Captain Hook

It's not a coincidence that trouble rhymes with bubble. There are one of two ways that Bubblees get into trouble. They're either starting it, or they're around it. Some Bubblees are instigators. They get off on agitating people and creating problems. The other Bubblees are unfortunate victims of their surroundings since they roll mostly, if not exclusively, with dramatic people. Lanky falls into the latter category.

There's a continuum in the Bubble. All Bubblees are alike in that they live in a fantasy. From there, the level of "Bubbling" varies and it's based on intelligence.

At one end of the continuum, we have somebody like Doedoe who allegedly robbed somebody in broad daylight down the street from his apartment. He has a very low level of intelligence and only rolls with Bubblees.

In the middle, there's Flash who has real goals and attempts to work towards them but happens to be his own worst enemy. He's relatively intelligent but is hampered by a severe inability to follow through on anything.

At the threshold of the Bubble is an individual like Lanky who's very intelligent and ambitious. Unfortunately, he hangs around enough Bubblees that it tends to create problems for him and influence his actions. 

Coming out of high school, Lanky was a decent basketball player, at best. I thought he was going to be a solid bench player on the team. To my surprise, he emerged as a starter during his Freshman season and finished the year averaging just under 13 points per game. In his sophomore season, he improved dramatically. As a 6 foot guard he lead the team in points (19.1 ppg) and rebounds (10.1 rpg). His drastic improvement was rewarded with a unanimous All New England First-Team Selection. Only the top six players in the region are given this honor. The players who are selected get to compete at a showcase in front of many college scouts.

Weeks after the season ended, during Spring Break, Lanky got into some trouble. I contacted him after seeing an alarming post on his facebook page.

Me: What's up with your fb status?
Lanky: Oh. You saw that?
Me: Why wouldn't I?
Lanky: I don't know. I didn't realize you'd be paying attention.
Me: What happened?
Lanky: I went to the club with my boys and this dude just pushed me for no reason.
Me: And?
Lanky: I broke his nose! I bet you he'll never push somebody in the club again!

Lanky fractured two bones in his shooting hand, so it's unlikely that he'll be able to compete in the All-Region game.