Anger Management

It was clear that he had anger issues. Two weeks into practice, Flash showed me a side of himself that I didn't expect. I stood at a distance, shocked, as he punched the wall. The most unsettling aspect of Flash's aggressive display was what triggered it. My Assistant Coach had simply asked him to try harder during a defensive drill and he quickly became defensive. Given how things unfolded so suddenly and randomly, I knew it wouldn't be the last time I'd see that side of him.

Going into the season I spent a lot of time getting to know Flash. Since he was going to have the ball in his hands a lot, I made it a point to really understand his thought process. Over the course of three months, we talked about a lot beyond basketball. I learned about his plans to rob Walgreens. He told me about his mother's drug addiction, and the night he narrowly escaped a gunman's wrath. Despite these tragic stories, I never got an explosive vibe from Flash. He was always mild mannered in my presence, and the few times I'd seen him around his peers he didn't seem volatile.

Flash didn't make it through a full season of basketball through four years of high school, but I was lead to believe it was because of his academic struggles. Within a month of working with him, I learned that he was a delicate package. Given his past, the slightest action could set him off.  One evening, a month or so after his boxing match with the wall, I was summoned to his apartment by a terrified teammate.

Stix: You need to talk to Flash, Coach. He's out of control.
Me: What happened?
Stix: Talk to him. I don't want any part of this but I don't want anybody threatening me. I didn't do anything. I just tried to break it up.
Me: Break what up?
Stix: Like I said, Coach, talk to him...

I walked down to Flash's room to get to the bottom of the issue. On the way in, I noticed a big hole in his door.

Me: What's with the hole? You know this has to be paid for, right?
Flash: I don't care about all that right now.
Me: Why'd you do it?
Flash: (silence)
Me: You didn't look right in practice today. Now I see a big hole in your door and you got a roommate feeling uncomfortable.
Flash: Nobody told him to get in between.
Me: In between what?
Flash: Me and my girl got into it.
Me: Arguing? That's why you punched the door?
Flash: She started it, Coach. I told her to stop hitting me, but she don't listen when she's mad.
Me: So Stix got in between you and her and then you punched the door? I don't understand.
Flash: Nah man. Stix walked in as I punched her. I did that to the door afterwards.