Tears were falling from his eyes, and he didn’t care that it was a room filled with people because he didn’t bother to wipe them away. I made sure that I thanked him in front of everyone for everything that he’s poured into me.
When I was finished, I then went over to my mama, who was crying too. This woman has sacrificed so much for me as well. As a grown man, I now understood that that shit wasn’t easy for her when my sister and I were younger, having to navigate through life after her, and my dad divorced, and still having to be the best parent that she could for Seren and I. God had blessed me withamazing parents, and I made sure to stand here, and give them their flowers in front of everyone.
I went around the room, hugging everyone. In the end, I found myself in the back, and I was standing next to Tank. I loved this nigga. Him and I have been through a lot of shit together this past year. I put him in the middle of shit that didn’t have anything to do with him. At one point, I was even angry at him because I hated how devoted he was to trying to handle Toby, when I wanted to be the one to handle it myself.
The night of his birthday party, Jax pulled up with his homies, and them niggas were gunning for me. Tank, and his friends handled that shit, making me leave, so that the league wouldn’t find out about it. I never had to question my cousin’s love for me. If anyone wanted what was best for me, I knew that it was him.
“That phone call that you just got, and those two over there, that’s what life is about, man,” he said, lifting his finger, so that he could point at Promise, and Romy.
Romy was up now, and Promise was standing in front of the TV with her, and she was pointing, showing me on the screen because they were on the news, broadcasting that I was now with the Patriots. Promise was showing Romy her daddy, and Romy was bouncing up and down in her mommy’s arms proud, clapping her little hands.
“Yeah man. I already told her. It’s about timing,” I shared, and he nodded.
“Just remember, out of them millions of hoes that’s about to be on your dick, most of them going to want you because of the contract that your about to sign, or the perks that come with being with you. I know I wasn’t the biggest fan of Promise in the beginning, but that girl solid. She a good mama, and even with ya’ll not being together, when all that gambling shit, and that murder charge that you were looking at, shorty was in yourcorner. Choose the one that’s real, and you don’t gotta question their motive. That girl got her own money, so you don’t gotta worry about her trying to come after yours. Just make smart decisions. That’s all I’m telling you,” he finished, reaching his hand out, so that he could slap hands with me.
“I hear you. I ain’t looking for a relationship right now though. I plan to lock in with football. This about to be my first season in the NFL. I gotta give this shit all I got. Promise not looking for a relationship right now, either. She opening another shop in Atlanta, so she about to be busy too. If it’s meant to be with us, then it’ll be,” I said, leaving it at that.
He nodded, respecting what I was saying to him.
I continued to stand here, looking around the room, seeing all this love, and support that was here.
I couldn’t wait to make everyone in this room proud. Remember the name…. Rico Briggs. I was about to give the NFL what it’s been missing.
Chapter 21
Kalani Joseph
New Beginnings
“We going to sleep in here together?” my son asked me, turning his head around, looking at me with confused eyes. His question made me laugh, as I walked up on him, standing behind him, and putting him in a bear hug.
“No boy. This is your room. My room is going to be down the hall,” I explained, and when I said that, he immediately removed my hands from being wrapped around him, and he turned to look at me for a few seconds.
At first, there was a serious look in his eyes. One that was staring me up and down, trying to search for any signs of me lying to him. When he started to trust the revelation that I’d given to him, his big hazel eyes watered up, and tears fell.
My son was ten, and he was at that age where he wanted to be hard all day, and he felt like boys weren’t supposed to cry. With that, he turned his head, so that I wouldn’t see him crying. He dropped his head, put his hands over his face, and he released tears. His tears brought tears to my eyes as well.
We’ve been through so much in the last six months. Our world had already gone upside down months ago when I lost my job, and then we had to move in with Toby. Living with Tobywasn’t the worst, but it wasn’t the best either. I was putting my life in danger by being with him. My son’s life in danger too. When Toby was murdered, I had no choice but to move in with my homegirl, Toya. I hated that living situation.
Toya never did anything to make me feel uncomfortable, but it was one of those things where I felt like we were overstaying our welcome, and that there were too many of us in her house. My son was always getting into it with her boys, and it had gotten to the point that Bash was even getting into fights with her sons. It wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I had to get us out of there, so for a while, Bash and I had gone into a shelter.
We stayed in a shelter for about two months, and after that, I was able to get us into a room that I was renting at a house. The rent wasn’t that expensive, so for months, I stacked up enough money from both jobs that I was working, and I finally had enough to put down for a first, last, and security deposit. I’d got a nice townhouse for my son and I, and it was way more than enough space for the two of us.
“Awww. Why you crying?” I asked, holding onto him from behind, as he broke down, having his moment.
His tears made me emotional as hell because it’s almost like my son could breathe again. He went through so much with me, and I was glad that I was able to give him that roof over his head that I’d promised him.
“I’m just happy ma,” he let me know, after he calmed down.
Once he got himself together, he turned his body around, so that I could kiss him on his cheeks, and forehead. I eventually let him go, and he walked around his new bedroom, checking out the empty space. He walked into the closet, pulling the doors back, and he even went into his own, personal bathroom that was attached to the bedroom. He couldn’t stop smiling or thanking me. I had to let him know that he didn’t have to thankme because as his mother, this is what I was supposed to be doing.
He took a seat down on the carpeted floor, extending out his legs. I went over to him, sitting down as well, and I extended my legs too.
“Football season about to start back up. We gotta get you back out there,” I let him know, and his eyes lit up. We had to take last season off because I just wasn’t in a good position financially to foot a sports bill at the time.
I am in a much better position these days. I would forever be thankful for Dionne because she gave me a position at her warehouse. Around that time, it felt like it was so hard for me to get a job, but Dionne was one of the first people to hire me, and I’ll forever be thankful. She worked with me because when I was coming into that job, I would bring the weight of the world on my shoulders, and she never fired me, belittled me, or shamed me for anything that I was going through. I even started working at another warehouse overnight because I needed more money. Once I moved out of Toya’s house, I could no longer work two jobs because I wouldn’t have anyone to watch my son for me.
I got rid of the overnight job, and I stayed working for Dionne. During my time with Dionne, I was applying for other jobs though. I was able to get on a different wave, and now I am working in logistics and operations. It was for a company that specialized in household goods, and with that, I was over everything that happened behind the scenes, whether it dealt with putting drivers on schedule, dealing with shipments, the whole nine. I was salary now, making decent money to provide for my child and I.
