"Sore arm?" asks the Other.
"No," he says. "I'll be ready when the game starts."
The Other looks down at a notepad in the Taller Boy's lap. It's a drawing of a Wolf's Head, with the words, 'Passion on every Possession.'
The Other raises his eyebrows. His voice is low. "Are you serious? You're kidding, right? A tattoo?"
The Taller Boy fingers the notepad. "Thinking about it. Maybe. Maybe not."
"What about your parents. Geez, mine would go nuts, I even said the word. They're real old school. Tats are only for criminals and low lives. Hip Hop Thugs."
The Taller Boy holds up his notepad.
"I like it." says the Other. "The teeth. The eyes. It's for basketball. Passion on Every Possession, not really for anything else. Color? Red eyes for the wolf?"
"I'm thinking of a grey wolf, with light blue eyes, and large white teeth...or maybe red teeth. And yeah, it's a basketball tat."
"Can you actually get one? Don't you have to be 18?"
"Not a real problem," says the Taller Boy. "I'll find a way. Lebron got Chosen 1 on his back, and he was still in high school."
"I think I'd get like a snake, a rattlesnake maybe. Tail on my left arm, it coils around my neck, and the head comes out on my right arm. Like, the Worm, himself, Dennis Rodman. Talk about Tattoos."
A man, a whistle around his neck, turns in his seat and looks back the the two. "I've been listening. Thinking of getting a tattoo?"
Both boys look up. The Taller Boy closes his notepad. "Kinda let's everybody know how serious I am about playing."
"You do it, but remember, it lasts a life time," says the Coach. "Guys, it's not like a girl friend, who lasts for a month or so, then she's gone. You'll be looking at that tattoo for a long time. Don't do anything crazy. Instead I'd spend my time working on my jump shot."
"There's only a few Pros who don't have tattoos," says the Other. "Andrew Bynum, but maybe you just can't see them. Some don't care what people think, like Matt Barns."
The Taller Boy opens his notepad and looks at the wolf. "I like this. It'll make me feel great on the court."
"Business Tattoos, if you're going to do this," says the Coach. "Put on a suit, nobody sees your tats. Come on, guys. You're only in the seventh grade. Kevin Durant, he's got a chest and stomach covered in tattoos. He puts on a suit, you'd never know."
The coach opens his shirt. "Got it in the Army. Marks a time in my life. Part of my personal history. But that's just me. Remember, Shaq asked his mom's permission first, before he got the Superman.
"Maybe when you get older, you'll think of your body kinda like a diary. Allen Iverson, he's that way. His history is on his body."
"Coach, I don't want to be like Birdman Anderson, or Kenyon Martin, with his girl friend's lips tattooed under his right ear. A wolf, I think it'll make me play better."
As they single file out of the bus, The Taller Boy unbuttons his shirt and just above his navel, A Coy Fish.
"What is this," says the Other. "You already have one?"
He smiles, "Yeah, about six month ago. Coy Fish, for luck. But the coach is right. It's better I practice my jump shots. But, can you see me going up for a rebound, and that Wolf on my arm. I'll have every High School scout in the country knocking down my door to sign me."
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Help comes from:
Google/Images/Birdman Anderson/
sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/
best-basketball-tips.com/basketball-tattoos.html
WikiPedia/DennisRodman/Allen Iverson/BirdmanAnderson,
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