Chapter 3

"Hey!"

"Hey!"

"Is this 411?"

"Yeah, ma'am," Rick said, laughing. "How may I help you?"

Lauren was laughing so hard she couldn't talk for a while. She took a couple deep breaths before she spoke through the phone again. "Do you know you've got a new head coach now?

"Yeah," Rick said. "George Lamont."

"Is he good?"

"He has a reputation with new players and building up teams."

"So that's good for the team and for you?"

"Definitely good for the team. Not sure about me."

"What about the playoffs?"

"I don't think so," Rick said. "Too late, it's already March. We have only fifteen games left. We'll have to win at least twelve to have a chance, and still have to see how the other teams do."

"Play the best you can!"

"I'll try," Rick said. "Actually I've been trying. Do I get any reward for playing my best?"

"Like what?" Lauren said. "Oh, No. Not again. Stop it, you jerk." She laughed.

"Why am I a jerk?" Rick said, laughing.

"Because," Lauren said. "Never mind, you jerk." She covered the phone as she laughed.

"I've an idea," Rick said.

"What is it?" Lauren said. "And watch your mouth."

"Nah," Rick said. "Not like that. Anyway, if I can make five double-doubles in a row, you'll take my loan."

"Double-double is easy. Make it triple-double and I'll think about it."

"Come on," Rick said. "I'm only 5'10. How do you expect me to grab ten rebounds a game?"

"Well," Lauren said. "Make impossible things happen."

"For that," Rick said. "You'll have to offer more."

"More?" Lauren said. "I'm not going to benefit from it. You want to become a star player and also have me in your bed? How nice!"

"Did I say the bed?"

"Oh my goodness," Lauren said, as she felt her face heating up. "You really are a jerk. Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!"

"Okay," Rick said, laughing. "Let's not get carried away. You know triple-double is impossible. I'll make ten double-doubles before the end of this season, and you'll take the loan. Otherwise, I'll donate fifty grand to charity. That's a win-win situation. How's that?"

"Triple-Double, and you'll donate fifty grand to the charity, no matter what, then we have a deal."

"Know what?"

"What?" Lauren said.

"I'm tired of this."

"Me too."

"You'll be there tonight, won't you?"

"Of course," Lauren said. "It's home game."

"I'll make a triple-double tonight. I'll donate fifty grand."

Lauren thought it over briefly. "I'll think about it," she said. "I'll let you know before the game."

"Okay."

"Actually," Lauren said slowly. "Let's have a deal. You'll have a triple-double tonight. You'll donate fifty thousand to charity whether you make it or not. I'll pay you back the money if you win. I'm not going to owe you anything, no matter what. This is the last time you'll ever talk about it, no matter what."

"Man," Ricky said. "You make harsh terms. But okay, we have a deal."

"Was Rick winking at you?" Candy whispered to Laura at the courtside during the game.

"Yeah," Lauren said, after a sigh. "He was."

"What's it about?"

"He's just won the bet," Lauren said. "Goodness, he really can make impossible thing happen. How can he grab ten rebounds when he's not even to the chest of the other guys?"

"So you're going to sleep with him?" Candy said, giggling.

"No," Lauren said, laughing, and slapping Candy in the arm. "He's going to give me a loan for me to go back to school."

"What?" Candy said. "He needs to win a bet to lend you money? Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Lauren said, laughing.

"We won," Lauren said, kicking off her shoes, when she went into her flat.

"I know," Vanessa said, covering the mouthpiece of the phone with her hand. "And your guy had just scored his first career triple-double."

"He's not my guy," Lauren said.

"Whatever," Vanessa said.

"I'm going to take a shower," Lauren said. "Say hi to Jim for me."

When Lauren came out of the bathroom after her shower, Vanessa waved at her. She covered the mouthpiece. "Your guy called you on your mobile while you were in the shower," she said.

"Told you he's not my guy."

"Whatever," Vanessa said, and returned to her phone chat.

Lauren went into her room and closed the door. She went to her bed and made a call on her mobile phone.

"Hey!"

"Hey!"

"I thought you're going to the night club for a celebration," Lauren said.

"Nah. I want to talk to you."

"I should have known," Lauren said. "It's another setup. You had everything planned."

"Nah," Rick said. "I was just trying to do the best. I nearly failed, you know. Jerry was at the courtside waiting to come in when I grabbed the last rebound."

"Whatever."

"So how much do I owe you?"

"I don't know," Lauren said. "I'll have to figure it out."

"Are you going to quit the instructor job?" Rick said. "Or do it part-time?"

"I haven't thought about it yet," Lauren said. "But I think part-time. I don't want to start it all over when school is done. Which charity are you going to give the money to."

"What do you say?"

"It's your money," Lauren said. "Silly."

"What do you say?"

"Child care?"

"Sounds great. Hey."

"What?"

"What's next?"

Lauren laughed. "No next," she said. "I know what you're thinking."

"What am I thinking?"

"You're a jerk."

"Whatever. Hey!'

"What?" Lauren said, and laughed again.

"I'm having breakfast with Coach Frazier tomorrow. Why don't you come join us?" Rick said. "You ain't working tomorrow, are you?"

"No, I'm not working," Lauren said. "But I have an appearance in the afternoon."

"Breakfast doesn't last that long."

"Well," Lauren said. "No, I can't. I can't go out with you."

"We're going to Uncle Frazier's place," Rick said. "That's not going out. Bring your mom if you don't feel alright."

"Well," Lauren said. "I'll think about it."

"You don't have a lot of time to think about it."

"I know," Lauren said, giggling. "Alright. What time?"

"I'll come pick you up at seven."

"Okay," Lauren said. "Hey, I'm starving like hell. I need to go grab a sandwich. I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Okay," Rick said. "See you tomorrow."

Vanessa was still on the phone when Lauren went to the kitchen. Lauren made herself a sandwich, and began eating her meal at the dining table. Vanessa came over a little later.

"Is that the last sandwich?" Vanessa said.

"Yeah," Lauren said. "You're hungry, too?"

"Yeah," Vanessa said. She went to the kitchen to get herself a bowl of cornflakes and then sat with Lauren at the table.

"I watched the news," Vanessa said. "They said your guy was superhuman today. They said he was everywhere, doing everything, playing like MJ and AI combined."

Lauren swallowed the food in her mouth in a gulp. "He's not my guy," she said. "I've told you a million times. I'm not dating him, I'm not sleeping with him, and I haven't even been to a dinner with him alone."

"Well," Vanessa said. "That's indeed platonic."

"Huh?"

"Do you talk to him on the phone?"

"Yeah, of course. I just did. We are friends."

"Do you talk to him everyday?"

"Well, I talk to you everyday. I'm not your girl."

Vanessa laughed. "We live together," she said. "That's why we talk everyday. Tell me, how much time do you spend talking with him everyday?"

Lauren knew she was blushing. "Depends," she said.

"Like an hour or two, or even three?"

"It doesn't mean anything."

"Whatever," Vanessa said, snickering.

"Tell me something," Lauren said in Rick's car, while they were on their way to Uncle Frazier's apartment.

"What?"

"Do you think I'm your date or girlfriend?"

"Why?"

"Just tell me."

"Well," Rick said. "I wish. But, no."

"Why not?"

"Why why not?"

"Damn it," Lauren said. "Just answer me, you jerk!"

"It's obvious," Rick said. "We've never gone out, we've never kissed, and we've never been to the bed. Actually, I've never touched you except the hugs. What's wrong?"

Lauren let out a long sigh. "Nothing," she said.

"Come on."

"I said nothing."

"Do you know you're impossible to deal with?" Rick said.

"I know," Lauren said. "And you don't have to deal with me."

"Nah," Rick said. "I didn't mean that."

"Then stop whining," Lauren said, smiling. She then thought of something and changed the topic. "Are you always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Being," Lauren said. "I mean, consenting, until you have the girls in your bed."

"Nah."

"Nah?"

"Well," Rick said slowly. "You know I was a star player at school, both at P278 and at NC. I've never had problems getting girls to sleep with me. Well, not all of them would, but I was, like, I mean, I never had to worry. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Lauren said, giggling. "You jerk."

Rick laughed, too, and then went on. "I've never been a star in the NBA, but once you're in the NBA, you don't have to worry about women."

"So you've been having women all the time?"

"Well," Rick said, laughing. "Not always. But, anyway, no, I ain't consenting to anyone because I want to sleep with them. And I ain't consenting to you, for anything, although, yeah, I won't deny it, I'd dreamed about it."

Lauren almost felt tears in her eyes as she laughed. "You goddamned jerk!" She said.

"Anyway," Rick said. "I bought Coach Frazier some Iberian ham. I though your mom might like it, so I bought a little more. Will you give them to her?"

"Okay, thanks," Lauren said. "I'll tell her it's from you."

"Nah," Rick said. "Tell her it's from you."

"She knows I wouldn't," Lauren said, giggling. "Did you buy some for your folks, too?"

"Yeah," Rick said. "I'm having dinner with them tonight."

"Okay," Lauren said. "By the way, how did you get divorced?"

"Well," Rick said. "She found out I cheated on her."

"Damn it," Lauren said. "Don't you feel ashamed?"

"Well," Rick said. "Yeah, when I saw her face after she found out."

"Not when you were doing it?" Lauren said. "Not afterward?"

"Nah," Rick said. "You're right in that I'm a jerk."

Lauren sighed. "Yeah," she said. "You really are a jerk."

"I've also learned one thing," Rick said. "From the brief marriage."

"What's it?"

"It's easy to say 'I love you'," Rick said. "It's very hard to do it."

"Yeah," Lauren said. "You're right this time."

"Yeah."

"So," Lauren said. "Do you mean if you really love someone, you won't cheat on her?"

"I don't know," Rick said. "I hope so."

"You hope?"

"Yeah," Rick said. "I hope. You know, I've never been there yet. So, I don't know. I can't tell. It's a mouthful of shit to say something I don't know shit about."

"So you're saying you didn't love her?"

"Like you said, I didn't feel shameful when I was cheating on her, and I mean, it wasn't just once, it wasn't just twice..."

Lauren laughed as she shook her head. "My goodness," she said.

Rick laughed before he went on slowly. "I'd thought about it after the divorce. I couldn't have been giving her my whole heart. Doesn't sound right, does it?"

"I guess so," Lauren said. "Did she get a great deal out of you?"

"Well," Rick said. "I guess. But I'd never made big bucks from the NBA, so it's not huge."

Lauren went to her mom's apartment, gave her Rick's ham, and chatted with her for a while before she went over to Uncle Frazier's flat.

"Mom says thanks," Lauren told Rick when he opened the door for her. "She had already had her breakfast, and she's not interested in basketball talks, so she's not coming."

"Alright," Uncle Frazier said, holding the coffee Carafe in his hand. "Milk or black?"

"Black, please," Lauren said. "So, what's the topic?"

"We're talking about my head coach," Rick said.

"What about him?"

"How things turned around so drastically," Rick said. "Coach Lamont didn't even make it to the NBA as a player, but is now a NBA head coach."

"Oh," Lauren said. "That's interesting."

"And guess what?"

"What?"

"He coached Coach Lamont," Rick said, pointing at Uncle Frazier.

"Wow!" Lauren said, turning over to Uncle Frazier. "In high school?"

"No," the old man said slowly. "At Arizona State."

"You'd coached at Arizona State?" Lauren said. "I didn't know you had coached in college."

"It was a long time ago."

"Why, why, I mean, why did you come to coach high school, then?"

"It's not something I'm proud of," Coach Frazier said. "About what happened at Arizona State."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lauren said, and switched topic. "So did you watch the game last night?"

"Of course," Mr. Frazier said, smiling. "I was there. He gave me a ticket. I saw you dance, too. You were adorable."

"Thanks," Lauren said, smiling. "He can really make impossible thing happen, huh?"

"The triple-double? That's nowhere near impossible."

"Come on," Lauren said, giggling. "Don't be too hard on him. He's only 5'10."

"Earl Boyce is only 5'5," Uncle Frazier said. "That's two inches shorter than you, and he's grabbing about two rebounds off the bench."

"Wow," Lauren said. "That's amazing. So, what do you think is impossible for him?" She glanced at Rick, who was watching them attentively.

"Not much."

"Like, forty 3-pointers in a row?"

"That is impossible," Uncle Frazier said. "But you don't make forty 3-point attempts in a game."