“How you figure that?”
“Because of how this picture was taken. It’s not taken like you focused on the baby. You focused onthem. And you caught her off guard. Every man in existence got a camera roll full of shitty pictures of his girl cause he loves how she looks at her most natural and unguarded. We like that shit because we know in those moments she’s at peak vulnerability because we’ve provided her safety. And as pretty as she is, I know she wouldn’t want you flashing pictures of her with the house bun, sweats and a dirty t-shirt on as she’s cooking dinner.”
“You're saying a lot, Stew. I don’t know how accurate any of it is.” I was lying like hell but I wasn’t about to tell his ass that.
“Yeah okay. Forget the picture stuff. She in your kitchen cooking food that you eat. That’s trust. She’s taking care of your daughter who is the most vulnerable part of you. You might not be feeling something yet. Or you are lying to yourself. Which is it?”
I opened my mouth to refute what he was saying but it was like my daddy came down from heaven and silenced my vocal cords by daring me to lie. I just stood there confusion surely playing over my face, because I for damn sure couldn’t answer that question.
“Hey, Money! You ready to get started?”
I was saved by Chris Peppers coming his ass down the hall looking timid as shit to approach us but trying to infuse his voicewith some confidence. Kid was going to have my gratitude so I wouldn’t have to answer this question.
“You’re good, Chris. What’s good?” I dapped him up and Stew did the same.
“Happy to be here and learn from the best.”
“Y’all two have fun. Remember what I said, Money. You’re going to have that reality hit you sooner than you think.” He shot me a knowing look, as if this conversation wasn’t over.
“Yeah, I hear you.” He only grinned at me and I hated that he was acting like he could see what I was feeling. I turned to Chris and smiled, “You ready to get started?”
“I appreciate the meal, bruh.”
We sat down to lunch after we were done with the drills and working out. I needed to get my mind right and I did it by running up and down the field like my life depended on it. The rookie kept up but I knew he was glad when I finally stopped working his ass out. When we broke from practice I let him know we were going to sit down and talk about whatever was on his mind.
“It’s just food, I’m not paying your bills and shit.”
“Yeah but you’re not trying to fuck with me or have me doing shit that would mess up my chances. Unless all of this was some kind of test.” Chris was looking at me like he was wondering if I had ulterior motives. But he wasn’t my enemy, and truly I knew that his doing well only helped me in the long run.
“Nah, you’re doing me a favor, for real. I need someone to help me take the load off some plays. You’ll see that Grant isn’t about being selfish and he doesn’t play favorites. And to be real you know the likelihood of injury in our position. We notguaranteed to last long, if at all. Your being here helps us both so I’m more than happy to have you around. I know many people don’t live the shit, but this organization is one that will have your back for real. They don’t just talk that shit; they walk it. I’ve seen them come through for a lot of fellas when other people would just release them.”
Chris was nodding as he finished his food. We’d swung by a place called Grass Fed that people on the team loved. The food was good as hell and it was easy to find something healthy on the menu that still tasted good. I knew no matter what he was in the mood for he would find something he liked on the menu, cause they had everything from burrito bowls to burgers.
“That’s good to hear. I didn’t want to get someplace that wasn’t big on caring about the players but when I didn’t do as well in the draft as I hoped I was more than happy to take whatever I could get.”
“You've got a lot on the line?”
He nodded slowly and I could see he was apprehensive about saying much. “Yeah, something like that.”
I respected his desire not to spread his business since I was carrying burdens myself. “I ain’t gone pry but whatever you need, just ask for it. You seem to be a smart kid, and although you didn’t do as well as you wanted to, you got drafted. There’s about a thousand other dudes who’d kill to have the chance that you have right now. Whoever your agent is, you make sure they do you right in their contracts so they’re not bleeding you dry before you even make a dime. The wrong agent can mess you up just as badly as an injury can.”
“True. I’ll have a lawyer look over everything before I sign the contract, though. The person working my deal is someone my people know so I’m not too involved with that.”
“Get involved. The last thing you want to do is to hand off your money and the power behind it to someone else justbecause they’re your people. In fact, the last thing you want is to have people close to you too familiar with your money.”
He studied my face to see if he could find deception. “Your people burned you?”
“Nah, I was blessed with a mama who ain’t like that. My daddy died a few years back but she knew enough about the sport and what it can do to people to advise me on the right thing. If my contact wasn’t public information she wouldn’t even know what money I got.”
“Damn, I’m sorry for your loss.”
I could only nod at words since I knew he was being polite despite not knowing me then. “‘Preciate it.”
“But yeah, my people been asking me for a minute about the money and when I’ll start to get paid. The person who’s handling my deal fronted me the money to come out here so I could train with the team and get settled and shit.”
That sent up all kinds of red flags because anyone fronting money without terms was going to use that shit against you as quickly as they could.
“Bruh, I’m not tryin’ to be in your business, but you need to dead that. And fast.”
