“Bet she only got the job because—”
I stopped reading the bullshit; it was making my neck tight. I didn’t argue online. But I wanted to for her. I couldn’t stomach it. She had me ready to do some sucka shit like get the address of the commenters' and show them the Riata Dada in me. Mask on, no questions asked to smack a nigga around until he puts some respect on her name.
What was her name?
I scrolled to the next video before I got beside myself. This one was from last month. She was directing a scene, pointing and giving orders, moving through the chaos like she’d done it a thousand times. Someone had zoomed in on her heart-shaped face. She was gorgeous, no denying that, but what pulled me in was the focus she carried. Her crew read her body language before she even finished a sentence, adjusting the moment she lifted a hand. That kind of command came from experience, not volume, and I respected it instantly.
I hit another video and watched her pull off her helmet after a call, still perfect, shaking out her long brown-and-gold tresses. Her skin was glowing with sweat. The comments on this one were worse. Thirsty. Disrespectful. Talking about her body instead of what she’d just done. But I couldn’t deny that her leaving something to the imagination had my mind running and me stroking my beard.
Before I could even consider sliding into her DMs, my mom was calling. I took a deep breath, already knowing Stacia Bryns was about to stress me out to the max.
“Hey, Ma.”
“DaVinci Javion Bryns, do not ‘hey Ma’ me. I just saw the news. Are you okay? Where are you? You need to come home right now.”
“I’m fine, Ma. I wasn’t even there when it happened.”
“That’s not the point! Someone burned down your house, baby. Your HOUSE. With all your things in it. What if you had been there? What if—”
“But I wasn’t. I’m good. Chance is with me. We’re heading to the other house.”
I had a security detail and an armed driver as perks of the team. Cassie wouldn’t be able to touch me physically, but she could annoy me, and that wouldn’t last for long. I liked a simple, slow life. It wasn’t always like that, but now that I was older, I didn’t enjoy chaos or bullshit. I nip shit in the bud and move on. This situation would be no different.
“Other house?” Her voice went up an octave. “You need to come home. Stay with your father and me until this gets sorted out. I don’t like this. I don’t like any of this. You have a career to protect. And I’ll kill that dizzy bitch myself if she hurts you.”
“Ma,” I groaned.
I could hear my pop in the background saying something.
“Sorry, baby, but you know it's true. Your father wants to know if you called the police yet. Because if not, Tangie said she’ll send your cousins up here to handle it. And you know Tangie and Tangelyn will dog walk somebody in a heartbeat behind you.”
I shook my head and rested it on the headrest. I didn’t need to call my ghetto ass cousins in. The whole crew was crazy, and I didn’t need those headlines either.
“I appreciate that, but the Fire Marshal already talked to me. Detectives are supposed to reach out. Y’all are doing too much. Tangie and her Pitbull of a daughter ain’t needed.”
“Mhhm, I’ll be sure to tell her you called her child a pitbull. I hope she knocks some sense into you.”
“I’ll tell her myself. Ma, I don’t need anyone making this shit bigger than it is. Tangie, Tangelyn, Vita, and crew will have me in the news. I’m good.”
My family from Louisville was full of crazy assbout it, bout itmuthafuckas that wouldn’t hesitate to put Cassie’s ass in the dirt. However, I was a celebrity, an inspiration. The NBA loved you until they didn’t. I couldn’tafford for anything to fall back on me, especially with Cassie. They wouldn’t hesitate to choose her side; that’s how white women had it.
“Why are you acting like this isn’t serious? You’re pressing charges this time, right? Because if you don’t, I will. That girl is crazy, and I told you she was crazy when you hired her. Didn’t I tell you?”
“Yes, ma’am, you told me.”
“And did you listen? No. Because you’re hardheaded just like your father.”
Chance was trying not to laugh in the driver’s seat, and I was getting a headache. The morning had been long as hell. Starting with practice, I got out, and my ringing phone alerted me to the fire at my house. I’d been on the move, running on autopilot since. I was paying the price for that right now.
“Ma, I’m cool, for real. The house can be rebuilt. So can the stuff inside. Insurance will handle it. My focus is on a successful season that leads to a championship. Don’t worry.”
That lie fell off my lips so easily. I was going to focus on winning another ring, but I had other shit I planned to focus on too. One thing I was sure about was that Cassie wasn’t one of them. I wasn’t about to let her trick me out of my position. Her day was coming.
“Don’t tell me not to worry. I’m your mother. Worrying is in my job description.” She paused. “Are you eating? You sound tired. When’s the last time you had a real meal?”
“Ma—”
I loved her, but I couldn’t take her acting like I couldn’t take care of myself. I was thirty-four years old.
