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November 4-8 , 2015: The leopard and the Frog.

It was finally over. The FBPA and CBA have finally reached an agreement and Erik was elated to finally be invited to the Keystones' office to officially sign his contract. Shandra decided to drive him to the occasion. She could only smile when Erik kept going on and on about what his career would be like.

"Man, this is it." He said. "I'm finally gonna be in the FBA. And I know I'm ready. I've been training all these years, making sure I'm fast enough, strong enough, smart enough. And you know what? I know I'm ready."

"Mmhmm." Shandra said. She just found amusement in Erik's spirit. "He be a young mind with a lot ta learn." She thought. "But de boy got a good head on him shoulders and a good heart."

"Oh, and I get to play with probably the best point guard in the league." Erik continued. "Man, we're gonna be killing it out there on the court. Kijani and Catcher. The greatest duo in Keystone...no, FBA history. Haha."

Finally, the two reached the building and Erik had a huge smile on his face as he approached the GM's office and met Mark Quintaux himself. The two shook paws and got right down to signing the contract. Mark went over the contract a bit to go over some important details, but Erik didn't listen. In fact, when asked if he had any questions, his response was: "So, when is practice?"

A few days past and Erik finally got notified by the coach, Anton Schumacher,

that the practice facility was open. He quickly took the opportunity to go for training. Working with Saga Ström was very trying for the leopard. The running through the city, the shooting drills in the parks, the long film sessions, and Erik pushed through it all. Now, he had to push through some real FBA training with his new team.

The first teammate Erik got acquainted with was Shirley Takamoto, a female jaguar and the starting forward for the team. Erik first approached her when she was working on her jump shot. Erik, being the competitor he was, walked over to Shirley looking to challenge her. It was an interesting exchange at first, but after a few shooting drills the two were already cracking jokes. Erik was still a bit annoyed about losing most of the drills, but at least the dancing jaguar was now a good friend, and a bigger competitor. The next teammate that Erik became close with was probably a friendship that was meant to happen. Erik first met Aisha Card, a female opossum, during one-on-one drills. Erik made the conscious decision to dunk on her and give a little yell at the end of it. This soon sparked the flame to see which guard was tougher. The two went at it for quite some time, but in the end the coach was pleased to see the two smiling the whole time. The two may not admit it, but they were good friends. Another teammate Erik met was a bit unexpected to say the least. It all began with Erik getting his workout bag. Although, he was surprised by a giant Hello Kitty sticker on his black workout bag. Erik was confused at first, but then a little calm. He just thought it was the beginning of many rookie pranks. He yelled through the locker room to see who did it. Everyone knew it was just Sonja Tinker, a female skunk, being herself. Everyone was fine with it though. It caused a happier atmosphere in the locker room, but Erik was still stubborn about it. He tried to rip the sticker off, but it wouldn't come off. Erik then complained at Sonja. The skunk just laughed and patted the leopard playfully on the head. The sight of the 7 foot skunk patting the head of the 5 foot 8 leopard was pretty amusing. Thus began a very enjoyable friendship between the two, all through the power of Hello Kitty stickers.

It seemed at first that Erik was adjusting very well to the team, but there was still one player that never wanted to give him any attention, Randy Catcher. He was the starting point guard and the player captain of the team. The bullfrog was the leader of assist, a FBA champion, and arguably one of the best point guards in history, and he wanted no part of Erik. Still, the leopard didn't give up.

Erik finally found his chance when everyone left the gym and Randy was all alone on the court shooting free-throws. Eventually, Erik walked on to the court and joined him. Randy kept shooting.

"Hey." Erik said.

Randy paused, then kept shooting. Erik walked over and started catching his rebounds. Randy paused again, but just kept shooting with Erik catching his rebounds. Erik then tried to talk with him again.

"Good practice today, right?" Erik said.

No answer.

"So...you want to talk about the 3-key play?"

Randy then stopped shooting. He grabbed the ball and started walking off the court without saying a word. Erik was getting annoyed now.

"Hey!" He yelled.

Randy stopped walking. Erik walked right in front of the bullfrog and starting speaking his mind.

"You know...I was patient. I was nice. I worked my ass off ever since I stepped on this court...all to get your respect."

Randy kept the same straight face. Erik continued.

"And now, you won't even talk to me or look at me...I mean, what the hell is wrong with you? What beef do you have with me?"

Randy took in a big sigh and said. "You want to know my 'beef' with you? Fine."

Erik crossed his arms. Randy continued.

"I know your type Mr. Kijani."

"My type?"

"Let me just guess right now. You were the star player in your neighborhood, you got all this praise and popularity from basketball, you didn't care about school or college so you left it early because you were a star and nothing is going to stop you from making the pros, and then you get drafted and you feel like the FBA is just going to fun and games with money and cars and all that crap."

There was a silence.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you 'spotted blur', but I already have a Healey Davis trophy in my house and I'm not satisfied with just one, so I don't have time for a wannabe rookie superstars. I'm trying to win a championship. Got it?"

There was another pause. Randy then started walking off the court again.

"You know." Erik said. "You forgot one thing."

Randy stopped and turned around.

"What?" He said.

"You make it seem like it was so easy for me. Like I didn't have to struggle to survive in a country that was war driven! Like I didn't have to struggle in a one floor house that broke every week while my parents worked their asses off! Like I didn't have friends and family that died just because some dumbass with a gun was looking for quick money by a high school......."

Erik took a moment to catch his breath. He was breathing heavy from all his yelling. Randy had a new expression on his face that Erik had not seen before. He looked surprised. Then, after a few moments of silence, Randy spook.

"So...that's who John is." He said.

Erik didn't answer. Randy then walked over to Erik until he stood right in front of him. He threw the leopard the ball and said.

"We will shoot 100 free-throws everyday. You will get up early in the morning to do 50 and 50 after practice. Got it?"

Erik smiled for a short time and said.

"Yes sir."

"Well." Said Randy.

"What?"

"It's after practice isn't it?"

Erik's ears perked up and he immediately ran to the foul line and started shooting. Randy chuckled softly.