Chapter 59: YYZ

Sammy’s Guest House

4:15pm, Wednesday, March 28, 1979

“Holy moly! E and Lisa! That was ... beyond awesome!“ Cathy said for all of us after our two newest band members played a two-and-a-half-minute kick ass drum and bass instrumental riff.

“Got any lyrics to go with that monster riff?” Lynette excitedly asked the girls as she took a swig of her Diet Coke.

“Sorry, no,” Eda hurriedly said as tried to catch her breath as she sat on her drum throne after killing her DW double bass drum kit.

“We, uh, came up with that bass and drum line after Mikey, our little brother, tapped out the Morse code pattern, ‘ -.-- / -.-- / --... ‘ for Toronto’s ‘YYZ‘ Airport call sign last December,” Lisa added. She continued with, “We were landing from our trip to Nonna’s home, outside of Napoli. He ... Mikey is a little freaky about picking up on things like that.”

“That’s so cool, Lisa,” Sammy replied after our youngest member’s story about how Eda and her put together the initial rhythmic pattern of that killer riff.

After I gulped down the last of my Coke, I picked up my Silverburst guitar and slipped the strap over my head. When Lynette saw me with my guitar, she read my mind and walked behind her Yamaha keyboards. I smiled at her and then to our new members and asked, “Can you run through that opening riff one more time, E and Lis?”

“That’s a 5/4 time count, isn’t it, Lisa?” Paul asked as he picked put his one of kind, Tom Petersson eight-string bass, and slipped his custom guitar strap over his head.

“Yuppers,” Lisa quickly replied to my best friend.

“You ready, Brick?” Eda asked her sister as she readjusted her tiny butt on her throne. A simple nod from Lisa to her older sister communicated that she was.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sammy’s eyebrow rise up after she heard Eda call her sister, ‘Brick.’ I hoped that Sammy and the other girls in our ‘old band’ would hold off with any discussion of Lisa’s nickname for a few more days. When Sammy noticed my look, she gave me a slight nod and then moved to pick up her Fender Strat.

Sammy then tilted her head towards Cathy on her drum throne. I gave my head a small shake because I knew this had the possibility of being one hell of an instrumental jam session.

Eda held her high-hat cymbal with her left hand as she repeatedly wrapped out the Y-Y-Z Morse code pattern to get this ‘take no prisoners‘ musical creation off and running.

Before they had finished the forty second, driving repetitive intro towards the main riff, everyone but Sammy had begun to softly add their instrument’s voice to that ‘-.-- / -.-- / --... ‘ rhythmical pattern. All of our mouth’s dropped open when Eda and Cathy beat out a beautiful combined version of the transitional drum section.

Before the girls led us into the main body of their song, I waved my arm and called for a break in the action. “E, can you hammer out that ending pattern on your high-hat and uh, then super attack that transition line, please. I want to try something as you play it, if you don’t mind?”

“Yeah, sure, Mike,” Eda replied with a smile.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Cuda?” Paul asked with a grin on his face.

“Do what you gotta do and we’ll see,” I chuckled at my main man.

“All set, guys?” E asked.

“Rip it, E!” I replied.

When she paused after hammering that final pattern, Paul easily joined me in laying down a killer bass and guitar riff to match up with Eda’s drumming sound. When the three of us finished with that short eight second transition, everyone, including Sammy joined back in to some degree on this hard driving piece.

“Keep on playing it, Lis, E!” Lynette called out as the girls approached the end of their previous run-through of this instrumental riff. I smiled back at my girlfriend when she suddenly switched to a more far-eastern sounding quality of keyboarding. That really spiced up the girls’ song. After she put out two measures of that new sound, Sammy and I quickly changed our guitar tonal sounds to match up with Cano’s keyboard.

When the three of us eased out of that forty second, Asian centered sound, Eda and Cathy went to town on their drums. Lynette easily added a soft organ feel to the driving sounds of their double drums, and Lisa and Paul’s double basses. When the drivers of this song rocked out for a killer forty second session, I simply called out, “Rip the main music!”

I just about died when both Eda and Cathy twirled their right hand’s drum stick in their hands for a moment, and then gripped their pieces of wood to start into the concluding segment of this song.

“Look at E and Cath,” Paul mouthed at me in the middle of this segment. When I focused on our drummers, I noticed that Cathy took a ‘backseat’ role in her playing while Eda went to town with a series of killer drum rolls. We both were amazed at the contrasting sensory show E put on for us. Her arm movements were ballet smooth and graceful looking, yet she struck her drums and cymbals with amazingly vicious force.

“Holy crap on a cracker!” Lisa exclaimed at the conclusion of this four-and-a-half minute instrumental jam. E simply hung her head for a moment to regroup and regain her breath, while Paul moved beside Lisa and gave the young bassist his version of a Vulcan neck pinch.

“With a few tweaks here and there,” Sammy said she adjusted the tone on her Stratocaster, “I just think this instrumental piece might be a keeper!”

“Most definitely, Girlfriend!” Lynette exclaimed as she worked to made a few adjustments to her keyboards. “Hey, Sammy! Cuda! During that chilled organ part, do you think that one of you might be able to spruce it up a tad with a relatively mild guitar riff?”

“Redo your organ, Cano,” Sammy asked with a smile.

When Lynette replayed her mellow organ segment, Sammy picked and fingered out a soft, yet detailed guitar riff, which I thought would be sweet with the driving rhythms from the bass and drums.

“Can we pick it up when Cuda brings it down a notch or two during that Asian sounding section? I’d love to give my idea a go with everything you’ve laid down during that organ segment,” Sammy requested as she ended that soft riff.

“It would be cool, I think, if we let Mike do that slowing segment by himself, and then the rest of us PUNCH it at his concluding note,” Lisa confidently said as she ‘air-guitared’ my guitar actions before she plucked out her growling bass transition line.

“Look at you, Babygirl ... giving up a sweet suggestion,” Lynette stated which cause Lisa to drop her head in embarrassment at that wonderful compliment.

“Keep the great ideas coming, Lisa, Sammy ... everybody!” I said as I looked around the living room. “All y’all ready to give these suggestions a go?”

“Lead in, South-Boy,” Eda said with the name she called me each time I slipped back into my southern mode of talking.

“Here we go.” I then ripped out the descending guitar riff that Lisa suggested and smiled when the others killed it on their reentry into the song.

“Bring it, Girlfriend!” Cathy called out to Sammy as she picked out her fifteen second sweet guitar solo at the halfway point of that organ led section.

“You really want to know what would knock this piece out of the park?” Paul teased us with his question. He paused before he added, “It would be beyond awesome if E and Cathy did some type of dueling drum solo ... near the end of this song.”

“My bass buddy just made a top-notch suggestion,” Lisa said as she held up her hand for Paul’s high-five.

“You think we should do some type of drum solo ... during a school dance?” Cathy incredulously asked.

“Why not? When has anyone had a band play with two drummers and two bassists before?” Sammy replied with another question.

“How ‘bout we start a new trend at Glencoe High, then!” Lynette rhetorically asked.

“Why not, indeed!” Eda replied as she played a short and sweet drum roll on her DW skins.

“We’ll work on something in a bit, E. I’ve got to run to the little girl’s room before I strike another skin or cymbal,” Cathy announced as she spun off her throne seat and hurried down the hallway.

We all grabbed our drinks or snagged another one from the fridge as we waited on Cathy to return.

“Miss me!” Cathy shouted as she zipped to the fridge for another Diet Coke.

“Can, uh, I just say something to you, guys?” Eda said as she held her Coke in her right hand and her sticks in her left.

“Bring it,” Paul replied with a wave of his hand.

“I just wanted to offer my, and my sister’s thanks for making us feel real welcomed, here; especially you, Cathy and Paul. I just can’t believe how nice you’ve been to me and Brick.”

“You aren’t responsible for us having to move. Why would we treat you like you were the enemy?” Cathy softly replied.

“Still, this is beyond what I expected, guys,” Lisa added with a tear in her eye.

“We’ll be your biggest fans ... from up in Timmins,” Paul said as he and Sammy moved to Lisa and wrapped the tall, slender girl up in their arms.

“If you gals keep bringing quality music like this YYZ piece, you’ll never ever have to say thanks, again,” Lynette added as she stepped behind Eda and gave her a strong chest to back bear-hug.

“We’re real glad to have you with us, E and Lisa ... learning our songs and bringing good stuff like this,” I reiterated from behind the kitchen counter.

“Speaking of that kickass piece, you got any thoughts on a title for it, Lisa, E?” Cathy asked as she set her Diet Coke can on the counter.

The Masciotro girls smiled at each other and laughed. Eda then said, “Mikey asked us when we were practicing it, ‘Why you playing that YYZ code?’, so we kinda told him it was his YYZ song.”

“So, we’d like to simply call it, YYZ for Mikey,” Lisa added.

(Note: YYZ is the Grammy nominated rock instrumental piece from Rush’s 1981 album, Moving Pictures. The band was flying into Toronto’s International airport on Alex Lifeson’s plane, and heard that three letter omnidirectional call pattern through their headphones. Those ‘Dots & Dashes’ were the inspiration for this kick ass song. Go watch Rush performed it live, if you haven’t already done so!)

As we idly chatted about this great spring break weather and going to look at some muscle cars, Eda looked at her sister from across the kitchen counter and softly asked her sister, “Should I, or do you want to ask ‘bout ... you know?”

“I’ll do it,” Lisa replied as Sammy and Paul moved back from the pensive young girl. Lisa then let out a sigh before she softly asked, “We were wondering why, uh, you guys haven’t used my nickname yet ... We know you’ve heard Eda call me, Brick, so why you haven’t called me by my nickname, yet?”

“We know that Mike ... that Cuda has used it with Lisa on the softball field,” Eda added after her sister paused her statement.

“We had a short conversation about your ‘Brick’, your Brickhouse nickname, Lisa, and we were a little worried that it might ... you know, be a little sexist or troubling for you,” Lynette replied in a calm manner.

“With you looking every bit a young lady ... before even starting high school,” Sammy added to Cano’s words. “We, we kinda were worried that your large breasts might be a source of unwanted ... attention, and possible ... anguish. That’s why we purposefully haven’t called you, Brick or Brickhouse.”

“Wow! Okay,” Lisa said as she processed Cano’s and Sammy’s words. After a few moments she added, “I obviously know that my large boobs are attention getters but I haven’t, I don’t allow them to define who I am. I guess, uh, wearing a Double-D bra when most the girls my age are barely in a training bra can be a pain and nuisance; especially with all the little dweebs at St. Anne’s, but I’ve always felt that if a nickname fits and you really like it, then...”

“Good for you, Brick!” Cathy said with a smile. “I love that you’re not letting someone else define you, and that you’ve accepted the fact that your large boobs aren’t the be-all-and-end-all of what makes you, you.”

“You must have gotten your fair share of ‘bra-snaps’ and ‘accidental’ boob bumps, too, huh, Cathy?” Lisa asked.

“Yeah, but I didn’t reach these ‘big Cs’ or ‘little Ds’ ‘till this past Christmas; not when I was thirteen or fourteen!”

“I always said to Brick, that if we combined her large boobs with my smaller pair, we’d have two lovely sets of good sized boobs,” Eda added as she put her hands over her ‘small B’ sized breasts.

“Enough with all the boob-talk, please!” Paul stated as leaned against my shoulder with his right hand.

“But you told me you’re a breast man, Paul, so why this attitude when we’re talking about some of your favorite things?” Sammy chuckled as she shook her bosom in Paul’s and my direction.

“We just don’t need to hear or be tempted with things that are obviously off limits to us,” I truthfully replied for my best friend. When I looked over at him, he gave me a thumb’s up with his left hand.

I wasn’t sure what to make of E’s and Brick’s slightly elevated eyebrow movements when they heard me say, ‘obviously off limits to us.’ Knowing that the ‘older’ girls in the band loved to share their thoughts and actions with each other, I was fairly certain that Lava-Lips would get the real scoop behind the younger girls’ barely noticeable response.

“Would you guys mind if we ran through the first few songs of your southern rock and blues set? Brick and me, we played a little ‘air-bass’ and ‘air-drums’ to them at home last night, and would love to take a stab at them before practice is over.”

“I bet Brick would do a great job singing the Blues for Jennifer on Waiting for the Bus!” Lava-Lips stated which immediately got a round of ‘Yeahs’ from Cathy, Paul, Sammy and me.

“You know those lyrics, Brick?” I asked Lisa as she rocked from side to side with a slightly worried expression on her face as she put her bass strap over her mess of long brown hair.

“I, uh, I think I do but are you sure ‘bout this, guys? I haven’t sung a blues type song before.”

I stepped over towards our unsure bassist and grabbed a hold of her top left hand. I smiled at her and said, “You’ll do fine singing that song, Brick.” I then felt a small amount of energy travel down my right arm and pass into Lisa’s left wrist as her green eyes sparkled for me.

When I let go of her wrist, Paul and Lynette both gave me a wink. Cathy then asked if we ready to play our opening song, Cries Like a Little Girl (Walks Like a Lady). She then tapped her sticks together to signal the beginning of our four song Blues and Southern Rock mini-set.

After Lynette sang, Gimme All Your Lovin’, with Sammy moving to play the Mini-Moog synthesizer, we stopped this mini-set. Brick’s smile would have wrapped completely around her head when Paul and I moved over and put our hands on her shoulders from the front and rear and gave her a little shaking as Sammy said, “That was just too Bluesy, Brick! ... Great job with the Bus!”

“That was fun,” she said as I stepped back from her front, but Paul kept on with his gentle shoulder shake.

“My shoulders could use a rub more than hers,” E chuckled as she moved her right hand up and rubbed her bare shoulder and the thin strip of material on her sleeveless purple top.

“I’ll rub your shoulders, E,” Cathy said as she spun around on her drum throne and sauntered over behind E’s back and lightly karate chopped the younger drummer’s shoulders with her bladed hands.

“Here, Sammy. Rub please,” I jokingly said as I held up my right picking hand towards the petite redhead as she walked in front of me to get her Fender guitar. Thank goodness I was prepared for her response. I jerked my hand from Sammy’s location as she made a lightning fast strike at my hand with her right hand.

“That wasn’t very nice,” I said as I took a step back from the smiling redhead.

“But it would have been well deserved,” Sammy chuckled as she took a Wushu fighting stance in front of me.

“I’m gonna get a beat down for asking for a hand massage? Me thinks you need to ask your Sensei if that is an appropriate response,” I responded as I took a defensive stance knowing full well that Sammy was just joshing.

When we decided to call it a night, I moved to put my Silverburst and my double-neck Gibson guitars in their protective cases. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cathy lean down and give the top of E’s sweaty head a sweet little kiss. When I turned to get a fuller vision of these girls, I saw E tilt her head back to scan Cathy’s face over hers. I was a tiny bit surprised when I read E’s lips as she whispered, “You missed my mouth, Cath.”

Cathy then winked down at her drumming partner and softly said, “If you really want, E, I can hit your mouth or any other spot you’d like to have kissed.”

When Cathy glanced up and saw me peering at them, she gave me a subtle wink. She then leaned back down and kissed Eda’s forehead, before running her fingers through the young drummer’s damp dark hair.

Later as Cathy came and stood by me, she gave me a hip-check, then softly said, “I was just being nice and...”

“I saw what E said and did, Cath. Just be careful and play nice if she’s really serious about...”

“Oh, yeah, I won’t push it ... if she’s not ready or comfortable with things.”

I gave my former girlfriend a return hip-check and then walked over to the kitchen counter where the rest of the gang was hanging.

With our evening winding down as we moved to the front door, Sammy grabbed my arm and pulled me aside. With a serious sparkle in her baby blues, she softly said, “You and Paul are gonna be here around two-thirty, right? Cano and I just want to make sure we have everything set for our ... little adventure.”

“Them’s the plans,” I replied as I slipped my arm around Sammy and led her towards the door. “I’ll probably give Lava-Lips a call tonight or tomorrow morning. I’ve got a couple of suggestions for her to hopefully make Paul a little more relaxed and comfortable when things get going. He looks like he’s getting a tiny bit nervous, so I hope you, and especially Lynette can get him feeling better when we get down to the real nitty-gritty.”

“I noticed that, too,” Sammy said as we reached the inner door to the entry foyer. She then got up on her tip-toes and gave me a kiss on my cheek and simply said, “Thanks for doing this for me.”

“We’ll have fun together, Flames,” I replied using Paul’s nickname for Sammy for either the first, no more than the second time since he started calling her that.

“Hopefully my flames will burn hot enough for you, tomorrow,” Sammy chuckled as we stepped out with the rest of our crew.

“I’ve no doubt of that, Sammy,” I said in response to her clear innuendo.

“No doubt, what, Cuda?” Paul said as he stood alongside my mom’s two door Chevy Nova Coupe.

‘Tomorrow,’ I simply mouthed to my friend which he immediately picked up on and gave a slight affirmative nod of his head.

“You want me to give the girls a ride home, Cuda?” Sammy asked as she realized that the three girls would be cramped in the back of my vehicle.

When I looked at Cathy’s face, she gave me a ‘no’ sign with her eyeballs, so I replied, “Thanks but I got this.”

Lava-Lips stood by the driver’s door to my mom’s car waiting for me. She gave me a big kiss on the mouth and then whispered, “Call me later, tonight, please. I want to talk to you about tomorrow. ‘Kay?”

“I already was going to call, so, yeah, I’ll give you a ring around eight.”

“Perfect. Talk to ya, soon. Love ya!”

“Love you, too, Lava-Lips.”

Eleven Mile Road, Bryanston

8:08pm, Wednesday, March 28, 1979

“Hey, Cuda!” Lynette said as I walked along Eleven Mile Road, the cross road with Highbury Ave that forms the heart and soul of the big town of Bryanston. “Where are you calling me from? It sounds like you’re out in the open.”

“I’m walking along Eleven Mile ... on the outskirts of Bryanston,” I replied.

“Ahhh! You’re on your computer,” Lynette correctly surmised. “Grabbing a little fresh air?

“That and a little privacy,” I replied. After a brief moment of silence, I asked, “So what did you want to talk about, Lava-Lips?”

“Well, Sammy mentioned in the bathroom this afternoon that she thought Paul was getting a little weirded out and might be thinking of backing out on our little adventure. Do you think you can do something to, uh ... I don’t know, like boost his desire or...”

“I’ll talk with him later on tonight or in the morning, Lava-Lips but I’m not going to use any Energist stuff on a friend to get him to do anything they’re not up for ... if that is what you were wanting.”

“No-no. That’s good, Cuda. I trust you’ll be able to get his spirits up for this. You said that you had planned on calling me, tonight. What was on your mind? Hopefully, it was me ... and may be a cute, flaming hot redhead, too.”

“I actually did want to talk with you about our little adventure as you call it. While I don’t think Paul’s going to flat out shut this down, I was wondering what you girls had in mind. Also, if you are open to a few suggestions, I’ll share mine which I think will help keep Paul’s big head from messing with the pleasure I know you are going to give his little head.”

“I doubt that my telling you what we have planned is going to spoil our fun, so ... we thought we’d start off in Sammy’s hot-tub. Kinda use that hot, swirling water as a semi-barrier to lower any negative thoughts about stripping, and, well, you know. Then, we thought we’d lead you guys by your hard-ons up to Sammy’s bedroom where we’re going to have one of the guest room’s mattresses on the floor ... in addition to Sammy’s king sized bed.”

“Sounds like a good plan so far. Are, uh, you thinking of getting with Paul right in the hot-tub, or after he has a little warm up time with Sammy?”

“You obviously have an opinion on this or you wouldn’t have asked, so ... give me your thoughts and reasons for it. We may be on the same page or I’ll share why I think differently than you. Sound good?” Lynette logically stated her position.

“Most definitely,” I replied and then took a moment to organize my thoughts for Lynette. “I think it would be best for Paul to be with Sammy, and me with you in the hot-tub and for the first little bit up in Sammy’s room. Being with a familiar face and body will, in my opinion ... would be like an appetizer. Hopefully, that will prepare Paul for the main course, so to speak. This might help him get over any skittishness about... you being his main course.”

“I hear you, Cuda,” Lynette softly said after I paused to put the second and main part of my ideas into words for Lynette.

“I think that we should let Paul cum with Sammy once ... either from a BJ or giving it to her. We’ll do the same. That should take the edge off Paul and me, and kinda put him in a happy and relaxed state of mind. If, uh, Sammy orgasms along with Paul, that’s cool, but I don’t think you should really explode, if you know what I mean until you’re with Paul.” I sensed a little uneasiness within Lynette’s breathing at my last statement, so I added, “Here me out on this, Lava-Lips because there’s method to that madness.”

“I’m listening and I like it so far... ‘cept for limiting my enjoyment. Go on, though.”

“We’ll switch up partners at this point, and get to the main reason for this little adventure ... for Sammy to have a little or a lot of anal fun. Because Paul isn’t big on that type of thing ... I think that you keeping Paul’s mind focused on his pleasure or playing with your body will help me with my Sammy task. You said you really wanted to play with Paul’s uncut cock, so you should be able to enjoy it for an extended period of time. How you and Paul get it on is going to be a key; in giving me the time needed to get Sammy worked up for her ass attack.”

“So, uh, how do you want me and Paul to get it on?” Lynette chuckled as she used my emphasized words in her inquiry.

“Knowing Paul is a breast man, I think if you rode him, cowgirl style where he can play with your killer boobs and puffy nipples ... as well as watch his cock slipping in and out of your beautiful meaty pussy ... that will absolutely keep him zeroed in on you. That is pretty important because we’re not going to know how Sammy is going to react when my cockhead spears her ass for the first time.”

“That’s a GREAT idea, Cuda. I love it when I am able to control the depth, angle and speed of your cock’s thrusts in a cowgirl position, so, YEAH; I think this will work out great!”

“If you’re able, Lava-Lips, try not to cum too soon as it would be great for everyone, if you exploded on Paul at the same time Sammy, hopefully, orgasms with my cock in her butt. That way, when you bath Paul’s crotch with your juices it will absolutely blow his mind, and keep him from tuning into what I’m doing with Sammy.”

“Jeezes, Cuda! If what you just suggested is half as good as it sounds, we’re going to have an amazing little adventure, aren’t we?”

“I sure hope we can give both Sammy and Paul an amazing time, tomorrow. Like you, I hope this is at least half as good as I have visualized it happening. But with Paul, and possibly Sammy being a touch less experienced in adventurous activities, we more than likely will have to adjust this plan on the fly.”

“I know we’ll give Paul and Sammy a good time ... as well as having a blast ourselves!” Lynette exclaimed through the telephone line.

I was just getting back to where the Bryanston houses started on Eleven Mile Road, so I thought, ‘lower the volume level‘ and Lynette’s voice immediately dropped in my computer’s speakers. “Remember to bring your swim trunks and have Paul bring his, too.”

“Yes, Ma’am. What swim suit are you going to wear in the hot-tub ... at least for a minute or two?” I chuckled into the computer’s microphone.

“I was thinking of wearing that candy apple red bikini or possibly a cute lilac and lime colored bikini. What would you like me to wear?”

“You can definitely surprise me with that!” I exclaimed at the thought of seeing my girl in an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, but not a yellow polka-dot, bikini.

“Okay. I may find out what Sammy’s suit looks like, and then put on the suit that works best with her suit. I don’t think it would be as good if we both had on red bikinis, for example.”

“Again, Lava-Lips, I trust your judgment on your choice of hot-tub wear.”

“This, our conversation was ... great, Cuda. I really liked how you presented your ideas, yet you were good if I thought something else might be better for our little adventure. So ... we’ll see you guys, between two-thirty and three-o’clock, right?”

“That’s the time frame Sammy suggested with me in the guest house. I’ll give you or Sammy a call, if something comes up which delays our arrival.”

“Please do! I’m really looking forward to this ... with you, and with Paul and Sammy. Just remember that I’m in love with you ... only, Cuda.”

“I know that, Lava-Lips. I love you, too ... more than you’ll ever know,” I softly replied as I pictured myself sharing a passionate kiss with Lynette.

“Oh, Sweet Lord, Cuda! I can feel your lips on mine, and ohh, yeah, this kiss is ... wonderful!” We shared an Energists’ granted sensation for thirty seconds before I eased from Lynette’s ‘mental mouth’.

“Sweet dreams, Lava-Lips ... and may they all come true for you ... tomorrow. Bye! Love you!”

“Sweeter dreams, Cuda ... Love you more! Bye-bye.” The typical ‘click’ over my computer’s speakers informed me that my sweet girl had ended our call.

“Hey Cuda?” Gary Dander called a few seconds later as he saw me walking along the road in front of his house. He was shooting hoops in his drive.

“How’s that mid-range jumper coming along, Gary?”

“Good! TR gave me a tip the other day. He made an adjustment to my sightline of the rim on my shot. It didn’t start off well, but the more I practice and concentrate on his tip, the easier and better my shot has become.”

“That’s great, my man. Once you get that twelve to fifteen footer down, it will open up a whole new avenue of attack for us next season. Man, if we could have drawn Big Murray away from the goal a little more, I bet a few of those blocks he had in the championship game wouldn’t have happened.”

“That’s exactly what TR said to me when he stressed that I needed a consistent mid-range jumper.”

“Want to walk down to the store for a Coke?” I asked our six-foot-five-inch center/power forward.

“Thanks, but I’ve got another thirty or so shots to take before I call it a night. Have a good evening, Cuda.”

“Back at you, Gar.”

As I walked into the well lite parking lot of the local gas and variety store, I heard, “There you are, Cuda!”

Cathy bounded towards me as I walked to the front door of the store. “Want a Diet Coke, Cath?”