Everybody said it was clear. The first game we were supposed to play was against the Morningside Comanches. I had seen them play a couple of times. They weren’t much except for this guy they called Stealer John. Stealer John had a nice game. He was one of these guys that could stay high all the time and still keep his game together. He looked about forty-nine years old, but he was supposed to be the same age as me. I figured I’d be holding him.

Everything would have been cool except for Lenny. Cal put Lenny on the team and made Jo-Jo sit on the bench. Lenny’s game was a gym game. He was the kind of cat that could play okay with about nine referees watching that nobody touched him, but he wasn’t much in the playground. Cal said that he would help the team play together better.

When we got to the gym for the first game, there was a crowd there. I was surprised because mostly these tournament games didn’t amount to much. There were a few white guys there in suits—I figured they must have been scouts or something.

Stealer John got the opening tap and drove right for the basket. He went up and jammed, and everybody on the sideline started calling out his name. It was like a chant. STEAL-LER! STEAL-LER! Paul brought the ball down and tried a behind-the-back pass to Ox, and Stealer intercepted the ball and started downcourt again. He slowed the ball up when I got to it. Then he started moving to my right at the top of the key. He pointed to a spot on my right, and I thought that he was pointing to a spot for somebody to set a pick. I looked over, and he faked to my left. Then I jumped to the left and he went around me on the right side and I slipped and he jammed. That was his second jam in a row.

We went down, and Lenny fed me the ball, cutting across the lane. Stealer was on me, but I had half a step on him. I spotted Ox under the hoop, waving his arms. I could have either passed or went for the bucket myself. I went for the bucket. Ox’s man, he must have lost Ox, so he switched over on me, came up, and threw my shot away. They scored again.

Paul hit a jumper. Then I stole the ball and got ahead of everybody and went up for the jam and hit the rim. The ball bounced out to Stealer, and he was off. I went after him, and when he put a move on to go around Lenny, I caught up with him. He started a drive, only he dribbled the ball too high and I went for it and got a piece of it and he went into me and we both fell down. They called a two-shot foul on me, and then there’s Jo-Jo tapping me on the shoulder and telling me I’m out the game.