Tennis Ace (8 page)

On Steve’s next serve he aimed straight at Tony. Once again, Tony froze for a fraction of a second and his return was soft
and uncertain. Steve was able to
take control and move Tony back and forth on the baseline again. Tony managed to get to the ball, but he was moving as if
his feet were made of lead. Finally, Steve moved toward the net and volleyed the ball at such a sharp angle that Tony just
stared at it. Steve led, five to four.

Tony now had two serves. Steve went in to meet the first one, only to see the ball squirt under his racket. Tony had put some
slice on it and had come back to tie at five—five.

Steve’s leg was throbbing and his mouth felt dry. He tried to ignore his body’s distress signals and made a strong return
of service down the center of the court, to Tony’s backhand. Tony slammed a hard shot that was meant to pass Steve on his
forehand side, but Steve’s lunge was good enough for him to get the ball and send it steaming cross-court. Tony’s return tipped
the net. Steve had to throw himself forward to get his racket under the ball before its second bounce. The ball went softly
over the net and Tony was unable to get there. Steve led, six—five. It was Steve’s serve — and game, set, and match point.

As he walked back to serve, Steve was limping. He
couldn’t try to hide the fact that his leg was aching, and he wanted this match to be over. If he didn’t put Tony away right
now, he would have a very rough time moving around with any speed.

He prepared to serve, barely aware of the cheering of the crowd in the stands. The umpire, however, called time.

“Quiet, please,” he called out. “Please let the players concentrate.” Once the crowd had settled down, the umpire signaled
for Steve to serve.

Steve tossed the ball high, arched his back, and whipped his right arm around.

“
Out!
” called a line judge.

“Fault,” said the umpire. “Second service.”

Steve hesitated, bouncing the ball. Should he play it safe? Or should he go for broke and risk a double fault? He decided
that he would have to take that risk, because he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to play on that leg. He figured
he must have either a bad bruise or a slight strain. Either way, he wouldn’t be able to keep running for long. He had to try
to win the match on this serve.

He glanced at Tony. Tony had crept in a few feet, expecting Steve to play it safe. That decided it for
Steve. He hit a hard topspin serve into the outside corner of the service box. For a terrible second he thought it was long.

But it wasn’t. The ball took a low bounce, just under Tony’s racket. Ace!

“Game, set, and match to Greeley,” called the umpire, but his voice was drowned out by the cheering of the crowd. Steve stood
still for a moment and then limped to the net to shake hands with Tony.

T
ony smiled as he shook hands. “Congratulations. You earned it today.”

Steve smiled back. “You made me fight for every point. You’re a tough man to beat.”

As Steve came to the sideline, his father rushed up and threw his arms around him. “What a match!” he yelled. “You were amazing!
Unbelievable! Wait’ll you hear Vince! He wants you for his camp! He’s totally sold on you!”

When his father mentioned Vince, Steve winced and bit his lip. Mr. Greeley noticed but didn’t understand.

“That leg must really be hurting,” he said. “But you played right through the pain! Talk about guts — you’re a real competitor!”

Ginny rushed forward and hugged her brother.
“You did great! How’s your leg?” She handed him a cold drink.

Steve took a deep swallow. “It’s not too bad. I think I must’ve bruised it when I dove. It’ll be real sore tomorrow, but …
who cares?”

Brother and sister grinned at each other and laughed.

Ten minutes later, the umpire called out for quiet over the PA system. He then introduced Billy Gardiner, who presented the
trophy for the State Junior Tennis Championship in the Boys’ Twelve-and-Under Class to Steve. As Steve took the cup, Billy
shook his hand and said, “I’m going to have to watch out for you in a few years, dude. You have what it takes.”

Steve tried not to flinch when Billy shook his hand. All that exercise had given Billy a grip of steel. Billy grinned. “See
you on the tour, kid.”

Steve carried his trophy toward the locker room, accompanied by the rest of his family. Vince stood by the locker room door,
smiling, his hand outstretched. “You really showed me something out there, Steve. How’s the leg?”

Steve shrugged. “I don’t think it’s too bad. Maybe it’s just a bruise.”

“Be sure to ice it right away,” Vince advised. “By the way, you and I have to talk this evening.”

“This evening?” Steve echoed, suddenly feeling nervous.

Mr. Greeley said, “I guess I didn’t mention it, but we’re having a victory dinner tonight for you and Ginny, and Vince is
the guest of honor. He has something to tell you both, something that’ll make your day.”

Steve hoped his feelings didn’t show on his face. “Okay,” he said. “Sure.”

He ducked quickly into the locker room, not wanting to face his dad just yet. He put some ice in a towel and wrapped it around
his sore leg. While he was letting the ice do its job, his buddy Pat came up and lightly punched his shoulder.

“You were awesome out there,” he said. He noticed the wrapped leg. “You didn’t break anything, did you?”

Steve shook his head. “Nothing like that. Just a bruise, I think.”

Pat sat next to him. “You break the news to your dad yet? About your future?”

Steve didn’t say anything. Pat looked concerned. “No, huh? When are you going to?”

Steve massaged the leg gently. “It has to be tonight, because I think Vince Marino is going to invite me officially to his
camp. And I don’t want to go. I’ll have to tell dad before dinner, because I don’t think he should hear the bad news for the
first time when Vince invites me.”

“Know what you’re going to say?” asked Pat.

“I don’t have a clue.”

Pat stood up. “Oh, boy. Well, good luck. I wish I had some advice for you, but I don’t have a clue either. Call me later and
tell me how it went.”

“Okay,” Steve said. As Pat left, Steve shut his eyes and tried to relax. Suddenly he was aware that someone had sat down next
to him. He was startled to see that it was Vince. He had taken off his mirrored sunglasses and was looking at Steve with a
steady gaze.

“I thought you and I might have a little talk in private,” Vince said. “I mean, without your dad around.”

“Sure,” said Steve, wondering what this was all about.

Vince sat back on the bench. “I already told you, Steve, you showed me something today. I don’t just mean that you have good
technique, either. You have that winning instinct, too.

“It would have been easy for you to just take it easy when that leg began to hurt. No one would have blamed you even if you’d
said that you couldn’t play anymore. After all, you’re the only one who knew how bad you hurt. But you gutted it out. That
meant more to me than your serve or your footwork.”

“Thanks,” Steve said, still not sure why Vince was telling him this without his father around to hear.

“But there’s one thing I’m
not
sure about,” Vince went on. “And I thought I’d bring it up just between you and me.

“See, I’ve worked with hundreds of tennis players. All of ’em were very good and a few were great, and while I’ve been teaching
them, they’ve taught
me
a few things, too.

“The most important thing they taught me is that unless someone really
wants
to become a professional tennis player, it doesn’t matter how much talent he or she has. All the teaching in the world isn’t
going to be enough. Are you following me?”

Steve shrugged. “Uh, sure. I follow you completely.”

Vince nodded. “Good. Now, I get a feeling — I may be wrong, and correct me if I am — but I think you may not be wild about
going to my camp. Am I right about that?”

Steve didn’t know what to say. “Well, I mean, I know your camp is great and all, but …”

Vince smiled. “Don’t worry about my feelings, just say what’s on your mind. This is just between us. I won’t tell your dad.”

Steve was puzzled. “How could you tell?”

“Let’s just say that I’ve learned to recognize the signs.”

“But —” Steve stopped, trying to think things through. “If
you
can see, how come my dad can’t?”

Vince sighed. “Don’t be too hard on your dad, Steve. When he got hurt, back in college, it was almost like his life was over.
Tennis had been the center of his life, and he probably would have had a good pro career. Then,
boom
, it was gone. Just like that.” Vince shook his head sadly.

“Now here you are, his son, with the same kind of talent, and he naturally assumes you’re going to
want what
he
wanted back then. Can you understand why he would think that, and why it might not be easy for him to accept the fact that
you don’t feel the same way?”

“I guess,” Steve answered. “Hey, maybe I
will
want to get serious about tennis someday. Maybe it’ll happen next year, or the year after. I don’t know. But —”

“But not just yet,” Vince finished for him. “I get what you’re saying. The thing is, you need to tell him.”

Steve slumped, and then sat up hopefully. “Maybe you could tell him for me.”

Vince shook his head again. “It should come from you. I know you don’t want to do it, but you should tell him what’s on your
mind. It won’t be so bad. Matter of fact, Ted may surprise you. In any case, you’ll feel a lot better once you do.”

Steve thought for a moment. “I guess you’re right. Thanks. Thanks a lot.”

Vince got up and patted Steve on the shoulder. “I’m glad we had our talk. See you tonight.”

Steve sat there, wishing it were the next day and that the talk with his dad was history.

T
he victory dinner at the Greeleys that evening was not a huge success. Both Steve and Ginny were unusually quiet, which was
surprising since both had won state championships that day. The Greeley parents and Vince kept the conversation flowing, but
both Mr. and Mrs. Greeley kept giving their children looks of concern.

“Honey, are you feeling all right?” Mrs. Greeley finally asked Ginny.

“Sure, Mom, I’m fine,” Ginny said, but not very convincingly.

“Leg bothering you, Champ?” Mr. Greeley asked Steve at another point.

“It’s all right, Dad,” replied Steve. “I iced it like Vince said and it’s okay.”

Finally, the dishes from the main course were cleared away and Mr. and Mrs. Greeley came out of the kitchen carrying a big
layer cake with two candles on top. In the vanilla icing, big chocolate letters spelled out
OUR TWO CHAMPIONS
.

While the cake was being cut, Vince cleared his throat. “I guess this is a good time to tell you all my news. I’m happy to
say that we have room for
both
of you at camp this summer, and from what I saw today, I’d like the chance to work with you, Ginny, and you, Steve.”

Their father beamed in delight, though their mother looked less than happy.

“I thought that we —,” she began, but Ginny interrupted her.

“Mom, it’s okay. Mr. Marino —”

“You can call me Vince, remember?” he said.

“Okay,” Ginny answered. “Vince, thanks a lot for inviting me but — I can’t believe I’m saying this —but I don’t think I should
go.”

Steve’s jaw dropped. “
What
? But I figured … I was sure that you’d … how come, Gin?”

Ginny got up and hugged her mother. “Because
Mom is right. I need to work on my math. Tennis will have to wait.”

“What changed your mind?” Mrs. Greeley asked.

“I guess it was listening to Dierdre Mulloy today. I mean, she’s done everything I wanted to do, and she’s really unhappy.
If she can’t make a comeback, she’ll be unhappy for a long time. And I saw that it’s partly because she doesn’t know anything
except tennis. Mom tried to explain that to me, but I guess until I met Dierdre, I wasn’t ready to believe her.”

“Dierdre may come back,” Vince pointed out. “She’s still a great athlete.”

“Sure,” Ginny agreed. “
Maybe
. And maybe not. I’ve been thinking a lot about it ever since this morning, and I decided I’d better take care of my education.
If I work hard this school year, maybe I’d be able to come to your camp next summer, Vince — if you’d still let me, that is.”

Vince said, “I don’t see why not, if you want to come. You’re still young and you’re very good. And you also have a good head
on your shoulders.”

Mr. Greeley shrugged. “Well, that’s that, then. Ginny will go to summer school, and Steve will go to Vince’s camp.”

“No, Dad.” The words were out of Steve’s mouth before he knew they were coming.

Mr. Greeley stared at his son. “What? Did you say no?”

Steve swallowed hard and nodded. “I feel the same way Gin does, Dad. I’m not … I’m not ready. Not yet, anyway.”

“
Sure
you are!” his father replied. “You’re as talented as any boy your age I’ve ever seen!”

“But I’m not
ready
,” Steve insisted, standing up and facing his father. “I know I have talent, and I like playing tennis, but … there are too
many other things I want to do. I’m only twelve years old, and I don’t want to spend my whole summer doing nothing but tennis.”

His dad shook his head. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Here you’re getting the chance of a lifetime, and you’re going
to throw it away? Vince, help me out, here, will you? Tell the boy what he’s ready to pass up!”

But Vince said, “Sorry, Ted, but I can’t do that. This is between the two of you, and also … I don’t think Steve is wrong.”

Mr. Greeley opened his mouth, but no words
came out at first. “Vince, what are you saying?” he said finally. “You can’t mean that. You just invited him to your camp,
after all!”

“I
do
mean it,” replied Vince. “Ted, you’re a great judge of tennis ability. But only Steve knows what’s going on inside his head.
On that, he’s the authority.”