driveway, now you can actually take a break and breathe for once.”

Silence swooped in around them both. A bird followed, nearing close enough to Danny for him to notice before it vaulted back up into the sky and out of sight. His face remained expressionless, almost as if he were in some sort of trance. Doug wondered if maybe he had said too much, but even if he had it was too late to take it all back.

Finally, Danny mumbled something under his breath and headed in the direction of the basketball, which had come to rest on the edge of the lawn.

“What did you say?”

Danny ignored him.

“What did you say Danny,” Doug pressed as he took a daring step forward.

Danny didn’t take the bait. Instead, he bent over and picked up the ball, happy to have it back in his hands.

Doug’s frustration burst wide open. He took off running at Danny with full steam, pushing him as hard as he could. It was just enough force to knock the ball free from Danny’s hands. Danny’s lip curled as he pushed back, not sparing any of his strength. Doug fell to the ground hard and easy. Danny motioned at him to get back up.
Doug quickly scrambled to his feet and brushed off his already dirt-stained jeans. His breathing stayed heavy and quick both from a combination of cigarette smoke and adrenaline.

“I said that you wouldn’t understand,” Danny spat. He remained posed and ready to fight. “You think you know everything. You think you have all the answers in the world and that you are so damn smart. But the truth of it is that you don’t have a single clue about anything at all. And that makes you pathetic.”

“Pathetic? Me? Look who’s talking mister I can’t afford to have any fun because it might affect my jump shot? I am so tired of you taking out your bullshit pressure on me. If it’s too much then just quit the damn team already.” Doug took two steps backward, “I have way more important things to deal with than putting up with this crap.”

“Of course you do. Why should I be surprised?” Danny swung his hands up into the air. “Why would you care anyway? All you have to do is jump in your little clunker, drive for about two hours and you’re free from it all. But where can I go? The best I have is to come out here and shoot this stupid ball through a metal hoop.”

Doug, confused, slipped his hands mindlessly into his pockets.

“What are you trying to get away from anyway?” he
asked. “The pressure?”

“No not the pressure. Compared to this, the pressure is a walk in the park.” A forced laughed followed. “I mean, yeah it can get intense sometimes because people expect me to go on to college and everything, but still, it keeps me grounded.”

Danny’s eyes became distant, “Truth of it is,
basketball has nothing to do with it.”

Doug cocked his head to one side, struggling to read Danny’s face. He couldn’t.

“Mom and Dad,” Danny confessed. “I’m trying to get away from Mom and Dad.” He straightened up a little and placed his hands behind his head forcing his eyes upward. “You don’t know what it’s like to wake up at four in the morning because Dad wandered into the house drunk off his ass. You don’t hear him calling Mom a ten-cent hooker because he found out that she was cheating on him. You don’t sit at the dinner table, eating your food in silence because Mom and Dad are too pissed off at one another to give a shit about what you have to say. You don’t look up into the stands at every home game and see everybody else’s parents but your own. And you certainly don’t know what it’s like to play your heart our every single day just so you might actually hear Dad say he’s proud of you.”

He let his hands fall helpless to his sides and stared at Doug, hard. “Once you left for college, everything just fell apart. You come home for a little while and it actually feels like I have a normal family again.”

“Danny...I’m sorry,” Doug managed. “Honest. It’s just that I knew this whole thing was building even before I left to go to school. Why do you think I went away to school? I knew I had to get out of here.”

“So you left me to deal with it all by myself?”

“I thought you were above it all, that it wouldn’t affect you. Besides, every time I’d come home you’d act as though you didn’t want me here.” Doug longed to give Danny a hug, but couldn’t the right way to approach him. There was too much space in between them now.

“I wasn’t annoyed at you being here. I was annoyed that you didn’t stay to help me through it.” Danny drew in a long and bated breath. “Truth is, having you home makes it easier to bare.”

Doug inched closer to him and placed a caring hand on his shoulder.

“The only reason I come home is to check in on you," he said.

“Yeah?”

“Well that and to do my laundry of course.”

“What laundry, you wear the same clothes every day.”

They both laughed.

“I saw you build up this wall and I thought all you cared about was basketball,” Doug told him.

“It’s not all that care about. It’s just my escape.” Danny picked up the basketball again and held it lovingly at his side. “When I see this ball go through the hoop, I feel like I’m worth something. I feel like I matter, like I know who I am. And all that other crap can’t touch me.”

Doug understood now.

They both stood there, unsure what to say next. Somewhere off in the distance, a dog barked. Danny let his gaze wander off at the sky again, like he had been doing before Doug had arrived.
The clouds had parted, moving swiftly across the powdered blue as if being pulled along by the wind. He never noticed that Doug had walked away until the familiar sound of the punch-bug’s engine turned over.

A cloud of thick brown smoke streamed out of the tailpipe, giving the fresh air an oily hint as the bug rolled back slowly.

Dough parked the car next to the curb, leaving the driveway clear. Danny wasted no time in sprinting at the basketball net. He slammed the ball through the hoop with such vigor that it rattled back and forth.

“I wish I could do that,” Doug said simply.

“You may have gotten the brains in the family but I’ve got the athletic ability,” Danny smiled.

“I also got the good looks,” Doug returned as he picked up the ball and took a shot. It swished through the net.

“Not bad,” said Danny. “For a brainy kid.” He took the ball and passed it back to Doug.

“Yeah, well what do you think about taking this brainy kid on in a game of one on one?”

Danny stepped across from him, “Your on. Same rules apply. First one to ten wins. You can take the ball out first.” He crouched down into the defensive stance. “Bring it on brother.”

Doug paused,“Go easy on me, will you?”

Danny eyes lit up, “Not a chance.”

Story ID:	488
Written by:	Lyndsey Darcangelo (bio, link, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Fiction
Location:	Buffalo USA
Year:	2004