"What the hell happened to you?" Charlie asked when he met up with Sal in the hotel lobby. He pointed to the small wound on Sal’s lip.
“I crashed on my bike.”
“Uh-huh.” Charlie wasn’t convinced.
“Something went down between Carl and me yesterday, okay?
"Are you ready to get your ass kicked?” Sal said, trying to evade Charlie’s question.
Charlie eyed him for a minute, but he didn’t say anything as they walked toward Serenity Park. “
“What happened to the bus?”
“Nothing. Jack has it. He needed a quick getaway.”
“Oh. So it’s that bad, huh?”
“Are you sure you're not a mind-hacker?” Sal felt tired all of a sudden.
“A what? Son, I think your brother hit you harder than you'd like to admit.”
“I can’t hide anything from you, can I?”
“I’m not a fool, Sal.” Charlie's eyes grew dark.
I shouldn’t have trusted them. The words flew peacefully through Sal's mind. I should have kept searching for you.
“I’m here, now, Charlie.” Sal put his hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “And I’m thankful for that.”
Charlie smiled, but the smile seemed cluttered.
They found an empty basketball court and Charlie threw his sweater on a bench. “Show me what you got, hotshot.”
Sal went in with a one-count stop. He positioned the ball up toward his head to give Charlie the impression he was going to take a jump shot. Charlie lunged toward him, but instead of shooting, Sal crouched down with his legs to gather strength.
With Charlie out of the way, Sal jumped up and shot before Charlie moved in on him.
Goal!
“Charlie, I can’t believe you fell for that old trick.” Sal laughed.
“My turn, smartass.” Charlie picked up the ball. He kept the ball in his hands at waist level and established a proper basketball position before taking a short, hard step toward the Sal, fake dribbling at the same time, bringing the ball down on the outside of his knee.
Charlie watched Sal. He hadn't been fooled.
Sal pulled back to the original position. He faked a jump shot with his arms and ball by bringing the ball up to the level of his head. When Sal was taken in by the fake shot, he moved toward Charlie to block the shot.
Charlie made an explosive drive and went right around him.
Goal!
“Booyah! And I can’t believe you fell for that.” Charlie broke into laughter.
“No more Mr. Nice Guy from now on,” Sal said, a satisfied smile on his face.
They continued to play, laughing and mocking each other’s game. Sal enjoyed the moment, finding a sense of serenity in it.