Parents and Children Together Online

My Territory

by Jacqueline P. Walker

PART I

"Ma!! Have you seen my blue shorts? Oh come on, I need them Ma!" hollered Nia. "I haven't seen your shorts Nia. But, I tell you time and time again to put your things in the right place and then you will find them when you need them," answered her Mother. "Oh Ma, I don't need a lecture right now. I need those shorts for basketball tryouts today," replied Nia. "Watch your tone with me, Nia," her Mother responded sternly.

"Ah! Thank goodness! I knew they couldn't be far," sighed Nia. "Bye Ma! I didn't mean to be smart. Wish me luck!!," Nia shouted in one breath. "Good Luck. I'll see you this afternoon," answered her mother as Nia ran out the door.

"Maya, Maya!! wait up. I hope you remembered your shorts!" shouted Nia as she ran to meet her friend. Maya smiled excitedly as she saw Nia. "I remembered my shorts. Girl, I can't believe you're actually trying out," said Maya. "What's that supposed to mean?" asked Nia. "Girl, you know as prissy as you are, sweating aint exactly up your alley," answered Maya. "Prissy? What kind of crack is that?" replied Nia. "Just because I don't curse and I like dressing a certain way doesn't mean I can't bang elbows with the best. I've always been a good athlete and I worked out all summer with my brothers preparing for this," continued Nia. "Girl, I didn't mean no harm. But, I was telling it like it is," said Maya as the two reached the school bus. "Listen Maya, I don't feel like talking anymore. I'll just sit in front by myself," responded Nia. "Suit yourself, girl," answered Maya.

PART II

It seemed that it took an awful long time for three o'clock to arrive. But, it finally came. The halls were crowded with students as Nia ran to her locker in anticipation. She put her books away and grabbed her bag with her clothes for tryouts. "I'll just show that Maya. So called friend she is," thought Nia. Nia ran toward the gym. She ran to shake off her nervousness. "Hi, Miss Athlete," Nia heard across the gym as she entered. It was Maya. "Look, I didn't mean any harm this morning. You always did okay in gym, but this is more than gym. I was always the athlete and you were always Miss Priss. I just can't believe you want to do this," said Maya to Nia. "Look Maya, I have nothing to say to you. I thought we were friends. I never expected you to treat me this way, but I guess as you live you learn.," was Nia's response as stormed off to change. "Fine!!" shouted Maya as Nia walked away.

Miss Laird, the gym teacher, blew her whistle and asked the girls to form a circle so she could give the instructions. There were only four open spots on the team, because eight girls returned from last year's team. There were sixteen girls vying for these four spots. Nia was nervous. Maya was nervous too, but she had a image to uphold; after all, everyone knew what a good athlete she was. They expected her to make the team. Miss Laird split the group into two teams of eight each. Maya and Nia were on different teams. Along with her assistant coaches, she assigned each girl a number to tape to their tee shirt. Then the battle for the four spots began. The girls had to perform drills focused on layup shooting, shooting from spots marked at 5, 10, 15 and 20 feet from the basket, dribbling the length of the floor uncontested as well as contested, and two-on-two passing.

Nia focused on displaying her skills. She kept reminding herself of all the tips her brothers gave her, especially the tip to focus on her perfromance and not how all the other candidates were performing. At the other end of the gym it was a different story. Maya was a bag of nerves and she wanted to see how Nia was doing. "Why did she have to try out? She has everything else. Couldn't she just let me have one thing? Why couldn't she just stay out of my territory," thought Maya.

After the drills, coach Laird called the teams together and asked them to get ready for a 20 minute scrimmage with 5 minute quarters. At the beginning of the last quarter, the ball was stolen from Maya. She chased after her opponent and intentionally fouled her to stop her from scoring. The other girl didn't like that and went after Maya. But, Nia stepped between them. "If you go after her, you go after me too!" said Nia. "It's only a game, it's not life or death. If you dish it out, you'd better be able to take it," continued Nia. The other girl glared at Nia and Maya as she walked to the foul line. Nia looked at Maya and said, "Good foul!" Maya looked at Nia and replied, "It's not life or death is it?" Then she hugged her friend and said, "I'm sorry, I hope you make the team." "Tweet, Tweet", came the sound from coach Laird's whistle. "Are you two trying out or what?" shouted the coach. "We're ready, coach," said Nia quickly as she smiled and winked at her friend.

Finally, the coach's whistle signalled the end of the game. The girls gathered in the middle of the floor. The coach thanked them for coming and advised them that the names of those who made it would be announced in threedays.

As the girls headed for the showers, Nia and Maya walked towards each other. "So, still friends?" asked Maya. "Still friends," replied Nia. "I was just afraid of losing my territory, you know," started Maya. "But, what's the point of having territory, if you lose a friend, if you lose the person who will always watch your back," she finished. "You can have some of my territory any day, 'cause I know you'll watch my back," replied Nia with a grin.

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