THE GAME PT.4

POV - Adrian Toomes

"You know Peter?" His daughter asked him.

"Yeah, remember when I was in the hospital? Remember the man I was sharing my room with? That’s his uncle!"

"Oh, so that’s Peter’s dad—I mean, uncle."

"Yep. Ole Ben was only there for a couple of days." He continued speaking,

"Still who would have believed that scrawny kid to be a basketball player.. Hmm I guess looks can be deceiving."

"Oh, I think the game is resuming!" One of the girls in front announced in the front row

_________________________________________________________________________

POV - Peter Parker

"Alright boys, we have them by the balls! Now let's try to not let them get back in the game!" Will proclaimed to the huddle.

"Fuck yeah!"

"You got it, boss!"

"As if we’re gonna let that happen."

"We’re going to give them the asskicking of the century!"

All eyes finally fell on me, and Will gave me the signal.

"Look guys, whatever happens, just trust yourself! Trust me! And if you can’t do that, then trust your captain! Let’s go mess them up. I want them to return in tears. I want them to have nightmares about this day! When they hear the words Midtown High, I want them to have a fucking seizure. WE. WILL. DOMINATE. Hawks in three… two.. one!"

["HAWKS!"]

A bit overkill? sure. Necessary? absolutely!

One of the first things they teach you in the army is to develop unity and pride as a squad. Even if it means you unfairly categorize your enemies! It’s a necessary part of cultivating a strong sense of belonging.

The original starters, minus Earl, entered the court.

We stared down our opponents as they hissed at us.

"Look at them! Salty that they’re losing!" Pierre told me.

"Ignore them. Don’t let your feelings get in the way of the objective. Remember, the mission is everything." It felt weird to say that phrase again.

"Yeah.. Nice speech at the end there. My mother’s gonna love you by the way. Can’t wait for dinner today!’

"Yeah I can’t wait for it too." I had a goofy smile on my face.

‘Pierre wasn’t that bad, we just got off on the wrong foot.’

We exchanged fist bumps, and he went to the center of the court for the jump ball.

.

.

.

We lost the jump toss. Their team’s center, Fred, was much taller and played the position naturally. Unlike Pierre, who preferred to play power forward. Pierre had to step up since Earl was out.

"Okay everyone, let’s shave this lead!" Theo yelled out, and the rest of his teammates roared.

It was weird to see him lead the pack again, but this meant they had abandoned their previous strategy.

‘Good! This might cut down our lead, but it also guarantees us this game.’

I didn't want to provoke him any longer; there was no reason to. I already have what I want.

SWISH

Theo, who was much more active on the offensive side of things, scored a three.

SCORECARD: Red Hawks - 70 / Green Bulls - 53

The score was back to 17. I took the ball and tried to score, but this time they doubled me. Theo was guarding Will.

‘I see…smart. Let Theo guard Will and double team me.’

I passed the ball to Pierre, who went inside the paint and scored. The lead went up by 19 now.

Theo faked out Eddy and scored another three.

Now the lead was 16.

‘It felt like Shit! Losing the lead, but this was bound to happen if Theo took charge of the offense again. It might look like we’re losing but with this Will could take a breather and that guaranteed our victory.’

As the third quarter went on, the lead dwindled to 10. Every time I touched the ball, I was double teamed and had to make the sensible decision to pass the ball.

Will was on the bench to rest and recuperate for the final quarter.

"Say, where was all that trash talk, midget?" One of the reserves on their team started the word games.

Theo took a three, but this time he was fouled, so that meant four points. The crowd went ballistic at their comeback.

John, the guy who was chirping, came up to me and tried his best to get into my head again. "Your parents are watching you choke, midget!"

I looked for Aunt May and Uncle Ben... Hmm, they’re not here. They must have underestimated the traffic; it can be particularly bad in the afternoon.

I scanned the crowd for them again but only found an old man in a hat and an old lady sitting together. For a second I thought it was them, but... Uncle Ben never wore hats, especially inside a building.

‘Huh.. whose grandparents are they? The guy doesn’t look that old but the woman was old, stereotypically old even!’

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

For some reason I felt them avoiding my gaze.

"---You hear that? We’re gonna win this game and take turns fucking your girlfriend." He spat venomously.

"JESUS dude.. I zoned out for a second and you started talking about fucking my girlfriends. Have a chill pill my guy." I say in jest.

I would have taken the insult seriously if I had a girlfriend.

"Yeah, don't zone out too much when I fuck that blonde! Yeah, that one that visited you at practise today!"

I didn’t look at him; if I had, I would have ripped his head off. I kept my cool, but on the inside I was furious.

She wasn’t my girlfriend, shit. We haven’t even been on a date yet, but hearing that bastard talk about her like that made my blood boil.

Something in me switched at that instant.

This wasn't a friendly game for me anymore!

I no longer wanted to simply beat his team... I wanted to humiliate them.

Theo made the free throw, officially putting them within striking distance. A twenty point lead was reduced to six points. Their comeback was successful, or at least it would have been if John didn’t open his big, fat mouth.

SCORECARD: Red Hawks - 81 / Green Bulls - 75

Kendrick brought the ball from our side. I walked up to their team’s bench and looked at their coach. The TV crew zoomed in on me.

"What is it boy? There’s only fifteen seconds left on the shot clock. You better stop staring at me and start playing."

"I want you to know. It wasn’t personal so far, but that changes now. Your boy, John, is the reason for the ass whopping I’m about to give you now."

"Excuse me-"

I jet to the other side of the court before she could even finish. There was still 4:30 minutes left till the third quarter ended. I zapped around, in zig zag. Running around the court like a mouse the crowd took notice and began laughing.

I called for the ball.

Kendrick looked confused but decided to trust me and give me the ball.

"Here you go Peter!"

I took the ball and dribbled at incredible speeds.

"Hey midget stop-"

I moved around him, the two defenders tried to chase after me but they couldn’t keep up.

When I got a little bit of space, I stopped and composed myself before shooting a three.

SWISH

I stared down John, ‘Yeah that’s right bitch. In your face!’

Theo answered with a three of his own but not before I grabbed the rebound and shot it again.

SWISH

This agitated John even more. He called for the ball but his teammates clearly didn’t trust him with it but they had to give it to him for the sake of unity.

"Let me show you how we, in the prestigious trini-"

I snatched the ball away from him before he could finish.

‘Like I was going to listen to his monologue!’

I ran it to the other side of the court and dunked it, the crowd went crazy at the sight of the 5 '8 guard dunking.

But I wasn’t content with that, I stared down their entire bench and especially their coach again. They looked like they had swallowed their tongues.

Theo took that personal,

"What’s up, Peter? You’re playing like you mean it now." He said with a disarming smile.

"Ask your mouthy teammate!"

"What?"

I saw a lazy pass from the opposition, so I leapt from where I was and stole it. Theo was on me now; his coach must have told him to lock me up. I bet the disrespect didn't help either.

I bullied my way past the other two players in the post. Theo said, "You think I’m letting you dunk on us again?"

"Let?" I say as I jump four feet from the basket. They had trapped me between the three of them, Fred, John, and Theo.

"Get that weak shit out of here!" Fred said while swiping at the ball.

"Nowhere left to run!’ Mocked John.

Theo remained quiet. I twist my body 180 degrees and evade their superior reach. Theo tried smacking it away from behind but I changed my form at the last second and decided to throw a Hail Mary.

Fred and John fell on me, that douche John even threw an elbow as he landed on me but it didn’t hurt me.

"Foul and one!" The ref yelled out. My teammates came to pick me up as soon as they came up.

"Peter, are you okay?" Theo inquired.

"I’m fine." I brushed off his concerns and moved past him.

‘I can’t be his friend now! They're my opponents!' My special forces training kicked in.

"Forget about him, Theo." I can hear the punk, John. I stare at him from behind, and he returns the glare.

‘I’m going to teach you and your team a very painful lesson!’

_________________________________________________________________________

POV - Coach Lee

‘What the hell? Did little Johnny overdo the trash talk?" she thought. The parker boy read their offense like a book and made another steal. He wasn’t playing anymore,

["...Understand that your boy, John, is the reason for the ass whopping I’m about to give you now."]

‘What the hell did he say to piss him off!’

It was an idea to rile him up but did Johnny overdo it?

SWISH

She heard the sound of the ball entering the hoop. Parker made another three and he stared them down again.

‘This kid is getting on my nerves with his staredowns!"

The lead was back to ten again.

She called a timeout, "Terry, call the boys back. We’re completely focusing on Parker, we can’t let him have free movement anymore. I want all our defensive pressure on that kid!"

SCORECARD: Red Hawks - 94 / Green Bulls - 84

_________________________________________________________________________

POV - Peter parker

"Holy shit Peter…you were….unstoppable and that too without Will!’

Pierre brought me a fresh towel, and I wiped my face with it.

I hadn’t even broken a sweat. I thanked him for the gesture, but my mind was elsewhere.

‘Jessica never did anything to anyone. She never hurt anyone. She’s a good person. She didn't do anything to him. Then why in hell did he think he could insult her? I gripped the towel tightly.

A rational part of my mind knew that this was probably planned by that coach, probably to rock me.

My jaw tightened, and my resolve sharpened.

'I swear to God, I'm going to humiliate them; I'm going to make him regret talking about my friend in that way.'

"Peter, what did that boy say to you?" The coach asked me.

"Nothing… He was just chirping. Nothing I can’t handle sir!’

"Hmm…look peter… Just don’t take it too personally, okay! Trash talk is part of the game. I'm sure he didn’t mean whatever he said to you. They’re just frustr-"

"I have it under control, sir!"

"Hmm... Okay…fine… Will, you’re going back after the timeout. We have a good lead..I don't want us to lose it." Will nodded.

"Sir… I think we can wait until the last five minutes of the game before you put Will back."

The coach grinded his teeth, clearly getting irritated.

"Kid….. I’ll say it again: don’t let your emotions get in the way of a victory. I know how you feel. You want to destroy them and make them curse the day they picked up a basketball! Believe me when I say this, I know how you feel, but now’s not the time!"

"Yeah that’s right, Peter... With this lead, we can comfortably win. Why risk that?" Earl added.

I had no answer for that, they were logically right. Will had rested enough and could be a tremendous help back on the court, but... I didn’t want to win that way.

"You’re right, Coach... Earl… You’re absolutely right, but I want them to know,"

"Know what?" Will asked curiously.

"Know that I was the one responsible for this loss, for their humiliation!" I said selfishly. The bench was real quiet , probably taken aback by my hubris.

‘I wouldn’t blame them if they told me off or faulted me.'

But when that punk brought Jessica into this, the rational part of me stopped working.

I wasn’t doing this as a favor for Will or just enjoying the game anymore…I wanted to win. I wanted to win more than anyone else in this world right now.

A few seconds passed and still no one spoke.

.

.

.

.

Until I heard someone laughing loudly. I turned to see Will holding his stomach and laughing like a madman.

‘This was a sight I didn’t think I would see today!’

"You’re a funny guy Peter…I don’t think I’ve ever met another person like you!" He said, wiping his eyes.

"Kendrick, please tell me what happened to our captain. That is our captain right?" Pierre asked Kendrick with his thick french accent.

"Yeah I don’t think I’ve ever seen him laugh, like, ever." Kendrick added dryly.

"Damn I’ll be damned! Peter, I don’t know which is more impressive, scoring 40 points or making William Sharpe Jr. laugh!" Eddy said to me while hitting me with his elbows.

One by one, everyone on the team started cheering up and making some light remarks.

In the end, the coach interrupted our team bonding session,

"It's nice to see you all so comfortable with each other, but we have ten seconds left... Peter, are you sure about this?" He looked at me with a serious expression.

"Sir-" I was about to convince him with some nonsense strategy, but Will intervened.

"Dad.. Trust him, he brought us this far. He won’t let us down!" Will slapped my back.

.

.

"Fine! Go do what you want but if this little stunt costs us the game then I'll make you do 100,000 push ups!" The coach warned me, I could detect a little bit of humor in his tone. But I decided to take his threat seriously and answered with, "Yes, Coach!’

The horn sounded, and I got up and headed for the court.

I eyed the opposing players from the other side with predatory eyes. My iris zoomed in on John, who was heading towards me.

‘I’m going to enjoy ripping into you!’