Chapter 3
Devon slowed his progress and analyzed the two men standing in front of him. Sweat was flowing freely down his face and back as he shifted his stance. He knew he had only one shot for the kill, and he steeled himself for the assault that was about to be unleashed. Devon broke into a full out charge for the first man. A split second before impact he broke left leaving the man momentarily dazed and off balance. The second man charged and Devon was forced to alter his course causing his weight to defy gravity by cutting to the right. Knowing he had been out maneuvered the first man turned around just in time to see Devon leap from his feet and drive his weapon home.
“Two points!” Devon screamed as his feet landed back on the pavement. As a show of superiority he caught the basketball before it hit the ground and proceeded to toss it to the opposing team. One of his teammates let out a whoop, and they ran back down the court.
Devon had never met the two guys that were playing on his team today, but when he was challenged by some local kids they were the only ballers available. He had been challenged by three Samoan brothers, and what they did not have in height they more than made up for in speed. Devon had seen them play a few times and was enjoying the competition. Although, as the game progressed, he wished that his new teammates would curve their vocal excitement over their success. After a few more successful drives, they became louder and even more disrespectful. Devon was about to tell them to calm down and cut out the trash talk when he heard the smack. He turned just in time to see the smaller, and louder, of the two hit the ground on his back.
Always the peacemaker, Devon tried to calm the Samoan brothers down, “Hey guys, I thought we were here to play ball, everything is cool.”
The most muscular of the three turned on Devon and started yelling, “You want some too!”
Before he could respond his attacker swung a wide haymaker catching Devon in the temple. His vision went black as he tried to back away from the blows. The Samoan repeatedly hit Devon in the face as he backed up. After awhile Devon stopped feeling the pain; all he could hear was the dull thud of his attacker’s fist hitting him repeatedly in the face. Finally, unable to defend himself, Devon knelt down and waited for the beating to end.
The assault was broken up when an old man across the street shouted that he had called the police. The oldest of the brothers pulled his sibling off Devon and apologized for his brother. He told Devon that he was not part of the problem and shouldn’t have been hit. Devon was in no mood for sympathy and shrugged him off. To add insult to injury, someone had stolen his wallet while the fight had taken place. Devon walked across the large field to where his car was parked feeling shamed and angry. He looked in his rearview mirror and saw that the left side of his face was drooping off his head, while the right side was swelling at an alarming rate. “Wonderful,” he thought as put his keys in the ignition and started a painful drive home.
** ** **
Three small demons of pride were laughing wickedly as they watched the attack unfold. It took a lot of suggestive thought, but they were finally able to get the brothers to explode from the insults. On the flip side, the player hurling the insults was quite easy to manipulate. The original target was Devon, and they knew that it was only a matter of luck the brother’s anger lasted long enough to include him in on the beating. After the first punch was thrown, the demons tag teamed the two boys that were playing with Devon telling them to run for their lives. It didn’t take too much encouragement and very quickly Devon was the only target for the brothers to focus on. What they had not counted on was the old man who had ruined their fun. They had not seen him come out of the house and had been surprised when they heard him yelling.
The demons had not realized it but the old man had seen them too. If they had not been so intent on watching the battered Devon run off in shame, they would have noticed that instead of going back into the house he seemed to dissolve into the door. Now in his true form, the young warrior sat beside Devon on his drive home. He was trying, unsuccessfully, to encourage Devon and to plant a seed of forgiveness. The young warrior knew the roll that he would be playing in the coming days, and he did not want Devon’s anger to hamper the potency of his potential.
** ** **
As he pulled into his driveway, Devon took one more look into the rear-view mirror. Through swollen eyes he saw one battered and beaten face. He could only imagine what his mom would say when he went in the house. Devon also realized that he had forgotten about his bible study that Steve would be picking him up for at 6:00 pm. The last thing he wanted to do was face all his friends in this condition. “Maybe I’ll tell Steve I’m sick,” he muttered as he forced himself out of the car. As Devon reached out to open the door the adrenaline had worn off and he found himself falling into a pit of rage, and with a hurt pride and battered face he entered his parent’s house.
To Devon’s surprise and relief both of his parents were out. There was a note on the refrigerator that they had gone out for a dinner and movie. He let out a sigh of relief and thanked the Lord for small favors. He was still angry, but not having to expose his shame to his parents for a little while did help his mood. His face was beginning to hurt so he took a handful of aspirins followed up by a cold shower. He had been hoping that the cold water would bring down the swelling, but as he caught site of himself in the mirror he could only think that he looked like a warped version of the elephant man.
Resolved to stay in for the night he called Steve to tell him that he wasn’t feeling well. Unfortunately, Steve was notorious for letting his battery die out on his phone, and as Devon called for a third time, only to go straight to voicemail, he resolved to the fact that he was going to have to face his friends tonight. Sighing, Devon filled a bag full of ice. Lying back in his chair he alternated the bag across his face from one swollen area to the next, and waited for his friend to come pick him up.