“Oh, fuck? Is that it?” Carmen stood, and picked the ball up from the ground when it stopped bouncing. She approached Shane and handed her the ball, giving her a smile. “That’s just the first miss in 11 tries so that couldn’t be any bad, right?”

“I’m sorry for the profanity…”

“It’s not the cussing at all.”

“It’s just that Helena, my teammate, she uh, she always seemed to beat me at free throw shooting. She’s quite a shooter, you know. Somewhat a snob, but a great shooter.” Shane mindlessly started spinning the ball slowly in the palm of her hands.

“Aren’t you gonna teach me how to shoot, since we’re already here?” Carmen spoke after a few moments of silly silence between them yet again. “My cousins used to play, and I was always asking them to give me a chance to shoot but they just didn’t have the patience to share the ball.”

“Really? You’re interested?” Shane smiled. “Okay, then. But do keep up. I’m not a very good teacher not because I don’t know how to instruct but it’s because I want my student to learn the basics after only one lecture.” She felt good after saying these much words to Carmen. It’s been a while since she had used that many talking to her.

“I’m a fast-learner. Try me.”

“Fine. Here.” Shane gave Carmen the ball. “Feel the basketball for a while. I’ll teach you a basic jump shot.”

“Feel the ball?” Carmen asked.

“Hold it for a few seconds. You know, get the feel of it before trying to chuck it up there? Now, here’s what you do. You gotta have both of your feet firmly planted on the ground. Square your shoulders, like so.” She demonstrated. “Some players would want to make a letter T with their thumbs while holding the ball over their heads. That’s what our shooting coach always told us but I have my style. If you’re not comfortable with it, feel free to hold the ball any way you like. For me, it doesn’t matter if you got an ugly shot or what your shooting form is, just as long as you make it.”