My second "published" work

Tennis Troubles

by Robert Breen

The tennis ball made a “pop” sound as it made contact with Annie's racket and flew over the net. “Pop”. “Pop”. “Pop”. The sound was becoming monotonous to Annie. After nearly twenty minutes of practicing her serve, she didn't even notice the sound the ball made any more. It was unlikely Annie would go pro, but she had played on her high school's varsity team. The daily team practices had been grueling but had built up admirable tennis skills. She had worked extensively with her coach to perfect her serve. She became so proficient, she averaged sixty-five miles per hour for her first serve. Despite all this, she had only played third singles. Her form was impeccable and she once had set a school record for most aces in a match. She was determined to maintain her aptitude for the sport by continuing to practice consistently in college. Plus, the possibility of playing on the collegiate level would be something she would definitely post on her facebook page for all her high school teammates to see. She could see herself dominating the league in singles matches. 

She tossed the ball up high in the air, cocking her racket back in preparation. Behind her came a screech. Someone was opening the door to the court. She took her eye off the ball and turned to find the source of the disturbance. The ball came crashing down on top of her head with a plink. She glared at the two guys who had just invaded her court forcing her to break her streak of seventy-nine perfect serves. Without a word, the two guys set down their bags and took out their rackets. Annie watched them, trying to decide which course of action to take. She watched as they performed stretches and practice strokes. She knew what they aimed to do. “Excuse me! This court is taken!” She shouted at them.

“Yah and so are all the others. You're not actually playing though, so it's as if you're not even here.”

“Come again!?”

“You heard me, it's like you're not even here.”

“I see. Well, have fun just standing there. I am not leaving.”

“Well, neither are we. Come on Rollin, let's practice some serves.” the first trespasser said.

“Sure thing, Brody.” His buddy agreed.

Annie crossed her arms, clearly enraged. “Beat it!” She said to the one identified as Rollin as he ran over to her side of the court to return Brody's serves.

“Tell ya what sister, you stay where you are, I'll move to the other side of the court. You can return our serves for us.” Rollin explained.

“No. Not happening. And nothing you say or do is going to make me leave!” To prove her point, she walked to the middle of the service box and sat down.

“Have it your way.” Rollin raced over to Brody's side of the court. In no time, they began their serves. Their serves were accurate. And fast. Annie could hear the “whoosh” as the balls whizzed by her head. A few of the serves nearly made contact with her. At last, she raised her racket as a sign of surrender. “Alright. Fine, I'll return your guys' serves.”

Annie made her way to the baseline. Behind her back, Brody and Rollin looked at each other and nodded in triumph.

Before she could even get in to position, the balls came flying at her. The first few came within inches of her face. It didn't take her long to realize they were aiming for her head. She tried her best to defend herself by holding the racket in front of her like a shield, but eventually one ball evaded her blockade and hit her in the nose. The ball carried so much force, Annie lost her balance and stumbled back. She was dazed. The balls continued to fly for a little while longer until the boys decided she had had enough.

“You are going to pay for this!” She bellowed threateningly, rubbing her nose and trying to regain her focus. The two boys simply laughed. Angry beyond words, she grabbed her belongings and exited the court. She didn't want to seem beat, so she chose to walk rather than run. “Looks like we were able to do something to make you leave!”

“I”ll be back! You haven't seen the last of me!”

“Bring back the best ya got. We ain't a scared of you.”

When she was out of sight from the courts, she called her boyfriend Ray to tell him about what had just happened. “They did what!? Stay where you, I'll be right over. I'll teach those losers a lesson.” Annie had to hold the phone away from her ear to compensate for Ray's shouting. When she hung up, she smiled happily to herself and located a spot to wait for him.

***

When Ray arrived on the scene, Brody and Rollin were in the middle of a match. He and Annie took a seat on the small bleachers outside the court and watched with no amusement. “What are you going to do?” Annie asked.

“Just wait and see. I have a little something special in mind for these bums.”

“Don't hurt 'em too bad, we don't want them to get ourselves in trouble.”

“We won't get in trouble, you have Ray's guarantee.”

They waited a while longer. The match was still going on. Ray checked his watched. By the third time he did this, the interlopers were finally wrapping things up and exiting the court.

Ray and Annie got up from the bleachers and stood in front of the door to the courts, confining the thieves to a prison of chain link fence.

“Move it jerkwad, we're running late for class.” Brody ordered.

“Yah, move it jerkwad.” Rollin followed up.

“Not a chance. Not until you apologize to my girlfriend and promise you will never kick her off the court again.”

“Why should I do a thing like that?”

“Because you hurt her feelings and I'm not liking your attitude.”

“Go sit on it, you putz.”

Ray immediately raised his fist so it was level with Brody's head.

“Ray, don't. They're not worth it!” Annie beckoned.

“You're right. This sort of thing requires a different form of reconciliation. Tell you what, jerkwad, you and me. Let's play a match. Winner gets control over of the court.

“Didn't you hear me? I am late for class.” Brody repeated.

“So we'll play tomorrow then. I'm free all day.”

“You challenging me to a match?”

“That's what I just said dipshit.”

“Alright, fine!” Brody said forcefully. You're on! We play tomorrow. Eleven a.m. Singles. First to six points. If I win, you and your girl are banned from this court.”

“And when I win, my girlfriend and I are allowed to use this court whenever we want. And if you are using it, you have to yield to us. No exceptions.”

“Agreed. Now step aside so I can get to class.”

The two shook hands. Then, begrudgingly, Ray moved to allow Brody and Rollin passage out of the court.

“Ray! Do you know what you are doing? Do you even know the first thing about tennis? You could get me banned from this court for good.”

“Relax. Why wouldn't I know what I was doing?”

“Well, it's just you don't play tennis and they are pretty good.”

“I am full of surprises, Annie. Let's say we get some ice cream and heal your aching heart.”

“Don't you think you should practice at all?”

“Who needs to practice?”

“You do.”

“No I don't. Promise.” He winked at Annie.

“I sure hope you know what you're doing.”

“I do. Trust me.” He kissed her on the forehead and they walked off towards the cafeteria.

“You know, these courts aren't even that great, it's really not worth it to go to all this effort just for one lousy court.”

“I'm not looking at it that way. I'm looking at it as a couple of goons harassed my girlfriend and they need to be taught a lesson.”

“Aw Rayray.” Annie wrapped her arms around Ray's waist.

***

The next day, Ray waited patiently outside the court for Brody to show up. Annie sat on the third row of the bleachers. True to his word, at eleven o'clock sharp, Brody and Rollin appeared.

“I see you're not chicken.” Ray prodded.

“Of course I'm not.” Brody removed his racket from its case with exaggerated grace. He casually took two practice strokes before declaring. “I'm ready. How about you?”

“I've been ready. Just waitin' on you. You'll be pleased to know I've got a fresh can of balls just for this occasion.”

“Good. Now let's do this thing. Rollin and I want to get in a match before class.”

“We'll see.”

Rollin took Brody's racket case and sat on the bleachers, one row in front of Annie.

“Do you want to practice some serves first?” Ray asked.

“Only if you need to.”

“Couldn't hurt.”

Brody motioned with his racket for Ray to start. Ray took the top ball out of the can and quickly tossed it in the air. He took a swing, and missed. He threw it up again, this time he made contact, but the ball failed to make it over the net.

“I just need to get warmed up.” Ray admitted casually.

He took the next ball from the can, threw it in to the air and took a swing. The ball hit the net.

He had equally foul luck with the third ball.

Brody laughed and glanced over at Rollin to see him laughing too. Annie put her hands over her face, preparing herself for what would likely be an embarrassing landslide.

Ray collected the balls and passed them off to Brody, who in no time at all had landed all three balls over the net and in the correct location.

“Alright, that's enough warm up, let's get this over with. I don't like wasting my time.”

“You won't be wasting your time, I can assure you.” Ray said.

“You can serve first” Brody ordered.

“Let's spin for it.”

“Fine. 'm' or 'w'?”

“Gotta go with the 'w' for winner.”

Brody placed his racket upright on the ground and spun it. It spun round and round, ultimately collapsing on the clay. “'m'. I serve first.”

“Fair enough.”

The two men walked to their respective baselines and the match began. Brody tossed a ball high in to the blinding sun. “Pop” came the ball as it bounced off his racket and over the net toward Ray. Without hesitation, Ray raced over to the ball and hit it hard, sending it back over the net to Brody. Brody returned it and a volley ensued. Back and forth the ball went, until Ray managed to land the ball in the empty space behind Brody.

“love, fifteen” Brody called out through clenched teeth as he prepared his next serve. With the next ball, the outcome was the same. The men volleyed the ball back and forth, but Ray managed to land the ball in just the right location that made it impossible for Brody to return it. “love, thirty” Next it became “love, forty” and finally “Zero, one” Ray was in the lead.

“You just got lucky. Besides, I'm not worried. It's your serve now, I'll have it tied up in no time.” Brody said and they changed sides.

For good luck, Ray bounced the ball three times before throwing it in the air. Unlike with his practice serves, Ray was entirely focused on this shot. His eye never left the ball and his form was impeccable. His first shot caught Brody off guard as it landed in fairly at around eighty miles an hour. “Ace!” Ray yells. “Fifteen, love.”

The next shot was also an ace. “Thirty, love.”

By the third shot, Brody was ready for what was coming. He returned Ray's serve, but Ray's return was strategically placed, leaving Brody no choice but to knock it out. “Forty, love.” Ray announced proudly.

“You've really got it coming now.” Brody threatened.

“Pop”. The serve was good. Brody returned it with force. Ray had to chase after it, but with a beautiful overarm stroke, he managed to send it back. “Pop”. Brody hit the ball over Ray's head so that it landed right before the base line. Ray ran on all cylinders to get to it. He swung, but missed. “Nobody's perfect.” He admitted. “Forty, fifteen.” He took his time on his next serve, bouncing the ball four times instead of the usual three.

High in the air the ball went, followed by a “pop”.

The ball was hit with so much power, Brody was ill-prepared. His racket caught a piece of the ball, but sent it sailing out of bounds. “Two, zero” Ray stated.

The next three set points follow suit. Ray triumphed over Brody, only letting him score one or two points. Brody never managed to get ahead. On the sixth and final set point, Ray pulled an early lead, forty, love. Then something happened. His serves appeared to be lacking something. Brody caught up, making the score “forty, forty”.

“This shot's for all the marbles” Annie shouted as she stood pressed against the chain-link fence.

“No, it's not, this is for advantage. The next shot is for the point.” Rollin said belligerently.

“Oh, yah. Got overly excited for a minute.”

“Dumbass.” Rollin scoffed under his breath.

The serve was strong, but the return was stronger. Ray chased after it, but came up short.

“Ad Out!” He shouted.

“Take your time Ray! Don't rush. Get this serve right. You can goose egg this chump!” Annie yelled.

Before the next serve, Ray closed his eyes briefly, appearing to clear his head. He then bounced the ball three times and commenced with the serve. Brody offered a quick return, but Ray was all over it. He knocked the ball back over the net. Brody dove for it, and tapped it weakly back over. Wasting no time, Ray sprint toward for the ball. He thrust his racket out, barely catching it before it hit the ground. The ball bounced softly over the net and out of reach from Brody.

Annie cheered wildly.

Returning to their positions, Brody offered an icy glare, which Ray ignored.

“Forty all!” Ray announced.

The next serve was quick. Ray served, Brody returned, and Ray spiked the ball back. Brody shot it over the net, but Ray aimed his stroke for Brody's head. Brody ducked out of the way and the ball landed fairly near the baseline.

“Ad in!”

At last the point that could decide the match. Ray took his time with this serve. As he needed was one more point and he would have Brody beat.

Three bounces later, up went the ball. “Pop”. It bounced off the racket and sailed to the other side of the court. The serve carried so much force, Brody miscalculated and swung too early. “Whoosh”. His racket caught all air as the ball bounced on past.

Annie jumped up and down, clapping and screaming.

Ray triumphantly threw his hands up in the air.

Brody tossed his racket to the ground in anger. It was obvious he was saying choice words to himself.

Rollin opened the gate and ran on to the court, Annie was not far behind him. She ran to Ray, jumping into his arms, giving him a bear hug.

Rollin and Brody remained where they are, looking bitter.

“Suck it, jerkwads!” Annie shoued.

“Well gentlemen, I win. Looks like this court belongs to Annie and I. We can do with it as we please. So if you don't mind, please get off our court. We plan on using it right away.”

Brody and Rollin turned and walked away. As they went, Brody gave Ray the bird, which he casually dismissed with a wave of his finger and a scoff.

“You did it Ray! I am so proud of you!”

“Thank you, Annie. See I told you I knew what I was doing.”

“When did you play tennis though? You've never mentioned it.”

“All through middle school and high school.”

“What? You knew I played, why didn't you say something, we could've been playing all along!”

“I didn't say anything because I knew if we played, there would be a chance I'd win. If I beat you, you might feel discouraged. And that might cause you to rethink trying out for the college team.”

“So you were trying not to hurt my feelings?”

“Sort of. I saw how happy tennis made you feel and I didn't want to take that away from you.”

“I see. So you think if we play, there is a chance you could beat me so bad it would hurt my feelings eh? That sounds like a challenge to me ”

“Ah I see you want to take on the pro. In that case, let's not waste any more time, let's get a game going right away.”

“Rest first though. You earned it.”

“Alright. Go grab your gear an get warmed up. I'll wait here in case those no-nothings decide to come back and pull a fast one.”

“You've got it! Say, I think we would make a formidable doubles team.”

“I like your thinking.”

She gave him a kiss on the mouth before running off to her dorm to grab her racket.

THE END