Colin the captain descended the stadium stairs, sat down on the bottom step, then started tying his shoes and prepping in some private, elaborate way, and the rest of the guys kept chattering. Martin and Neil were asking Ben whether he had any plans to play internationally; they had heard of a few guys training in England over summers. The attention felt good, and Ben said he had thought about it but still had more research to do on where would be the best place to go.

And then Manley Price came in through the double doors at the top of the stairs, smiling as though covering some recent mischief. Price wore the khakis, docksiders, and navy sweater that had all come to seem like part of his body.

Immediately everyone sat up straighter, and Rory seemed to vibrate with suppressed activity. Colin seemed to dim. Markson and Price shook hands, but they might as well have been from different species.

Rory almost pantomimed the act of looking around to see if everyone was present, even holding out his pointer and middle fingers and counting the assembled kids by twos. Price stepped to the side of the double doors and leaned against the wall, designating himself an observer but clearly relishing his influence on the room. Markson walked a little way in and sat on one of the top stadium steps. Rory nodded with satisfaction that they were all there.

Rory cleared his throat. “All right, should we start with boast-drop-drive?”

No one seemed to mind that the captain wasn’t directing this, and everyone started shifting and taking up their stuff in a way that was like a collective nodding.

“Okay, cool,” continued Rory. “Gary, why don’t you, Josh, and Sam take Court One. Ben, you’re cool to hit? All right, you, Neil, and Josiah—”

“Let’s have Ben and Colin hit,” Price said just loudly enough for everyone to hear. Rory went quiet, and Colin seemed to pull further into himself.

Ahmed looked at Ben. Even through his hope to fit in with the rest of the team, his wondering whether everyone was looking at his all-whites with appreciation or scorn, he saw a change in Ben. As soon as Price spoke, it seemed as though the particles of Ben’s body cohered into a dense lattice.

Ben looked back at Price and Price nodded. Markson was looking down, folding and refolding a bandanna.

Ben came down the stadium steps with his racquet in his left hand and smiled to Colin in a way that he meant to be respectful.