More Than 44 Read online

More than 44

  Phil Wohl

  Copyright 2009 Phil Wohl

  One

  It was the dog days of summer in New York City. Egg sandwiches with American cheese and bacon could have been cooked on the pavement of the concrete jungle, and tempers were boiling in the subway platform heat.

  Dave Abrahams was waiting for the number two train to take him back uptown to his apartment on the Upper West Side, but took a minute to submerge back into his favorite high school basketball daydream.

  There was five seconds left on the clock and his team was down by one point. The ball was handed to Mike Finnegan at half court and his teammates started running a play, like a key was inserted into a car’s ignition.

  Coach Doherty had called for Tony Dorio and Tom O’Malley to set a pick on Dave’s man, but Central High’s Calvin Brown had slipped and fallen down. Dave looked behind himself as the referee’s count on Finnegan reached three. He instinctively came to the ball to relieve the pressure and Jacobs let the ball go.

  Brown scrambled to get his feet and banked into Cameron Breslin as Dave drove to the basket. The defender got back to his feet long enough to tackle Dave before he could release the ball. The referee blew his whistle and then walked toward the scorer’s table, “Shooting foul on number 35, green. Number 44, white, shoots two.”

  One second remained on the clock as Coach Doherty screamed at the referee for a flagrant foul.

  “He wasn’t even going for the ball, Gene!”

  The players set up on the foul line and Coach Simpson of Central High leaned over toward the other referee and calmly said, “Time out,” trying to make Dave think about the shots that he was about to take.

  The only ice water in this steamy high school gymnasium could be found in Dave Abraham’s veins. He had taken so many foul shots in his driveway and countless gyms throughout Long Island that the process was as routine as brushing his teeth.

  “There out of time outs!” Coach Doherty said to the group of five seated in front of him. “When Dave makes these shots we immediately pressure the ball. We’re one second away, gentlemen.” He stood up and looked around the huddle. “This is what we’ve been working for all year… all of our lives! Let’s go get it!”

  The buzzer sounded to end the time out and the coach yelled, “Everyone in here!” All 12 players thrust a hand on the pile. One, two, three, HARD WORK!” the team collectively yelled in unison.

  Dave started his long journey toward the foul line. It had been 25 years since the team had played for a boys’ basketball championship. The town of Bailey Woods was alive with hope as the referee handed the ball to Dave and said, “Two shots, gentlemen. Relax on the first.”

  Dave held the ball in his left hand and rested it against his side. He looked toward the rim and took a deep, long breath. The crowd noise dissipated in his mind and his focus rested unwaveringly on the first shot. He dribbled the ball three times and then bent his knees and released the first shot.

  “Swish,” the net sounded like the blast of a cannon, signaling the game was tied at 64. Dave then saw the second shot in his mind before even going into his pre-shot routine. The ball tickled the front rim, brushed against the backboard, and then dropped through the net. The home crowd erupted as Dave backpedaled toward the opposing rim. Central High attempted a last-second shot that fell short into Breslin's hands. The fans rushed onto the floor as the number two train came roaring into the station, bringing Dave back from his glorious past back into the oppressive heat of the present.

  He was lucky to board one of the subway cars with air conditioning, although this good fortune was tempered by the overcrowded, sardine-like nature of the car. City living had its advantages, but commuting in the summer heat wasn’t one of them.

  Life had gone very well for Dave after graduating high school. His heroics on the court catapulted him to a full athletic scholarship at a local college, where he earned a degree in business and scored over 1,000 points in his four-year career.

  It had been six years since college, and ten years since he graced the halls of Bailey Woods High School. Working for a leading financial publisher and making a six-figure income was satisfying, but images of his exhilarating past often overshadowed many of the endless meetings and routine tasks.

  He emerged from the 96th Street station and steadily walked through the layers of haze to Whole Foods Market. His fiancée, Haley, had called and left a message from him to pick up dinner. There would be no cooking in their small, one-bedroom apartment on that night.

  Dave walked into apartment 21E with his leather briefcase strapped over his left shoulder and a large, brown paper bag cradled in his right arm.

  “Hales?” Dave said as he put the bag down on the kitchen counter.

  “I’m in here changing,” she said from the bedroom.

  A few minutes later, she came out in a pink tank top and a pair of jean shorts. Dave ignored the heat and was instantly turned on by the sight of his barely-clothed fiancée. He quickly approached her, looking for some love and said, “Give me some of that.”

  She sidestepped him and whined, “David, it’s too hot and I’m hungry.”

  Dave shook his head in disbelief and kept walking toward the bedroom.

  “Did you get the mail?” he asked as he struggled to get his moist t-shirt off.

  “Yeah, it’s on the dresser,” she replied.

  He leafed through a few bills until he came to a letter addressed to him from Bailey Woods High School. Dave tossed his shirt on the bed and quickly opened the letter.

  Noise from the other room barely delayed his focus. “Did you get green beans?”

  Dave didn’t answer. “David?”

  He seemed bothered, “There in the bottom under the stuffed turkey.”

  She rifled through the bag, “Got it!”

  Dave opened the latter, which read:

  Dear Dave,

  We are proud to announce that you have been selected to be enshrined in the newly-created, Bailey Woods Hall of Fame.

  The ceremony will take place on September 17th in the Dolphins gymnasium.

  Please reply by…

  “What do you think about a June wedding?” Haley asked as she popped a plate in the microwave.

  Dave’s mind had placed him inside the Dolphins gymnasium, so he distractedly replied, “Yeah, it sounds great.”

  “So, I should start planning the wedding?” Haley said with a half-smile on her face.

  Dave came in with a pair of basketball shorts and without a shirt.

  “I haven’t seen you wear those shorts in a while,” Haley stated.

  Dave helped her carry the plates and glasses to their small, round table.

  “Yeah, I just got this letter from high school,” Dave said as he tried to pass her the letter.

  She rolled her eyes, “And?” she said in a slightly irritated tone.

  Dave hesitated and looked at Haley, “Something wrong?”

  “Did you hear what I said about the wedding?”

  Dave looked confused, “Is someone getting married?”

  Haley took a deep breath and replied, “I was talking about our wedding, David.”

  The baking sun must have gotten to his head, “We’re getting married?”

  The only thing worse than waving a red flag in front of a bull, is to mess with a bride-to-be’s wedding plans. The dinner was pretty quiet after that misstep, and Haley never asked Dave again about his high school letter until he mentioned it a week before the event.

  “I’m going to Bailey Woods next weekend,” Dave said as they watched television.

  She looked puzzled, “Weren’t we supposed to around the city and pick a plac
e to get married?”

  The only thing on Dave’s mind was immortality, not immanent mortality.

  He pulled out the letter, which never was more than a few feet out of his sight, and handed it to Haley.

  She read through the letter and said, “How come you didn’t tell me about this before?”

  Dave thought carefully before he responded this time. “That was the night you first asked me about setting a date.”

  She rolled back her mind, “And you said something stupid.”

  There wasn’t much each person could say after that statement. A few minutes later, Haley proclaimed, “I’ll get my mom to go with me. She was bugging me to go, anyway.”

  Dave nodded his head and realized that Haley wanted to go with her mom all along. She decided to skip an important day in the life of her fiancée in favor of a self-serving activity of her own. Dave also realized that Haley had absolutely nothing to do with his high school exploits, and the day would be better spent around the people that experienced it all, his parents, his friends, and his younger sister.