Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Defense defense (defense), n. The argument presented in a court of law to prove the innocence of the accused; (in sports) the act of protecting your goal against the opposing team. It wasn't hot enough to sweat, but Evan was sweating. Two wide rivers ran down the sides of his face, and every time he spun he could feel droplets flying off the tips of his hair. He was going to get this shot right even if it killed him. He'd been working on it all afternoon. Actually, he'd been working on it all month. It was a turnaround jumper from the top of the key. A good

第八章答辩答辩（名词） 辩词：在法庭上为证明被告无罪而提出的论点；（在体育运动中）保护自己的球门不受对方进攻的行为。 天气还没热到让人出汗，但埃文却在出汗。 两条宽阔的河流顺着他的脸淌下来，每次他旋转时，他都能感觉到小水滴从他的发梢上飞下来。 即使要了他的命，他也要把这一枪打准。 他整个下午都在做这件事。 事实上，他已经研究了一个月了。 这是一个转身跳投，从关键的顶部。 一个好

fifteen feet from the basket, and he was shooting with his left hand. That's what all the greats could do —shoot with their weak hand and still make the basket. Evan's dad used to say to him: "Work from your weak side, and no one will be able to defend against you." Evan turned his back to the basket and planted his feet on the painted lines of the driveway. He dribbled once, dribbled twice, dribbled three times, then—like a rocket shooting off its launching pad, he sprang into the air and pivoted his whole body around. Even as his body was falling back to the ground, he got off the shot, falling away from the basket as the ball sailed toward the pole and— missed. Sometimes he made it; sometimes he didn't. About one time out of every ten he made the shot. Evan wanted to flip that around so that only one time out of every ten he missed. It was a killer shot. If he had that kind of shot in his pocket, he could beat anyone on the court.

离篮筐15英尺，他在用左手投篮。 这就是所有伟人都能做到的——用他们的弱手投篮，但仍然能进篮筐。 埃文的爸爸过去常对他说：“利用你的弱点，没有人能抵御你。” 埃文转身背对着篮子，双脚踩在车道上画好的线条上。 他运球一次，运球两次，运球三次，然后，就像火箭从发射台起飞一样，他腾空而起，整个身体都在旋转。 就在他的身体倒向地面的时候，他还没有出手，球飞向篮筐的时候，他从篮筐上掉了下来，却没投进。 有时他做到了；有时他不会。 大约每十次他就有一次投进。 埃文想要扭转局面，这样每十次他只有一次失手。 那是致命一击。如果他有这样的投篮能力，他可以击败球场上的任何人。

Dribble once, dribble twice, dribble three times... "Hey, Evan." Evan straightened up and looked toward the street. Megan was riding her bike toward him. She came to a sliding stop, then hopped off her bike before walking it across. Evan shook to get some of the sweat out of his eyes. Then he ducked his head and wiped his face on the sleeve of his T-shirt. Girls do not like sweat. "I thought you had a dentist appointment," he said as she pushed her bike onto the driveway. "It was short. Just a checkup," she said. "Is Jessie still in there?" Megan nodded her head in the direction of the house. "Yeah. Still getting ready for The Big Day." Evan was dreading the trial. Every fourth-grader was going to be there—on the playground after school tomorrow—and what if Jessie couldn't prove that Scott Spencer was guilty? She wasn't a real lawyer. And could Evan really count on his friends? It seemed like every day this week Paul and Ryan had

运球一次，运球两次，运球三次…… “嗨,埃文。”埃文直起身子，朝街道望去。 梅金骑着自行车朝他走来。 她来到一个滑停，然后跳下车，然后走过去。 埃文抖了抖，把眼睛里的汗挤出来。 然后他低下头，用t恤的袖子擦了擦脸。 女孩不喜欢流汗。“我以为你约了牙医，”他说，这时她把自行车推到车道上。 “很短。只是一个检查，”她说。 “杰西还在里面吗？”梅金朝房子的方向点了点头。 “是的。还在为大日子做准备。” 埃文害怕审判。 每个四年级的学生明天放学后都会在操场上，如果杰西不能证明斯科特·斯宾塞有罪怎么办？ 她不是一个真正的律师。埃文真的能指望他的朋友吗？ 似乎这周的每一天，保罗和瑞安都

gone to Scott's house after school. Maybe by the time of the trial, all the guys would be on Scott's side. Evan imagined standing up in front of the whole class and apologizing to Scott. He dribbled the ball, as if he could drum that idea out of his head. "Wow," said Megan. "She gets kind of like..." "Obsessed," said Evan. Then again, he thought about what he'd been doing all afternoon. How many times had he practiced that shot? One hundred? Two hundred? And he planned to keep going until it got too dark to see the basket. So maybe it ran in the family. As if she was reading his thoughts, Megan asked, "You been out here the whole time?" "I'm working on a shot. You want to see?" Megan shrugged and smiled, and Evan decided that meant yes. He set his feet and started his dribbling rhythm. Please let it fall, please let it fall, please let it fall, he said in his head as he bounced the ball on the blacktop. But it didn't. It ka-thunked off the backboard and

放学后我去了斯科特家。 也许到审判的时候，所有人都会站在斯科特这边。 埃文想象着站在全班同学面前向斯科特道歉。 他运球，好像他可以把那个想法从他的脑海中抹去。 “哇，”梅金说。“她有点像……” “痴迷，”埃文说。然后，他又想起了他整个下午都在做的事情。 这个球他练了多少次？ 一百年?二百年?他打算一直往前走，直到天黑得看不见篮子为止。 所以可能是家族遗传。 梅金似乎看出了他的心思，问道：“你一直都在外面吗？”“我正在制作一个镜头。 你想看吗？”梅金耸了耸肩，笑了笑，埃文认为这意味着同意。 他站稳脚跟，开始了他的运球节奏。 让它掉下来吧，让它掉下来吧，让它掉下来吧，他一边在柏油路面上弹起球，一边在脑子里说。 但事实并非如此。它砰的一声落在篮板上，然后

ricocheted toward the street. Evan had to run fast to save it from rolling into the road. "That was close," said Megan. "You're really good." Evan shook his head as he dribbled the ball back to the center of the paint. "Close doesn't count in basketball. You either make the shot or you don't." "Well, it was better than I could have done," she said. "And I'm the best shooter on my team." Evan raised his eyebrows. "You play basketball?" "And soccer," she said. "But I'm better at basketball." "Really? Can you make a three-pointer?" Megan laughed. "Sometimes." "So, let's see," said Evan. He tossed the ball to her, and she dribbled across the driveway so that her feet were just outside the three-point line. Evan watched as Megan handled the ball, watched the way her ponytail bounced back and forth and her bracelets danced up and down her arm. "Okay, here goes," she said. "Don't hold your

弹向街道。 埃文不得不快速奔跑，以免它滚到路上。 “好险啊，”梅金说。 “你真的很棒。”埃文摇了摇头，带着球回到了禁区中心。 “在篮球比赛中，接近并不重要。 你要么投中，要么投不中。” “嗯，这比我能做的要好，”她说。 “我是我们队最好的射手。” 埃文扬起眉毛。“你打篮球？”“还有足球，”她说。 “但是我更擅长篮球。” “真的吗?你会投三分球吗？”梅根笑了。 “有时”。“那么，让我看看，”埃文说。 他把球抛给她，她运球穿过车道，这样她的脚就在三分线外。 埃文看着梅金处理球，看着她的马尾辫前后弹跳，她的手镯在手臂上上下跳动。 “好吧，开始吧，”她说。 “别抱着你的

breath, though." She lifted the ball over her head, then sent it sailing through the air like water shooting out of a garden hose. It landed right in the basket. "Awesome!" said Evan. He scooped up the bouncing ball and made an easy lay-up. "You want to shoot some? We could play HORSE. Or one-on-one, if..." Evan thought about defending against a girl, and his stomach turned over on itself. How did you defend against someone without ever touching them? "Can't," said Megan, looking down the road. "I'm going over to someone's house." "Whose?" asked Evan, bouncing the ball back and forth between his legs. He was a pretty good shooter, but he was a great ball handler. When he made it to the pros, he'd probably be a point guard. Sure, they didn't get all the glory, but point guards ruled the court. Megan waved her hand up the street, but didn't say a name as she strapped on her bike helmet. Evan stopped dribbling. "Whose house?"

呼吸。”她把球举过头顶，然后让它在空中飞舞，就像水从花园的水管里喷出来一样。 它正好落在篮子里。 “太棒了！”他捡起弹跳的球，轻松上篮。 “你想打一些吗？”我们可以玩马。 或者一对一，如果……”埃文一想到要和一个女孩对抗，他的胃就翻腾起来。 你是怎么在不碰别人的情况下防御别人的？ “不行，”梅金说着，朝路那边看了看。 “我要去别人家。” “谁的？”埃文一边问，一边在两腿之间来回地拍着球。 他是一个很好的射手，但他是一个伟大的持球者。 当他进入职业联赛时，他可能会成为一名控球后卫。 当然，他们没有得到所有的荣誉，但控球后卫统治了球场。 梅根朝街上挥了挥手，但她戴上自行车头盔时没有说出一个名字。 埃文停止了运球。“谁的房子?”