“Wassup, nigga! I hope you’re about to tell me something I wanna hear,” I greeted my former teammate.
“Let’s get this work and take the Eagles to the championship!”
“Word?”
“I’m ready. I can fly in on Monday to finalize everything.”
“That’s wassup! You made my fucking day! I’ll have one of the admins in the office send over your contract in the morning and let the AD know you’re joining the team. We’re having a coach’s meeting on Wednesday with the rest of the staff.”
“Sounds good. I’m excited to work with you.”
“Aye, our coaching staff will go down in BEU football history as the best to ever do it.”
“Bet. I’ll hit you up if I have any questions.”
We ended the call, and I sent Knox a text to let him know Ward was in. He responded immediately with a thumbs-up. The last piece to our puzzle was Nyeem Kurrie. If he decided to join the team, I had no doubt we’d be unstoppable.
It had been two days since Nyeem and I met with Kilo and Knox. Last night, we went out to dinner with my parents and brother, and all we talked about was Nyeem’s decision.
My father and brother were huge football fans and wanted to see Nyeem play at the next level and beyond. That wasn’t to say they weren’t fans of track and field and didn’t enjoy supporting him, but everyone had their favorite sports, and football just so happened to be theirs.
By the time dinner was over, my son had decided he’d commit to both sports this year, but if it became overwhelming, he’d focus on track and field only for the duration of his time in college. It wasn’t what I wanted, but I assured him that he had my support.
Tonight, Skye and I were at her place, eating Chinese food, drinking wine, and talking shit. The last couple of days had been busy, so I hadn’t had a chance to update her on my life’s drama.
“You wouldn’t believe the shit that’s been my life lately,” I began.
“I’m all ears, sis.”
“Nyeem and I met with the new football coach at BEU on Thursday.”
“Football? Is this a new development?”
“Yeah. The coach reached out to him right before graduation, and Nyeem was open to hearing what he had to say.”
“You cool?”
I sighed. “Honestly, I was a little weary, but at the end of the day, it’s his life. We went to dinner last night with my family, and we didn’t talk about anything else. It didn’t seem like he was swayed one way or the other, but he made a decision.”
“Do tell, sis. What did he decide?”
“Your nephew is now a member of the BEU footballandtrack teams. Right now, they want him to play defensive back instead of receiver, but that could change once they start practicing. As long as he’s happy, I’m good.”
“Damn, nephew, I know that’s right! Is there anything my boy can’t do?”
Skye was excited for Nyeem, and I appreciated her excitement, but I couldn’t help but sigh because I was still coming to terms with these new developments. The fact that my baby boy would be following in his father’s footsteps and playing defensive back for BEU’s football team was a lot to process.
“It’s a lot to juggle, but he wouldn’t have agreed if he didn’t think he could do it,” she continued when I didn’t say anything.
“I know. My mom and I had a good, honest conversation about how I felt about this a couple months ago. She told me not to worry because it would work itself out.”
“What exactly are you worried about?”
I shared with her my fears about Ambrose popping up and inserting himself into Nyeem’s life and the advice my mother gave me.
“Listen to Mama Kurrie. Nyeem has the best support system known to man. If Ambrose decides to bring his raggedy ass around, Nyeem will handle him accordingly, and we always got his back. As far as his decision to be a dual sport student-athlete while majoring in engineering, he knows what he’s capable of.”
“Shit. If anyone can do it, Nyeem can. Once he sets his mind to something, it’s as good as done. By the grace of God and with the help of my village, I’ve raised an exceptional child.”
