Hot Hand by Mike Lupica Read Free Book Online

Timms, didn’t score a single point.
    Right after Billy’s dad yelled out that next basket ended it, Billy faked what would have been his first outside shot, pulled the ball down, passed it to a wide-open Jim Sarni, who got one last layup for their team.
    They all got the Big Whistle now, but they knew it just meant practice was over for today.
    Billy thought for sure his dad would at least say something about the pass, since that seemed to be the only thing he cared about these days.
    “Good job today, guys,” he said, before telling them all he’d see them Saturday.
    Good job today, guys.
    Not the guy who was his own son.
    Billy held out some hope, though not a whole lot, that his dad might say something about the way he’d scrimmaged today on the way home, since it was his day to drive.
    But when Joe pulled up in front of the house that used to be his house, and Billy and Lenny both got out because Lenny was staying for dinner, he just said the same thing he’d said at the end of practice.
    “Good job today, guys,” he said. “See you Saturday.”
    Can hardly wait, Billy thought.

TEN
    The next Saturday Ben skipped piano again.
    He didn’t make anything up this time or act like he was going, when all he planned to do was walk around for an hour. He simply told Peg he was sick to his stomach and was going back to bed.
    It was Peg he told because their mom was up in Boston working. There weren’t any weekends for his mom.
    Peg said, “It can’t be something you ate, since you ate like a bird at dinner last night and you haven’t hardly touched your eggs this morning.”
    Ben made the kind of face you did when you smelled rotten eggs. “I don’t know what it is,” he said. “But even talking about food makes me want to throw up.”
    Eliza, eating her own breakfast with a copy of Lucky magazine in front of her, didn’t even look up. “Gross,” she said.
    “Ben Raynor,” Peg said with hands on her hips, which always meant business. “Are you telling me the truth, or are you looking for a reason to get out of piano today?”
    Ben gave a quick look at Billy, then said to Peg, “I don’t lie.”
    “You never have,” Peg said. “I’ll call Mrs. Grace and tell her.”
    Ben shot up out of his chair and said, “It’s my lesson. I should be the one to call.” He went across the room and took the phone out of its holder and started punching in numbers as he walked through the door that led into the dining room. In a few seconds, they heard him talking in a low voice.
    Peg said to Billy and Eliza, “That boy isn’t himself lately.”
    “No one around here is,” Eliza said. “Except me, of course.” She turned a page in her magazine and said, “I so have to have that purse.”
    Ben came back in, put the phone back in its place and said, “I told her I’d see her next Saturday.”
    To Billy he said, “Good luck with your game,” and then headed up the back stairs to his room.
    The Magic were playing the Hornets, the only other undefeated team in the league, in the last game for both teams before the play-offs started next Saturday. If everything went the way Billy and Lenny thought it would after that, the next time they’d see the Hornets after today would be at the championship game in two weeks.
    Basically, all today’s game was supposed to do was decide which team would be the number-one seed going into the play-offs and which team would be number two, but Billy knew better.
    He knew that this game was going to feel like the championship of something, even if it was just the championship of today.
    When the doorbell rang, Peg looked up at the clock and said to Billy, “I thought Lenny wasn’t coming for another twenty minutes?”
    “He must be operating on Peg time today,” Billy said.
    And he knew why. Lenny couldn’t wait to get to the Y, either.
    When Billy opened the front door, he saw that Lenny wasn’t wearing a jacket or coat or hoodie, just his Magic jersey and shorts, despite