on this. I coiled up, torquing my body for the shot. I flung the ball
forward,”—as Curtis brings his imaginary lacrosse stick down—“and the
goalie lunged. He was going to block the shot! So somehow, I pulled the
ball back into the pocket, flicked it behind my head, and bam! GOAL!” A
few of his avid listeners erupt into applause, while others break into boos.
Spotting me as I saunter up, Curtis says, “Hey, Naveed was there! He can
tell you the truth. Tell ‘em what happened!”
As the listeners twist their heads toward me, I debate my response.
I settle on honesty. “It was more like twenty seconds left on the clock, but
yeah, he described it pretty well. To do that against Springville, I mean,
that just made it even more insane.” Springville High is supposed to be
our rival, but they have outclassed our sports teams for the past decade. I
decide that now might not be the best time to mention that our team had
still lost seven to two.
Curtis yells, “That’s my man! Way to preach! You done playing
host? We’re about to start up a game of Apples to Apples, you in?”
I answer, “Of course man! Let’s clear out a space in the living
room. Who else is in? Don’t be shy, come on, let’s go! At least it isn’t
Monopoly, we’re not sacrificing friendships!”
A few days have passed since the incident in World History, and
m y relationship with my friends seems to have stabilized. If any tension
lingers beneath the surface, well, it is probably just in my head. I relish
the return to normalcy for a minute, and then begin to corral people
into the game. Soon, we have an oblong shape resembling a circle, with
onlookers gathered on the periphery. Curtis takes over, shuffling cards
and explaining the rules. “So basically, the idea is that you want to put
down a card that best matches the one that is already laid out. Oh, and
you want to pick the card that you think the person deciding the round
would pick. And you want to get the most cards in the end.” Glancing
up at the blank faces staring back at him, Curtis backtracks, “Okay, you
know what? Let’s just do a couple of practice rounds, make sure everyone
is on the same page.” A rumble of agreement, and the first practice round
begins. After everyone seems to have caught on to the rules, Curtis deals
the cards for the first live round.
Suddenly, a loud cry fills the room, trembling with passion and
resounding throughout the house. Movement ceases as everyone pauses,
then searches frantically for the origin of the unearthly sound. I feel no
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