Chapter 14

Chapter 14 Fighting Words fighting words (fighting words), n. Words that are so venomous and full of malice that they cause another person to fight back physically. Fighting words are not protected as free speech under the First Amendment. "You're on," said Scott. Nobody bothered to pick up any of the equipment. The jump ropes, the Frisbees, the milk crate, the extra balls were all left right where they were. Instead, all the kids of 4–0 who hadn't gone home lined up on either side of the basketball court. Evan dribbled the ball, trying to get that feeling of looseness that helped him play his best. "We'll play

第十四章打架的话打架的话（打架的话），名词。 恶毒的，充满恶意的话语，他们会导致另一个人进行身体上的反击。 攻击性言论不受宪法第一修正案的言论自由保护。 “你上场了，”斯科特说。没有人费心去拿起任何设备。 跳绳、飞盘、牛奶箱、多余的球都留在原地。 相反，所有没有回家的4-0的孩子们在篮球场的两边排队。 埃文运球，试图得到那种放松的感觉，帮助他发挥出最好的状态。 “我们来玩

to seven by ones. Straight up. King's court. And you have to take it past the big crack to clear." Evan pointed to the wide crack in the blacktop that ran twenty feet from the basket. That was the line they always used to clear the ball for half-court games. "Who's the ref?" asked Scott. "No ref, no fouls," said Evan. "Just play. If the ball falls through the hoop, it's a point. If it doesn't, go home and cry to your mother. Okay?" Evan was practicing his crossover dribbling while he talked. He was starting to feel his rhythm. He looked at Scott standing at the top of the key. There it was, that look on Scott's face—the one that seemed to say, Why bother? I always win. More than anything else, Evan wanted to wipe that look off Scott Spencer's face, once and for all. "Yeah, okay," said Scott. "But who goes first?" "You," said Evan, shooting him a chest pass so fast that Scott didn't even have time to put his arms up. The ball hit him in the chest and fell at his feet. Evan heard some of the kids laugh and noticed

到7乘1。直。 国王的法院。你必须把它带过那个大裂缝才能清除。” 埃文指着离篮筐20英尺远的柏油路上的一条宽裂缝。 在半场比赛中，他们总是用这条线来解围。 “谁是裁判？”斯科特问。 “没有裁判，没有犯规，”埃文说。 “只是玩。如果球落到篮筐里，就是一分。 如果没有，回家对着你妈妈哭。 没事吧?”埃文一边说话一边练习交叉运球。 他开始感觉到自己的节奏了。 他看着站在钥匙顶端的斯科特。 就是这样，斯科特脸上的表情——似乎在说，何必麻烦呢？ 我总是赢。最重要的是，埃文想把斯科特·斯宾塞脸上的表情抹去，一劳永逸。 “好吧，”斯科特说。“但是谁先走呢？”“你，”埃文说着，飞快地越过他的胸膛，斯科特甚至没有来得及举起双臂。 球击中了他的胸部，落在他的脚边。 埃文听到一些孩子的笑声，注意到了

Megan crossing her arms and frowning. "Good start!" shouted Paul from the sidelines, as Scott picked up the ball and cleared it behind the line. "Nice, Treski," said Scott. "Real nice." Evan ran up to the clear line and got low, ready to defend. Scott dribbled the ball, hanging behind the line. Then he faked left and drove right, blowing past Evan. Scott was quick, but Evan was quicker. He came up from behind, and just as Scott was shooting the ball, Evan clawed it out of the air, whacking it so hard it smacked down on the blacktop. On the way, his hand smashed into Scott's face. Scott crumpled to the ground. Undefended, Evan took the easy shot and scored his first point. "You can't do that!" said Scott. "You mauled me!" He sat on the blacktop, his legs sprawled, looking like he couldn't even get up. Evan rebounded and dribbled toward the clear line. He put a hand up to his ear and pretended to

梅金交叉着双臂，皱着眉头。 “开了个好头！”保罗在场边喊道，斯科特捡起球，把球踢出了球门线。 “不错，特雷斯基，”斯科特说。 “真正的好。”埃文跑到罚球线前，蹲下身子准备防守。 斯科特运球，挂在球门线后。 然后他假装左转向右开，从埃文身边飞驰而过。 斯科特很快，但埃文更快。 他从后面走了过来，就在斯科特射门的时候，埃文把球从空中抓了起来，用力一拍，球落在了柏油路面上。 在路上，他的手猛击斯科特的脸。 斯科特瘫倒在地。 在无人防守的情况下，埃文轻松投进了他的第一分。 “你不能这么做！”斯科特说。 “你打了我！”他坐在柏油路上，双腿摊开，看起来连站都站不起来。 埃文反弹，运球到底线。 他把一只手放在耳朵上，假装

concentrate hard. "Do you hear a whistle, Scott? I guess not, 'cause there isn't one. Man up." Scott jumped to his feet, and Ryan yelled out, "Faker!" "One-nothing," called out Adam. "Evan's ball." Evan didn't even bother to juke. He just plowed right into Scott, driving him to the blacktop before charging the basket for the easy lay-up. "Oh, man!" shouted Ryan. Megan shook her head. "Why even call it basketball if you're going to play like that?" Evan watched as Scott started to get up slowly. But he had already cleared the ball at the line and was charging to the basket before Scott got on his feet. He made another easy lay-up, as pretty as a bird. "Three-zip," shouted Adam. "Scott," said Ryan. "C'mon, show a little backbone." This time, when Evan started his move to the basket, Scott lunged at the ball. He stripped it from

集中精力努力。“你听到哨声了吗，斯科特？” 我想没有，因为根本就没有。 男人了。”斯科特跳了起来，瑞恩喊道：“Faker!”“一个也没有。”亚当叫道。 “埃文的球。”埃文甚至都懒得去打岔。 他直接撞向斯科特，把他撞到柏油路上，然后冲向篮筐，轻松上篮。 “哦，天哪！”瑞恩喊道。梅金摇了摇头。 “如果你要那样打球，为什么还要叫它篮球呢？”埃文看着斯科特开始慢慢站起来。 但在斯科特站起来之前，他已经在球门线上清理了球，并向篮筐冲去。 他又轻松上篮，漂亮极了。 “三拉链，”亚当喊道。 “斯科特，”瑞恩说。“来吧，有点骨气。” 这一次，当埃文开始向篮下移动时，斯科特扑向了球。 他把它从

Evan's hands, but the ball went shooting out of bounds. "Out," shouted Adam. "Evan's ball!" So Evan took it out again, and this time he faked left, right, left, so that Scott was leaning the wrong way when Evan finally made his move. "It's basketball, Scott. Not freeze tag!" called out Kevin. Evan slowly dribbled the ball back. Scott faced him across the line, scowling, with his hands on his hips. "None of this counts," said Scott. "This is dirt ball. This is trash. None of this counts." "Why not?" said Evan, dribbling steadily. "You agreed. No fouls. You said okay. Right?" He took a step past the clear line, still dribbling the ball slowly right in front of his body. Then Evan spread his hands out wide, the ball bouncing between the two of them, unprotected. "Go on, take it!" When Scott made his move, trying to grab the ball out of the air, Evan was ready. Faster than an eagle diving, he snatched the ball back, made a spin move

埃文的手，但是球打出界了。 “出去，”亚当喊道。“埃文的球!”所以埃文又拿出来了，这次他假装左，右，左，这样当埃文最终采取行动时斯科特就会倾向错误的方向。 “这是篮球，斯科特。不要冻结标签！”凯文喊道。 埃文慢慢地把球运回。 斯科特隔着线面对着他，皱着眉头，双手叉腰。 “这些都不算数，”斯科特说。 “这是一个肮脏的球。这是垃圾。 这些都不算数。”“为什么不呢？”埃文边说边稳定地运球。 “你同意了。没有犯规。你说好的。 对吗?”他跨出了一条清晰的球门线，仍然在他的身体前面缓慢地运球。 然后埃文摊开双手，球在他们两人之间弹跳，没有任何保护。 “去吧，拿去！”当斯科特开始行动，试图从空中抓住球时，埃文已经准备好了。 他比老鹰俯冲还要快，把球抢了回来，做了一个旋转动作

around Scott, and drove for the basket. He jumped as high as he could, and just barely managed to stuff the ball with both hands through the hoop. "Slammed!" screamed Paul, doing a dance on the sidelines. "This is gross," said Megan. "I'm going home." She picked up her mailbag and slung it over her shoulder. "Jessie, are you coming?" "No," said Jessie in a small voice. She was sitting on the grass, her knees pulled up to her chest. "I'll stay." Megan nodded, then walked toward the parking lot. Evan noticed her leaving, but told himself, Who cares? "Four-nothing," said Adam. "Hey, Evan. Wrap it up, would you? I have to get home." Evan quickly ran the score up to six-nothing with a jump shot from mid-key and a little floater right in front of the basket. All the guys on the sideline were screaming Shutout, shutout!, and Evan dribbled the ball in time to their chant. He glanced at Scott. Scott was

绕过斯科特，冲向篮筐。 他跳得尽可能高，勉强用双手把球塞进篮筐。 “砰！”保罗尖叫着，在场边跳起舞来。 “这太恶心了，”梅金说。 “我要回家了。”她拿起她的邮袋，把它挂在肩上。 “杰西，你来吗？”“不，”杰西小声说。 她坐在草地上，双膝齐胸。 “我会留下来。”梅金点点头，然后朝停车场走去。 埃文注意到她离开了，但他告诉自己，谁在乎呢？ “什么都没有。”亚当说。 “嘿,埃文。把它包起来，好吗？ 我得回家了。”埃文很快就把比分追到了6比0，他在篮筐前跳投了一个小球。 所有在场边的人都在尖叫着不出局，不出局！埃文随着他们的歌声及时运球。 他瞥了斯科特一眼。斯科特是