The Saturday before Ilya started classes at UCLA, Reeves threw a party for him and invited the entire basketball team. Coolidge, Thorpe, Salami, Hayward, Reese, Gomez, Goldstein, Vitaglia, Franklin, Stone, Falahey, Mitchel, and Rutherford all came.

"So you're off to college now!" Hayward greeted his friend. "That's cool!"

"I am going to study engineering, like I did in Soviet Union," Ilya told him.

"How about a basketball game, for old times' sake?" Reeves suggested. Everyone eagerly agreed.

Everything was going fine until it looked as if Ilya and Salami had caught the ball at the same time. Reeves wasn't sure what to do, but as it had looked to him as if Ilya's hand had touched the ball a fraction of a second before Salami's, he awarded the ball to Ilya.

"No, it is his ball," said Ilya. "He touched it right before I did."

"I'm sorry," said Reeves. "My mistake."

Salami gave Ilya a grateful look.

Later in the day, Ilya and Hayward were discussing the game.

"What did you do that for?" Hayward asked Ilya. "It was your ball. Reeves gave it to you."

"But he did touch it before I did," said Ilya. "It was only right that he should have it."

Hayward shook his head. "You're too damn nice, Ilya. It's gonna be pretty damn easy for people to take advantage of you."

At last the party was over and the others left, leaving Reeves and Ilya alone.

"I do have to say that I admire your honesty," Reeves told Ilya. "That's the first time I've ever seen anything like that happen before. The world would sure be a better place if more people in it were like you."

"Hayward say I am too nice. He say people will take advantage of me."

"He's right. You do have to be very careful about who you trust."

"I trust you, Reeves. And I trust Hayward. Both of you have been very good to me. I hope that someday I can return favor."

Reeves patted Ilya's shoulder. "Do your best in college, Ilya. That's all the thanks I want."