Hoop Dreams

by Aaliyah Jackson

  Chapter 10

  “Come on,” Phaedra said as she popped her head around the door. “The limo is here already and we need to get going.”

  “I’m almost ready,” Darius said when he glanced up from tying his laces.

  He sat for a second after he finished and looked around the smart bedroom of the luxury Las Vegas apartment that was now his home. It was such a difference from the house he grew up in that he almost couldn’t believe it, but it was his and just one of the many perks that came with being the point guard for the Jackalopes.

  “Hurry up,” Phaedra encouraged him.

  “OK… OK,” he let out and got to his feet. “I’m not even sure why you’re coming along to this. You’ll be bored out of your mind.”

  “I’m not planning to stay with you,” she replied and laughed. “I’ll have a limo to play with once you get out, so I plan to make good use of it and my credit card.”

  “Go easy on the shopping,” he said as he crossed the room to her. “You’ve already filled a wardrobe with more clothes and shoes than you can ever wear. It’s not like you really need any more.”

  “A girl can never have too many pairs of shoes,” Phaedra joked. “I mean, don’t I look good in these pretty heels?”

  Darius glanced down at the black open-toed stilettos she was wearing before his gaze slid along her lithe legs to the hem of her short skirt. The familiar flicker of animal lust reared up as he stared at Phaedra’s pretty curves, but he needed to concentrate on what he was about to do.

  “Well?” she said when she put her hands on her hips and posed.

  “You look great,” he replied.

  She came closer to wrap her arms around her his neck and pulled his head down to kiss him on the cheek. Her lips then slid across his cheek to get to his ear.

  “I’ll wear them for you tonight,” she whispered. “Along with the pretty new lingerie I buy today.”

  She slid her hand to the front of his jeans and giggled seductively as her fingertips grazed over the stirrings of an erection coming to life.

  “It’s not the time,” Darius said as he knocked her hand away.

  “I know,” she said in a slightly irked voice. “I’ve been telling you we need to go for the last ten minutes.”

  “So, let’s do it then,” Darius replied.

  He concentrated on calming down when she removed her arms from around his neck and the pair of them stepped out of the bedroom then made their way to the front door of the huge apartment. They were silent as they walked to the elevator and rode it down to the ground floor. The limo was parked on the street right outside the building entrance and the concierge came outside with them then moved in front to get to the vehicle first. He held the door open for them to get in.

  “Have a nice day, sir,” he said before closing the door and returning to the building.

  “Good morning,” the limousine driver started when they were sitting comfortably. “My name is Joseph and if there’s anything you need, just let me know.”

  “Thanks,” Darius replied, but neither he nor Phaedra said any more.

  The limo joined the flow of mid-morning traffic and Darius stared out at the passing scene. He already knew that playing NBA basketball wasn’t all about being on court, but didn’t realize that the endorsement side of the profession would take up quite so much of his time. The commercial he was about to shoot was for a luxury brand of watch, and the fact that he would be one of the nationwide ambassadors for the company was something that unnerved him.

  His recovery from the accident gathered pace when he first arrived in Las Vegas, and it wasn’t long before he was getting fitter and stronger than he’d ever been before. It gave him the confidence that he was unbeatable, and he was able to demonstrate that to great effect on the practice court and, more importantly, during the warm up games leading up to the season opener. That got him some attention in the Las Vegas press as they speculated on how the new team would perform, but it was a local story that didn’t really extend past the sports fans in the city.

  The scrutiny of the local media became more intense as he put on starring performances in the first couple of games of the new season. The Las Vegas Jackalopes were a minor footnote in comparison to the giants of the sport, however, and a decent start to their first NBA campaign didn’t garner a great deal of interest further afield. That suited Darius fine, since it kept him slightly under the radar. The threat of his crimes being exposed may have receded, but there was no way he could get the danger of it happening out of his mind completely.

  He suspected that more exposure on a national level wouldn’t go unnoticed in his old stomping grounds, and that brought with it the possibility that someone he knew would try to get in touch. The risk of it being his family was headed off when he asked Kent to get in touch with his parents and explain that he no longer wanted anything to do with them. He didn’t know exactly how the older man went about doing this, but there was guilt to having cut them out of his life so brutally. What his old friends thought was another matter, but he couldn’t imagine any of them getting on a plane and coming to visit him in Las Vegas.

  “Can we drive down the Strip?” Phaedra asked to disturb his thoughts when she leaned forward to speak to Joseph.

  “Do we have enough time?” Darius asked.

  The driver checked the clock on the dashboard of the limo.

  “It shouldn’t be a problem,” he replied. “It’s a slight detour from our route, but I can do it if you want and still get you to your destination in plenty of time.”

  “Take us there then,” Phaedra encouraged him.

  “Yes miss,” he replied.

  Phaedra settled down beside Darius and linked her arm through his. It made him turn to look at her, but she didn’t notice as she enjoyed the Vegas sights. The profile of her face stirred a memory and for a brief second he could have sworn he was staring at Gemini. It freaked him out, so he looked away as recollections of his ex-girlfriend surfaced in his mind and it brought out mixed emotions.

  Even though he was now in a relationship with Phaedra, he still missed Gemini and there was no pretending otherwise. That she didn’t come to see him at the hospital still angered him, but he knew he was partly responsible for that because of their argument on the night of the accident. He sometimes wished he could make up with her or at least tell her he was sorry and didn’t mean the words he said that night, but the risk of contacting her was too great and he suspected she wouldn’t want to talk to him anyway.

  “A penny for your thoughts,” Phaedra said.

  Darius cleared the images of Gemini from his head when he heard the words and hesitated briefly.

  “I was just… umm, thinking about the work I’m about to do,” he lied.

  There was no doubt that Phaedra would be unhappy if she knew what he was really thinking about, and he wasn’t about to tell her that getting his ex-girlfriend out of his head was more difficult than he imagined.

  “You’ll be fine,” Phaedra replied.

  “Yeah, I guess,” Darius replied unconvincingly.

  Getting in front of the camera wasn’t something he was entirely comfortable with yet, and he was still nervous about doing it. He knew it was a skill he would need to master, with product endorsements and appearances on screen being a massive part of the potential earnings he could make in his career. His growing fame would get him deals and it was something that Kent Carmichael was keen for him to do. Darius knew he was being used to raise the profile of the team as much as anything else, but he wasn’t averse to making money and wasn’t about to turn down any offers that came his way.

  Phaedra squealed when she saw they were on the Strip and Darius joined her in looking out of the window at the places they were passing. Joseph slowed the vehicle and started to point out some of the landmarks. It wasn’t their first trip along the celebrated stretch of road, but they still marveled at the huge hotels and world-famous attractions they were looking at.

  �
��We have to come here at night,” Phaedra commented as they passed New York-New York.

  “It really is something to see when it’s all lit up,” Joseph said. “The night skyline of the Strip is definitely a sight of the city you should take in.”

  “You just want to gamble,” Darius joked when he met the gaze of his girlfriend.

  “It would be fun,” she replied. “I’ve never been in a casino or a hotel as big as they have here.”

  “I don’t want you in a casino,” Darius went on and was only saying it half in jest. “You spend enough money as it is.”

  “Spoilsport,” she told him and laughed as she dug her elbow in his side.

  “Are you trying to injure me?” he teased her.

  “No way,” she answered. “That would turn the money tap off and we can’t have that.”

  Darius stared at her as she looked out of the window and couldn’t shake the slight feeling that’s what Phaedra saw him as. She told him she loved him every day and she certainly went all out to give him great sex, but there was a sense that if his money and fame disappeared… so would she.

  He shook off the notion as they came to the end of the short sightseeing trip. Joseph turned off the Strip to get them moving in the direction of their destination and twenty minutes later the limo came to a stop outside a large skyscraper.

  “The offices of Casper Villiger are on the twentieth floor, sir,” Joseph said.

  “Thanks,” Darius said.

  He wasn’t sure what age the driver was, but it still seemed strange to his ears to have an older man call him sir.

  “I keep the limo,” Phaedra said with a grin when he turned to her.

  “Is that OK, Joseph?” Darius asked.

  “I’m at your disposal for the day,” the driver said. “I’m happy to do whatever you need.”

  “See…” Phaedra went on. “He’ll drive me wherever I want to go.”

  “Take it easy with the credit card,” Darius told her. “I’ll give you a call later to let you know what’s happening.”

  “Yes dear,” she said with a smile as she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

  Darius reached for the door handle to let himself out and watched as the limousine rejoined the traffic. He then moved towards the entrance of the building and stopped to look around when he got inside. There was a reception counter straight in front of him, but he already knew the floor he wanted and simply glanced around to see where the elevators were. Moving across to them, he pressed the button on the wall and the doors of one opened straight away. He was the only person waiting, so he moved inside and the number twenty lit up when he selected the floor he wanted. The ride up to it was uninterrupted and he saw the main entrance to the Casper Villiger offices straight away when he stepped out to the hallway. Kent Carmichael was waiting in the reception area and he walked across to him.

  “Morning, Mr. Carmichael,” he started.

  “The limo turned up then,” the older man replied.

  “Yup,” Darius replied. “It arrived right on time and we just got here.”

  “We?” Mr. Carmichael queried.

  “Yeah,” Darius answered. “Phaedra came with me.”

  “Where is she?”

  The question threw Darius slightly off guard and he wondered if his boss was going to be annoyed that he let his girlfriend take the vehicle.

  “Oh… well,” he went on. “I let her have the limousine, but she’ll be here later.

  “Fine,” Mr. Carmichael said. “Come on and I’ll introduce you to the executive responsible for the commercial. She’ll take you through what’s needed today.”

  “OK,” Darius said and followed as the other man walked off.

  He was slightly surprised at the relaxed attitude of the team owner to Phaedra taking the limousine, but wasn’t about to complain about it. Kent led the way to an inner office and knocked on the door before stepping inside. The attractive woman sitting at the desk looked to be in her forties and she stood up to greet them as they moved over to her desk.

  “This is Constance Harper,” Mr. Carmichael said.

  “And there’s no need for an introduction to you,” Constance greeted Darius. “It’s a pleasure to meet such an up-and-coming athlete and we’re proud that you’ve agreed to be an ambassador for our brand.”

  “It’s my pleasure, Mrs. Harper,” he replied as he shook her hand.

  “Call me Constance,” she insisted before going on. “How much do you know about our products?”

  “Only what I’ve seen on previous commercials,” Darius said. “Up until recently your watches were a bit out of my price range.”

  “Well, you’ll be glad to know that the deal your manager has secured for you includes one of our watches,” Constance went on. “You can take your pick from the selection we have today and we’ll expect to see it on your wrist in the weeks and months ahead.”

  “Is there anything else you need from me?” Mr. Carmichael asked.

  “You’re not staying?” Darius asked,

  “I did intend to,” the older man replied. “But there’s a problem at the stadium that needs my attention, so I need to go there.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Constance said.

  “Give me a call later,” Mr. Carmichael told Darius then walked to the door and left.

  “Let’s go through to the studio,” Constance said. “We can get started with the work right away.”

  “Sure,” Darius agreed.

  He followed the business executive through to a small photographic studio and once inside they walked over to a table laid out with watches.

  “What do you think?” Constance asked.

  “I can see why people like them,” Darius said. “They are impressive.”

  “Then let’s get you ready.”

  Darius was taken across to a small dressing table in the corner of the room, where a makeup girl got to work on getting him looking his best. The wardrobe crew took over afterwards to find him a selection of outfits before the work of taking the photographs began. This went on for the next couple of hours as he posed with a selection of the watches.

  “Where will they be shown?” he asked when they finished.

  “They’ll primarily be used for adverts in sports publications,” Constance told him. “We’ll see how that is received and then consider if we go on to doing a billboard campaign.”

  “This will be across the country?” Darius asked.

  “Most of the publications we advertise in have a nationwide distribution network, so they are sold from coast to coast,” Constance told him. “If we run with the billboard campaign, it will start in Las Vegas only. You already seem to be getting plenty of attention here for your performances on the court, but if and when your fame spreads further afield, we may go nationwide with the billboards as well. We’ll take you through what we need for the commercials now and they will be shown on all the TV networks.”

  Darius was handed a short script of what he was expected to say and he stood practicing it for a short while with the director of the commercial. He tried to control his nerves when the cameras were rolling, but getting it right was more difficult than he imagined. The crew was patient with him, with his performance improving and becoming more natural on each new take, and they kept working until they got what they needed from him. He was glad when it was over and he returned with Constance to her office.

  “That was great,” she said. “We’ll have a look at the pictures and the video footage over the next couple of days and be in touch if we need any more from you.”

  She lay the watches down on her desk between them and smiled.

  “Perks of the job,” Darius said as he looked down at them and returned her smile as his voice got cheeky. “So… which of them is the most expensive?”

  Constance let out a laugh.

  “Just opt for the one you would buy if you were in a store,” she said. “We want the exposure of you wearing it as much as possible, so take the one you
like best.”

  Darius already knew and immediately picked up the pilot’s style watch with a deep blue face, white numbering and a gunmetal band. He secured it around his wrist and stared down at it.

  “It looks good on you,” Constance said.

  “Thanks,” Darius replied. “I appreciate you bringing me on board as an ambassador for your company.”

  “It’s our pleasure,” she told him. “I have to be honest and say I’m not a huge basketball fan, but when we decided to use a player from the sport for an advertising campaign, there was only one person in the frame. What I was told from those in the know is that you’re destined for big things.”

  “I hope so,” Darius said. “It would be good if the Jackalopes could put Las Vegas on the basketball map.”

  “I think you have more than just hope on your side,” Constance said as she got to her feet.

  Darius followed suit and reached out to shake her hand.

  “I’ll try and get your watch shown on primetime as much as possible,” he said.

  “We’ll be in touch,” Constance replied. “Do you need me to show you the way out?”

  “I’ll manage,” he told her.

  They shook hands again at the door of her office before he headed in the direction of the exit. He brought his phone out of his pocket before he got there and sat down on one of the chairs in the reception area as he dialed Phaedra’s number.

  “Where are you?” he asked when she answered the call.

  “I’m at the Fashion Show Mall on the Strip,” she replied. “Is that you finished for the day?”

  “Yeah, they got everything they wanted,” he replied.

  “OK, I’ll head over to where you are now,” Phaedra told him.

  Darius looked at his watch to see it was now just after two in the afternoon and decided to get in a couple of hours of practice to end the day.

  “Just come to the stadium at five o’clock,” he said. “I need a run out on the court after the last few hours.”

  “You’re sure?” Phaedra replied.

  “Yeah,” he told her. “I’m not in the mood for sitting waiting thirty minutes for you to turn up. I can catch a taxi to the stadium. Just get Joseph to stop at the main front entrance at five and I’ll meet you there.”

  “OK, love you.”

  The line went dead as Phaedra hung up and Darius found himself glad he didn’t have to reciprocate her last sentiment. It made him feel slightly guilty that he didn’t really want to tell the woman he was living with that he loved her, but he pushed the thought aside quickly and got to his feet.

  “Mr. Darnell.”

  It was the woman behind the reception desk that spoke his name and he assumed he was about to get a message about the work he just carried out as he approached her. He wanted to just leave the offices and hoped he wasn’t about to be asked to do more that afternoon.

  “I shouldn’t really be doing this,” the woman said when he got to the desk.

  “Doing what?” Darius said and frowned.

  “My son is a huge basketball fan and my husband took him to the last Jackalopes game,” the receptionist went on. “He was raving about you when he came home and I wondered if you could autograph this picture for him.”

  Darius glanced down to see one of his promotional pictures on the desk and let out a laugh.

  “Sure,” he said. “I can do that for you. What’s his name?”

  The woman told him as she handed over a pen and he wrote a quick message to her son and signed his name on the picture.

  “Thank you,” the woman said. “I think you just made me the best mum in the world.”

  Darius laughed again.

  “Glad I could help,” he replied before turning away to head for the exit and walk out towards the elevators.

  His fame was obviously spreading in Las Vegas and that was confirmed to him when he got down to street level and hailed a taxi. The driver knew who he was straight away and talked about his debut games for the entire trip to the stadium. The stream of conversation washed over Darius, without him actually having to say much, and the encounter was another indication that his anonymous life of before was coming to an end. He paid the fare when he got to his destination then walked inside the front entrance of the stadium.

  It always amazed him how quiet the place could be during the day in comparison to the frenzied atmosphere of a game night. Being in the glare of the spotlight when he was playing was a massive kick with no equal, but he also enjoyed the quiet of being on the practice court on his own. It reminded him of being in his parents’ yard and that thought was on his mind as he went through a few warm up exercises before picking up a ball.

  He felt good as the rapid burst of acceleration got him inside the three point line and he drove forward to launch himself at the basket. The spring in his legs carried him high and he slammed the ball through the hoop. The regime of training with a professional team was certainly improving his physical condition, but Darius knew there was more to it than that. The daily injections of EPO were definitely giving him a crucial edge over teammates and opponents alike that was standing him head and shoulders above them. The feeling of invincibility was growing stronger by the week and he could push himself to the limit and still keep going strong.

  It was evident again in his solitary practice session and even at the end of a punishing two hour session the spring was still there in his muscles to easily carry him up to the basket over and again. When he saw the hands on the wall clock reach twenty-minutes to five, he stepped off the practice court and returned to the locker room to have a quick shower. He got dressed afterwards then walked out towards the main entrance. It was just before five when he got outside, but there was no sign of the limo and he dropped down on one of the benches.

  The hunger of a long day of work hit him and he looked around to see a solitary hot dog seller set up across the street. It wasn’t exactly the diet of a professional athlete, but he didn’t want to wait until he got home to have something to eat, and in the absence of any other options he decided to get himself one.

  “Darius Darnell,” the man said.

  “Yeah, it’s me,” Darius replied and laughed.

  “You’re tearing up the court,” the hotdog vendor said. “Are you going to take the Jackalopes all the way to the Championship?”

  “Well, let’s not get carried away,” he said and gave his order.

  The man prepared the hotdog and Darius brought out his wallet to get the money to pay for it. As he took the bills out, something fell to the ground and he knelt down to pick it up. The sight of the photo booth picture of him and Gemini laughing took him by surprise and the memory of when it was taken flashed through his head. He didn’t even hear the man speaking at first, but the voice suddenly pierced into his consciousness.

  “Your hotdog is ready,” the vendor said for the third time.

  “Oh… yeah, I…” Darius stammered as he shoved the picture in his wallet then held out the money to pay.

  “You’re the man,” the vendor said when he handed over the hotdog. “I hope you run riot in the next game.”

  “Thanks,” Darius replied.

  The adulation of fans was something he’d dreamed about when he was a kid, with nothing more than a hope that he would make it big. In the last few hours he had signed an autograph for a receptionist, been recognized and feted by a taxi driver and just been told he was the man by a fast food seller. He suspected it was just the start of things to come, but was surprised that it wasn’t really giving him the good feeling he expected it would. If anything, the thought of it was making him slightly downcast as he crossed the street and returned to one of the empty benches in front of the stadium.

  He sat eating the hotdog as his mind ticked over and couldn’t stop himself opening his wallet when he finished the fast food meal. Bringing out the photo of him and Gemini, he sat staring at it and wondered what she would make of where he was now. They’d shared the experience of gr
owing up in a poor neighborhood and he knew that she would enjoy the trappings of success, but also that she would have just as happily lived with him if he was one of the masses enjoying an ordinary life with a normal job.

  “Well, there’s not much chance of that happening now, is there?” he said and shook his head.

  He glanced at the expensive watch on his wrist then over his shoulder to the stadium where he might end up being a superstar. The life he’d wanted since he was a child was coming to him and he should have been the happiest man alive… but there was something missing.

  The honk of a horn made him look to the street and he saw the jet-black limousine that he was about to be driven home in. There was a beautiful girl inside it that was likely carrying some sexy lingerie that she would put on display for him that evening. He glanced at the photograph in his hand and knew he should probably throw it in the trash can with the hot dog wrapper. He couldn’t bring himself to do it, though, and discretely returned it to his wallet before getting to his feet to walk to the vehicle.

  “Is everything alright?” Phaedra asked and leaned across to kiss him on the cheek when he was sitting next to her.

  “Yeah,” Darius said as he forced a smile onto his face.

  There was no shaking off the thought that things really weren’t alright though as the limo got moving to begin the drive home.