My eyes locked on Tulane’s, and I realized I’d been set up. He didn’t trust me, just like I didn’t trust him. There was no doubt inmy mind that as soon as I got off the phone with him, he started making moves.
“I told you I started doing business like Xayne, Young Buck,” he said, shaking his head. “Which means that I never show my full hand. I told you I had five daughters by blood, but I always counted Mirror as my child. Now explain to me why I shouldn’t let him kill you?”
Chapter twenty-four
Yale
“Time to go!” Xoey announced as she walked into the house. She dropped her purse on the table and looked around the living room. “What the hell happened here?”
“I got bored,” I laughed as I sat on the couch. Amethyst was going to be pissed when he got home, but I didn’t care. I ended up rearranging his living room on a whim and loved the results.
“Does Am know?” she asked, and I shook my head. “Oh, can I be here when he sees it for the first time?”
“Probably not,” I laughed and stood. “I’m ready.” I picked up my purse and phone from the table behind the couch as I passed it. “Now explain to me exactly what this is we are going to.”
“A professional flag football game,” Xoey explained as we walked out of the house. I slowed my steps to try to grasp what she was telling me, but it was hard. What the hell was a professional flag football game, and why were we going to it?Xoey always had a way of getting her ass into shit nobody else did and dragging us along. “You’ve never been to one?”
“The only time I have any interest in sports is when we go see Mercy or Legacy play,” I answered with a shake of my head. “Besides that, I couldn’t care less about anything revolving around a ball, hoop, goal, or whatever.”
“Well, add this to your list,” she laughed. “KO is the captain, and I’ve been supporting my girl for years. Now that she plays for Pyrite’s team, she’s closer, and we can cheer her on.”
She unlocked the car, and we got inside. “Xoey, how the hell do you know so many people?” I asked once I was settled in my seat and put my seatbelt on.
Xoey put on her seatbelt and then started the car. She looked over at me and smirked. “If you want to be honest, I have no idea how we became friends. One day, she was just there, and we were kicking it. I found out she played football and wanted to see if she was any good. You’ll understand why when you see her.”
“Is she deformed or something?” I asked.
“No,” Xoey laughed and shook her head. She pulled out of the driveway, and we headed to Stone Arena. “Anyway, she’s good. Like, really good. Despite her punk ass baby daddy being a pro quarterback.”
“So her and her baby daddy play professional football?”
“Yep, he’s a bitch, though. We don’t fuck with him at all.” She got off the highway and drove to the employee parking garage. Pyrite allowed us to use it whenever we were at the arena. Xoey parked her car in her assigned parking spot and turned off the car. “Mercy and Legacy are here already,” Xoey pointed to Mercy’s car and Legacy’s. They were parked across from us. “What’s that on Legacy’s car?”
We got out of the car. A bouquet of lilies sat on the hood of Legacy’s car. “Let me find out Legacy got a man and hasn’t told us.”
“Right,” I agreed. I approached Legacy’s car to look at the flowers. I picked them up to get a closer look. They were pretty. “These are nice.”
Xoey took the flowers from my hand and looked them over. Her face twisted, then she set them back on Legacy’s car. “They aren’t from Psalms’ shop, so whoever they are from lost a few points.”
“So judgmental,” I laughed as I pulled her from Legacy’s car.
“I bet they weren’t from Hood,” Xoey grunted. “I’m going to have to tell my boy to step his shit up. He can’t let another nigga come in and stake claim on the Point Guard.”
“Hood likes Legacy?” I asked, slightly surprised, and she nodded. “How didn’t I know that?”
“No clue, but I bet you by the start of the season you’ll be designing a ring for her,” she smiled, and I playfully rolled my eyes. Xoey was a lover of all things Hallmark, worthy of movies when it came to love. She swore that all of our friends were going to end up with the loves of their lives by the turn of a new season. She and Krude had a running bet with dates and partners. I never asked where I was on that list because I didn’t want to know. “You don’t believe me?”
“I don’t know enough about what they are or aren’t doing to have an opinion. I mean, you said the same thing about Givens and Mercy, and my phone hasn’t rang yet,” I shrugged. Mercy and Legacy had recently signed with the Queens.
“It will,” she laughed. “I haven’t been wrong yet.” She looped her arm around mine and nodded. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to talk to Diara today and see if they’ve been talking to each other.”
“Oh, this is a real girls’ night, huh?” I laughed, and Xoey nodded. Diara was usually a homebody because of her son, so I was excited to see her —it’d been a while. “Who did you get to watch Destyn?”
“My mama, of course,” Xoey answered. “The second I told mama about it, she said she would watch Destyn and Ki, and I knew we were all coming out to support KO.”
“You are such a girl’s girl,” I said, and Xoey smiled. Out of everyone I knew, I could say that Xoey was always the loudest supporter. She showed up, no matter what. “So, tell me what you have been up to?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Xoey answered as we approached the elevator. “Just a little of this, a little of that.” She pressed the up button, and we waited. “I helped Fire with something a few days ago, and that’s about it.”
