Chapter 5

"Know what?" Rick said, when Lauren got into his car.

"What?" Lauren said. "And why didn't you say 'hi' and kiss me first?"

"Hi," Rick said, and leaned over to kiss Lauren.

"Okay," Lauren said, smiling as she put on her seat belt. "What is it?"

"I've talked with Coach Lamont," Rick said. "I hired Coach Frazier."

"You hired him?"

"Yeah, as my personal trainer."

"You're paying him?"

"Yeah."

"Why don't they pay for him?"

"I ain't no Shaq," Rick said. "I ain't no star player. The team ain't going to pay for this. They already have a coaching staff to deal with everything."

"Then why do you need Coach Frazier."

"I need more."

"Why?" she said.

"Well," Rick said, "You know I didn't play well yesterday, even though we won. So this morning I had a long talk with Coach Frazier. Then I knew what's the problem."

"What's the problem?"

"I didn't work hard enough," Rick said. "I'd been playing with my gift. I mean, not the one in my pants." He smiled as he turned over to look at her.

Lauren laughed. "Say it once more," she said, mocking a disgusting expression. "And I'm getting out of your car."

"Okay," Rick went on. "Anyway, I realized that I'd not been playing with my heart. I can't compete with the best players, simply can't, because I don't have the heart. I may grab a double-double everyday, but will lose to them when it matters. I also don't have enough details and experience."

"You've been in the NBA for five or six years."

"Yeah," Rick said. "Six years. But you know, I never got any major minutes on the floor until now. If you count minutes on the court, I'm just a rookie, at most a sophomore. Anyway, I need someone who knows me for post-game play-by-play reviews and skill refinement. I also need to work on my defense. Coach Frazier says I'm too ambitious for steals and make too many mistakes."

"I'm not sure if I know what you're talking about," Lauren said, smiling. "But I'm glad you have realized what you've been missing and have decided to work on them."

"I want to show them my best," Rick said. "I had never thought about winning a championship. But I do now. Well, not really now, but I do want it, one day."

"Why not now?"

"We're too far away from it."

"Work harder," Lauren said. "Idiot."

"It's a basketball game," Rick said. "You can't put MJ in a crappy team and tell him to get you a ring, and I ain't no MJ."

"Make yourself better than MJ," Lauren said. "Or I'll stop going out with you."

"Please," Rick said. "Don't do this to me."

"Don't do what?"

"Teasing me," Rick said. "And relating yourself to the game."

"I thought you like the teases."

"Nah."

"Then why have you been teasing me all the time?" Lauren said. "Forty shots, eighty shots."

"Okay," Rick said, laughing. "I like you teasing me. But I still don't like you relating yourself to the game."

"Why not?" Lauren said, giggling.

"I, well," Rick said. "I'll tell you when we get inside."

Rick stopped his car in front of a restaurant. A valet parking attendant came over to take his car as they went inside.

"Okay," Lauren said, after they were seated. "Now go on."

"Let's order first," Rick said. He waved the waiter over.

"Okay," Rick said, while waiting for their food. "You know, I had never thought about us being together, I mean really together, not like pure friends. You know what I mean?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Rick continued. "They were just dreams."

"Dreams?"

"Yeah," Rick said. "Dreams. You know, dreams are happy but unreal things. You can't catch them and you can't make them come true."

"Wait," Lauren said. "I thought all those were teases. They weren't teases?"

"Well," Rick said, smiling a little embarrassingly. "They were, and also dreams."

"My goodness," Lauren said, laughing. "I didn't know that. Since when? Don't tell me it was the first time you saw me."

"Nah," Rick said, laughing. "You were just a kid. Well, in fact not really a kid. You know what I thought when I first saw you in cheerleader uniform?"

"No," Lauren said. "What did you think? To see me naked?"

"Nah," Rick said. "Damn, I should. I was stupid."

Lauren laughed. "Okay," she said. "What did you think?"

"I said to myself: Oh, this can't be that silly kid."

Lauren laughed and slapped his hand. "Okay, Go on," she said. "Wait. So you really wanted me as part of the additional double thing during the twenty shots bid?"

"Nah," Rick said. "Well, first of all. It didn't matter which girl was there, if they had doubled me again, I would have taken it. I was out of my mind already. It would be great if it was you, even though you wouldn't be sleeping with me. It would be really fun teasing you for the rest of your life."

"My goodness," Lauren said, shaking her head. "Okay, so, since when?"

"I'm not sure," Rick said. "I think it's your junior year. I think it was when I came home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Suddenly that silly little girl who lived next door to Coach went poof, and an attractive girl showed up to give me a hug."

Lauren laughed again. "Wow," she said. "And since then you've always wanted to sleep with that attractive girl, huh?"

"Nah," Rick said, laughing. "Well, okay, I think a little. Hey, stop kicking me. Anyway, Nah, I think it was after a while. I mean, I saw sexy chicks all the time, I can't be drawn to you simply by that. I think it's how we talked, and how you teased me."

"Duh," Lauren said, sticking her tongue at him. "I don't think I'd ever teased you during those days. I had a boyfriend."

"Yeah, I think you had a boyfriend, too. But you actually had done the teases as well. You remember when I joined you guys to watch a movie? It's a James Bond movie, I think."

"Yeah," Lauren said. "I remember. Yeah, it's a James Bond movie. And we made you pay for it, too. So?"

"You remember that new point guard Jack who replaced me?"

"Yeah, I remember," Lauren said, giggling. "We called him JJ, short for Jack the Jerk."

Rick laughed. "Okay," he said. "He lived next block, so we went home together. He asked me if you were with me. He said he'd never seen you flirt like that."

Lauren laughed. "Those weren't flirts," she said. "Well, okay, may be friendly teases."

"So you admit you had teased me," Rick said, smiling.

Lauren laughed again. "Okay," she said. "So?"

"So, of course nothing happened. You know that. I knew you liked teasing me, playing with me, but weren't really interested in me. And I'd been happy to have you as a friend. Never thought about anything. But dreams are dreams, you can't control it. I never told nobody nothing bout these dreams."

"Well," Lauren said. "You've done a very good job keeping me in the dark. Anyway, so what about relating me to your game?"

"Oh yeah," Rick said. "So, I mean. I think we are kind of together now." He smiled at her.

"Maybe," Lauren said, smiling.

"It's scary to think I'll lose you. I mean, you know I can't be MJ. I deserve to lose you if I do something wrong to you, but it sucks to think I may lose you because I'm not good in basketball. You know what I mean?"

Lauren mulled it over. "Okay," she said, smiling. "I'm not related to your game anymore. But you still have to be better than MJ, or I'm not seeing you again."

Rick laughed. "You're impossible," he said.

"I am," Lauren said, smiling. "Want to dump me?"

"Nah," Rick said, laughing. "Hey, do you want to see my place after the dinner?"

"Do you mean you want me to sleep with you again?"

Rick laughed again. "Nah," he said. "I mean to see my place, I mean it. Okay, okay, that too."

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

"Hey."

"What?" Lauren said, and laughed.

"Are you coming to our last home game? I mean, the last regular season home game."

"I'll think about it," Lauren said. "How many tickets can you get?"

"How many do you need?"

"I still can't do the math right," Vanessa said, as they walked towards the gate. "If we win, we go to the playoffs?"

"Depends," Lauren said. "The Grizzlies are playing the Bobcats right now. If the Bobcats win, we are out. If the Bobcats lose and we win, we are in."

"We'll see the result on the big screen during the game," Jimmy said. "They should be near half time by now." All three of them were wearing Knicks shooting shirts that Rick bought them.

"Looks like your guy has to be superhuman again today," Vanessa said as she shrugged. "Yuck, against Houston. Yuck."

The Knicks put up an early run and led the Houston Rockets by twelve early on, but the Rockets started narrowing the gap. The Knicks led by six at the end of first quarter. The Rockets further narrowed the gap and evened the game at half time.

The audience turned their attention to the huge screen hung above the arena for news about the other critical game. Everyone rose in joy when they learned the Bobcats had just lost their game, as if they had already earned a spot in the playoffs.

"It's not over yet," Jimmy said, after his chanting and returning to reality. "We still have to win this game." He then realized he had just pushed Lauren off him. "Come on," he said to Lauren. "Let's kiss again."

Vanessa slapped Jimmy, then said to Lauren. "I'm a little worried. Your guy doesn't play like a superhuman today. How many times did you do it with him last night?"

Lauren poked Vanessa. "I was in my room last night," she said. "You know that."

"I mean phone sex."

Lauren laughed and slapped Vanessa. But she was more worried than Vanessa. She began feeling ill when the Rockets slowly gained en edge and led by five at the end of the third quarter. The Knicks fought off the deficit in early forth quarter, and neither team had any meaningful lead since. It was a very tight game. It was also a game with both teams making many mistakes.

"Your guy's been rather dull today," Jimmy said to Lauren during a time-out. "If not for Peanut and Kenny, we won't have a chance."

Lauren nodded her head. "Yeah," she said. "Peanut and Kenny have been outstanding."

"It looks like the game will be determined by the last shot," Jimmy said.

Indeed Jimmy was correct. The Knicks were leading by one but the Rockets had the possession with eighteen seconds to go. The Rockets called a time-out, regrouped their players as well as formulating a play, and then went for their last shot. They made a basket when the clock was down to two seconds. The Knicks called a time-out. The entire audience was silent.

"If it's the other night," Jimmy said to Lauren. "I'd bet a hundred to one on us as your guy would definitely make it. But he's a so-so-human today and I don't know who to count on."

"I don't know either," Lauren said. "May be Peanut, or Jerry."

"I think you're right," Vanessa said. "Jerry will be coming in. Diesel is sitting."

Before the ball was in-bounded, Rick ran toward the referee, and called another time-out.

"What's he doing?" Vanessa said.

"I don't know," Lauren said. They both looked at Jimmy.

"I don't know," Jimmy said. "They must have found something and need to change the plan. We only need one, so I don't think we're going to see a 3-pointer, unless it's from Rick, but Rick's not exactly Rick today."

"They're in-bounding it now," Vanessa said, as Jerry went to stand beside the referee at mid-court.

"Why are they taking out Kenny and bringing in Diesel?" Lauren asked Jimmy.

"A bigger screen, I think," Jimmy said. "I bet Rick's going to make a fifteen to eighteen foot jumper."

When players started moving before the ball was in-bounded, Rick faked a move to the baseline and then dashed toward the top of the key. The player chasing Rick nearly bumped into the defender guarding Diesel, who had set a screen for Rick before he went toward the basket himself. Rick continued to move to the key, taking the Rockets defense with him, as Jerry threw in an alley-oop to the basket where the unguarded Diesel made an easy slam dunk.