Off The Bench

So my son finally got me up to the basketball court with him today. I knew I wasnt gonna actually "play" because I didnt have on sneakers, (we were out and about for something else and my joining him at the park was an afterthought) but I figured I could rebound for him while he shot around, and it would give me a chance to finally peep what his game is like.

After a while, he started getting tired and asked if I wanted to shoot. Why not? Went to the free throw line, leather jacket and all, looking crazy, then after the first shot, which didnt even hit the rim, ALL my shit flew outta my pockets LOL. *smh*

Common sense kicked in and I laid my jacket, along with the zip up hoodie I was wearing under it, on the ground, under the basket. I went back to the free throw line, making a mockery of my previous life's work, until I resigned myself to shooting from under the basket. My arms have gotten weak. Let's try to get the form right again and work our way back.

Ok, we're looking good here. Move on back. Not bad. Let's move back some more. Things started getting a little sketchy at that point, but I was close enough to the free throw line that I might as well be behind it. Slide back. The wind is blowing in my eyes, so my eyes are tearing up and I cant see, but Im still shooting. I aint hitting much of nothing, but dammit, Im still shooting. At the point that I realized I could no longer feel my arms, I decided it was break time and gave the ball back to my son.

All the while, Im coaching him on how to produce a better jumper, and he's still kinda doing whatever the hell he wants. Ok, he thinking Mommy got nerve tryna tell him what to do when I was shooting like a paraplegic with cataracts LOL. Now I need him to see what time it is.

So I take the ball back and return to the foul line. Now Im focused. Im still not doing '91 Scottie Pippen, but Im knocking down a lot more of them than I was on my last turn. What Im doing now is talking my son through my shots. I tell him what Im doing wrong and what Im doing to correct it and the following shots were falling, but I'll be damned if getting that ball to do what I wanted it to do wasnt taking every iota of strength in my body LOL. I was getting a rhythm though. I started stepping into his passes as he returned the ball, tapping that right foot like I used to do and actually taking off from the ground as I released the shot. I dont know what the hell it was looking like, but it felt really good LOL.

Eventually, I got winded and had to go back to rebounding, but I think my son has a new-found respect for me now. He actually started listening a little bit when I told him what to do. Hey, just cause I cant really DO the shit no more, dont mean I dont know what Im talking about LOL.

Just in the knick of time, the boricuas on the far end of the court decided that they were gonna "run full" so I took advantage of the opportunity to get the hell outta there LOL. My son wasnt quite ready, and we probably could have stayed where we were on the side court and not been in the way, but my ankle was killing me and I couldnt feel my arms. He didnt care about that, but throw in a little "...and Im hungry now" and suddenly food becomes the objective LOL.

I thought that walk home was gonna be the longest three blocks known to man, but then my baby called and I spent the whole walk telling him how tragically out of shape I am and laughing at the pain I was in. Before I knew it, I was home, collapsing on my bed. I stayed there for at least an hour before I got up the strength to finally hit the showers, but I knew it was the closest I was gonna get to a hot tub or masseuse, so I sucked it up. Five hours later, I still feel like somebody beat me with a building, but I managed to suffer through baking some catfish for dinner and doing two loads of laundry, helping my daughter with her math homework and ridding my sink of all the dishes that had piled up, so given the circumstances, I am very proud of my efforts.

I know Im gonna be in pain for the next two days, but I think it was worth it to feel the rush of being back out on the court again. I didnt realize, until today, how much I actually miss it. My son has been trying to get me to go with him for the last two or three weeks. Maybe next week, he wont have to try so hard...