Free Men: The Game and the Mystery Lady

It was time for the first match between the schools' basketball team and Team Phoenix from Dallas.

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Now everyone was talking about them,what was today going to be like for the teams?.

James had gotten good overnight and no one knew how he did it,no one had the slightest clue on what he had been doing to get this good.

"Bro you good?". Kelvin asked me.

It was almost as if my heart was gonna drop out of my chest after seeing what James was capable of,his handles,his misdirection and of all his dunks were on another note.

I started working my head out in front of Kelvin then I said

"You think we're gonna flop?"

"You think we're gonna lose to some lame team that now have two players that feel like they can play as elites?"

"Well hell No!!,my name is Khode and I don't plan on letting only my classmates know that,what about you?"

He was shocked at my response,he never expected it,he knew we had two elites who were really good on our team and that we should win this match but he never expected a newbie to contain so much courage and passion for the game I guess.

"Heyy!!Roll it in everybody!!"

"We are the Free Men and we are not gonna let ourselves be disgraced on the court,are we??

"No!!" We shouted in unison

"Then let's get out there and show them that we can level them no matter what happens!"

"Show them we aren't called Free men for nothing"

"Let's go"

"Let's go" we chorused.

As we approached the court,I could notice some lady in the corner who had her eyes on me,she stared at me as if she was trying to penetrate my soul with those eyes then she looked away to the direction of James in the Phoenix team.

Was she his mum? Or a relative and why was she staring?

Soon we were already playing and we were still tied at all NIL no team had dunked the ball, our coach,Coach Alex had asked us to make a screen of defense since we were playing against a team that deal with attacks.

Then just all of a sudden,when I tried to get past through the defense of the Phoenix,my attack was shut down by James,he was too quick I couldn't even know when I lost possession,it was like I didn't even see him coming at all.

Then all of a sudden I felt this spark inside of me,it was little at first and then just as if I had gotten energy from an unknown source I bounced back and ran faster than I have ever done tried countering James before he had time to shoot his shot, everyone didn't see it coming,my coach was surprised I could tell but then he shouted

"Aim for the hoop"

With the ball back in possession,I wanted to pass on to Cozy but then I could see the hoop from where I stood as it it was really close to me,I felt this urge to take a shot and I did and swoosh,it entered the hoop and that was a tie breaker.

I could hear my coach shout

"Yeah"

The whole crowd on the right side was hailing and chanting the teams' name. Just then James stared at me and bumped me with his shoulder and left,as if It was to intimidate me.

"Crazy shot brother,even I can't cover that kind of distance"

That was Cozy and that was the first time we'd speak,it felt so cool having to get complimented by an elite like Cozy.

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Fash passed by and pat my back

"Keep it up Khode,let them know the name"

And then this ominous feeling engulfed me,like I was being watched and I could hear voices in my head,I could literally hear the voice of every person in the hall and one was different it said look up,hard left.I did that and it was in the direction of that lady from the beginning of the game,she was staring and whispering or talking cause I could see her mouth move and it felt like she was talking to me saying

''General restroom after the game"

I felt odd,was I been schizophrenic on court?

"Coach I need to Substitute" I said to coach Alex.

"What's wrong Khode? The game is just starting and we're taking the lead all thanks to you"

"Coach I'm not feeling good"

"No Khode,you got this,you can do it trust me"

"Get out there and make me proud son"

And that was how coach put me back on the field into an experience that changed my life forever.

"Get him from the Byron"

"Don't let him through"

Swoooossh

The ball went right through our hoop and now the Phoenix team were three points ahead of us.

Pheeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwpppphhhh

That was the referees' whistle,this was the first quarter.As I walked back to the bench I could still feel like I was being watched.

Peeking over my shoulder I could still see that lady staring.

"Nice work out there boys,we need more of you on defense for now" Coach said as he handed Cozy a towel.Looking at me he said

"I gat work for you newbie, you're bait"

Bait!!? My whole workout during tryouts and skill from God knows where all for me to become bait?,those were the thoughts running through my head before coach clarified saying

"I noticed James is the upfront soldier for the Phoenix in this game and with what I heard,he won't change"

"With what I heard?"

"Coach who told you so? Kelly asked

"I mean,they wouldn't be disclosing their strategy to an opponent would they?"

That was right,the Phoenix always played to win and I don't think it'll be wise revealing your strategy to anyone especially an opponent right? So how in heavens did coach hear that?

"Look boys,are you going to question me or play according to plan?"

"James is all out and Simon plays as his backup in case he misses any shot"

"Bruce, you'll be on Simon,Khode you'll be on James"

At that point,Cozy went mad and said

"Why does the newbie get to do that? I'm here coach and I'm an elite"

"Being elite isn't what we need now,we need to win" Coach replied,get back there and win.

We played as coach said,they weren't able to get any close dunks and I countered all their shots throughout the second and third quarter but in the fourth,this happened.

"Pass me the ball" Cozy shouted at Byron

He got the ball and bounced towards the hoop on Phoenix side then all of a sudden nobody moved except me,it was all in slow motion,as I looked around I could see the lady waving at me before exiting the hall and then the game continued and Cozy lost balanced and lost possession of the ball and James grabbed, bounced and dunked the ball bringing us to another tie

52:52

"Cozy you never lost possession before what happened now?" He teased as be bumped into Cozy and left.

Cozy got hot with rage and looked at me saying

"Follow me Khode"

We moved forward gaining ground on the Phoenix part of the court and this time James was in front of Cozy.

Cozy did two turns,passed me the ball and shouted

"20 seconds"

As I jumped j could feel my heart pounding and this time the slow motion started again,I got back and ground,looked at the counter it was stuck at 18 seconds,was I the cause of the slow motion?,who was doing this?I needed answers but at that point what was more important was winning and as I took the shot the whole time pause came to an end and we won.

Nobody else knew what happened,just me.

And why did it happen?

"I always knew you had it in you kid" Cozy said as he gave me a fist bump

On my part I was legit scared,what was going on? AM I A NEW ME OR ITS JUST THE GAME? and who was the LADY?

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To understand this episode more,you might need to start from the beginning of the whole story FREE MEN

Article Type: Story 
Episode: 4
Date: 12/01/2022
Author: Code_FMG