“I can’t even dribble. My eyes are too weak.”

“You don’t need your eyes to dribble. I’ll show you after class.”

Once the bell rang and our teacher declared the game over, with our team the winner by a dozen points, Samuel stayed behind with a basketball under his arm, which he passed to me and I thankfully caught. He told me to close my eyes.

“Just feel the ball when it comes off your hand, and then listen to when it bounces on the ground.”

I did as I was told as he put his hand on top of mine and we bounced the ball together. After a while, he took his hand off and I felt the sensation of that object’s textured surface against my palm and heard the pleasant squeal of the ball, almost like a breath, right after the thud when it bounced on the ground. Samuel was right. I didn’t need to look at the ball to dribble, and I even managed to walk and bounce the ball at the same time before we headed off to the canteen for a snack.

My lessons with Samuel continued over the next few weeks, even though it soon became clear that while I could manage to dribble and even pass all right, the basket was just a blur so I couldn’t shoot the ball. Still, Samuel’s lessons allowed me to do a credible enough job whenever I had to do my few minutes of required playing time. Through Samuel, I started hanging out with a loose gang of boys from our class, kids like Dek Igaya, Don Flores, and Ramil Cruz.

It felt different to be friends with a group who regularly got together, not like my previous schools where I just made friends with a couple of kids who did well in class like me. I also liked that the group didn’t have a specific leader, or it would be Samuel and not me if it did, except he was too easygoing to care.

Samuel and I were equivalents in that we were both talented—him at sports and me at academics—and through him, I learned how to stand out while remaining humble. Samuel was always happy to help, quick to share credit when our team won, and didn’t act superior even though he was better than everyone else. I had a habit of showing off whenever I could, how I got perfect scores on tests without studying too hard or grasped material faster than the other kids. Over time, I learned to control my need to always be better, to help Samuel and our other friends do their schoolwork.