I listened to the joy and excitement in his voice as he told me about the segment. They choose different teams and different positions to spotlight, and while it was through random selection, they tended to pick standouts.
“I’m so proud of you,” I told him dreamily.
“You know those messages you send me before the games are the reason I’m in the right headspace to do what I do on the field,” he admitted.
I shook my head. “No, it’s you.” I poked him. “You, your talent, your abilities, your intelligence, your hard work.Youare the reason you got here. I’m just thankful to be able to witness you achieve this.”
After breakfast, he went to practice, and I drove home. Hours later, my phone dinged. I thought it was going to be Lamar letting me know he was on his way to my place; instead it was a link to the social media page of TJ Smith. With my brows furrowed, I pressedPLAYand waited.
“Ay yo, Hollywood,” TJ Smith called out from behind the camera.
In the video posted on TJ’s social media page while at practice on Monday, I watched Lamar get closer and into focus as he finished his last rep. His sweat-slicked body highlighted the muscles that defined his arms and his broad shoulders. The sleeveless T-shirt he was wearing clung to his firm chest and soft belly as he finished his last rep. His muscular arms tensed just before he dropped the weight.
“We’re doing this now?” Lamar asked incredulously.
“You agreed to answer some questions for me, man.”
Lamar shook his head, wiping his face with the towel he grabbed from his pile of stuff near the weight bench. “What’s up?”
“There’s this rumor going around about you and this chick named Milan. What’s up with that?”
He shook his head. “I have no idea where that even came from. Milan is a woman I dated in the past, and that’s it. My boy just showed me some of the talk happening on this app here. So I want to clear some stuff up—Milan and I are not together. We’re not going to be together. We’re not rekindling anything. There’s no bad blood between us. To keep it a buck, there’s nothing between us. I wish her nothing but the best though.”
“And the woman with the social media page who says she’s Hollywood’s girl, who is that?”
“I don’t know who that is,” Lamar answered. “I know who it’s not—my girl.”
TJ burst out laughing. “Yoooo.”
TJ Smith was the Monarchs’ superstar wide receiver with millions of followers and lots of reach. It made sense for Lamar to make that announcement on TJ’s account in order to get the word out as quickly as possible. With a satisfied smile, I slipped my phone into my pocket and felt confident that there was nothing else for people to run with.
33
Once the focus of conversation shifts from who he’s dating to how he’s doing on the field, all will be well, I assured myself on Tuesday as the school day started winding down.
“Ms. Payne,” Gianna called right after lunch.
I looked up from my laptop to find her and Drea rushing to my desk.
“Yes?” I addressed them, looking back and forth. “Is everything okay?”
“Hollywood said you were his girlfriend.”
“Your tea has been clocked, Ms. P!” Gianna cosigned.
I froze. “What?”
Gianna giggled. “There was a clip of Hollywood saying his dream girl was someone who quotes Malcolm X, and then he said, ‘Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.’ And Drea”—she flung her arm to the right and pointed to the poster on the wall—“what does that say?”
Drea tapped her chin. “It says ‘Education is the passport—’”
“Do you know how famous that Malcolm X quote is?” I asked, interrupting the perceptive young ladies.
“You must not have seen the clip,” Drea teased.
The warning bell went off, and I pointed to the intercom. “You two need to get to class because I’m not writing you a pass.”
Giggling, they rushed out of the room.
