It was 1:30 at night; he was sitting on top of the lifeguard tower looking over the ocean that was lit up by the full moon. In his left hand he had the last bottle in his six pack, and in the right hand he was debating whether to call a girl.
The girl whom he first met five houses down the boardwalk.At the she time was much taller than he was, which always made him feel uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable for many reasons, because that is all anyone would talk about when they were together. Every time they stood next to each other her breasts were at his eye level. However, when they were alone, they didn’t care. They were great friends, and on the last day of their summer, they did something crazy her parents would never approve of. The last day when her mother left, theyimmediately got on her family’s Jet Ski and headed straight for Fisher’s Island. The Island seemed almost a country, with amazing views of houses, its own hotel, and even its own airport.
When theyarrived, they wanted to do something neither of them had ever done.They decided to go pool hopping, an activity that was dangerous, simple, fun, and stupid. It was simple, because all you do is trespass property and jump in their pools. It was also dangerous, since you can easily get caught, and get in trouble especially if the rich oldies were more than cranky and whiny. And judging by their faces that day they seemed they were having fun. Until the fourth and by far the nicest house, where they were spotted, caught, brought back to their realities, and they were not allowed to return. Even thought they returned to the island a few times each year, for sailing regattas and tennis tournaments, they never had as much fun as they did that day. He then realized that she is still in the middle of her party, a party he was not invited to.
He thought a little bit about the party she was in, and if it was a cool and relaxing dinner party, or if it was in Las Vegas, and the party involved night clubs and exotic dancers. Then he thought about his own weekend, and how much he enjoyed it. How they witnessed their most exciting sports weekend possibly ever, with watching the longest NBA game with his best friend Aiden and a man whoAiden loved, and hated at the same time. That man was the New York Knicks’ favorite fan, and a very famous man with most sports fanatics, Spike Lee. His achievements in life were winning some Emmys and Oscars for sport stories. What he is really known for is mostly making real life stories in sports, and has more arrests in sports venues in his town, than how many times he has watched the Yankees and Giants win World Championships, which are the two teams he partly owns.
The game we saw he was very quiet for his standards, until Aiden’s favorite player Alonzo Jones swished a Hail Mary, a thirty yard full court Hail Mary. Then Mr. Aiden McAleergot a black eye so bad for talking smack to him, so black that it looked as if it were an eye patch. Lee got thrown out again, and everyone in the stadium thought Aiden would not be okay for anything tomorrow. To everyone’s surprise, he was fine, and Aiden was ready to go, and both those crazy guys were ready for the 2nd event, the Final Four. As soon as Aiden was released from the Hospital they left straight to Boston for the game. Boston was Aiden’s favorite town, and he claimed it was his hometown, even though he lives in Connecticut, and was born in a suburb of Boston.He always wanted to pretend he was a bad ass, by saying crap like that, and always thought it would impress the ladies. With that black eye he got from Spike the previous night, he could fake that image with ease, even though Aiden and Spike knew each other pretty well.
The game was packed and the fans were really boisterous. The atmosphere was amazing. The game definitely did not live up to the hype. Low scores. Really low, like a football game. Lucky for us, we sat next to some of Boston’s most famous celebs Matt Damon and Tom Brady. It all made for a great weekend among friends. For him, he was kind of glad she did not invite him, because he would rather do that with Aiden any day, or go to Fisher’s Island with her than go to her stupid Party.
He looks at his phone again the clock just changed to 1:33 and he hears a ring from his fiancée Ashley. He picks up the phone, “Hey Mrs. McAleer.”
“Hi Mr. McAleer, are you still at the game.”
“No. That ended hours ago.”
“Oh well, what are you doing then”?
“I am Sitting on the Main Beach lifeguard tower, finishing three packs of root beer leftover from the car ride.”
“Ooooh,is it the tower by my old house, or the one by our house?”
“Your old house, hey how is your cousin?”
“Spike is fine, his girlfriend bailed him out this morning?”
“That’s good, how was your party?”
“Hang on, I gotta call you back, they are bringing out the…..”
Giants Win recounts a moment in the author’s life where he felt alone. Initially set on the beach, the story winds through the author’s thoughts and feelings about what his significant other is doing without him. It is clear that he wants to be with her, but he will not admit it. It is a story that speaks to the teenage struggle of finding out where they belong. The story is a bit disjointed, and at some points it is hard to keep up with the author. This may be a testament to the author’s own feelings, about not knowing exactly what to think about his partner or frankly himself. I’m not sure exactly what the title has to do with the outcome of the story, as I’m not sure it adds anything to the overall effect. But in the end, the author does an exceptional job of conveying an ever-present feeling of emptiness, somewhere that we have all been.
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