Page 81 of Rebound

“Game face,” she growls as she goes out the sliding glass door.

I pick up the basketball and follow her. Jasmine walks behind me, and I notice my dad following us. He stands uncertain by the opened door, and I stop. Without looking behind me, I hold out my hand to him. After a few seconds, he takes it and steps outside for the second time today.

I pick up Jasmine and hand her to him. He seems to relax now that he’s holding onto her.

I throw the ball and it hits Layla in the middle of her back. She turns and glares at me, picks up the ball, and starts to bounce. She shoots and it goes into the basket. She does it three more times and doesn’t miss it once. She looks over her shoulder and smugly looks me up and down.

“She’s good, Son,” my dad says, clapping for Layla. Jasmine copies him and claps too.

“Mama,” she yells.

“Really, Dad and Jazzy? Two traitors,” I point at my dad and Jasmine. “Watch this.” I gesture for the ball and Layla throws it to me. I turn my back to the basket and throw it over myshoulder. I turn around in time to see it loop around the basket and fall in.

“Dada!” Jasmine jumps in excitement. “Grrr! Ame face!”

“Let’s go, Wakowski,” Layla says as she bounces the ball between her legs. “It’s time to get humiliated in front of your father and daughter.” She does a modified version of the Sethhead dance, but she stops after the first thrust. “Sorry, I don’t see any Sethheads here.” She puts her palm over her forehead and pretends to look around.

“Oh, boy,” my dad says, giggling like a schoolgirl.

“Let’s go,” I say, and she throws the ball at me. “I’ll take it easy on you. Whoever gets ten points first wins. So, it should take me about three seconds to beat you.”

She grimaces and growls, but I growl louder.

“Dada!” Jasmine says. “Grrr.”

“Little ladies first,” I say, knowing that will piss her off. I toss the ball at her hard, but she catches it. I approach and she gives me her back. Her ass hits me in the crotch, and I have the feeling she did that on purpose.

She fakes me out and throws the ball, but I block it, and it goes across the yard. She starts to run for it, but I get to it before she does and take it. The game takes five minutes, which is twice as long as I thought it would. In the end, she scores two points.

“And that’s game,” I say as I dunk the last ball. She has her hands on both knees while she pants. “Nice try.” I look down and pat her head. She swats my hand away, and I give her a smug look. “Next time, play with the other little girls, not the professional. Maybe Jasmine will want to play with you. You might be able to beat her.”

She purses her lips shut as she looks at me. She starts to walk away, then she turns, runs to me, and jumps on me like a deranged flying cat. I barely have time to wrap my arms aroundher to keep us both from falling. She wraps her hands around my neck, and I laugh so hard at the surprise onslaught, I lose my balance and we fall on the grass. She straddles me.

“I’m going to kill you,” she hisses. Jasmine, who at some point my father set down, starts to giggle. She jumps on me too and starts to tickle me. “I know how to do it and not get caught.”

I finally manage to grab Layla’s wrists and pull her hands off me. I turn us over and both she and Jasmine fall on their back. Jasmine laughs as if it’s the best thing on earth.

This time, it’s me who straddles her and holds her hands above her head.

“Say ‘I’m a loser’,” I taunt.

She sticks her tongue out at me and blows a raspberry. Some of her spittle hits my face.

“Say it,” I hold both her wrists with one hand and tickle her with the other. She wiggles but can’t escape. “Say it.” I tickle her more.

“You won,” she concedes.

“No. Say ‘I’m a loser.’”

“Never!”

“Say it!”

“Seth’s a loser,” she says.

“Seth, get off that girl,” my dad says, but I can hear the humor in his voice. “You’re too big for that. And don’t you roll over onto my grandbaby.” He walks over and picks up Jasmine. “You giant. Now, off.” I roll off and land on my back. I look up at the clear blue sky on a warm September afternoon and can’t remember a time before today when I had fun with my dad.

He must have too much of our antics because he walks away and goes inside with Jasmine. Once they’re gone, Layla straddles me, and I grab her hips to steady her. She looks down at me, and she has a bead of sweat on her forehead. Her hair is a mess nowand halfway out of the ponytail. She’s still breathing heavily and some of her lipstick is smudged, but she’s still the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. In this moment, I don’t remember the face or name of anyone else. She’s all I see, and something inside of me shifts as I think of all she’s given me. Other than the grief and judgment, she’s given me a home and a family. She’s never judged me for the shitty family she married into. She grins, and I wait to hear what she’s going to say. I hold my breath and wonder if this is the moment where all of my work has paid off and she whispers those three little words.

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