I bumped him playfully with my shoulder and his big ass ain’t move a centimeter. “I ain’t know you had a girl, Runt.”
“Bruh, I tell you like I told ha’ ass. She can try me if she wanna. This money in the bank ain’t changed me from the half-feral boy from South Cack. She play wit’ my heart she get a root put onha’.” He looked down at me and the look on his face had me cracking up.
“Not a root.”
“Hell yeah. My ancestors don’t play ‘bout me. You sawSinners. I got Hu ladies all up and down my bloodlines. Them Geechie roots run deep.” The pride on his face was evident and I understood how he felt. My folks were from the south, but I knew that the Gullah/Geechie people were a special kind of spiritual.
“That girl might run away fast from you she hears you talk like that.”
He chuckled and worked his neck from side to side like it had gotten tight. “She can try. But even at three-twenty I’ll chase ha’ ass. And even more, I’ll catch ha’.”
I thought about how I would feel if Ling’s ass thought about leaving me and I felt a tightness in my chest.
“Heard.” The team started to file out and I was ready to get this game started. “Guess we better show the fuck out so they don’t have a reason to run.”
“You locked ya lady down wit’ a baby. Reece keeps on and imma do the same.”
When I looked at his big ass he looked completely serious. Like his idea of trapping that girl was logical instead of incredulous. “Nigga, that’s toxic as fuck.”
“I from Charleston, you ain’t seen toxic yet.” He was laughing unbothered as he put on his helmet and I followed suit, cause what that man did with his dick was his business. I was gone feel some kinda bad if he ended up in a ditch somewhere on the Chisholm-Love property for fucking with Reece. But I wasn’t about to step into another man’s relationship.
We trotted out onto the field, forgoing the regular fanfare that we enjoyed at home. When Stew put it to a vote, we all said that if we couldn’t all be announced, none of us would be. We were sure that the league was still announcing us, but we weren’t running out one by one. We were a united team and that’s how we were going to show up today.
I ran out onto the field behind Runt and the rest of the offensive line to the cheers of the Desperados fans that had traveled to be with us today. We were met with boos but that shit only made me more determined to show the fuck out today.
I turned my head to the suite level and saw the one where I knew our families were sitting. Parker had pull so our immediate families were in between two of the largest suites. Sampson had reserved a suite next to Parker’s unbeknownst to all of us at thebeginning of the season because he had that much faith in us. Between the three suites, the people who didn’t want to be in the crowd were tucked safely up behind the glass. I was damn sure not about to have Ami, Ling, my mama and siblings in the stands. I didn’t doubt that Teo could handle himself, but the fans here were heavily favoring our opponent since they were a California team. His ass was as hot-headed as I was calm so I needed him in the suite and out of trouble. Everyone had done their best to put extended family in ticket blocks surrounded byDesperadosfans, but that was always hit or miss. Folks had been reaching out to me trying to get a hookup for tickets and like always I left folks on read. If you weren’t with me in the trenches, there wasn’t any need for you to be with me on the mountaintop.
I hit the sideline and stood next to Chris who was looking petrified.
“You good?”
“Nigga, hell nah. You see this shit? Where we are?” He glanced around like he was in awe. My normal backup had a mildly sprained hamstring so I knew Chris was going to see far more playing time than he would normally. They hadn’t said much other than his not wanting to give his nerves time to set in.
I just grinned and hit his pads with my fists likeDonkey Kongto shake him out of his awe. “It’s what we worked for.”
He blinked and nodded again before running his hand over his curly fade. “Yeah but damn. I ain’t think—”
“Nah, don’t even think about it. You do. Let muscle memory and determination take over. That’s all you need. You meet the moment where it’s at and never let it think it’s bigger than you. We not doing this self-defeating shit. Not today.”
He was nodding and I was thankful that he was just taking in what I said without panicking. His breathing slowed down and I was glad that he hadn’t started to hyperventilate.
“You right. For a second I felt like my guts were about to fall out but I think I got it together.” Chris’ eyes didn’t look as blown out as before and his shoulders were back, his head held high.
“Good. Cause I might be trying to do big shit today, but I’mma need everybody behind me to make sure we get this shit. You ready to win your first ring?”
His eyes lit up like he remembered why he was here. When Chris’ head started to nod again I could tell he was going to be locked in for the rest of this game.
“Hell yeah.”
The game had been tight for a minute there but we finally settled down midway through the first half. Ant ran a kickoff back setting us up on our thirty before he got tackled. Then his brother showed out by catching a fifty-yard bomb from Grant that had us on their side on the field. Marcel caught it in the slot for a first down. We were in the red zone and I needed to put in work to get us on the board again. Defense had done its job holding their offense to only three points and getting offense the ball back. Jacoby had racked up a sack and Ant had a pass breakup that prevented them from picking up a first down.
Now it was our turn.
“Ten no deuce, sixty-five is the mic!”
Grant called out the play calling my number so the line knew I was getting the ball. It was going to be a delayed run play so I needed to ensure my ass blocked any defenders that could break through the line. Sixty-five looked like he was trying to crowd the line and blitz so I kept my eyes on him as I read the defense. The ball was hiked and I was on the balls of my feet, bouncing withmy head on a swivel to ensure no one got through to interrupt the play. Sixty-five was trying to come through but somehow Runt had moved his defender into Sixty-five and kept him from crossing the line as quickly as he wanted. The line was holding so Grant dropped back before stepping up and stuffing the ball in my stomach. Both of my hands wrapped around the ball and I saw the hole start to close up. I stutter-stepped before I started to pump my legs looking downfield to see that Marcel, Antwan and the rest of the wide receivers were prepared to block since the defensive backfield was moving up to help stop the run play. They closed around me but like the lazy fucks they were, none of their defenders were wrapping up. Sixty-five got hands on me but I spun through the block despite the number of bodies, friends and foes, that were crowding around me. I kept churning my legs because I refused to be stopped until I reached the end zone. I was bounced around from my teammates trying to block and our opponent trying to stop me with hands brushing my pads and reaching for the ball. My vision had narrowed to the white line that designated the end zone from the rest of the field. I only hoped to cross it and get more points on the board.
Someone gripped the back of my helmet tugging at my hair and I ducked my head down, twisting my neck out of their grip but another hand grabbed my shoulder pads. I felt myself going down even as I kept moving my legs because these bodies were heavy. A hit from the side, which was an attempt to dislodge the ball from my arm, had me bracing myself on the slick grass of the field. That shift in my center of gravity gave me the leverage I needed to toss the defender that had my pad in his grip off of me and break free from their grasp. Feeling the heat of all those bodies released from around me gave me an instant influx of energy and although my legs felt like they were going to fall off I kept running with the ball tucked into my right arm.It was my strongest arm and the one that I carried Ami with predominantly.
