For Chris who painted the basketball key on the backyard patio and for everyone who played backyard basketball at the Burnham Avenue Court
ONE Game Face The noise in the gym was so loud Sameer could feel it rumbling up through his chair and thrum ming in his chest It shook the scorers table where he was sitting and jittered the pen beside the score sheet The few adults in the gym had their hands over their ears shaking their heads in alarm and giving each other pained smiles Some kids in the crowd were doing the wave and the non-waving sections were drumming their feet in a deafening frenzy on the bleachers as the seconds ticked down on the halftime break Even during this pause in the basketball game the Gladys Spinoza Junior High gym was a riot of cheering chaos 1
