The Merit Birds by Kelley Powell Read Free Book Online Page B

two months. My mother wouldn’t even bother repairing it. When I was finished I lay on my bed. Now there was space. Now the deep breaths could come. Now I felt calm. But now my father would definitely not come. He would never come again. Who would want to spend time with an angry kid like me?
    I couldn’t believe I was telling Nok all this crap. I’d never talked with a girl about stuff like that before. I’d never talked to anyone like that before. I liked the way she just seemed to accept everything. She didn’t try to make it better, she just listened. There was nothing fake about her. I don’t even think she wore makeup.
    â€œDo you want to come to my basketball game tomorrow night? We’re playing a team from Thailand. They’re supposed to be tough to beat.”
    â€œNo,” she said bluntly.
    â€œWhy not?”’ I asked, trying not to sound too desperate. She didn’t answer.

    The next night, I was still wondering “why not.” I wasn’t focused on the game. Also, Julia said she was going to come watch, but hadn’t shown up. I kept checking the sidelines for her.
    â€œCam, where’s your mind today? You gotta wake up out there,” Mr. Rose said. “We’ve got to be ready for the tourney in Thailand.”
    Mr. Rose had figured me out a bit, and knew to back off when it was obvious that I was pissed. I was starting to like how he coached — firm and smart. Our team was getting pretty good. The first time I went to a practice I was disappointed. The team seemed like a pile of barf from different countries, speaking different languages, playing different styles. But we’d started to really come together.
    I was trying hard to concentrate when I was fouled by the Thai team’s star guard. He’d had it out for me since the beginning of the game. I could tell by the way his intense, dark eyes focused on me. I knew he was trying to distract me. But I wasn’t going to let him screw up my game. I had learned a couple things in Laos. Being chilled out had its benefits. Still, the game was getting intense. Tied at forty-three apiece by half time. I soon became lost in it.
    It was moments like these that made me love basketball. I loved how it could make me forget. Forget my past, my insecurities, even forget myself. During times like these the only thing I thought about was the game. The only thing I heard was the heavy breathing and grunts of the players around me and the squeak of shoes on the polished court. I was simply me. But when the Thai guard fouled me again, he took me out of that space. I hated him for it, but I told myself to be calm. I scanned the perimeter of the court, but Julia still wasn’t there and the game was almost over. The Thai guard started shoving me whenever he was in arm’s reach.
    â€œWhat’s your problem?” I asked the next time we were close.
    â€œSo you’re the hotshot new guard.” His breathy voice was thick with adrenaline.
    I met his taunting eyes.
    â€œNot much,” he said, and spat on the floor.
    Breathe, Cam.
    Don’t let it get to you.
    I wondered if the words were mine, or one of my counsellors’. Shit, now my concentration was really broken. Where the hell was Julia, anyway? Maybe with Gary, the principal, again, or maybe her friends from work. Whoever it was, they were obviously more important than me.
    Breathe, breathe, breathe.
    The play started again and suddenly I was running up the court on a fast break. This was my chance to show what I could do. To live up to my reputation as a star ball player. My heart pumped up in my ears and my endorphins soared. I didn’t take my eyes off the hoop. I was just about to take a shot when the Thai jerk tripped me. I landed on the gleaming, wooden floor with a hard thud. My teeth cut into my lip like a little kid who fell while learning to walk.
    â€œForget it, Cam,” Mr. Rose yelled. “Forget