Modernity

Abel is entrenched in a heated pickup basketball game. His team is up 7-3, but the opponents have Cain, a notorious "loud call' guy.

He’s the kind of guy who makes every ticky-tack call and then whines and complains and gets loud till he wins every argument. After a while, everyone gives in because they want the game to continue. No one wants to win because of the calls, except for the loud call guy.

On the next play, Cain's team runs a pick-and-roll with Cain as the roller. Abel is caught in the screen, and he hooks Cain to keep him from rolling to the basket.

"Foul!" shrieks Cain. "Hook!"

Play stops. Abel knows that one was a legit call, so play resets with Cain's team receiving the ball.

"God damn man. You fucking hooked me! That's a foul!"

There goes Cain again, getting loud for no goddamn reason. It was a minor foul, but no one was disputing the call. And yet here he was flying off the handle. Classic Cain.

Abel is one of the only people who stands up to Cain when he squares off against him. He never yells but instead dares Cain to take it to the next level.

"What you gonna do about it?" asks Abel as he shimmies his shoulders. He knows Cain is all talk.

On the very next play, Abel gets a rebound off a missed shot, and Cain joins one of his teammates to trap him in the corner. Cain, still angry from the taunt earlier, fouls Abel trying to strip the ball.

Abel lets go of the ball—assuming the play is dead—and starts walking toward the other side of the court. He walks through Cain and says, “Anytime, anywhere bruh.”

Cain snaps. He immediately grabs Abel's neck and starts pushing him back. Abel is in a state of shock, both confused that Cain is willing to fight and excited that it finally happened.

The remaining players do the "responsible" thing and break it up. Abel throws a haymaker at Cain while he’s being held back, but it misses. Sad!

The other “responsible” players start sounding off.

"What? A fight?"
"What are you guys doing? This is civilized society!"
"One of you could get hurt!"
"You could go to the hospital!"
"It's bad for the game!"

"Let them fight," says Gary, the voice of reason.

"Yeah, let us fight!" yells Cain.
"You wanna fight me?" asked Abel.
"Yeah! Let's go!"

"No fighting in here! It's bad for the game!"

"Let's go outside," suggests Abel.
"Yeah!"

To the shock of their teammates, Cain and Abel leave their $300/month gym. They get in the elevator together to ride down to the lobby.

"I'm going to fucking kill you," says Cain.
"No, it is I who’s going to kill you."

They smile and wave to the front desk attendant at their gym as they leave.

"Here?" asks Cain when they were outside of the gym.
"Eh, we're still in the vicinity of the gym, let's walk another block."

They walk another block.

"How about here?" asks Abel.
"Eh, there's literally no one here, what if one of us gets really hurt? We're gonna want people around to call 911."
"Fair."

They walk to Times Square.

"Here?" asks Cain
"Ugh, it's so bright! I need less lighting."

They walk to Bryant Park.

"I'm still going to kick your teeth in, but how's the fam?" asks Cain while they are walking.
"Good man, good. How about yours?"
"All good bro."

They get to Bryant Park.

"Here?" asks Abel.
"Yeah, this is good, let's go motherfucker!"

They both throw their hands up, ready to go.

"Bro, I have work in the morning, can we do this on a weekend night?" asks Cain.