“Ma, you’re on the Jumbotron!” Brooklyn shouted.
Ellie looked up and waved shyly as the camera focused on her and Loyal. He gave a quick smile to the camera and slapped hands with one of the players on the bench before focusing back on Ellie.
“You’re so much cooler than me,” Ellie laughed.“Everybody knows you here.”
He chuckled and shook his head.“They just showing love because I’m a season ticket holder. My old man used to buy season tickets every year. He would work double and triple time, just to scrape up enough money to afford that little luxury. We’d be so high up you couldn’t even see the players. They looked like ants way up in the nosebleeds. Now, I gift him floor seats every year.”
“That’s really sweet,” Ellie said. She glanced down at Robert.“He clearly loves it.”
Loyal nodded.“He does,” he chuckled.
The whistle blew, and another loose ball came rolling their way, knocking over Ellie’s drink.
She leaned down to clean up the mess.
“Don’t worry about it, they’llget it,” Loyal said, flagging over the wait staff.
Ellie looked over to her girls who were having the time of their young lives.“You guys want to maybe go up to the suite for the rest of the game?”
“No way!” Brooklyn said.
“It’s so much fun down here! Can we stay?Pleaseee!” Tessa begged.
Tracy waved a hand at Ellie.“You two go on up; they can hang out down here with us. We’llmeet you at the top when it’s over,” Tracy offered.
“Oh, no, I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Ellie stated.
“They’re fine, hun.We’ve raised plenty of kids. Go ahead,” Tracy insisted.
“Ma, you’re being a helicopter mom. I’m a teenager.We’re fine,” Brooklyn added.
“Okay, okay,” Ellie sang as she reluctantly lifted out of her seat.“Do you want me to take you to the bathroom before I go?”
“No, Mommy, I don’t have to go,”Tessa insisted.
“I’lltake her at halftime, Ma,” Brooklyn promised.
Ellie looked around unsurely but followed Loyal as he took her hand and led her up to the suite. It was empty and pure luxury.
“Now, this is how I prefer to attend a sporting event,” she said as she stepped inside. A buffet was set, bottles of liquor awaited them, and television screens lined the wall.
“I figured you’d be more comfortable up here,” Loyal snickered. He grabbed a bottle and carried it to the leather sofa.“Grab two glasses for me?” he asked.
She did and then joined him on the couch.
“Thank you for this, by the way,” she said.“And thank you for standing up for me.”
“Don’t mention it,” Loyal stated.
“Why did you? If you don’t mind me asking.” Ellie hadn’t been able to take her mind off the encounter.
“You looked like a deer in headlights,” Loyal said.“You were confident and assertive when I met you at the bar. As soon as he walked into the room, you shrank. It felt like he had bullied you before. Iain’t mean to overstep, because I know I did, but I ain’t like that shit at all.”
“I really appreciate you standing up for me. I haven’t had someone do that in so long. I guess that’s what I’ve been searching for since my brother got locked up. Cassidy was always my muscle. He was always my protector. People knew not to fuck with me because they would have to answer to him. When he went away, I went through a few niggas just searching for that feeling, that loyalty. There was an unconditional love that suddenly was missing in my life.”
“And your husband gave you that?” Loyal asked.
“I don’t think he did. When I look back, it’s crystal clear that he was never man enough to fulfill such a big duty. He almost love-bombed me, coming with my first big wow moment for everything. He was the one who bought me my first Louis; he took me on my first little Caribbean vacation. He did basic shit like make me call off work but give me the money I’d make in a day. Hair money. Nail money. Little girl shit. I fell too fast, too hard, and next thing I know, we were married,” Ellie whispered.
