![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Golden Boy and the Hair
Sep. 2nd, 2022 06:59 amCaleb hears the tung! tung! tung! of a dribbling basketball on his way to the grocery store. He doesn't need much, so he's just going to the corner store that Michael introduced him to, back when Caleb first arrived. It's nowhere near High Gate, but it is, apparently, near a public basketball court. If he's ever noticed it before, he doesn't remember, but it speaks to a piece of him he hasn't really thought about in… awhile. Maybe years.
It revitalizes that itch to move, to be active, to feel the pebbled skin of a football or basketball under his own hand, and before he realizes it, he's headed towards the court to see who's playing — and if they have room for one more.
He's surprised to see just one guy, body moving expertly as he dribbles, aims, shoots. The ball hits the concrete and the guy is already on it, playing against an imaginary team that's so clear in his head, in his feelings, that Caleb can almost see them, too.
He stands at the chainlink fencing and watches for a moment or two longer, then as the ball sails through the air towards the hoop, he calls, "Hey!"
It feels too loud in the sudden quiet, without the ball's steady tung! tung! tung! and Caleb winces, then offers a smile as the ball sinks through the net.
"Up for a little one on one?" he asks.
It revitalizes that itch to move, to be active, to feel the pebbled skin of a football or basketball under his own hand, and before he realizes it, he's headed towards the court to see who's playing — and if they have room for one more.
He's surprised to see just one guy, body moving expertly as he dribbles, aims, shoots. The ball hits the concrete and the guy is already on it, playing against an imaginary team that's so clear in his head, in his feelings, that Caleb can almost see them, too.
He stands at the chainlink fencing and watches for a moment or two longer, then as the ball sails through the air towards the hoop, he calls, "Hey!"
It feels too loud in the sudden quiet, without the ball's steady tung! tung! tung! and Caleb winces, then offers a smile as the ball sinks through the net.
"Up for a little one on one?" he asks.
