by Fresh8 on Mon Jan 03, 2011 11:03 am
Chapter 25
The phone rang again and Sit picked up, “If it’s Isaiah Thomas, tell him I’m busy.”
Sit’s secretary corrected him, “No. It’s actually Woody Hannes.”
“What’s he want?”
“Um…”
Sit was annoyed, “You’re not supposed to try and answer! It’s a rhetorical question.”
“A what?”
“Don’t worry! Just put him through please,” Sit was about to stab his secretary.
“Will Sit speaking.”
Woody Hannes liked to call a lot to try and get scoops but this time he was calling to break one.
“Hey Sit,” Woody said, “Have you heard the news?”
“News about what?” Sit wasn’t in the mood for games.
Woody answered, “The Bucks traded for Rip Hamilton.”
Sit took it in and was even more peeved, “What does that have to do with me?”
Sit was about to cry after having spoken to so many people who were just acting illogically in his books, “Come on man. This is killing me. I can’t speak to anyone with more than half a brain around here!”
There was an awkward pause and Woody said, “Ok, I will call some other time.”
Sit stopped him, “What’s the actual reason you’re calling?”
Woody admitted, “Any moves from you on the horizon?”
All Woody could hear was beep, beep, beep after Sit had hung up on him.
* * *
“When are you coming to play for us?” Spike Lee asked Ty.
The game was stopped and the pair were chatting near the sideline. Spike was standing up in front of his courtside seat with a drink in his hand. Ty was tucking his jersey back in as they waited for the floor sweepers to dry the court after Bogut had taken the charge. The refs were at the scorer’s table to review the charge call.
Ty had only met Spike only a handful of times before, “I don’t know man.”
“So you did ask for a trade here?” Spike was smiling.
“Maybe,” Ty replied.
Spike tried to sell New York to Ty, “Man, everyone loves you here. You got to come play for us. And you can save us from Isaiah.”
Ty laughed as the refs called for play to resume. He high fived Spike then ran back to join the game. The Knicks players were slowly trudging down the floor to set up their zone. Lamar Odom and Ron Artest were the last players to reach their spots. Former Stealth guard Sebastian Telfair was crouching down in defensive stance, ready for Allen Iverson who would bring the ball up for Seattle. Iverson caught the ball of Durant’s pass and then turned and sped down the court as Bassy had predicted. Iverson slowed down as he approached the top of the key. Durant was to his left at the edge of the three point line. He had both arms in the air with Odom keeping a cautious eye on him. Iverson faked the pass to Durant and then flipped the ball the other direction. The ball sailed to Iverson’s right and Ty had cut towards the pass to catch it in stride. He took two dribbles left towards the free throw line and took the jumper off the dribble. It was a swish as the crowd began to clap. Coach Karl had never seen anything like it where an opposing player was being applauded in the Garden.
“Come on man?!” Durant was shaking his head and yelling at Iverson as they ran back down the court, “I was open.”
Iverson shrugged as he reached the halfway line. Odom had got the ball at the baseline and passed the ball in to Bassy. Ty darted quickly in between the pair as he anticipated the flight of the ball. He leapt and intercepted the ball with his right hand and took one dribble before going up strong. He jammed the ball to the joy of the Knicks crowd and landed with both fists clenched in the air. He ran back down the court as the Knicks called a timeout and the pro-Tyson crowd cheering loudly; understandable because their team was down by double digits and they didn’t really have anything else to cheer about. For that small moment, Ty almost swore that he was a New York Knick.
Ty was soaking his feet in ice as he was surrounded by a number of reporters. He had just scored 35 points in front of an adoring crowd of fans who were there to support the team who he had helped beat.
“How bizarre was the game tonight?”
Ty grinned, “I think Knicks fans are just soft.”
“They have a soft spot for you?” one beat writer suggested.
Ty laughed, “I don’t know. To be honest, it was really really weird. I’ve never seen anything like this. I just dropped 30 points on your team and now you’re applauding me? That was just strange.”
“What was it like to play at home again?”
“It’s great to play in front of friends. I always have a great feeling in this building,” Ty stated, “It’s Thanksgiving so I’m just going to go out and enjoy dinner with Rocky and his family. This is where we grew up and it’s fitting to play here tonight.”
Durant also had his own fair share of attention as he was getting changed in front of his locker.
“This is still my team,” he was reiterating to one of the columnists for the New York Times, “I’m annoyed that Coach Karl wants everyone to be scoring buckets. If I can score all the points for us like I have been doing since I was a rookie, I don’t see why others should be having a go. Sharing is all good and everything but I do the best job. I should seeing the basketball a lot more.”
“Reshawn Tyson has been playing very well this season,” one of the reporters dared to ask him, “Is that thanks to Coach Karl’s new team philosophy?”
Durant was shaking his head, “Anyone on this team only plays better because of one thing. And that is me.”
Durant put his indigo Stealth track jacket on and nodded to the reporters in front of him, “I’m letting him take the shots now but once it’s crunch time, everyone knows that I am the man. I’m going to talk to Coach Karl now. It would be good if you guys wrote your stories on my side for once so that I can get some recognition and more touches and shots. This is not a franchise player is to be treated.”
Durant pushed the reporters out of his way and walked out of the room.
The beats were loud and blaring. Girls and guys were on the dance floor. Vince Thompson sat with his partner and watched intently for anything that might look fishy. It was dark in the club but he knew who he was looking out for.
“She’s fine,” his partner tilted his head to the side where a pretty young thing was standing at the bar.
Thompson ignored him, “Stay focused.”
Thompson caught something from the corner of his eye. He looked behind him and saw the suspect. The middle aged male was at the corner of the bar with two younger men. The three of them were engaged in conversation.
“I’m going to see if I can get closer,” Thompson told his partner, “Keep an eye out for me.”
His partner nodded and Thompson got up and walked towards the bar. He casually walked up to the bar and past the trio. They were standing pretty close together so Thompson couldn’t hear them over the music. He stood at the bar just a few meters away from them and ordered a drink. As the bartender scurried away to grab a glass, Thompson looked behind his shoulder to try and recognise if the ‘suspect’ was there.
“It’s him,” Thompson said as he sat down with his drink.
His partner was on his phone, “We’ve got him in here with two other males. Both are of average height and slim build.”
He listened to his instructions and put his phone down, “He said go for it once the swap happens.”
Thompson smiled, “All good.”
The three men left the bar and sat in a booth in the corner of the club. Thompson and his partner kept their eyes on them. Thompson quickly scoffed down his drink while his partner was looking away.
“Where’d it go?” his partner asked him when he saw the empty glass.
Thompson lied, “Tipped it out.”
A bartender came and took the glass away and cleaned their table. After she left, Thompson spotted a fourth male join them.
“He looks sort of familiar,” his partner mumbled to himself.
Thompson was also thinking that the fourth guy looked familiar; he just couldn’t put his finger on where he had seen him before. Then again, it was dark and he couldn’t really see his face that well. He tapped his partner on the shoulder and leaned in close so that he could whisper to him.
“Get ready, I think it’s nearly time.”
Thompson got up again and walked towards the bathrooms. He dialled his phone after checking that no one was watching.
“We’ve got four males in the corner of the premises,” Thompson briefed, “We need backup. Once it all goes down, we’re going to take them jokers down.”
Thompson put his phone back in his pocket and walked back out into the main area of the club. He sat back down at his table.
“Anything happening?”
“Still talking,” his partner said.
“Keep your eyes peeled,” Thompson stated.
Someone tapped Thompson on the shoulder. It was another officer. Thompson acknowledged him and quickly said a few words to him.
“We got everyone in position in here,” Thompson was told, “Get ready to make the arrest. Once it happens here, I will call the chief to get the other team to raid the house.”
Thompson smiled, “Let’s do this.”
Thompson’s partner quickly jumped out of his seat and slapped Thompson on the arm, “Now!”
Thompson turned and shouted, “Freeze! FBI!”
Within seconds, FBI officers filtered into the club and the music stopped soon after. With guns drawn and the lights switched on, the four men had their arms in the air to surrender.
Last edited by
Fresh8 on Mon Jan 03, 2011 11:22 am, edited 1 time in total.