“Maybe a month. I remember him asking if I would spend time with my boyfriend over the winter break. I didn’t have a boyfriend, and when I shared that, he said maybe he would change that.”
“How did that make you feel?”
I laughed. “I was a freshman who had gained the attention of a popular senior football player, so of course, it made me feel special. He knew I lived locally, and he had his own apartment, so over the break, he asked if I wanted to go out. I agreed, and we hung out a few times.”
“What did you do when you hung out?”
“We went to dinner, played miniature golf, and went to the arcade. It was nothing special, but I had a good time, and I guess he did, too, because he asked me to be his girlfriend.”
“Were you surprised?”
“Umm, a little. I mean, I thought he liked me, but he would be graduating soon and going to the league, so I didn’t think he’d want to date someone still in college with all that happening.”
“But you agreed anyway.”
I nodded. “I did, but he had one request.”
“What was that?”
“I couldn’t tell anyone we were dating.”
“How did that make you feel?”
“Not great, but I didn’t necessarily care if people knew or not. He pulled out all the stops for New Year’s Eve, and we were intimate for the first time.”
“Is that when you believe your son was conceived?”
“I’m not sure. We had sex several more times during the month of January, and every time, we used protection. When my cycle didn’t come in February, I took a pregnancy test, and it was positive. When I told him, he denied the baby could be his because we always used protection, and if it was, he told me to get rid of it.”
“Just like that?”
“Those were his exact words, and it was the last time we spoke until recently. I told my best friend, Skye, my family, and my coaches. We came up with a plan. Everyone supported me in ways I didn’t think they would, and here we are today.”
I turned to look at my son, who beamed with pride. He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it.
“Mr. Ward has told our producers that he’s been trying to have a relationship with his son since the day he was born. Are you saying that’s not true?” David asked.
“I’m not sure what son he’s referring to, but he’s never reached out to either of us, or any of my family members,” I said.
“Is that true, Nyeem?”
“Yes. If my mother had stopped him from contacting me, all my social media pages are public. He could’ve easily sent me a message. Since he’s been in town, he’s had several opportunities to talk to me, but instead, he used each of them to talk down on me and belittle me. I have nothing to say to Ambrose Ward. Based on what I’ve seen in the past month, he did me a favor by staying out of my life,” Nyeem said.
“I’m sorry that your experience with your father has been so negative. How did you handle it?”
“My mother, grandparents, and uncle taught me well. I don’t feed into negative energy.”
“Good for you. There are reports that Mr. Ward was arrested recently because of an incident that involved you, Miss Kurrie. Can you talk about that?”
“It’s an open case, and I was advised not to speak on it. However, the police report was posted, and it’s accurate.”
“Well, you all heard it here first. Thank you, Nyomi and Nyeem Kurrie, for taking the time to share your story. We’ve followed you for most of your life, and it’s been a joy to witness every single moment. Nyeem, we wish you much success and can’t wait to see you on the field and the track this season and beyond.”
Thankfully, the interview went off without a hitch, but it didn’t take long for Ambrose to post a response video. I refused to watch the video or read the comments, but Skye didn’t mind summarizing it for me as we all gathered back at my house for dinner.
“He looks and sounds pathetic, bestie. It’s the way he repeatedly contradicts himself that has the people in the comments tearing him to shreds,” she said.
“Good. We told our truth and are done with it. I need him to crawl back into his hole and pretend like we don’t exist, like he’s been doing for the past eighteen years.”
