We sat in the stands watching Elise and Nova near the judge’s table, waiting for her name to be called. RJ, our four year old son, sat next to me with a pack of fruit snacks in his hand, waiting for his cousin’s name to be called. His mama tried to get him into wrestling, but my boy wasn’t with it. He was into soccer, so we had him kicking a ball year round.
“Liza, you still mad?” RJ questioned Essex and Nariyah’s younger daughter, Eliza, who sat next to him with her arms folded across her chest and a pair of pink Barbie shades covering her eyes.
“Leave me alone, RJ,” she whined, throwing her head back, sending her glasses tumbling behind us. “My glassesssssssss!” Eliza sobbed.
She was the bratty child, didn’t want to participate in sports, just wanted to have everything her way or the highway. Eliza complained about having to come to the wrestling tournament when she wanted to go to the park. What her ass really needed was a nap.
Nariyah and Essex sat next to Eliza and her dramatics. Then Ms. Candace, Faith, and her two boys were seated in the stands behind them. Khalil was twenty-three and Marlon ten. Khalil completed undergrad the year prior and went straight to grad school, working towards his master’s at FAMU-FSU’s chemical engineering program.
The siblings had grown close over the years, but things were still shaky with their parents. Essex and Faith closed that chapter. However, Elise still conversed with them from time to time, and sent pictures of RJ and the other children, but her boundaries were strict, and I didn’t play about her parents pushing them. We were too grown for their half dead asses to be meddling in our business or trying to run her life. I’d respect them as much as they respected me. Since they still refused to make amends with Faith, she was invited to everything, and theywere excluded, which was just fine with me. However, RJ would never set foot in their house or church. They still had trouble respecting Elise’s boundaries; I knew they would cross the line with my son.
My mama’s church was our home base. We were there every Sunday unless one of the kids was sick or we just needed a break. Between RJ, his soccer, and all of Elise’s wrestling business, we were very busy and missed church once in a blue moon.
Nash jogged into the gym, and Nariyah stood, waving him over. Jit was eighteen, graduated high school a year early, and was attending the University of Florida on a track scholarship. The two hour drive meant he was basically home. Any free time Nash had, he would pop out for Nova’s wrestling tournaments or RJ’s soccer games.
When Nash reached us, he didn’t say shit to anybody. He grabbed Eliza’s bratty ass, and that was exactly why she acted the way she did.
“What they in here doing to my baby? Who do I have to beat up this morning?” Nash questioned her.
“RJ won’t leave me alone,” she whined, pointing towards him.
“Nuh uhn! I didn’t do nuffin’,” RJ argued, shoving another fruit snack into his mouth. He wasn’t phased by Eliza’s antics just like the adults.
“Put her down, Nash. Nobody did anything to her. She just wanted to go to the park instead. We are going to take all the kids to the park for a little while before we go to the tournament Elise has tonight,” Nariyah scolded him.
Nash sat down with Eliza in his lap, promising her ice cream and some more shit, I’m sure. That NIL money was flowing, and he was already business minded, investing and saving. I was proud of his lil bad ass.
“Next up, we got Nova Hunter versus Caiden Nicks,” the announcer called.
“Let’s go, Nova!” Eliza cheered louder than anyone in the gym as if she wasn’t just having a full meltdown. Essex placed her glasses on her face, and she pulled them back up to make sure she had the full, unobstructed view of her sister’s match.
Nova ran to the center of the mat in her pink two piece wrestling set, her bare feet tapping against the black mat. This was Nova’s second match, and she took an L during the first match two weeks ago, so she boohoo cried until we bought her ice cream. Nova worked hard over the last two weeks and even called Elise to have her watch her practice a few moves over FaceTime before she went to bed twice that week. I could see the boost in Nova’s confidence in the way she approached her opponent and the referee. Once they were in the center, both girls got in positions, knees slightly bent, hands up in front, and eyes on each other.
“Ready. Set. WRESTLE!” The referee called out.
The girls got right to it. Slowly circling each other until Nova lunged at Caiden’s legs, sending her tumbling back. They rolled and flipped for a second.
“Put her on her back, Nova!” Essex shouted, bouncing around.
“Back Nova! Her back!” Eliza screamed, following her dad’s lead.
Next thing I knew, Caiden’s lil legs went up in the air, and Nova was on top, holding on for dear life as she tried to break free. The referee blew his whistle, then dropped to one knee and did his count.
“ONE! TWO!”
“Go ‘head Nova!” Nash shouted.
“Let’s go, Nova!” I celebrated. “Ice cream on me, baby girl!”
The referee raised Nova’s hand, and both girls were given ribbons before they rushed back to their coaches. Nova ran up to Elise and leapt into her arms. Elise spun her around, bouncing her in her grasp. Ecstatic to have helped Nova bring home the win.
It took about ten minutes before Nova and Elise rejoined us. “Mom! Dad! I won!” She bubbled, raising the ribbon in their faces. I spread my legs as Elise came closer to me. Swiftly pulling her into my arms, I placed a kiss on her cheek.
“Congratulations, Coach Williams.”
“That was all of Nova’s hard work paying off. You saw my girl calling to show me she was practicing her moves before bed,” Elise snickered. “She wanted to bring home those medals like her big brother,” she explained, nudging Nash’s shoulder. “When did you get here?”
“Right before the match started,” Nash replied, smacking on a mouthful of fruit snacks.
