I gave him the serial killer, slow head turn because why was he next to me right now.Big G, take Your words and put them in my mouth.“I’m happy that you could make it and learned alot. I pray you’re able to understand the lesson and how to apply it when it comes to my baby girl.”
Travis smiled. “I got you, Mr. Manfield. I know I’m young, but I’m not stupid. I got too much of a bright future to mess it up over silly stuff. I just want to lock my forever in early. If you know you know.”
My head bucked back. “Lil boy, you’re barely fifteen talking about you’re trying to lock in your forever. You got the rest of high school, college, and from the way you play, the pros. That’s a lot of fun out there, but you want to lock in a forever at fifteen. Ain’t you a lil young to be thinking like that?”
Travis’s face drew up. “I didn’t know that there was a certain age to do right. Yes, I have the rest of high school, college, and the pros to have fun. I can have that fun with my forever by my side. I like Maggie a lot, and I know she likes me for me. Don’t you think that’s a good foundation?”
His smile was cheeky before he told me that he would get himself something to eat. He was courteous enough to ask if I needed anything. After he left me to myself again, I had to sit back and really ponder on the messages that Big G passed out tonight.I didn’t know there was a certain age to do right.A fifteen-year-old humbled me in his own little way.
Was there too young of an age to understand your worth and to know that Big G had plans for you? Travis knew what he wanted out of life and had a trajectory of where he would be. I couldn’t be mad about that. Had I had that mentality at his age, I might have saved myself a lot of foolishness. I was mature enough to know that everything happened in the time that it should happen. I met Ruth at the right time in my life for me to be more open to start this walk with Big G.
“Alright, Big G, I don’t know how this gonna play out. I’m telling you though, if that boy hurts my baby girl, I’m sending him to You for early admission intoClub White Clouds and BlueStars.Speak to that boy’s heart so I don’t have to have my blocka speak to it. Amen and Amen.” I spoke my prayer out loud to myself while I was still alone.
Yeah, I was a lot of things. I was a father, son, brother, husband, and man of Big G. With all of that, though, I was still and would always be Megatron Loric Manfield.
EPILOGUE
IT ALL COMES TOGETHER
Some Time Later. . .
“Travis Adam Johnston!”
The coliseum went wild when the announcer called the next name to walk across the stage to get their high school diploma. It was an auspicious occasion, and the town of Coreland had shown up. It was Coreland High School graduation and not only did the town show up, but the world did as well.
The reason the world showed up was to support the celebration of the overall number one draft pick’s high school graduation. All those years ago, Travis told Mega that he knew where his life was headed, and he wanted to prepare for it. Well, Big G saw fit to not make Travis a liar. The Augusta Chargers signed him right out of high school with a ten-million-dollar sign-on bonus and a seventeen-million-dollar contract. It was a major win for his family and Coreland itself.
Maggie jumped up and down with excitement as she watched her man walk across the stage to receive his diploma. Next year, it was her turn. She actually would graduate in December since she doubled up on some of her classes, but she still planned to walk the following May. Her heart was full in the moment.
Mega stood next to his wife as he cheered on the boy that he wanted to send toClub White Clouds and Blue Starsat one point in time. Now, the Johnston family had engrained themselves in with the other families that loved Travis and Trevor. Matthew and Joseph were Travis’s shadows at thirteen years old now. They had one more year until they were in high school, and their baseball futures were bright thanks to the influences around them. Baseball had calmed the boys down a lot.
When Travis received his sign-on bonus check, the first thing Mega did was walk him and his parents into Washington-Smith Brokerage Firm. It was important to him that Travis invested and understood how to build generational wealth. Mega wanted Travis to be successful, yes, but he also wanted to ensure that his daughter would be with a man that had the financial aptitude to guarantee financial security for his family.
Travis respected that, and Tristian appreciated it. Tristian worked hard his entire life to make sure his family was comfortable. Annie and he were teenage parents, so there was a lot stacked against them. Tristian knew how to make money to pay the bills to make sure his family kept a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs, and food in their mouths. He had no idea how to tell his son to manage millions. Mega was proud to offer his help to provide resources for financial literacy.
Mega’s hand patted the back of Tristian who stood on the other side of him. “You did it, man. You raised two exceptional young men.”
Tristian smiled. “I never thought I’d see the day that I could say my son was a professional baseball player.” His eyes connected to mine. “You raised an amazing daughter and are raising two exceptional sons yourselves. We have another graduation to go to next year.”
That they did. Ruth used her arm closest to her daughter and niece to engulf them. The kids just wouldn’t stop growing up, toall the parents’ dismay. As much as they wanted it to stop, they wanted it to continue as well.
“Mama, did you get—” Before Maggie could finish her repetitive question, her mother cut her off.
Ruth shushed her daughter. “Maggie, yes! I don’t even know what you are going to ask me, but I did. Everything is ready for tonight’s party. Me, Shan, Mrs. Annie, Kellie, and Shanae have everything ready and set. Please relax and enjoy your man’s graduation.”
Maggie heard her mother, but she wanted everything to be perfect. She loved Travis with her whole seventeen-year-old heart. They had been together since his girlfriend proposal to her, and she prayed that God saw fit that it would lead to a marriage proposal.
The couple went through the usual teenage relationship drama, but cheating had never been an issue. An amazing thing happened after the first night that Travis visited Mega’s bible study group . . . He continued to attend. What was the worst thing that could happen if he continued to come? There was no worse when it came to Big G, only better.
His attendance at bible study, church, his participation in baseball as well as being around men of substance helped Travis understand the importance of discipline and staying a man of integrity. The men also taught him how to properly treat Maggie. At fifteen years old, he considered her as the woman that would be his forever. In order for that to remain a statement of fact, Travis would need to know how to keep his forever happy.
Travis loved Maggie and it showed. Maggie loved Travis and it showed. He was not the only person who was taught how to properly love. Ruth didn’t have her own bible study group, because that was not her assignment. She was a part of a very powerful women’s group that was led by Ansley Gilmore, the first lady of Echo Church. Maggie and Kellie took part in thebible study group that Ruth was a part of and a teenaged group that was very popular in the church since it was co-ed.
The graduation went on as everyone sat and waited. Maggie and Kellie shouted for the people that they knew. Like everyone expected, when Kellie posted the video of Maggie and Travis’s girlfriend proposal, everyone wanted to know the details about the custom jersey. Shan helped them with the order form, and it went live a week after the video was posted. After two days, they had to close the order form because of the volume of orders. Eighty-two orders in two days would be enough to keep the girls and their helpers busy for some time.
Three years later,Grace Under Glitterhad not only grown wings, but it had flown so far that they had paid employees. Everyone was proud of their hard work. When Travis was in the stages of the draft, he mentioned Maggie’s business once and how proud he was of her. Since then, the website continued to be sold out. The world loved a pure love story. There was nothing better than a young, black love story of the overall number one draft pick.
Graduation finally ended. Everyone headed outside to wait for Travis in the designated area that was pre-selected. The press wanted interviews, so there was an entire setup for Travis and his family.
