Note: This story is the second episode in a series entitled "April's Story". If you have not read the first episode of this series, I encourage you do so before beginning this chapter.
This is a dominant wife humiliates submissive husband story. That is the kind of story I write. If you do not enjoy these types of stories, I strongly recommend that you look for something else to read.
On Tuesday evening I went to the gym. For the past week the campus had been plastered with signs advertising the annual 3 on 3 basketball tournament.
I have already told you that I played three sports in high school. Basketball was by far my favorite. It was the sport where I excelled.
I almost didn't play as a senior. Just before the season started my high school coach took me aside and said, "April the next four months are going to be the most important four months of your life. The entire school is relying on you to lead us to a state championship. Anything short of that will be a failure on your part."
What sort of asshole puts that kind of pressure on an 18 year old kid.
I went home. When my dad got home I started to cry. He took me into the den. As soon as we sat down he asked, "Whats the matter baby?"
I told him what the coach had said to me. When I was done I looked at my dad and said, "Daddy I don't want to play anymore. I play basketball for fun. Now it's going to be a lot of stress. The pressure of maintaining my grades is hard enough. I don't want any more pressure in my life."
My dad smiled at me. "April no one can put pressure on you but yourself. When you were younger, becoming a good basketball player was one of your goals. You're now a very good player. You've worked hard to get where you are. You have the right to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Play for your school team. Do the best that you can. That's all that anyone has the right to ask of you." He patted my knee. "If you work hard and do your best, I'll be very proud of you no matter what else happens."
I hugged my dad. He always new exactly what to say to me.
I played for the team. I was the point guard. We had a storybook season. We won our conference championship and went to the state tournament.
We were 24 and 0 when we got to the finals of the tournament. Bradley High School, the team we faced in the championship game was also undefeated.
Everyone was excited about this game. Our two teams had been ranked first and second in the polls all season long. The game lived up to its billing. At the end of regulation play, the game was tied at 64. I'd already scored 31 points.
We went into overtime. With six seconds to play in the first overtime we were down by 3 points. Our center had the ball. I was open on the perimeter. She saw me and passed the ball. I put up a 3 point shot as the buzzer sounded. It went through the net. We tied the score.
The second overtime was a titanic struggle. All of us were exhausted, but the game continued at a frantic pace. We were playing for the state championship.
With 8 seconds remaining we were down by two points. I had the ball at mid court. I made a quick move to my right, cut back to my left and tried to penetrate to the free throw line. I was hoping to draw the defense to me so that I could dump the ball to our center for an easy layup.
When I got to the free throw line I went up to fake a jump shot, but the Bradley center had stayed at home. Julie, our center was covered. My only choice was to shoot. There were two Bradley defenders guarding me. Both of them landed on me as I released the ball. The entire arena went silent as they watched my shot bounce harmlessly off of the rim.
The crowd started to roar. You could barely hear the official when he blew his whistle. I was fouled in the act of shooting. I had two free throws. Time had expired. This was our only chance. If I made both of the free throws the game would go into a third overtime. If I missed either of them the game would be over and Bradley would win the state championship.
I stepped up to the free throw line. There were 9,000 people in the arena. The game was on statewide television. Everyones eyes were focused on me. I was exhausted. I tried to concentrate. The referee handed me the ball. I bounced it one time and put up my shot. I had too much adrenalin going though me, the shot was just a little bit too hard. Fortunately it was on line. The ball hit the backboard and bounced into the basket. It wasn't pretty, but it counted. One down one to go.
The arena was silent as the referee handed me the ball for my second shot. I was worried about my adrenalin getting the best of me so I decided to take just a little bit off of the shot. I took one bounce and released the ball. I knew right away that I had taken too much off of the shot. I watched helplessly as the ball clanged harmlessly off of the front of the rim.
Pandemonium erupted on the floor. The Bradly girls started cheering and hugging each other. They were the state champions.
I stood silently and alone on the free throw line. Finally Julie, our center walked over and took my hand. "Come on April, let's go to the locker room."
When we got into the locker room everyone was crying. My coach walked up to me. "April I'm ashamed of you. You let your team down tonight. I always thought you were a winner, but I was wrong. You're a loser. You disgust me."
I was too tired to say anything. I took a fast shower and got dressed. My dad was waiting for me outside the locker room. When I saw him I put my arms around him and started to cry.
He hugged me and said, "Sweetheart you were wonderful tonight. You played your heart out. Everyone is calling this game the greatest girls basketball game ever played in this state."
When I got home that night I vowed that I would never again play organized basketball.
I walked into the gymnasium and looked around. There must have been a hundred guys in there. Most of them seemed to be fraternity members. It appeared that they were signing up for the tournament as teams representing their frat houses.
I was the only girl in the gym. I walked over and sat down on the bleachers. I was afraid I was about to find out that there wasn't going to be any place for me in this tournament. As I sat down I noticed two guys sitting about twenty feet down the bleachers.
Suddenly I heard a voice at the top of the bleachers behind me. "Hey Danny, there's your third player. She's sitting on the bleachers in front of me."
I turned. It was Jamal Wright.
Maddie interrupted. "You mean my Jamal?"
April smiled at her. "Yes, it was your Jamal. This was when I met him. Everyone knew Jamal. He was a legend at Kelroy. He was talented enough as a basketball player to have gone to a division one school. For some reason he chose to go to Kelroy. He was a star in our conference."
Everyone looked at Jamal. He shrugged. "Yes, I had offers from some pretty big schools." He paused. "But I'm only 6'5" tall. At that size, I wasn't quick enough to play in the NBA. I figured that out when I was going to the tryout camps. There was a crowd of 6'5" guys around that were a whole lot quicker than I was." He shook his head. "I had excellent grades in high school. I decided that I was better off to go somewhere where I could get a good education. Unlike April, I had a very supportive high school coach. I wasn't soured on organized basketball when I got to college. I can tell you about this later. Right now I want to hear the rest of April's story."
Jamal nodded towards April. She smiled at him and continued.
The guy named Danny looked at Jamal and said, "You mean the chick in the front row?"
Jamal laughed. "If you don't want her to walk out of the gym right now, you might think about being a little more respectful."
Danny got up and walked over to me. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to be rude."
I smiled at him. "That's okay, I've been called much worse things."
Jamal laughed behind us. "You don't know who she is do you Danny?"
Danny looked up at Jamal. "Okay wise ass, who is she?"
Jamal laughed some more. "April Hansen, meet Danny Gerard."
Danny shook my hand. "I'm pleased to meet you April." And then he turned to Jamal. "You're not telling me something."
Jamal sighed. "Danny I thought you were a basketball fan." He paused. "Try to remember last years girl's state championship game between West High and Bradley"
Danny turned and looked at me. Suddenly his facial expression changed. "You're April Hansen!" He looked up at Jamal. "Whats she doing here? Why isn't she playing for the Kelroy Women's team?"
Jamal laughed. "The same reason you and Ponce aren't playing for the men's team. She's tired of organized basketball. You might try to remember how that game ended."
Danny thought for a moment and then he nodded. "Oh yes I remember, the free throw at the end." He looked at me. "No one should be upset with you about that. You played the game of your life." He looked up at Jamal. "Didn't she make an impossible three pointer to tie the game up at the end of the first overtime?"
Jamal nodded. "She sure did. She ended up scoring 46 points in that game. It was two points short of the state championship game single player scoring record for both men and women."
Danny turned to me. "April, Ponce and I need at third player for this tournament. Would you join us?"
I stood up. "Danny I would love to."
Danny smiled. "Great, come with me. I'll introduce you to our third player. He's kind of shy."
We walked down the bleachers to the guy Danny had been sitting with. He stood up as we approached him. He was a big guy. He must have been at least 6'7" tall and 250 pounds. He had short blond hair and a sweet timid expression that reminded me of a cocker spaniel. I was already in love with both of these guys.
Danny grabbed him and pulled him closer to us. "April Hansen I'd like you to meet Marion Poncely the third. Everyone calls him Ponce."
I extended my hand. "Ponce I'm pleased to meet you."
Ponce took my hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you to April."
Danny grabbed both of us. "Come on, let's go get registered for the tournament."
Our first game was Thursday. When I got to the gym Danny and Ponce were already there. We were supposed to play one of the fraternity teams. It was Alpha Budda Thudda or something like that. I could never keep them straight.
The tournament had a nice format. It was three players against three players. You were allowed two reserves. We didn't have any. The Kelroy gym divided into two smaller basketball courts. The games were played on those smaller courts. The varsity players from the women's and men's teams were hired as referees. The tournament was ten weeks long. It was the prelude to the regular intramural season.
As we walked out on the floor, one of the fraternity players looked at us and said, "Hey guys look at this. We're playing two hayseeds and their slut."
The other fraternity guys all laughed.