Copycat

Teens have sex because everybody else is doing it. I remember being a virgin at 14 and getting made fun of by family and friends because I wasn't getting any. Eventually, I grew tired of getting clowned about my lack of experience so I started lying about my stats. It helped that my older brother was running through the young women in his senior class like nobody's business. I basically took his stories and made them my own. Before I even got some serious action, I was making the ladies see "flowers growing in snow", as my brother used to put it. Not too long after my 15th birthday, I decided to trade in my V-card like everybody else...

"Puff" is one of the toughest players I've ever coached. His nickname came to be because he was always high when I'd run into him off campus. Puff lived with a couple of other players during his first year, one of whom (Flash) was the father of a newborn. They connected instantly even though they had very different family dynamics.

Unlike Flash, Puff had the luxury of having an extremely supportive parent. Even though his mother struggled mightily with alcoholism, she did everything for him and was literally always present. She paid his rent every month on time, bought all of his groceries, and attended every single game. Puff was her baby.

Puff's father was around too. Like mom, he was very involved despite being an alcoholic. For reasons that were never explained to me, he also spent some time in prison. While Puff and his mom were clearly inseparable, he didn't get along with his father at all.  As a matter of fact, I don't recall ever seeing Puff interact with his father when he attended games with mom.

At the end of his freshman year, Puff found out he was going to be a father. His mother was not pleased at all when she found out.

Mom: Coach, I don't know if you're aware but my baby is about to be a father.
Me: (shocked) Excuse me?? Really? What? With who?
Mom: That girl he's been seeing all semester!
Me: Oh okay.
Mom: This is why I was worried about him living with Flash.
Me: What does Flash have to do with anything? He's the one who chose not to wear a condom.
Mom: That influence. I think seeing Flash do the daddy thing got him thinking he should be a daddy too. I knew this would happen! And that girl lied to him!
Me: How?
Mom: She told him that she was on the pill.
Me: Are you really saying that Flash made him do it?
Mom: What else am I supposed to think? My baby wasn't doing this stuff before he got out here!

Puff and his baby's mother tried to work things out once the baby was born, but their relationship fizzled within a year. When I asked Puff about his son recently, he couldn't tell me anything. Puff has no relationship with his son.