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Show basketball standard on his garage. Every day during the summer she would go through the back gate into Laura's yard and play basketball. A large Douglas fir sheltered the driveway from the hot afternoon sun. She loved the rhythmic sound of the ball bouncing on the cement driveway, and the carefree way she could toss the ball over her shoulder without having to worry if her toes were pointed just right of her chin tilted just so. Usually Laura's brother was there too, if it was late enough in the afternoon and he was off work. Sometimes they played one on one, and even though he always won, it was still fun. Afterward, he would show her how to do a lay up, and how to guard an opponent by keeping one extra step ahead of him. It was such a habit to play ball in the afternoons, that Laura's brother joked with Kim that she was bound to have withdrawal symptoms when she went away to Miss Putnam's. "Hey, Mimi," Kim said, feeling a weird dizziness coming on, "It's getting kind of stuffy in here. Don't you think we should open the closet door?" "We have at least an hour's worth of air before we pass out. And don't change the subject. Do you mean to tell me that if you play basketball for fun, you can never be good at it?" said Mimi. "Not exactly." 50 |