Coach Lee
POV - Coach Lisa Lee
"Who's that boy?" She asked her assistant coach, Terry.
He checked his clipboard, saying, "Hmm, let me see... He's number 7, right?"
"We have no data on him."
"He could be a problem!"
"Who? That shrimp… What height is he, 5'8? 5'9? I don't think a no-name benchwarmer is gonna cause problems, coach!"
"Maybe… but I just got this feeling.. Even Theo took his practice seriously leading up to this game!"
"Isn't that because he's facing off against his old childhood friend? William Sharpe Jr. is a fantastic player we need to be on the lookout for, I agree! But I don't think that boy is important enough to game plan against."
"Hmm.."
"Coach Lee, If you want me to change up the plans-"
"No! We don't change anything until they prove to us they're good enough."
"I concur. I think Theo will make short work of them, to be honest. Now that he's actually taking practice seriously, he could quite possibly be the best high school basketball player in the world right now!" Terry said passionately,
"Oh..so you think our baldy is better than the 'Sharpeshooter'?"
'God these nicknames were obnoxious, White comet, Sharpeshooter! How do they make these up? They didn't make up names for us when I was in Highschool' She thought with slight irritation.
Terry made a pained face and replied, "Don't call him baldy, coach! You know how he feels about his hair!"
"If he stopped worrying about his hair like a girl and actually worked towards his game. Then he might actually be the best player! If he worked half as hard as the opposing team's ace." She said angrily.
"You know," She continued
"If William played for us, I think I would have been way happier!" She hmphed.
"Don't say that Coach. It's true that we have a better team, but that doesn't take away from Theo's talent. Just you watch, Coach, we're gonna dust them today!"
"Dust who exactly?" An older man's voice entered the conversation.
"heeeee!! Coach Sharpe!" Terry squeaked.
"Like I said before, who are you gonna dust today, Terry?" He said with a plain look.
She knew that look anywhere, it was the same face that pushed her to the limit. That made her the greatest female basketballer of all time. After all, Coach Sharpe was her mentor and coach for her college team. She even invited him to be her WNBA head coach.
That was years ago, and now she was going against him today as a fellow coach. There is no place for soft feelings.
"You must be growing old, Coach Sharpe!" She taunted him.
"What was that?" He said with a bite.
"You must have forgotten all about the asskicking we gave you last time we came here. Better have a doctor check you up Coach Sharpe, you're at that age where people go senile."
"Coach Lee, please stop aggravating him." Terry whispered into her ear.
The old man didn't say anything as usual. "We'll see about that, Lisa. We'll see about that."
'Something's not right! It's almost like they're expecting us to underestimate them. Before with that kid and now with Coach Sharpe. Something's not adding up!'
"Oh so you're telling me that you actually learned something from that humiliation. Well good for you!" She rubbed in the salt, hoping that he would spill the beans in an attempt to defend his team.
All she got was a shrug from him: "Eh, who knows? We'll see when the game begins."
She narrowed her eyes and thought, 'What did this old man have up his sleeve?'
He let out a small laugh, "Same old Lisa, always trying to play mind games. Well you don't have to worry too much dear.. You'll see once the game begins. Oh by the way how's your dad? I hope he's in good health."
"What can I say, he enjoys being retired. Maybe after we humiliate you this game too, you might consider it too. Retirement, I mean. " She said with a nasty smile.
"Coach Lee, pleeeease stop!!!" Terry begged her.
She couldn't help it, it was the way her father taught her to intimidate her opponents. It didn't matter that Coach Sharpe was like a second father to her. All that mattered now was that she ruthlessly attacked him until she won.
That's what Coach Sharpe and her father would want her to do.
"Well, it's good to hear that Stan is enjoying his retirement, and it's good to see you succeed him. I'm sure he's happy you've taken over. Well, anyway, enough small talk; I have to go coach a team now. You guys can keep on gossiping!" The old man, Sharpe, turned and started his team's warmup.
'That wretched old man always needs to have the last word. Always!'
She almost burst a blood vessel! "Coach Lee let him have this one. We'll win the game, don't worry!"
"I'm not worrying!" She snapped at Terry.
"Where's that idiot now?"
"Who? Theo. You sent him outside, remember?"
"I know I sent him outside, I want you to call him back now."
"His fans won't be happy."
'Fuck his fans!' She thought in her mind but didn't voice it.
"Call him back, all the starters are here! I have a feeling we need him ready for this one."
Terry reluctantly nodded and went to fetch Trinity High's star basketball player.
She looked at Coach Sharpe giving his team a small pep talk. She saw his son, Will Jr., completely focused on his father's speech.
'When I first met him, he was just a pipsqueak; now look at him."
Then her eyes slowly drifted to the boy she had met before, He was wearing a #7 jersey.
It was just like Terry had said, the boy didn't look intimidating in the slightest. In fact, he looked extremely normal. An average person, who looked like he tried to get into the team because he wanted to be famous and get with the hot girls.
He looked like he wasn't even taking the entire thing seriously.
His wingspan and height weren't particularly impressive. He also had an averagely lean build, not too thin or muscular.
The boy shouldn't have had her attention, but... she just had a bad feeling about this game.
Like she was playing right into their hands and her team was doomed to lose.
It wasn't the jitters... Please… She led several WNBA teams to numerous championships.
'Then what was this feeling? Why do I feel so uneasy?'
"Coach, I came here as fast as I could!" Theo spoke with urgency.
She would have made a joke about his hair or something usually, but this time she didn't.
"Theo, start warming up, you're starting this time."
He looked surprised for a few seconds before smiling and giving her a thumbs up. He started doing suicide drills along with his teammates.
'Something isn't adding up! What do they have in store for us?'
_________________________________________________________________________
POV - Valeria Alan / Valeria Toomes
"C'mon girl… Apparently, he's really hot!"
Her friend Tatiana was persistent if not anything.
"My dad is gonna be here anytime soon. I have to be here when he comes, Tats!"
"Oh, c'mon girl, have some fun once in a while!!!"
"Tats my dad-"
"Let's have a quick peek at the game, and we'll be back in 10 minutes…C'mon Valeria… do it for me, girl!" She started with the puppy eyes.
"Don't look at me like that."
"Your dad's the one who's late... Let him search for you a little bit. Maybe he'll pick you up on time, the next time! In the meantime.. Let's go see what the fuss is all about. Aren't you curious to see this Theodore Wellspring character!"
She kept quiet.
"What's the worst that can happen, girl? C'mon, let's go see what this dude is all about. Apparently there's even a TV crew there."
She sighed.
Her friend declared victory, "Yesss, let's go!"
"But only for ten minutes.. Then I'm heading back to the parking lot. I'm not making my dad worry too much."
"Okay, okay, okay! Let's go to the gym then."
_________________________________________________________________________
POV - Adrian Toomes
He woke up suddenly. The TV was still on, and a Mountain Dew commercial was playing.
He got up and washed his face and brushed his teeth. His breath reeked of alcohol.
"I wonder if that Stark prick got the news yet!" he said to himself in the mirror.
He didn't even close the fake door, so obviously word would have reached him by now.
He checked his watch, and it was 3:45 in the afternoon.
He had a slight headache. "Jesus, how much did I drink yesterday?" Seeing the empty bottle answered his question.
'Oh well, it's not everyday that I do a $30 million gig! So I'll forgive myself this time.' He smiled.
He sat down on his leather chair and opened his drawer. He took the USB out, it was heavy for a memory drive. There was no logo on it. It probably wasn't manufactured by a commercial hardware company.
'There must be some juicy information on this, maybe I could leverage it.. perhaps blackmail Stark.'
First things first, he grabbed his phone receiver and dialed an old friend's number.
"Chris."
"Oh look who decided to call. The bald headed eagle himself, what's up Adrian"
"Uh-huh… Yeah, look, I've got a USB drive that I need you to check. I'm not sure if it has any spyware. Well, it probably does. It's possibly encrypted…you know what... it most likely is!" He held the heavy USB.
'Jesus how heavy is this thing...Why didn't I notice it before?'
"Looks like Christmas came early for you!"
"Since I'm not as good as you are on the software side…how about helping an old friend out?"
"It'll cost you. I want half of what you get from selling the information!"
"You're really a prick aren't you? Make it ten."
"35 is the best I could do."
"20 final offer.. All you have to do is crack the thing-"
"And disarm the viruses and make sure there's no tracking malware."
He took a deep breath.
"You're a real stand up guy, you know? 30 take it or leave it."
"Done. So when are you coming?" Chris accepted the offer without hesitation.
'30 was what he wanted all along!'
He checked the time, it was 3:54 now.
"How about 5 today."
"Yeah, sure, it's not like I have anything else to do."
"Wait a minute... I feel like I'm forgetting about something."
"What... did you leave the gas on?"
"No...I hope not...Oh sh*t!" Then it clicked.
"What… Open your windows if you did leave it on! Make sure you don't turn on any electrical-"
"It's not that... I have to pick up my daughter.. Oh, how did I forget about that? Fuck... okay, I'll meet you at 6 p.m. then. I'll drop her back home and head straight to you."
"Hey, buddy, no rush...How's she doing, by the way? Any gripes about the name change."
He had actually forgotten about how he had his daughter's surname changed. For her own protection.
Men in his profession couldn't afford to have any family his enemies could take advantage of.
He knew anyone who was anyone knew about his daughter, but it was a small precaution to ease his mind. You can never be too careful when your kids are involved.
"No, she took it in stride. She liked her mother's surname."
"Oh that's good to hear."
"Look Chris I'll meet you soon, I have a very pissed off daughter to pick up!"
"See you later, man. Stay safe"
He hung up the receiver and picked up the USB, placing it in his jacket.
'Shit it's already 3:58 now.. Valeria is going to be really pissed!'
The only consolation was that he had $30 million more than he did yesterday.