Wheel Wizards Read online

  “It is over!” Seth shouted. “Half of me doesn't work anymore and it never will again!”

  Phyllis grabbed her brother's hand. “Your brain still works, if you'll let it! People can have wonderful lives even when they have a disability! You just won't let it happen, and it's … Let us help you, please! And start helping yourself, too.” She let go of his hand and his chair to pound her fists against her knees in frustration.

  Seth hung his head, staring silently at the floor. Deep down, he knew that Phyllis was right, but didn't have a clue about what to do or say, or how to begin to make something good out of his life.

  He decided to start out small. That afternoon at school, he caught Lou's eye. Lou started to walk away, head down, but Seth called after him.

  “Lou, wait a second!”

  The other boy stopped and waited. His face was expressionless. “What do you want?”

  Seth licked his lips, suddenly not sure of what he wanted to say. “Listen, if you never want to talk to me or have anything to do with me, after the way I've been acting lately, well, that's the way it has to be. I know I've been a total creep.”

  A small smile flickered over Lou's mouth. “Maybe not total, but pretty near.”

  “Well, I'm sorry,” Seth said. “You've always been a good friend, and I know you still want to be.…”

  “You got that right,” Lou replied. “But you sure make it hard.”

  “I know,” Seth mumbled, feeling miserable. Suddenly, the words just started pouring out of him. “I don't even know why I'm acting like this. I should feel so lucky to have friends like you and a family that wants to help, but I look at myself, and I feel like I'm trapped in this chair forever, and I get so down. And I say bad things, and I know I'm hurting people, but I can't stop myself.”

  Seth sighed. “The thing is, I still want to be friends. I'll try to act more like it from now on. I don't know for sure if it'll work, but I promise I'll try to treat you like a friend. If it's not too late, that is.”

  Lou studied Seth for a moment. “It's not too late. Let's take it from here and see how it goes, all right?” He stretched out a hand, and Seth grabbed it, hard. “All right!” Seth said.

  Lou looked past Seth, and said, “There's Phyllis. She's headed this way, like she wants to talk to you.”

  Seth groaned and closed his eyes. “She probably wants to yell at me about this morning. I was acting like a jerk at breakfast.”

  Lou's eyes popped open in a cartoonish look of amazement. “You? Impossible!”

  “I thought I saw you,” said Seth's sister as she came up to them.

  “Listen, Phyl,” Seth began, “about this morning —”

  Phyllis held up a hand. “I know. I guess I shot my mouth off way too much.”

  Seth shook his head. “No, you were right. It was me who —”

  “Okay,” Phyllis cut in again. “We've apologized to each other. Now come on. There's a poster I want you to see. Follow me.”

  As the boys went with Phyllis, Lou and Seth exchanged a look, and Seth shrugged. They stopped in front of a bulletin board by the gym door.

  “What do you think?” Phyllis asked.

  The poster read:

  Game Sunday Night!!!

  The Junior Wheelchair-Basketball League presents

  The Rollin’ Rebels vs.

  The Wheel Wizards

  Sunday, 8:00 PM

  “Ta-da!” sang Phyllis. “Just like we were talking about! I think you should go.”

  “Hey, yeah,” Lou agreed. “It sounds cool. What do you say, Seth?”

  Seth made a face. “I don't know. Maybe another time.”

  Phyllis put her fists on her hips and stared at her brother. “Another time? You have big plans for Sunday night?”

  Seth shook his head. “No, but …”

  “Come on, let's go,” Lou urged. “I want to see what it's like. If it's dumb, we'll leave.”

  Seth raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, all right. But don't blame me if you're bored out of your gourd.”

  Phyllis beamed at Lou as she took off. Lou cocked his head. “Sounds like someone's playing he cps right now.” He opened the door a crack. “It's a guy shooting from a wheelchair!”

  Seth looked past Lou. “It's this guy I met yesterday. His name is Danny, and I don't think he likes me much.”

  Suddenly Danny looked their way, He saw Seth and nodded in recognition. “How are you doing?

  “Okay,” Seth said. “Can we come in?”

  Danny smiled. “It's your gym.”

  Once inside, Seth introduced Danny and Lou to each other.

  “You know anything about this game Sunday night?” asked Lou.

  Danny bounced the basketball. “Sure. I'll be playing. I'm with the Wheel Wizards, and it's the first game of the season.”

  “Hey, cool,” Lou said. “We're going to the game, right, Seth?”

  Danny looked at Seth. “That so? You coming? I hope you don't get bored, seeing that you used to play real basketball and all.”

  Seth felt his face turn red. “Uh, I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. I was dumb.”

  “Forget it,” Danny replied. “Listen, the rest of the team is due soon for practice, so I can't talk now. But come early Sunday and watch the warmups and meet the rest of the team. I bet you change your mind about this game. It's pretty awesome.”

  “Cool!” Lou said.

  “Sure, that'd be great,” Seth agreed. They left the gym and beaded out of the school.

  It was a warm day and Seth wheeled himself home, with Lou walking beside him.

  “I don't know why you thought Danny doesn't like you,” Lou said after a while. “He seems to get along with you all right. And he's a nice guy, I think.”

  Seth laughed. “Yeah, he is. It was my fault. I basically said that I thought wheelchair basketball wasn't real basketball, and he didn't like that at all.”

  Lou nodded. “I guess he wouldn't. Hey, he looks like a strong guy. Maybe this game is going to be better than you think.”

  “I doubt it,” said Seth. “I mean, here's the thing: Danny has been in a wheelchair all his life, and it figures he'd think wheelchair basketball is neat. But I used to play real basketball.”

  “Maybe you shouldn't call it real basketball,” Lou suggested. “I mean, there must be a way to put it that isn't so … well, insulting to a guy like Danny. And by the way, Danny looks to me like someone who feels good about his life, even if he's in a wheelchair. You might want to think about that.”

  Seth frowned. “Maybe. But I still think that it's different when someone has never been able to walk or run. It's less of a problem.”

  Lou replied, “And I still think your life will get a lot better, sooner than you think.”

  “You could be right,” Seth said.

  But he didn't think so.

  4

  On Sunday evening, Seth and Lou got to the gym an hour before the game was due to start. Nobody was there yet, except for a bunch of guys who were clearly players. Seth spotted Danny on the court at one free-throw line, practicing free throws, while several teammates tossed up shots from all around the basket. There was a similar grouping of players at the other end of the floor.

  Lou pointed to Danny, saying, “Nobody's wearing uniforms yet, but I think these must be the Wheel Wizards, and those guys have to be the Rollin’ Rebels.”

  Seth nodded, looking around curiously. In addition to the boys who were practicing shots, several others were scattered around the sidelines, doing things with their chairs. One boy sitting on a bench appeared to be putting on a wheel; another sat in a wheelchair like Seth's and was adjusting some kind of cushion on another chair with cambered wheels. Lou nudged Seth and gestured to one of the Rollin’ Rebels who had a bumper sticker on the back of his chair that said Eat My Dust.

  When the guy with the bumper sticker turned their way, Seth saw that he had a burly upper body, but that his legs only extended to his knees. Seth b
ecame aware that the athletes on the court had a wide range of disabilities. Some had only one leg, some had no legs at all. He was startled to see one player get out of his wheelchair, stand up, and walk slowly toward the sidelines to get a towel. He had heavy braces on both knees.

  A few minutes later, Danny saw Seth and Lou, waved to them, and came over.

  “You made it,” he said, shaking hands with both boys. “Good to see you.”

  “There are some awesomely muscular dudes out there,” Lou observed.

  Danny nodded. “You got that right. When you use your arms and upper body like we do, even if you don't work out, you get pretty buffed.” He looked at Seth. “I bet your upper body is stronger than it used to be. Am I right?”

  Seth thought for a moment and realized it was true. “Yeah,” he admitted. “I can do things now, like getting in and out of a car, pretty easily. It used to be a major effort.” The more he thought about it, the more he realized it was true.

  “Anyway,” Danny said, “I want you to meet the other Wizards.”

  “That'll be neat,” Seth replied. “Hey, there are players who can walk.”

  “Sure,” said Danny. “If this was the adult division of the league, we'd get ratings according to how disabled we are. A guy who can walk is in what they call Class III, and his rating is three points. If you're like Warren over there,” he continued, pointing to a player with no legs, “you're Class I and have a rating of one point. No team can have a total of more than twelve rating points on the floor at a time. It keeps things evenly matched. But in the junior division we're not rated.”

  Danny waved to the guy who had walked over for a towel. “Yo, Gary! Come and meet my buddies.” Gary wheeled his chair over. He had on a sweatshirt that was cut off at the shoulders. While he was leaner than Danny, the muscles of his arms were impressive.

  “Guys, this is Gary Vitaglio,” said Danny, before introducing Seth and Lou.

  Gary shook hands, smiling. He studied Seth for a moment. “How long have you been in that chair?”

  “Five months,” Seth replied.

  Gary nodded. “I know it's rough, at first. I got hurt when I was eight, and I thought, That's it, my life is over. But, Seth, I'm telling you, I was wrong. You'll see. You can have a really good life. It's all a matter of attitude. Ask anybody here.” He turned to another teammate who had come over to join them. “Right, Con? Seth and Lou, this is Con Addams. He can shoot the lights out when he's hot … which is, like, once a month or so.”

  Con grinned. “Look who's talking. If we had a rating system, Gary would get a minus three, and we could put two extra men on the court.”

  Con was square-faced and blond. A sweatband kept his hair out of his eyes. Seth found himself staring at Con's shrunken legs, and he blushed.

  Con noticed. “That's the way they've been all my life, so I'm used to them. They tell me it was a birth defect. But, hey, we all have our problems, right, Gary?”

  Gary and Con exchanged a low five. Gary said, “Con has big plans — he's going to be a star in two sports.”

  “Right,” Con said. “I'm going to play basketball right through college and compete in the Paralympics some day. And I'm going to do marathons, too. Boston, New York, the biggies.”

  “The Paralympics?” Lou asked.

  “It's like the Olympics for disabled athletes. There are competitions in lots of events, for men and women. It's the big time for wheelchair sports.”

  Seth was impressed. He pointed to Con's chair. “That looks pretty hot.”

  Con patted the chair arm. “The frame is made of a superlight alloy, like they use for racing-bike frames, and I just put on these incredible wheels.” He pointed to the other end of the court. “I'm going to make those Rebels sweat tonight. They better be ready.”

  A shrill whistle rang out. “Uh-oh, it's that time,” Danny said. “See you later, Seth, Lou.”

  “Nice meeting you,” added Gary.

  “Enjoy the game,” Con said.

  The three Wizards joined their teammates in a circle around their coach, a man in a wheelchair wearing a warmup suit.

  Lou sat in the bottom row of the bleachers with Seth next to him as both teams began their regular pregame drills.

  They started with a layup drill much like Seth was used to. The players formed two lines. The first in one line moved in for a layup, dribbling if necessary. The leader of the second line raced forward to either get the rebound or pick up the ball after the made basket and fed an assist to the next player in line number one, and so forth. Seth and Lou had seen and done it many times.

  Except, these guys were doing it in wheelchairs, maneuvering the chairs and handling the ball with incredible skill. Most of the shots were made.

  For a few minutes, both boys watched without saying a word. Finally, Lou spoke. “Amazing!”

  Seth nodded. He had to admit it was impressive. The coach's whistle ended layups, and the players began a shootaround, taking one- and two-handed shots, as well as hook shots, from various distances. Seth watched openmouthed as Gary Vitaglio raced his chair toward midcourt at astonishing speed, leaning forward, hands pumping the wheels, and then used the heel of one hand to brake one wheel, stopping the chair's forward motion and pivoting sharply.

  Lou nudged Seth with an elbow. “See that guy with the blue shirt? He just made his fourth straight eighteen-footer! just with arms and upper body! I'm not believing some of this!”

  Seth was surprised to realize that he was looking forward to the game itself. He had expected the whole evening to be boring, depressing, or both.

  Con Addams came over to them. “How are you doing?”

  “Fine,” replied Seth. “This is awesome! I can't believe the shooting, and the way you can move, the speed and how you stop and spin. It's amazing!”

  Con grinned. “You have any questions?”

  “Are the rules any different?” From real .… uh, mean …”

  “We call it ‘full-bodied’ basketball,” Con interrupted. “And the rules are basically the same: two points for most baskets, except three points for shots from behind the three-point line, a point for free throws, same fouls, same size court, same basket height, same basketball. Oh yeah, there's a thirty-five-second shot clock. If you don't get a shot up that hits at least the rim or the backboard within thirty-five seconds of getting possession, that's a turnover.” He scratched his head, thinking.

  “There are a few things about height regulations for chair seats, the kinds of cushions you can use, stuff like that, but mostly it's the same game.”

  Seth saw that some other people were coming into the gym, including a group who carried a banner that read Wizard Power!!!

  Con saw them and waved. He gestured to the group with a thumb and explained, “That's our official rooting section. Friends and family who come to just about all the games.”

  “How long are the games?” asked Seth.

  “We play eight-minute quarters. The adults and college teams play twenty-minute halfs. Just like …, ” he stopped and grinned. “Just like red ball.”

  Con was about to go on when the coach called to him. He shrugged.

  “Time to suit up and go over the game plan. See you later. Have fun!”

  The two teams disappeared into the locker rooms as more people filed into the gym and sat in the bleachers around Seth and Lou. Seth saw two girls unfold another banner. This one read Rebels Rule!

  “What do you think?” Lou asked.

  “Ask me after the game is over,” Seth answered. He didn't want to admit yet that maybe he might have been wrong about wheelchair basketball.

  Among the spectators, he noted that there were a number in wheelchairs, seated, as he was, in front of the stands. There were also plenty of able-bodied fans, too.

  When the teams emerged on the court a few minutes later there were cheers, and fans called out encouragement. The Wizards' jerseys were black and gold, while the Rebels' colors were red and blue. The teams huddled a
round their coaches, who both used wheelchairs.

  The Wizard coach seemed to be giving his group a pep talk and reminding them about the game plan. When he finished, the players leaned forward and joined hands.

  The coach said something Seth couldn't catch, and the Wizards barked out, “Teamwork!” Five players moved out onto the court, leaving the six others on the sideline.

  At the other end, the Rebels shouted, “Play tough!” Their starters came on. One of the two refs tossed a coin. The Wizard captain called, “Heads,” and won the toss, meaning that the Wizards would put the ball inbounds to begin the game.

  At the moment a Wizard inbounded the ball — a bounce pass to Danny — Gary sped downcourt as hard as he could, head forward, sinewy arms working like pistons. Two Rebels shot off in pursuit, but the Wizards had caught them off guard. Danny fired a baseball pass. Gary looked back just in time to see the ball, grabbed it, dribbled once, and laid it in for two points.

  The Wizard fans cheered, waving their banner, and Seth found that he was cheering, too. He and Lou exchanged grins.

  The Rebels moved the ball upcourt more deliberately, while one muscular, heavyset boy moved into the paint under the Wizard basket. Lou leaned over to Seth and said, “It must be hard to force a guy that big outside.”

  Seth nodded. “Yeah, looks like size and strength make a huge difference in wheelchair hoops, just like in regular basketball.”

  As the Rebels advanced, making use of several passes, the Wizard coach yelled out, “Where's the ball? Watch the ball!”

  Sure enough, as Seth and Lou had expected, the Rebels got the ball to the big guy in the middle, and three Wizards converged on him. But, instead of shooting, the guy passed to another Rebel directly behind him. Then he raised his arms, creating a huge obstacle. Con tried desperately to get around him to block the shot.

  Lou whistled. “Great pick! He's like a wall out there in the paint.”

  The Rebel shot rolled off the rim. But the player who had set the pick grabbed the ball and passed to a teammate, who tried to move toward the basket along the baseline. Con moved in to block him and the chairs collided.