Chapter 13

Chapter 13 Crisis Management crisis management (crisis management) n. Special or extraordinary methods and procedures used when a business is in danger of failing. "Sucker!" "Oh, man. You were schooled!" "Pre-school, baby!" For the third time that afternoon, Scott Spencer had gotten the drop on Evan, dribbling around him and then hitting the easy lay-up. So the guys were giving him the business, even the ones on his own team. It was Evan, Paul, and Ryan against Kevin Toomey, Malik Lewis, and Scott. Evan wished that Scott hadn't shown up, but he had, and they needed

the sixth guy for three-on-three since Jack had gone home to ask his mom if they could all swim at his house. So what was Evan supposed to say? Anyway, Evan was three times the ball handler that Scott was and everyone knew it. So it was all in fun. But it didn't feel like much fun to Evan. "What's up, man?" Paul asked. Evan dribbled the ball back and forth, left hand, right hand, and then through his legs. "Hey, it's hot," he said. "Yeah, it's hot for all of us," said Paul. "Get your game on, dude." But Evan couldn't get his moves right. He was a half-step behind himself. And every time he moved, the envelope slapped against his thigh like a reprimand. "Speaking of hot," said Ryan. Everyone turned to look. Jack was coming up the path, running at a dead-dog pace. "Oh, please, God," said Paul. "Let her say yes."

As soon as he was in range, Jack shouted, "She said yes!" "What's up?" asked Scott. "Jack asked his mom if we could all go swimming in his pool," Kevin said. "Hey, Jack," shouted Scott. "Can I come, too?" "Yeah, sure," said Jack, who'd stopped running toward them and was waiting for them to join him on the path. Oh, great, thought Evan. But he wasn't about to turn down a dunk in a pool just because Scott Spencer would be there. Nobody wanted to go home for suits and towels. Kevin, Malik, and Ryan were wearing basketball shorts anyway, so they could swim in those. "We've got enough suits at the house," said Jack. "My mom saves all our old ones." At the house, Evan changed into one of Jack's suits. He wrapped up his underwear and shirt inside his shorts and put the bundle of clothes on the end of Jack's bed next to all the other guys' piled-up clothes.

It felt good to drop the heavy shorts with the envelope stuffed in the pocket. Then, just to be sure, he put his shoes on top of his pile of clothes. He didn't want anything happening to that money. They played pool basketball all afternoon, even though the teams were uneven. Mrs. Bagdasarian brought out drinks and cookies and chips and sliced- up watermelon. Every time one of them went into the house to use the bathroom, she shouted, "Dry off before you come in!" but she did it in a nice way. Then, just when Evan thought the afternoon couldn't get any better, it did. Scott had gone into the house to go to the bathroom. A few minutes later he came out dressed, his hair still dripping down his back. "I gotta go," he said, jamming his foot into his sneaker. "Did your mom call?" asked Ryan. "Nope, I just gotta go," he said. "See ya." He ran out the gate. "Great," shouted Evan. "Now the teams are even." And they went back to playing pool hoops.

Evan didn't think about Scott Spencer for the rest of the afternoon. He didn't think about Scott Spencer until he went into Jack's bedroom to change back into his clothes and noticed that his shoes were on the floor and his shorts weren't folded up.