Stories

Slam Dunk!

By Neal Levin

“Hey, Randy!”

Someone slapped Randy Tremaine on the back. He peered over his shoulder to see if they’d attached a note.

“Hey, Randy, what’s up?”

Randy swung around to find Ronaldo Santos smiling at him. He was a bit surprised this sports star was even noticing him. It couldn’t be because of last night’s debate club. None of the jocks came to that. None of them cared.

Randy loved public speaking. He enjoyed knowing his arguments, marshalling his facts, and competing with others. But at school he was pretty quiet, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself.

Today, though, he was getting some attention.

“Dude, I heard your dad’s coming for Career Day next week. Cool!”

So that was it. Chuck Tremaine, local TV sportscaster, was coming in person. Randy’s father covered everything from basketball playoffs to baseball games “at six and eleven.”

Because of that, the best athlete in school was paying attention to him. Randy nodded and smiled as Ronaldo moved on. He almost felt like a celebrity himself—until Blake Peerson flipped his books out from under his arm.

“You think your daddy makes you special?” Blake asked. “Maybe your daddy needs to teach you Bookcarrying 101.”

Randy bent over to pick them up. He wished Blake would vanish.

“Bet you can’t even shoot a basket.”

“Can too,” Randy said, although he wasn’t so sure. Randy sometimes met sports celebrities, but that didn’t matter. He wasn’t good at sports.

“Let’s go out to the blacktop,” Blake said.

Blake held the ball high, wrist back, elbow pointing directly at the basket. He released the ball quickly, hand and fingers extended until it sailed through the net.

SWOOSH!

“Your turn.” Blake whipped the ball at Randy’s stomach and snickered.

Randy tried shooting the ball like Blake had, but it bounced off a corner of the backboard, into the grass.

Blake fetched the ball, dribbled, and took a jump shot. The ball dropped through the net and cleared the rim.

Blake howled. “Tell your daddy to put me on the news.”

That weekend Randy thought about what Blake had said, that he was only special because of his father. As much as he wanted to deny it, he knew it was true. He prayed things would change.

“You don’t have to come to Career Day,” Randy told his father after church on Sunday.

“I know I don’t have to. I volunteered.”

“They have lots of parents already,” Randy said.

His father folded the newspaper and looked at Randy. “What’s the matter? You don’t want your old man there?”

Randy shrugged. “It’s just that everyone thinks I should be good at sports because of what you do.”

“That’s crazy! That’s like saying you could fly if I were a science fiction writer.”

“Then what about Jeff?”

“Don’t compare yourself to your brother,” Randy’s father said. “He’s a great quarterback, but everyone has his own special abilities.”

Randy rolled his eyes. “Well, you still don’t have to come to school.”

“I made a commitment, Randy, and I’m going to honor it.”

On Tuesday morning Ronaldo said, “I watched your dad on TV last night. Man, is he cool! You have to introduce me.”

The next day the school was invaded by parents. They gathered in the media center and talked to groups of kids about becoming everything from pet groomers to accountants.

Randy hid in the back of the room when it was his father’s turn. He watched his dad stride to the podium and dazzle the audience like no teacher ever could. Kids laughed or clapped at everything he said. They asked him which celebrities he’d met and what it felt like to be famous.

Randy’s father grinned. “I’m not famous, but thanks for the compliment. Next question!”

“Did you ever play pro sports yourself?”

“I’ve always loved sports. All kinds of sports,” he said. “But, to be honest, I’ve never been much of an athlete.”

“No, really,” someone yelled.

“Really,” Randy’s father said. “That’s why I became a sportscaster. I couldn’t play that well, but I loved everything about the games. I could use my analytical and speaking abilities and still be involved.”

How come he’d never realized that about his father? Suddenly it occurred to Randy that he and his dad actually had a lot in common.

“Your dad was awesome,” Ronaldo said to Randy later. “Bet you want to grow up to be like him.”

“Yeah,” Randy said. “You know, it’s not even debatable—it’s a slam dunk!”

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