Hooper by Geoff Herbach

Author:Geoff Herbach
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-11-18T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-THREE

AT PATRICK’S

It is Saturday morning. The first day of my spring break. I have gone to the Trinity athletic facility with Carli Anderson on Thursday and Friday after school. My jump shot is better still. When you start with bad, improvement can happen so fast. Carli hasn’t gotten close to me like she did on Wednesday. If I wasn’t afraid of destroying my new form, I may have tried bad form so she would come and adjust my body again. It’s okay, though. We’re so comfortable together. I am happy.

But Renata is not so happy. She knocks on my bedroom door, because it’s past nine and I’m not a guy who sleeps in. “Adam?” she asks through the door. “Are you in there?”

“Yeah. Where else would I be?” I ask.

“Can I come in?” she asks.

I don’t want her to, but, “Okay,” I say.

She comes in. “Sleepy, huh?” she says.

I’m actually achy, because Carli and I lifted weights after shooting. Although I love to drill, for some reason I’ve never lifted weights before. Nobody has told me to, or showed me how. Carli warned me I would hurt. I feel like the muscles of my chest and arms are going to pop and fall off my bones. “I’m sore.”

“Maybe you’re playing too much . . . sports?” she asks.

“No,” I say.

Although I did go and eat dinner with her and Professor Mike’s family at their house the night before, I didn’t talk much to them, and I left right after eating to come home and lie down.

“I feel like I haven’t seen much of you for the last few weeks. I’m going to run some errands now. Do you want to go?” Renata asks. “Like we used to in Philadelphia?”

“No thank you,” I say.

“Okay,” she says. “Well. How about I take you to Patrick’s for dinner tonight?”

Carli is gone for the rest of the weekend for her grandma’s birthday in South Dakota. There will be no basketball. I have no excuse to say no. “Just you and me?” I ask.

“Yes. Unless you want to invite Barry, too?” she asks.

“Uh. No, maybe not,” I say. “Just us.”

While Renata is gone, I dribble in the basement and my body loosens a little. Then I watch NBA games—New York Knicks against Washington and Houston against San Antonio—and I spend time thinking about Carli. Barry calls, but I don’t pick up the phone. He leaves a message to see if I want to jog on the Red Jacket Trail, like we did when it was warmer back in the fall, and then to go to Seven Mile Creek to throw rocks at trees.

Throw rocks? I am not a little kid anymore!

Patrick’s is in downtown Northrup. It has so many foods I love: pizzas, Reuben sandwiches, onion rings, and seasoned french fries with many kinds of sauces for dipping. Usually it’s filled with college kids, but as this is the end of their spring break, it is a bit empty for a Saturday night. This is

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.