Foul shot
By Marcia K. Leaser
September 20, 2011Seth, is something wrong?" Mr. Sanders asked the young boy sitting across the table from him. "You haven't eaten a bite of your supper and you look as if your mind is anywhere but here."
Seth looked up from his untouched plate of food.
"Huh?" He responded lazily. "Oh, I'm sorry, Dad, just not hungry I guess. Think I'll go to my room."
He was half way out of his chair before his dad's voice stopped him.
"Hold it, right there. Your mom didn't prepare this supper for you to leave it on the table. I think you could at least make an attempt to eat what you took."
"But...." Seth began.
"No buts."
Seth sat back heavily in his chair, heaved a big sigh, twirled some spaghetti on his fork and mumbled. "Isn't anything fair anymore?"
"What's fair have to do with spaghetti?" his dad questioned with a big grin.
"It's Kyle," Seth said in an exasperated tone.
"Okay, so what does Kyle have to do with spaghetti?" the big man teased.
"Come on, Dad, this is serious."
Just then the phone rang.
"Seth, it's for you," his sister yelled from the other room. "It's Kyle...say's it's important."
"I don't want to talk to him." Seth said flatly. "Tell him I'm not here."
"Whoa," his dad said. "If you don't want to talk to Kyle, you go tell him. You don't ask your sister to lie for you."
"It's too late, I already told him." Ashley announced boldly as she marched into the kitchen.
"Told him what?" Seth asked.
"Told him you didn't want to talk to him."
"Ashley Lynn, I don't believe you did that." Mr. Sanders said in disbelief.
"Well, I'm glad she did," Seth mumbled. "Saved me the trouble."
Ashy grabbed a cookie off the counter then scooted out of the room, before her dad could say anything more to her.
"I'll deal with you later," he called after her.
Turning back to the table he questioned his son. "Now, I want to know what this is all about. Why won't you talk to Kyle? He’s your best friend."
"Well he won't be anymore." Seth responded in a defeated tone.
"And why do you say that?"
"He just won't be, that's all."
"I sure wish I knew what was going on here!" His dad exclaimed with wide confused eyes.
"Oh, Kyle got moved up to the varsity basketball team. He'll be the only sophomore on the whole team next year. Probably be so bigheaded he won't even want me for a friend anymore. I'll bet he won't even want to walk to school with me either, he....."
"Hey-aren't you being just a little unfair here?" His dad interrupted.
"Well what's fair about him being moved up?" Seth asked defensively. "Coach didn't even ask him to try out or anything."
"Do you think the coach made a wrong decision?"
"Of course not! Kyle's the best player in our whole class." Seth scotched around in his chair uncomfortably, stared at the floor and mumbled. "Kyle's the best at everything."
"Sounds like you’re a little Jealous."
"And why not?" Seth snapped. "Kyle can do everything better than me!"
"I wonder if you realize how much territory EVERYTHING takes in?" Mr.Sanders questioned. "You must be forgetting our fishing trip two weeks ago. Why, you can cast twice as far as Kyle, and who was it could take those bull-heads off the hooks in nothing flat?"
"Yeah but that doesn't count," Seth mumbled.
"And you think basketball does?" Mr. Sanders leaned back in his chair and scratched his head. "You know, Seth, I think you need to sort out your priorities. You have three years of school left, right?"
Seth took a deep breath, swallowed the last of his spaghetti and answered half-heartedly, "So what?"
His father continued, ignoring his son's lack of interest. "Now, God willing, you and Kyle will have a lot more than three years to live. A friendship is far more important then a basketball game. I'd think twice before I threw a friendship of fifteen years away over something as foolish as this."
"But I'm tired of always being second best," Seth said in a weak voice.
So, what's wrong with second? Not everyone can finish first."
"But Kyle beats all the time." Seth's shoulders slumped. "Just once I'd like to win."
"Ya' know, son, we’re not supposed to compare ourselves to others. When we do that we aren’t being fair to them or ourselves. Each one of us has things we excel at, but that doesn't make us a better person than someone who can't do it as well as we can.
"What does this have to do with basketball," Seth grumbled.
"Just this," his dad continued. "When you are out there on the court, there are rules you need to follow, right?"
"Yeah, so what's all this have to do with Kyle and me?"
"Well, there are rules in friendship also. One of those rules is; we should be happy for our friends when they succeed at something. I'd say, as a friend, you fouled out, big time."
Seth shrugged. "I suppose you're right. But I don't know what to say to him."
"Congratulations would be nice," Mr. Sanders suggested
"I feel so stupid. Seth sighed.
"No need to," his dad grinned. "We all let jealousy get control every now and then. No wonder the Bible says, “ it is the rottenness of bones.” It destroys friendships, partnerships and even marriages if we allow it to get the upper hand."
"Do you really think Kyle will still want to be my friend?" Seth asked hesitantly.
"You'll never know till you talk to him," his dad answered with a wink.
"Well, gotta go," Seth shouted, as he jumped up from the table and started for the door.
"Hey," his dad called after him. Aren't you going to give Kyle a call?"
"Oh," Seth yelled over his shoulder. "I thought I'd just ride over to his place and see if he's busy. If not, I'm going to treat him to a can of pop at the station. After all...we do have something to celebrate ya' know!"
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