Two Sides of a Single Coin

Continuing his big revelation, Tony scratched the back of his head before he started explaining.

"One year ago, I was full of myself. I never passed the ball because I wanted to take all the shots myself.

"Brandon relentlessly told me to trust my teammates and gave me a lot of advice, but I ignored it all. I continued to be selfish until I was double-teamed on one game, resulting in multiple turnovers. We lost the match because of my stubbornness.”

While Tony was talking, a frown started to form on his face. I could feel that he was regretting his past as he continued.

“I was speechless as people pointed their fingers at me, blaming me for my fault. Despite that, Brandon offered his hands, giving this selfish player another chance.”

“Every week, Brandon, Sean, and I go to Kelloch and Velasco Park, while Brandon teaches me everything about teamwork. He told me that basketball is a team game, and you can’t win by yourself. I eventually understand what it means to be a team player as we play three-on-three on the court.”

“At the time, Brandon was the ideal captain the team could even have. Handsome, kind, caring, and skillful. He got the position of team captain although he was only a sophomore. It didn't take long until girls started crowding at him.”

"It was worse with the ongoing student exchange program, there was a sudden influx of the girls crowding at Brandon when we took our lunch in the cafeteria.”

"In the evening, as we were walking to our basketball club, Brandon bumped into a Japanese girl and knocked over all the books she was holding. Feeling guilty, he helped her pick them up before apologizing.”

"The girl was polite and bowed as she left gracefully. Unlike the other girls, she was the only one who had met Brandon without annoying him to no end."

"Soon Brandon met her again and both introduced themselves. She told him that her name is Keiko Kitagawa and she lives in Okinawa, Japan. It doesn’t take long until they have a feeling for each other, and they start dating a few months later.”

"Wait, Tony, something doesn't add up." I put a stop sign on Tony with my palm. "If the girls know he already has a girlfriend, why would they still pursue Brandon?"

“Can you let me finish my explanation, Keith? You will know why as I explain it to you.” Tony replied.

“Okay, but please cut the details, I don’t think I’m patient enough to listen to a long explanation right now.”

“Fine, I’ll speed it up. When the student exchange program period was over, she went back to Japan. The thing is, I heard that their parents don’t support the relationship unless the other party settles near them. Neither the Japanese nor the U.S. families wanted to back down, and it turned into a heated argument.”

“But they didn’t give up. Even without their parent's approval, they are dating behind everyone’s back. However, people thought that they stopped dating, and the girls started crowding on him again.”

“Tony, can’t he just tell the girls that he is still dating her? That should drive them away, right?” Carlos asked.

“Carlos, He couldn’t tell them that he is still dating her, otherwise, his parents may find out about it if they asked his friends about it. Right now, aside from two of them, only we know about it.” Tony replied.

After hearing Tony’s response, Carlos nodded in understanding. Shortly, Tony continued.

“I know very well that I’m just a friend in Brandon’s eye. It’s probably not my right to meddle with his business, but I wanted to repay his favor, for the time he offered his hands when everyone else abandoned me. This is my chance to repay him back.”

“So, I tried to ask those girls to leave Brandon alone, only to be replied with ‘Screw you, mind your own business!’.”

“And so, it made me think.” Tony tapped his finger at his temple three times. “If I couldn’t drive them off by just asking them, then how about making them so disgusted that they will leave by themselves? That’s why I’m doing this.”

Ooh! That’s why he made such a lewd gesture way back! What a play, Tony!

“If I had to take the role of a villain just to repay him back, then so be it! However, you know that Brandon has such a kind heart, he won’t let me sacrifice myself like this for his sake. Hence, I need to convince him that I’m a total asshole so he doesn’t feel bad about it.”

“And that’s why I brought you here. I hope you guys could keep this a secret. Please act like you don’t know anything about this.”

“Sure, we will. I promise you, brudda.” Carlos replied with a thumbs up.

"Same here, I have no intention of letting Brandon know about this. Don't worry, Tony." I grinned.

"Thanks, guys." Tony smiled. "Well, I guess I have to go to the bathroom, see you later at the court.”

Tony waved goodbye with a two-finger salute as he turned and left us, he kept walking straight until he reached the small toilet building ahead.

I alternately wiped my eyes, which were filled with tears. I had never imagined that Tony had this kind of personality.

Looking at him, he is pretty much like the two sides of a coin. One shows us the facade of a playboy, and the other shows us the heart of a caring friend. You never know everything if you only look at one point of view.

Realizing that we should also get going, Carlos and myself started moving toward the Aula. However, as we took a corner turn to the left, we were shocked to see who was there.

It was Brandon, leaning against the wall, a shadow covering half of his body and face. We jolted in surprise as we saw him, and quickly realized that he must have heard everything.

But what came next surprised us even more. We saw our captain coming out of the shade, his eyes welling up as if he was about to cry.

"Why???" Brandon shook his fists. "Tony, why do you do so much for me? To the point of sacrificing your own reputation like this... Just… why???"

Tears began to flow from the captain’s eyes, cascading down his chin and raining down on the floor.

Unlike Brandon, I knew why Tony had gone so far for him. In Tony's eyes, Brandon's figure was like a saint that graciously reached out and gave him another chance.

It’s about perspective. A few dollars would only buy you a meal, but you could also save a poor child 's parent from dying by giving them medicine. What seems to be a small help in someone's eyes could mean the world to another person.

With that thought, I patted Brandon’s shoulder and told him.

“Brandon, to him, you are a person who pulled him out of a predicament. Maybe you think that your help was insignificant, but it changed his life greatly. He wouldn’t be the ace of the team if you didn’t reach your hand to him.”

“That’s why even if you know about this, please…” I clasped my hands, bowing to the sad captain. “Pretend that you didn’t hear anything. Otherwise, you will also make him feel useless, unable to return your kindness forever.”

“But…”

Brandon looked at me with his swollen eyes. I shook my head and patted his shoulder to comfort him.

"Brandon, please. You don't want to make Tony sad, do you?"

"Okay. Junior, I'll do what you say. Even though I still don't know why he's doing this far for me, I'll play along for now."

The captain nodded a few times as he reluctantly agreed to my request. His face was still filled with sadness, indicating that he was still troubled by this. However, there was no time to dilly-dally around. With the club ongoing, we realized that we should spend our time practicing basketball instead.

And so, we returned back to our basketball club. The coach was there, giving us drills and pointers as two hours went by.

The clock struck seven, and now it’s time for us to go home. Once again, a lot of girls are swarming Brandon like ants gathering around a pile of sugar.

As you would expect, Tony drives them off with his ‘playboy’ acting before putting his arm over Brandon’s shoulder, asking him for another round of ‘game nights’. They walked next to each other as they left the building. Sean shortly followed, leaving me, Carlos, and Jessica alone in the Aula.

Now, it was time for us to make our leave. Walking toward the university entrance with them, I looked toward the night sky, which held numerous stars that were twinkling left and right.

Look at those stars, small and don’t shine brightly alone. But when there are a lot of them together glowing in rhythm is when they hold a magnificent sight.

The stars are just like our relationships, we can either be a lone star in the dark sky or become one of a series of glittering stars that captivate everyone that looks at them.

That’s just like our life. We can’t live alone. We need other people and help each other out. No matter how small a help is, it could completely change the other person's life.

As I wandered around thinking about it, we finally arrived at the entrance. I looked at Carlos and waved goodbye, before I started to walk her home. It was my first time walking a girl home, and I can’t help but to feel a bit nervous.

Before I had other thoughts, I shook my head, snapping myself out of it. After all, I shouldn’t let any other thought taint my goodwill. I’m not helping her because I have an ulterior motive, and it should stay that way.

Walking the street under the moonlight, I remembered that she left me hanging yesterday. I asked her about the continuation of her painting. However, she kept dodging the question, talking about painting in general instead.

I listened to her ramblings until we arrived at her house. Not once I heard anything related to the topic that I asked her. But seeing she won’t disclose the details, I decided to forget about it and refrain from asking further.

In front of her house door, she turned around and looked at me with a smile.

"Bye, Keith! See you tomorrow!" She waved at me.

I waved back at her as she went inside. Now it's time for me to go home. Instead of talking to her, I was accompanied by the sound of car engines left and right.

When I finally got home, I took a shower and ate some dinner before falling into bed. I grabbed my phone and texted her, talking about nothing but random things. I laughed and had fun with her for hours. As my phone indicates it was 10:12 PM, we said our goodbyes.

Putting my phone away, I laid myself on the bed, looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.