3WW (Fear, Ignore, Weightless): The Championship

‘It was one of the best moments of my life,’ he recalled to the small crowd that had gathered around the bar. ‘We were down by three with 12 seconds left.’ He swayed a bit in his chair; he’d had one too many vodka tonics. ‘LaSean inbounded to Derrick, who baseball passed it to me half court. I caught it, turned, and shot. I ignored the guy coming at me and let it fly as he hit my arm. The buzzer went off.’ He took a slurp from the tiny straw. He didn’t notice that his wife – with whom he’d earlier had a big fight – entered the bar. ‘I made it. So, the game was tied. But I had a free throw ‘cause the guy fouled me.’ He stood, almost knocked over the stool. ‘I had no fear.’ He made a motion as if bouncing a basketball. Right to left to right. And again. He lifted his hands above his head in mock basketball shooting fashion and let his right wrist snap forward. ‘Nothin’ but net,’ he all but whispered. He plopped back onto the stool and looked around at the intrigued crowd. ‘I felt weightless. Like I floated up above myself and saw the whole gym go crazy.’ He sat silent for a moment staring out into nothingness. He shook his head slightly, looked at the crowd. ‘And that’s how we won the 2007 Arkansas high school championship game.’ His audience was satisfied. Someone even offered to buy him a drink.

‘Didn’t your whole team get disqualified because you were actually 22 and lied about your age?’ He heard her grating voice behind him. He turned back towards the bar and grabbed his almost empty vodka tonic. He ignored the now perplexed audience and stared ahead silently.

That someone decided not to buy the drink after all.