Travis arrived Saturday morning with a basketball
under one arm and a gym bag slung over his shoulder. “Hey, Jessie, catch.” He shot the ball straight at Jessie.
Jessie
caught it. He dribbled it down the sidewalk and up the driveway to the basketball hoop nailed on the garage. In one quick
overhand he made the basket.
“Looking
good,” Travis said. “You’ll be ready for the NBA in no time.”
Jessie
shrugged. His cousin was close to seven feet tall, but nobody made fun of him. He was a big basketball star.
“What’s
that look?” Travis asked. “You got a problem?”
“No.”
“Hmmm.
Well, let’s take your troubles to the court and work on them there. Ready?” Travis dropped his bag on the front
steps and they walked down the street to the school.
Near the
basketball court they passed Jamal, Nick, and Mike, but the boys didn’t try any of their String Bean song. They just
stared up at Travis with blank faces.
“Come
on,” Travis said. “Try some half-court shots. Let’s see how much you remember from our last lesson.”
Jessie
stood mid-court. He crouched and leaped, releasing the ball and sending it straight through the center of the hoop.
Travis
gave him the high-five. “Now let’s try a little one-on-one. You’ve got the ball. Now go for the point.”
Jessie
dribbled toward his basket. He dodged under Travis’ outstretched arms and jumped. He let the ball fly. Travis snatched
it mid-air and ran toward the other end of the court. Jessie dodged in front and jumped as high as he could. He tipped the
ball and knocked it away from the hoop.
“Nice,”
Travis said. “You’ve grown. Last year you couldn’t do that.” He patted Jessie on the back, and they
laughed. “Now, want to talk about the trouble?”
“No
trouble,” Jessie said. He looked across the court at the three boys. Nick said something and Jamal shoved him. Nick
pushed back. Mike stepped between them.
“What’s
that about?” Travis asked.
Jessie
shrugged and Travis dribbled the ball down the court. When Jessie looked again Jamal was headed straight toward him. Was Jamal
going to pick a fight? Was he going to come up with another one of his stupid String Bean songs and make a fool of him while
Travis watched?
Not if
he could help it. Jessie clenched his fists and blocked Jamal. Jamal held up his hands. “Hold it, Jessie. Mike and Nick
and . . . I—” He looked down at the ground. “Well, we wondered if your cousin would give us some pointers.”
“Not
on your life,” Jessie said, still ready to fight if he heard one sound of that sing-song from Jamal.
“How
about if—” Jamal cleared his throat. “If I say I’m sorry for naming you String Bean?”
“Hey,
Jessie, are they calling you String Bean, too?” Travis came over to stand next to the boys.
Jessie
nodded, but kept his fist clenched and his eyes fixed on Jamal.
“You’re
Keenan’s little brother, right?” Travis asked Jamal. “He used to drive me nuts with his String Bean song.”
Jessie
looked up at his tall, skinny cousin, the basketball forward whose autograph everyone asked for. Suddenly, being a String
Bean wasn’t bad at all. Jessie unclenched his fist and signaled Mike and Nick to come over.
While they
shot baskets, Travis came up with a new version of the sing-song, and they all sang it, even Jessie.
“String
Bean, String Bean he’s so keen. Keenest bean
you ever seen.”
~The End~
