“Lonnie got him before,” Paul said. “Lonnie’s going to get him again.”

“Yeah.” Cal looked away. “You guys meet me here at three. We’ll go downtown together.”

It was only an hour before we were supposed to meet, and no one really wanted to leave. Some of the guys started drifting out into the center, playing pool or Ping-Pong. I went with them. I didn’t think that Cal wanted to talk to me. I was talking to Jo-Jo’s sister when Cal called me over.

“What I said earlier was true,” Cal said.

“What you said about what?” I asked.

“They don’t want you to play.” Cal went over and closed the door and locked it. “That’s why O’Donnel called me into his office. He said you were already thrown out of one ball game. If you play, we have to forfeit.”

I couldn’t say anything. I just sat there and looked at him. I didn’t know whether to be mad or just break down and cry.

“And what did you say?” I asked.

“All the things you thinking of now,” Cal said. “Things like why can’t you play? Things like who the hell is this tournament for in the first place? That’s what I said. And after I finished saying all that, I looked at him and he looked at me and he said no, that’s not how it’s going to be.”

“And that’s that?”

“I asked him could you suit up and sit on the bench if you don’t play,” Cal said. “And he said it would be okay if you kept your mouth shut during the game. No yelling at referees, no nothing!”

I couldn’t even see him through the tears. I didn’t want him to see me either. I turned away from him.

“What game did you give away?” I asked. “This ain’t no damn game. This is just a lot of crap piled up making itself look like a damn game.”

“Look, Lonnie, the game is more than what goes on out on a basketball court. That’s just the way we play it, running around in sneakers and bouncing a ball. Everybody plays the game with what they got. Trust me, man.”

“Why the hell should I trust you?”

“How about because I need you to? How about that being the best reason to take a chance on me?”

“I trust you,” I said. “It ain’t your fault.”

“Some of it is,” Cal said. “But trust me anyway.”

“The games they play,” Cal said, picking up the phone, “sometimes they forget that anybody can play them once they learn it. And even the losers learn something.”

He dialed a number and asked for Jack. I looked up at him, and he looked away. He picked up a Coke that was on the table and drank from it while he waited.

“Who you calling?” I asked.

“Hello, Jack?” He spoke into the phone. “This is Cal. Look, I’ve been thinking about what you said the other day. Look, man, I don’t want any trouble from you. All I want is to get out of this mess, man.… Yeah.… Yeah. You heard?… Yeah, well, we’re playing tonight at five o’clock. Uh-huh, it’s going to be on channel seven. Yeah.… Look, can I get some action on the game someplace?”