Ch. 4 – Sky-high Free Throw

After handing over the cochlear implant receivers to Nathan so he could sterilize them on the hospital’s dime, and then waiting a few minutes after Nathan had left, Derrick walked from the alley back into the street, and the buzz of the city enveloped him.

Everything was so new, it almost blinding. People’s clothes were new, although some looked horribly experimental. The display glass panels on storefronts were new: gleaming and unblemished, as they rendered advertisements at a silky smooth display refresh rate. The image of a woman biting into a slice of pizza flashed across the window of a deli. Her teeth were a lustrous white, and she licked a string of cheese off her full lips, like it was most delicious thing in the world.

A gaggle of rich young women walked by the storefront, and they matched the woman in the ad: perfectly symmetrical smile, unblemished skin, tight waistline, and not a single hair out of place. People in the big city looked beautiful nowadays. Back when Derrick was a kid, these ads felt like an alternative reality; even supermodels were a bit off from the perfect look, especially if they got cosmetic surgery—it hurt more than it helped. But nowadays, anyone with the money could be a supermodel. The best surgeons and equipment could change your look, and not leave a single seam to hint that something was cut or sewed together. It was as if you had emerged from a cocoon, naturally perfect.

Even the gang activity here was beautiful. The higher-up White Leopards drove around in their import cars, schmoozing with politicians and businessmen in their white suits. There were no alleyway shakedowns here, or at least they weren’t as common. Gangs did oversee local drug dealers like Nathan, but people weren’t getting shot over magic mushrooms.

Where people like Derrick lived, though, their clothes were dull, stained, and mismatched. People's imperfections stood out; they marked their owners, like graffiti tags on a street corner. If you wanted to change your look, you rolled the dice, and hoped your surgeon wasn’t a raging alcoholic who was deep in his third bottle of the night. And if you wanted to live, well, you had better pay the gangs their protection money.

But whatever. Derrick liked to enjoy himself in the city, since he didn’t always have the chance to visit. As long he didn’t look in any mirrors, he could pretend he was one of these beautiful people, walking around like the city was made for them. He took a deep breath of (relatively) clean air, and headed toward the recreational district. With a few hours to kill, he could get in a game of basketball. It had been a while since Derrick had played with anyone good, since his neighborhood had gotten too dangerous for that over the years, and he was itching to play a game.

The city was pretty safe, and you could find a pickup game anywhere there was an open court. A few blocks down, there was a multi-storied open-air court that was always busy, and Derrick’s favorite place to play: the Tree Cage.

The Tree Cage peeked out behind a parking garage with a big mural on its side, depicting the heroes of Superstorm Bonnie on it. It had a striking design, being made of a thick center supporting pillar, with suspended basketball courts staggered on either side. Each court was encased in a cage, with a high ceiling, as the court above them was two levels up. The structure was extremely sound, and there must have been some sort of vibration dampening as well, because Derrick never felt the ground shake from the action on a neighboring courts. The noise, though . . . the noise could be deafening. Especially in the center stage, where all the courts to the side and above could watch the game going on on that center court. It was like watching a playoff match, but the cheering came from absolutely everywhere.

It was wonderful.

Derrick placed his bag in one of the city lockers in a storage pod at the foot of the multi-court super-structure and took his jacket off. The early spring air kissed his skin, and the energy from up above made it tingle.

The best view and the best air was near the top, so that was where Derrick had to go.