When Travis emerged from the building, the first people he went to was his parents. They praised their son for his accomplishments. They both made a lot of sacrifices for their family to make sure their sons could follow their dreams. For their sacrifice, Travis gifted them with a business consultant from Washington-Smith Brokerage Firm and the financial investment to start their own trucking and logistical company. That was a dream of Tristian and Annie’s since they were young. Travis wanted to make that dream come true for them.
“Bro, I’m so fuckin’ proud of you!” Trevor congratulated his little brother after his parents. “You did everything you said you were going to do.”
Travis hugged his brother tightly. “I learned from the best men around me on how to go after what I want. You and Dad taught me well.”
Their short talk was interrupted by an excited five-year-old Gracie. “Uncle Travie! Congratulations!”
He scooped his niece up in his arms. “Thank you, Gracie! I love you.”
After he put her down, he made his way through congratulations, handshakes, and back pats, to the girl who had his entire heart. She was beautiful in her black jumpsuit under a custom blazer that was made by none other thanGrace Under Glitter. Her original outfit did not include the blazer, but Travis told her that she better wear it.
“Damn. Mags Manfield, you are beautiful,” Travis said once he was in her personal space. “What did a nigga like me do to deserve a girl like you?”
Time stopped as she took a moment to admire her boyfriend in his slacks, white dress shirt, and tie under his graduation gown. She wrapped her arms around his neck, then pecked his lips. “You prayed for favor and God said, let me introduce you to Maggie Manfield. I’m so proud of you, baby. You did it and with honors!”
“I didn’t really have a choice. If I recall, a certain girlfriend told me that she didn’t care if I got a major league contract. She wouldn’t be with a dumb man because she wasn’t a dumb woman. That same girlfriend doubled down with a couple study session schedule.” Travis’s brow was arched as he spoke.
She laughed at his expression. With a tilted head, she responded, “What can I say? I like my man smart and athletic.”
He hugged her tight, then put his lips near her ear. “Well, let’s thank Big G that he could bless you with just that. He definitely blessed me with favor by the name of Magdalene Naomie Gold Manfield.”
The reporters were patient. They would wait if it meant cashing in on the young couple in love photos that they were able to capture in the moment. Mega stood next to Ruth with his arm around her. He looked at his daughter and, if projections were correct, his future son-in-law as they stood together and Travis answered questions from the media.
Every interview with the media that Travis had, he was intentional about Maggie being at his side. If she was not able to be at his side, then he found a way to weave her into the conversation. Tristian sat Travis down when he began to get interest from major league teams. He explained to him that if it was truly his intention that Maggie be his forever that he had to be intentional about it. The world needed to know that she was his heart, unapologetically.
Travis had no issue with that, because it was easy to show the loves of his heart: God, family, Maggie, and baseball. Maggie’s family respected and appreciated how Travis loved her even at their young age. Like Mega was reminded years ago, there was no certain age to do the right thing.
It’s A Party . . .
When Maggie started to plan the graduation party for her boyfriend, she had no idea of how big it would be. The graduation class wasn’t that big, so they all were invited to theparty. From how it looked, they all came. With the graduates, family, friends, and all other invites, there were over two hundred people at the party.
“Maggie! Maggie! You didn’t tell me that Akon was coming.” Kellie’s eyes bugged out when she noticed Akon, Warrior, and Jamal walk into the venue together.
Maggie giggled at her best friend. “I didn’t know if he was coming. You know niggas don’t RSVP. Oh my God! He’s coming over here. Stay cool!”
Kellie’s hand rubbed down her hair to make sure there wasn’t a hair out of place. Kellie met Akon a little over a year ago at Jamal’s eighteenth birthday party. From that day on, she had googly eyes for him. Akon’s eyes may not have been googly, but they were on Kellie.
“What’s up, y’all?” Akon greeted Maggie and Kellie. His attention focused on Kellie. “You look beautiful, Kellie. Your hair is pretty. It looks like you added some highlights or something,” he said before he reached up and touched her hair.
Her light cheeks blushed over. The fact that he noticed her new highlights made her feel special. “Thank you. Yeah, I got some blonde highlights last week. I wanted to do something different.”
Akon lived in North Charleston, South Carolina, with his parents. Just like Kellie, he was a rising high school senior. He attended North Charleston High school while Kellie was a student at Coreland High School. The just shy-of-an-hour distance didn’t stop the teenagers from seeing each other at least twice a week.
From across the room in a section that was curated just for the chaperoning adults in the building, Ned had a laser focus on his daughter and the little boy that had been sniffing behind her for the past almost nine months. He was convinced that it was War’s and Yetti’s plan to infiltrate his family by way of theirsons. Warrior and Shanae had been in a relationship for almost two years now. Ned just came to terms with that fact. Now, here came Akon with eyes for Kellie.God plays the craziest games.
“I need a freeze option with life,” Ned mumbled.
Mega heard his best friend and understood exactly how he felt. “Man, I prayed for that, and Big G was like, no. I guess some of the desires of your heart are just unreasonable.”
Both men chuckled at that thought. Ned was annoyed, but in the same breath, there was a sense of relief that the boys interested in his daughters were sons of men that he knew well. He knew the stock of the kids that came from the people in his intimate circle. Even with that knowledge, he knew that good kids made mistakes as well. What kind of mistakes would a group of good kids make?
Maggie, Kellie, Shanae, Kayslin, and Serenity sat in one of the VIP sections in the venue. Serenity, War and Pea’s daughter, was the oldest of the small crew at twenty-two years old. She’d gotten close with Shanae during the course of her brother’s relationship with her.
Serenity was intrigued by Shanae’s career in the pole dancing industry. She was a regular at the pole dancing studio in Charleston before her brother began his relationship with Shanae. Now that Serenity and Shanae were good friends, she didn’t miss any of Shanae’s classes. Between pole dancing classes and a semi-healthy diet, Serenity was down fifteen pounds. She took on her mother’s plus-size, perfectly thick physique to War’s dismay.
Shanae was proud of the women that attended her class as a workout choice. She loved to see the weight loss results. Her bachelors of arts in dancing was so close that she could feel it. Performing on stage was a love of hers, especially when her man was in the audience. Warrior never missed a performance of hers. Next to her parents, he was her number one supporter.
“Maggie, you did your thing with this party. Who knew that Coreland would have a dope spot like this? Let me find out,” Kayslin joked.
