Hoops part 2

Author- Walter Dean Myers

Chapters 6-end
Summary

The book begins with the team having a very hard practice session in which everyone is exhausted by the time its over. Lonnie decides that he might talk to Cal about the whole Paul situation. However while talking to Cal he is interrupted by kids wanting his autograph. When he asks why the want his autograph the tell him that one day he will be famous. This changes the subject between Cal and Lonnie. Lonnie asks Cal why he never had a child. Cal tells him he has one. At first Lonnie thinks its a girl that Cal does not want Lonnie to take advantage of. It turns out to be a boy who apparently has died. Lonnie feels bad for Cal and they go out to have a soda and talk more. Cal talks about how he was charged with shaving points, got finned and was left with nothing. His ex-wife Aggie had to work a long amount of hours. Cal could not find a job because he needed to take care of there son Jeffery. Eventually Cal found someone to take care of Jeffery for one dollar. Cal did not tell Aggie about this. Cal went to his new job. When he came home however there were firetrucks all over his house. Jeffery and the sitter were killed in the fire. After the funeral Cal told Aggie it was all his fault. Aggie just left.
Lonnie arrives back at the hotel which he works at. Mary-Ann is waiting there for him. Lonnie asks her if Tyrone said anything about the robbery. She says that Tyrone was mad but not furious. Also she said that his bodyguard said he thinks he knows who did it. Mary-Ann also said she was considering quitting the job but does not want to because then Tyrone might think it was here. Lonnie leaves slightly confused.
The section starts out when Cal and Lonnie go see Mr. O'Donnell who is the head of the basketball competition. O'Donnell is concerned, he believes that the tournament is more of a coaches fight. He thinks that its a coaches tournament and that the kids are fighting over it. Cal disagrees with him ans asks what does this have to do with his team. O'Donnell explains that there team has been called the best team and he does not want someone with a troubled past to coach the team. Cal asks him where he got this information and O'Donnell says Rashid called him. Cal asks who Rashid was but O'Donnell says he will need to find out himself. Cal argues and O'Donnell explains that he is not forced to withdraw but things could happen. Lonnie and Cal leave angry and irritated. Lonnie calls up all his teammates and tells them they are having a meeting at the center. When they enter the center everyone is shocked. Everything is smashed everywhere, everything is broken. Ox also finds his pet parakeet dead. Lonnie realizes someone must have done this to really hurt their team. He thinks this because absolutely everything was trashed. Lonnie tried to explain what happened with Cal but everyone was too depressed to talk.
The team plays five games in three days. They win all of them and start playing better and better. Mary-Ann also begins coming to the games. Lonnie feels happier when she is around him. Lonnie tells Mary-Ann of how he went to see the tournament directors and how they did not want anyone to coach a team with troubled past. Lonnie tells Mary-Ann that Cal shaved points. Lonnie also says something about Rashid. Mary-Ann reconizes that name as a man named Juno. Lonnie attempts to call Cal but he is not answering.
The next day at practice Lonnie tells Cal about Juno. Cal asks him to give him all the details after practice. When it is over Cal makes an announcement that the first game of the tournament will be tomorrow. He also tells them it will be a round robin tournament so that it is okay if they lose a game. Cal also tells them to be on their best because scouts will be there. While Cal and Lonnie are talking Lonnie tells him the whole story of how Paul was selling checks to Ugly and how Tyrone the club boss was getting into trouble with Paul. He also tells Cal that he found out Juno works for Tyrone. He also explains how he and Mary-Ann went into Tyrone office and took the checks. Cal mentions that someone named Tyrone called him earlier and said he wanted to help the team financially. Cal leaves sayings he is going to find out what these people were hiding.
On the day of the game the team wins by one point. Some players including Lonnie notice that Cal is standing by a curb. They ask him what he is waiting for he responds that its just his ride. Lonnie walks a little and a car comes by to pick up Cal. Two men come out and it seems they are arguing. They put their hands on call and put him in the back seat of the car. Lonnie can not tell if they are using force but Cal gives a hand as if everything is alright. Lonnie is unsure. The team starts to worry when Cal doesn't show up for practices or a game. The game in which Cal does not show up the team loses. Lonnie calls everywhere looking for Cal including Aggie Cal's ex. However there is no luck in finding him. Lonnie decides to head over to Aggie's house. Aggie tells him that Cal has been in trouble a lot in the past. He tells Lonnie of a man named Jack that lived in Chicago. She told him that Jack asked Cal to shave points for money. Aggie says that Jack is somewhere in New York which makes Lonnie very curious. Lonnie has suspicious that Jack could be Tyrone. The next game Cal does not show again. The team decides who should be coach. They agree that Lonnie should coach the team. Halfway through the game Sweet Man Johnson appears. He helps out the team almost acting like a new coach. The team eventually loses after Lonnie is thrown out of the game by two questionable fouls. After the game Lonnie calls looking for Cal again. He calls Aggie and Aggie tells him that Cal is in jail. Aggie tells him that Cal got into a fight and the bail will cost three hundred dollars. Lonnie is determined to save up enough money to get Cal out of jail. Mary-Ann shows up and tells Lonnie that he heard about what happened to Cal. She then says that she will give Lonnie money if he wants. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out three hundred dollars. Lonnie asks her where she got this money. She says she wanted to help out Cal so badly she went into Tyrone's office. Lonnie thanks Mary-Ann and goes with Aggie to bail out Cal. When the first see Cal he looks like a zombie. He does not react to any talking. After coming out from jail Cal is a different person. He has a lot of anger in him. Aggie calls Cal's father in attempt to help Cal. Lonnie realizes that Cal was unnoticed as a child. His father did not take care of him as much as he should have. After Cal's father leaves Cal starts acting slightly crazy. He explains how he does not care about anything anymore. Lonnie tells him he is not coaching anymore. He does not want Cal messing up his team.
The next two games Lonnie and his team play without a coach. They won the first game however they lost the second. The next day Lonnie is cleaning up the center when one of the teammates Jo-Jo tells him someone wants to see Cal by ten o'clock Thursday or else. Both the boys are confused on what the or else could mean but they both know it will be something bad. At first they have a hard time finding Cal but eventually with the help of Aggie they locate him half asleep and drunk. They get him some coffee and tell him about the man that called. While talking they realize that the man was O'Donnell. At first Cal does not want to talk, however after some convincing from Aggie he decides he will go.
The next morning Cal and Lonnie head over to O'Donnell's office. Cal goes into O'Donnell's office while Lonnie waits. After what seems like a long time Cal comes out of the office looking angry and depressed. Lonnie asks hims if he can not coach but Cal responds saying he can coach but Lonnie can not play. When Lonnie asks why Cal says there no time. He asks Lonnie to meet him at the center with the team and be ready to play at five. Cal says he has some phone calls to make. Apparently word got out that they were playing and a television station decided they wanted some footage. Therefore the game would be broadcasting on TV. The team gets to the center and Cal explains that there were supposed to be two more games to decide the two best teams to play the championship. However a network station dropped a movie they were showing and decided they wanted the championship game broadcasting on TV right now. So they picked the two best teams you guys and Manhattan. Cal explains that Lonnie could not play because he was thrown out of too many games. Lonnie becomes very depressed about what he did. Cal then gets on the phone and Lonnie is curious about who he is calling. Apparently Cal is making bets that his team will lose and is saying that Lonnie has a bad ankle and can not play. Lonnie can not believe this and becomes furious at Cal. He starts yelling at him and wishes he never met him. Paul then comes in with Mary-Ann who is seriously hurt. She said that Tyrone found out about her stealing the money. At this point Cal changes instantly he quickly says they need to get to a hospital. Cal carries Mary-Ann to a cab. Paul and Mary-Ann go to the hospital. Cal then tells Lonnie that it is all part of a plan he wants Lonnie to follow. Cal tells Lonnie to go to the gym. This leaves Lonnie angry. Lonnie calls the hospital and the doctor says Mary-Ann will be okay. Cal tells Lonnie to act like he has a bad ankle. Lonnie becomes more furious. Cal tells the team their starters and many are confused about why Lonnie is not playing. Cal just says this is the plan. Cal also tells them to foul as much as they can.
Lonnie looks over in the stands where he sees Tyrone and Juno. Cal tells him to watch them if they make any strange moves. Lonnie notices someone with Tyrone was standing up. Cal explains that the score is close enough and he will make the bet. After more of the game is played they are losing by thriteen points. Tyrone gives Cal a little signal and Cal gets a smile on his face. Cal then says he wants Lonnie to play the best game of his life. He expalins that he is trying to expose Tyrone. Lonnie understands now. As Lonnie goes into the game O'Donnell who is also in the stands gets a curious look on his face. Lonnie plays an increadble game and at the last second is just able to win. Everyone is happy including Lonnie and Cal. However Lonnie tells his teammates to get the police when he sees Tyrone and Juno following Cal into the locker room. At the locker Lonnie finds Cal being held by Juno while Tyrone is punching him. Lonnie punches Juno while he is unaware and he lets go of Cal. Cal punches Juno knocking him out but he lands on Lonnie. Juno is heavy so Lonnie has a hard time getting him off him. While he is getting up Cal is being slammed into the lockers by Tyrone. Juno gets up again and distracts Lonnie. Lonnie knocks him down again but sees Cal get stabbed by Tyrone. Tyrone and Juno run out of the locker room. When the run out Lonnie hears screams and a gunshot. Lonnie is able to speak to Cal one last time. Cal then falls to the floor dead. The police come and they have caught Tyrone and Juno. O'Donnell hands Lonnie a trophy and a congrats. Lonnie does not care anymore about the tournament however. A few days later Cal is buried and Lonnie feels bad he is leaving his best friend. Lonnie and Mary-Ann go out to Coney Island together. They talk about scholarships and how Lonnie was named MVP of the tournament. The book ends with Lonnie teaching Mary-Ann how to play basketball.

Who would like this section
I think that anyone that enjoys realistic fiction would enjoy this section and book. I also think that anyone who is interested in sports as well as scandal involving sports would be interested in this book as well. People that enjoy a little violence as well as bad language would enjoy this book. Finally anyone that likes surprise endings that can end a little sad but still happy would enjoy this.

Why would the like this
Overall the book is a great realistic fiction novel that ties a lot of problems in the world today. There is a lot of basketball in this book. Basketball also revolves around the plot of the book therefore anyone interested in sports would enjoy this book. There is scandal involving basketball that people would like. This happens quite a bit in the modern world so people can relate to this book. There is violence for example when Cal gets beat in the book. However some people enjoy this. Finally the ending is very surprising however its sad but happy at the same time. Some people enjoy these kind of endings.

Did I like this section
Overall I really enjoyed this section and book. I really like realistic fiction because it is easy to relate to the book. I also enjoyed the basketball sections of the book as well as the scandal involved with it. This book relates to a lot of problems in the real world including which made it enjoyable to read. I actually like the violence in the book because it made the book more exciting to read. I was confused at the ending at first but I like how they made Cal seem like a bad person when in fact he was trying to expose the bad person. However the ending shocked me when Cal dies. I did not expect that to happen. However the book ends in a happy mood. Overall I really enjoyed this section and book.