The guys Derek Middleton


There were three boys that made it out of the hood with their talents. Flyboy, 50 and 40cal. They were close friends. Everyday they talked about college. Come on when reality kicks in they in the hood, it’s a slim chance they’re going to make it. The streets won’t let them. Drugs, gangs, money and fly honeys. Oh yeah the crooked cops.

Fourth quarter of the playoffs game. 50 and 40 cal was leading their team. Trying to go down state for the first time ever. They had to do it without the third part of the group, flyboy. Who was the all-American point guard. He sat out because of trouble. So the other two all-Americans had to carry the load. 40 and 50 needed to win this game, because a lot of people are expecting them to. Flyboy to, because he’ll be able to play. 50’s bringing the ball up. 10 seconds left 40’s in the corner yelling. 50 hits him in the corner. 40 throws it up. Their future was in 40’s hands. Ball game 40 came through.

Down state they were going. This called for a celebration. So they threw a party. They were posted on the block. Just chilling. The music was loud; if you wanted to talk to someone you had to dip off to the front. Flyboy, 50 and 40 saw three bad chicks. So they asked them to come to the front so they can talk to them. Everybody was getting to know each other. Flyboy was over on the porch spitting that fly talk. Next thing you know flyboy and his girl was going in the crib. So he can do his thang. Three hours later flyboy heard gunshots. He ran outside. 40 was crying holding 50.

The next day at the hospital the doctor told 40 and flyboy that 50 got shot nine times. This meant that in order to for 50 to play they couldn’t get eliminated. They had to win a couple of games so 50 could get well. That’s a lot of pressure to make their dream continue, which was to all go pro. A couple of games down the road were tough without 50, physically and emotionally. 50 getting shot was scary he could’ve died. It’s not really about basketball. 50 is a close friend. Flyboy and 40 visited 50 in the hospital. He was recovering very well. To more weeks he’ll be able to play.

Two weeks pass and 50 was back practicing. He started off a little slow, but you know he picked it up. Practice got intense that was good. We had our spirit back. Of course they made it to the championship. Was we going to win was the question. The game was nationally televised on espn. They entered the stadium which was the Madisen square garden. They all had butterflies and was nervous then that thang. This was the first time they played in front of so many people. At halftime 50, flyboy and 40 was down 20. All three of them were cold. One had to get hot. So flyboy took over. At the end of the third quarter they were down 5 points. It was 4.5 seconds left. They were down 2 points. 50 was bringing the ball down. The opposing team had a double team on flyboy. He was in the zone, but someone else had to take the potential game winning shot. 50 crosses over, spin, glides for a lay up, then he passes it to 40 for a better shot. Can 40 do it again? Yes ball game. After that game their lives changed forever. They went on to have successful college careers. They all enter the nba draft. All going 1,2 and 3.