Tara pursed her lips and gave a side eye.
We all laughed.
The waiter came to take our drink orders, and then we fell into easy conversation.
“I’m going to order these wings Lamar keeps talking about,” Erickson announced.
“And they better live up to the hype,” Tara chimed in.
My smile grew. “I said the same thing!”
Lamar rubbed his hands together. “Y’all gonna eat those words.”
The conversation flowed easily, stopping only when we placed our orders. It was beautiful to watch the dynamic between the two men. They were truly brothers, and it was evident in how they interacted.
“I’m so proud of you, bro,” Erickson stated.
“We had a party and invited everybody over to watch your first game with us,” Tara added. “We know you said not to say anything, so we just invited people over to watch.”
“And then you showed up and showed out, and we couldn’t stop bragging on you,” Erickson chimed in.
Lamar grinned. “I appreciate that support.”
Tara looked at me. “He’s so modest!”
I nodded. “But also fully aware of his gifts.” I glanced over at him, and our eyes locked. “Humble and talented and confident and…” I realized I sounded like I was gushing. “And the list goes on and on.”
“Did he tell you how we met?” Erickson asked me.
I shook my head. “No. I just know you met in college, but I haven’t heard the story.”
“She doesn’t want to hear your bullshit, E,” Lamar injected with a laugh. “Especially not the first part.”
Ignoring him and leaning forward, Erickson’s smile grew. “Lamar and I met the summer before freshman year because we were both on the football team and we were working out and practicing before the fall semester started. So, it’s the first day of workouts, and it’s fivethirty in the morning. Lamar comes in, trips over somebody’s duffel bag, and falls right next to me. I’m not talking a little stumble; his big ass tumbles to the ground like a tree.”
My jaw dropped, and I glanced over at Lamar. Looking like he was trying not to laugh, he hung his head in dismay. Realizing Erickson was, in fact, not bullshitting, I held in my amusement. “Oh no!”
“I helped him up since he’s damn near on my shoe. Once we all knew he was good, everybody was laughing. I even saw the coaches laughing,” Erickson continued the story. “Lamar dusted himself off and laughed, too. Some of the older players started calling him ‘youngin’ because he was just learning how to walk, saying he was too clumsy for the team. Just dumb shit. And Lamar just smiled. He turned to me and thanked me for helping him up, and then he got dressed out for drills. I started feeling bad for my man because he was catching it for a straight thirty or forty-five minutes. We went outside, and, I swear on everything, Lamar lit their asses up! I mean, he was trucking them. They stopped talking shit immediately when he showed them how good he was. That ‘young clumsy’ shit stopped that same morning it started. And I ain’t never seen no shit like that before. Where we’re from”—he gestured between him and Tara—“you talk your shit. When you’re like that, you let it be knownyou’re like that. I had never met somebody so goodandso humble. I was like, ‘I need to stick beside him.’” He leaned over and dapped Lamar up. “We’ve been locked in ever since.”
The waiter came over and brought our food and refilled our drinks.
“We’re going to taste the wings first,” Lamar announced.
Each of us had one on our plate, and at the same time, we picked it up and took a bite.
Oh!!
“Mmm,” I intoned as the crispy, seasoned bite flooded my mouth with flavor. “Okay.” Nodding while I chewed, I gave my honest review. “It’s good. You’re right.”
“Let me hear that again?” Lamar joked, cupping his hand around his ear and leaning my way.
“These are low-key in the top five wings I’ve ever had,” Tara acknowledged, trying to daintily get all the meat off the bone.
Erickson shook his head. “I’m gonna be honest… I’m about to fuck these wings up.”
“I’m trying to keep it cute so I make a good impression on Jazmyn, but there’s something about this sauce.” Tara pointed to the wing with her fork. “I’m about to put this whole thing in my mouth.”
“Girl, please!” I exclaimed. “Do not let me stop you! You’ve already made a good impression on me, so handle that wing.”
