Grimacing at her placing us in that category, I reluctantly said, “Yeah, of course.” Although I told her we were friends the other night, I addedfor now,meaning I wanted more with her and thought I’d been showing her that.
“And you’ve been paying attention every game, right?”
I nodded in confirmation.
“You’ve had time to studymygame, right?”
“Where’s this going—”
“Answer the question,” she interrupted.
“Yes, Pen,” I answered, perturbed by her attitude.
“Alright, then, tell me the truth. Do you think I can win this championship?”
I opened my mouth to answer when she cut me off.
“Be honest. If you feed me some lame answer, I’ll be upset.”
Chuckling, I said, “You’re already upset. Ya body language, the tone in ya voice when youdosay something—allat says you’re upset, lil’ baby.”
“You’re already deflecting,” she mumbled.
“I’m just sayin’ my answer won’t change how you’re feeling right now.”
“You don’t know that and stop avoiding my question.” She rolled her eyes at me then dropped her gaze to the plate of pasta she pushed around. It wasn’t like Pen to play with her food.
“I think you’re askin’ me questions you already have the answer to. You’re here, Baby. You ran through a whole roster of other great teams to be here.Youcan’t win a championship but yateamcan. Y’all have proven that you’re one of the best two teams in the league. Getting to the championship round ain’t easy. And y’all did that.”
“Yeah, but we struggled with LA.” She sighed. “You hear how they’re eviscerating everything I’m doing out there.”
Tsking, I said, “See, that doubt right there, that’s gotta go. And fuck what they’re talkin’ ‘bout. All LA did was make y’all step up to the plate. That’s not a bad thing. Look at it as them preparing y’all for thesecondbest team in the league.”
She smiled then. “Records don’t mean anything in the playoffs.”
“Only college players have the right to say that, baby. They only get one game per round. This is a best of five series. The odds of y’all winnin’ it all is higher.”
“Still—”
“Damn, you gon’ listen to me, or nah? You’re sittin’ here listenin’ to muhfuckas that don’t even know you, shawty.”
She busted out laughing. “My fault.”
“Quit askin’ me questions and then try to make my answers line up with what you feel. I gave you what I think. Either you’re gon’ trust ya team to get you that ring, or you’re gon’ sit here and wallow in doubt. One thing about me, I’m not gon’ let you have a pity party. So, don’t expect that from me.”
Her face balled up. “There’s that mean man I met months ago.”
Grinning, I replied, “Not mean, shawty—real. I’ma always be real with you.”
Me:Wya?
Mrs.:The library grabbing a book I need for class.
I read the message several times before replying.
Me:I’m at the practice facility.
Mrs.:Oh. I left after practice. I didn’t know you were coming by there and needed to get to campus before it got too late. You know I hate driving on this side of town once traffic is heavy. And I wanted to get in and out.
