Free Underdog by Eric Walters

ball. L.B. was standing right in front of him,guarding him. Ashton bounced the ball off his leg and then jumped in and grabbed it.
    â€œPress! Press! Full court press!” Coach yelled.
    Suddenly Ashton was surrounded by four players. He tried to dribble by them, but there were just too many and he had no place to go. They froze him in place and he lost his dribble.
    â€œTime violation!” Coach yelled. “You took too long to bring the ball over half. That’s a turnover!”
    Ashton slammed the ball on the floor and it bounced high into the air.
    â€œAnd that would be a technical,” Coach said. “Everybody, bring it in and let’s talk.”
    We all surrounded Coach as he stood there with one foot on the bench.
    â€œSome of you are figuring it out,” he began. “And some of you are not. This is a team game. You win or lose by using the players on the court. Why did I pull the other players off the court and leave Ashton on by himself?”
    I knew the answer. I figured everybodyknew the answer, but nobody was going to say anything.
    â€œBecause you wanted me to look stupid!” Ashton snapped.
    â€œNo. Although I hope you did feel stupid out there,” he replied. “Somebody tell me why I did that.”
    â€œBecause Ashton wasn’t using his team-mates,” Tristan finally said.
    â€œThat’s right. If you’re not going to pass to anybody, there’s no point in them even being out there. That’s it for today. Practice is over. See you all on Tuesday.”

9
    It was one very quiet car ride home. My mother tried to get a conversation started a couple of times, but Kia and I just sat there. Ashton hadn’t even said hello when he jumped into the backseat, and he hadn’t said a word since then. Actually he hadn’t said a word since practice ended. He just looked angry as he stared at the back of the seat in front of him.
    It was hard to be centered out like that, but I knew that Coach wasn’t doing it to be mean. He had talked to everybody and then he’d talked to Ashton by himself about needing to share the ball, but talking hadn’t changed the way Ashton was playing. He had to do something.
    Besides, it wasn’t like he hadn’t centered me out before. He’d done that to everybody. Maybe to his son more than anybody else on the team. But I knew that Ashton didn’t want to hear that right now. He probably couldn’t hear it right now, even if I told him. Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is to just shut up. I was doing that now.
    â€œYou three are awfully quiet,” my mother said, trying once again to break the silence.
    â€œWe’re tired,” I said. I didn’t want the silence broken.
    â€œIt must have been an incredibly hard practice to make you so tired that your tongues can’t flap. Are Kia and Ashton coming over for a snack or am I dropping them off at home?”
    â€œI’d like a snack,” Kia said.
    â€œAshton, are you coming? There’s a possibility I just might make some muffins.”
    â€œI’ve got to get home,” he said. He didn’t even look up.
    â€œMaybe tomorrow. Are you three going to be selling almonds tomorrow?” she asked.
    â€œWe were thinking about— ”
    â€œNot tomorrow,” Ashton said, cutting Kia off.
    â€œWe aren’t?” she asked. “I thought we had agreed we were going to—”
    â€œSomething came up,” he said, cutting her off again.
    â€œWhat came up that’s so impor—”
    â€œI’m sure it is important,” I said, cutting Kia off for the third time. Just let the guy sit. Getting him talking now might lead him to say something he’d regret—something he’d have trouble backing down from.
    â€œIs anybody going to let me finish a sentence?” she demanded.
    â€œYou just did,” I said. “If Ashton doesn’t want to sell almonds