Devin Was The Last To Leave The Gym

The Journey

Devin was the last to leave the gym that night as usual. He walked out the old creaky gym and felt a gust of cold wind as he stepped onto the streets of inner city Chicago. He trudged his way home through the snow, while he was hindered by his bookbag which he knew he would never open. In the distance, he could hear the shrill hum of police sirens which he had long ago become accustomed to. His legs ached from the many hours he had spent in the gym that night. There was only three weeks left in the season and he knew this was his last chance to fulfill the promise he made to his mom many years ago that he would make it to college. His mother was arrested when he was just six years old and before she left she made him promise that
Heading into tournaments, Devin looked ahead with confidence. He thought for sure if he could lead the Bulldogs to the Chicago state championship he would surely attract some great college attention. Leading into the first torunament game Devin realized that he had thought wrong. Despite their unbelievable play the last four games Devin had only received one offer and it was from Marquette University. This had only motivated him more to overcome the odds and bring Harold L. Richards their first state championship in school
In just ten minutes he would be stepping out onto the court to play the number one-seeded Brimfield Indians. They had just lost two games this year and were granted the number one seed in the playoffs. Devin approached this game as he always did. He unzipped his bag and stared at the picture of his mom that she gave him when he was just four years old. He hadn’t seen her since he was ten years old and his mom had never watched him play a game in his life. Devin went out there and did what his older sister had always told him to do, just have fun. That was excactly what he did. He knocked down shot after shot and after each make the opposing crowd got quieter and quieter. Devin was on fire, he racked up thirty seven points and crushed the Indians almost single handedly. The Bulldogs cruised to a double-digit victory and Devin’s heart raced as the buzzer sounded. He could feel the shame and disappointment of the crowd as he ran accross the gym with a wide grin on his face. He shared a quick embrace with Justise, his newfound friend and he ran into the locker room screaming in joy as he couldn’t seem to escape the ear to ear grin he was showing. The team dumped water all over him as they all jumped around in