
Gamesmanship
Kara and Simone had been fierce basketball rivals throughout high school, and their deep-seated hatred only intensified in college. Kara, Black and from a less prestigious zip code, played against Simone, who was white, privileged, and always seemed to benefit from biased referee calls.
After their final playoff game—one Kara won despite a barrage of calls in Simone’s favor—Kara shocked everyone, especially Simone. As she lifted the championship trophy, she announced she was turning down the WNBA. No more bumping, elbowing, or backing down players in the paint. She needed physical and emotional healing. Her future lay in sports marketing; she was determined to build a successful career as a player agent.
To Simone, Kara turning her back on the WNBA was an unforgivable betrayal—one that deepened her festering resentment. Unlike Kara, Simone had no backup plan. No ambition beyond basketball. And somehow, she blamed Kara for that, too.
Simone had loathed basketball since she was five, when her domineering father forced her onto a rec team—only because of her towering height. She played to win his approval—and to dodge his rage. She was driven not by love for the game but by fear and ego, and her deepest satisfaction came not from victory, but from undercutting Kara’s genuine passion.
Now, her father—the only person she’d ever really had—was terminally ill. Her mother had died when she was three. And despite all the abuse, the shouting after bad games, the manipulation, she couldn’t imagine life without him. Especially not now, not when Kara—who had endured even more rigged games than Simone ever had—was walking away like basketball had never mattered.
Simone couldn’t stop thinking about how tired she was of suffering. Like everything else in her life, the thought festered. Grew. Until it became a plan.
She and Kara would never be apart. Simone knew money could buy referees—and killers. Murder-suicide felt tacky. She would hire someone to end both their lives, side by side. Preferably on her private basketball court.