Lucas Blaize’s hands went upward as Allen Iverson crossed-over his defender, pop-faked and pulled up for a long three-ball.

The ball arched and landed into the basket with a ‘swoosh.’ The team, elated with unexpected victory, jumped up and down around each other as announcer Bill Walton said over the loud speaker, “Throw it down, throw it down one time.”

“He shoots! He scores!” Lucas bellowed, as if he himself were a member of the team.

“Game breaker at the freakin’ buzzer!” Beside him his twin sister, Nora, jumped up on the couch, sending the popcorn next to her spilling onto the cushions. Her eyes glued to the TV, she watched the scoreboard in anticipation before punching a fist high into the air. “Three-pointer, baby. Yeah, Philly! I love this city.” The two slapped hands and locked themselves back onto the screen.

The announcer sounded just as excited as the twins when he proclaimed, “It’s over, boys and girls! The 76ers have won the game.”

Their cheers mixing with those in the stands, Nora landed onto the floor and put her baseball cap on backwards before victory dancing past the TV. “Oh, yeah! Who called it?”

Chuckling at his sister’s display, Lucas reached over to begin plowing what popcorn could be salvaged back into the bright blue Tupperware bowl. “Iverson, why did I ever doubt you,” he said, shaking his head.

Grinning, she eagerly leaned over with an open palm. “Yeah, well, victory for you means money for me. Pay up, tough guy.”

Rolling his eyes, Lucas reached backward to pull out his wallet, an ancient leather hide holding only his driver’s license and a wad of ones. “You’re killing me with these bets we make.”

“Just be lucky I don’t keep a loan shark. You still owe me thirteen from last week.” Nora snatched up the wadded money and counted each crisp dollar bill. “George Washington. Buddy, where have you been?”

The game came to its close and Eric Snow and Allen Iverson entered into the center of the circle that was the unstoppable 76ers. Lucas changed the channel in their modest family home in the suburbs of Philly and clicked onto Animal Planet where Steve Irwin stood tormenting what he told them was the most venomous snake on the planet.

“That game,” he said, chucking a Nerf football to Nora, “was clutch.”

“Clutch?” She caught the ball in a cradle before throwing it back to him. “Are you bogarting words from Leo again?”

Lucas laughed. “Hey, no sour grapes. You missed the boat on ‘clutch’ and ‘hot’ weeks ago. It’s not my fault you still think everything’s ‘awesome.’”

Nora picked popcorn off the seats and popped it into her mouth. “Remember back when you used to say ‘killer’?” she joked, plopping down next to him. “And ‘aight’?”

“Take a valium. We all used those words,” Lucas said over the sound of the heavy rain that had been pelting their rooftop for hours.

“Too bad we never got it on tape. My future nieces and nephews would have loved it.”

Lucas playfully bounced a piece of Orvil Reddenbocker’s off her shoulder. “Yeah, just wait until I hold a public showing of that home movie of you with a week’s worth of spaghetti shoved up your nose.”

Feigning shock, his sister threw a handful of popcorn his way, showering him in kernels. “Uh-oh, Lukie’s in trouble,” she said, screaming lightly as he grabbed her from behind and swung her around by her middle.

Putting her down, Lucas watched as his twin sister brought the popcorn bowl back into the kitchen. “Hey, Leo’s having a barbeque tomorrow. The band’s gonna play. You want to come?”

“Leo and the band.” Rolling her eyes, Nora opened their shade and peered out through the window. “Yeah, I’ll go. If this rain ever lets-”

A sudden crunch of brush sounded right outside her kitchen window. She stopped and slowly backed away from the counter.