He Was Always...

by Crystal Volpe

He was always the last one to leave the gym after a practice or a game. He’d be there an hour early every day just running, working on plays, working on shots; he’d do anything as long as he had that ball in his hands. Four hours out of every day was devoted to basketball. He played on three teams: one travel, the other high school, and the last recreation. He was a point guard so he always handled the ball, and was always the play maker who got all of the credit. Even though he was the best player on the team, he wasn’t a ball hog or a show off and people loved him even more for that.
His name was Matt Bay. He was the best player in Massachusetts and everyone knew it. People came from other cities just to watch his games; just to watch the upcoming superstar everyone loved. He was seventeen and had full basketball scholarships to four colleges, and partial basketball scholarships to eleven other schools. His life hasn’t always been like this, though. Matt’s brother, Tyler, died two years ago in a car accident. It was horrible. Tyler and his friend were driving home from a Boston College basketball game when they got t-boned by a drunk driver who ran a red light. They both died in the crash, and the drunk “walked” away with only a concussion and a broken arm. That night at about 11:30, the police called the Bay’s house. Their mom was asleep so Matt answered the phone.
“Hello, this is Frank from the Marlborough Police Department. Is this the residence of Tyler Bay’s family?” Asked the police officer.
“Yeah, Tyler isn’t home right now. I’m his brother Matt,” Matt told him.
“We have your brother Tyler with us. He is on his way to the Marlborough Hospital. Can you please have your parents come to the hospital? It is urgent,” Frank sighed, sorrowfully.
Matt panicked.
“What happened? What is going on? I need to talk to my brother!” Matt yelled into the phone.
“ I’m sorry but that is impossible,” said Frank.
“Why?” Matt whispered.
“He is dead,” Frank whispered back. “I’m sorry for your loss. I need your parents to meet us at the hospital. Again, I’m sorry for your loss.”
The line went dead and Matt was left to face this problem himself. He couldn’t control himself. He threw the glass plate that was on the counter against the wall and watched the pieces shatter and fall to the ground. That wasn’t enough to control him, though. He threw himself against the wall and started kicking it as hard as he could. Tears were running down his face. He finally stopped and sunk to the ground. He felt that if Tyler’s future was gone, his future would be gone too because he couldn’t picture his life without his brother.
While he and his mother were sitting in the metal folding chairs in the hospital’s waiting room, Matt realized that he had to be the backbone of the family now. He had to take Tyler’s place. He had to take care of his mother who was sobbing in the chair next to him. All Tyler’s life, he took the father roll in the family because their real father was a pass out drunk who left when Tyler was three. He was more than a brother and a father to Matt. He was that one person in Matt’s life that he shared everything with. Tyler loved basketball and was good at it too. He taught Matt as much as he could so that they could share the love of the sport together. Tyler was planning to go to Boston College once he graduated high school and play basketball for them. Now, that was Matt’s goal. He didn’t make it easy though. He wouldn’t do anything for the first five days after his brother died: wouldn’t sleep, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t do homework, and wouldn’t help his mother with any of the funeral arrangements. Somehow he woke up from his depression. He started playing basketball again and started talking to his mother. He only pulled it together because he knew that that’s what Tyler would’ve done.

It was Matt’s senior year in high school. These were the best days of his life. He was loved by all teachers, faculty, and students because of his friendly personality and caring nature. If he didn’t win you over with that though, it did help that he was gorgeous. He had bronze skin with dark black hair and green eyes. He was the captain of the basketball team and led them to championships. Matt always thought of Tyler when he played basketball. He’d remember the pointers Tyler gave him and the situations where he could steal the ball. Before he knew it, it was the championship game against Shrewsbury High School. Obviously, this was a big game for the whole school, but to Matt it was more than a game, it was what he could do to make his brother proud. The Boston College basketball coach was coming to this game. Matt had never been nervous before a game until now. Matt was sitting in the middle of the basketball court holding a ball in his hands three hours before the game. He was waiting to remember everything Tyler ever taught him about basketball because Matt knew that he needed to have Tyler’s help during this game. He sat there in the middle of the court until twenty minutes before game time. He changed into his uniform and jogged out to the court with his teammates. Soon after the game started and went by fast. The other team was good, but Matt was better. No one had ever seen him play like this. He kept on thinking of that old country song he and his brother used to listen to when they would practice together. It was called “Live like you were Dying”, and that’s exactly what he was doing. He was playing that game to the fullest; not holding anything back! He dribbled to the rhythm of the music and shot at the end of the verses. The other team’s coach started to catch on, though. He knew that Matt was the backbone of the team, and knew that if he blocked him out, not many plays would be getting made. He told his players to block Matt out, and because of that, the game got close until the score was tied, 57-57. It was the last minute of the game and the other team was bringing the ball up the court. They double-teamed Matt so that he couldn’t stop the play. The other team’s guard shot, the score changed, and the buzzer sounded. Matt’s team lost 59-57.
Since that game, he had been moping around the house ashamed of himself. He knew for sure that he let his brother down, and suffered from depression. He wouldn’t be able to get a scholarship to B.C. for basketball. His hope was running out. Every day, he would drive home, grab practice clothes and just go shoot around the court. One day when he came home, he found an envelope from B.C. on the kitchen table addressed to him. He opened it up.
Dear Matthew Walker,
We are pleased to inform you that you have not only qualified academically for Boston College, but we also would like to give you a full basketball scholarship for the next four years to be one of out team’s point guards.
The only thing he could do was cry a tear and look at the picture of him and his brother that sat on the counter. He looked at his brother’s face and said, “this is for you, bro."