Creative Writing Challenge - Task #2 - A Basketball Bond

Here is my Task #2 for @steemfluencer Creative Writing Challenge!

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It was a warm summer day back in 1935. The place was Lister Park in Evansville, Indiana.

Joey, thirteen years old at the time, stepped on the court to play basketball with some of the older high school boys. As the game went on their was a boy sitting against the fence watching.

When the games concluded the boy came up to Joey and said, "Hi my name is Tommy, how did you get the older kids to let you play?"

Joey responded "my older brother is friends with them."

"Do you think you can get me in the game next time?"

Joey looked at him with skepticism and uttered, "depends, can you play?"

At which point Tommy knocked the ball from his hands and ran off to make a layup. For the next hour they played a game of one on one until the sun went down.

As Tommy walked out of the park to head home, he yelled to Joey "see ya tomorrow!"

Nearly every night for the rest of the summer Joey and Tommy would meet at the park to play ball.

As they both got into high school, they played on the varsity team together. They became known as the dynamic duo as Tommy would setup Joey for good shots all game long, leading to him winning the scoring title in his senior year while Tommy one the assists crown.

The two went everywhere together and just after graduating high school they both were drafted into the Navy to fight in World War II.

Those were crazy times, with many days behind enemy lines. However, they always made it back as they had one another's back all the times.

A few years later, after the war ended the two of them went back home to Evansville and looked to start lives there. On the flight back to the states they both looked at one another and said "I cannot wait to find a game!" and then began to laugh out loud.

Sure enough, first thing they did upon arriving home was visiting the local church gym to see if the guys still played there. It turns out they did, same time as they always had.

Many of the faces were familiar and there were a few new ones, guys that were a few years younger.

One of the guys who played with them on the high school team stopped in the middle of the game and yelled, "hey everybody, would you look at this. The dynamic duo have graced us with their presence!"

Everyone got a good chuckle out of it, especially Tommy and Joey.

The two got on the court the next game and proceeded to run the court the remainder of the night.

On their way home from the gym, Tommy said to Joey, well guess we gotta find jobs now.

The next day he enrolled in the local community college's accounting program using the GI bill to pay for tuition.

Joey didn't want to go that route though. He went to see his old basketball coach and asked if he could come on as an assistant. The coach happily welcomed his former star player.

The two were now off into their new paths.

As the years went on, Tommy became the town's top accountant and Joey eventually succeeded his old coach and became head varsity coach for the town's team.

They both did well. Tommy started a community outreach program for troubled youth, using the fortune he had built from his accounting practice. Joey ran the program using basketball as the avenue to teach and help the kids.

So many highs and lows occurred over the years in that program. They had one kid they got off the streets who eventual went on to play pro ball, but also had so many others they lost to gang violence and criminal activity.

In the end though, they did a lot of good and the mayor honored them by naming a newly built public park after the two of them.

All these years later, Tommy and Joey still go to that park to watch the kids play basketball. They sit on the park bench just on the other side of the court.

However, today Tommy and Joey may do more a bit more napping then they do watching the games.

Regards,
Mitchell J