“Nothing, man. Sit down. We’re hungry. You’re late.”
“Where you been?” Devon asks.
“Trolling the streets? Trying to keep the boys off of that pretty sister of yours?” Jalen adds.
I glare at him.
He’s young, but he’s not young enough to be talking about my sister. “Don’t start that shit,” I tell him through my teeth. “Not even a little bit. It’s not funny.”
The rest of the guys at the table nod in agreement.
“My bad, my bad. I didn’t mean it like that. I just know what a pretty girl does to teenage boys. I’m a grown ass man. I don’t want her. That’s your sister, man. I wouldn’t do that shit.”
“You better not. Don’t even talk about her again. Don’t even think about her again,” I tell him.
“Aw, hell,” Tank repeats.
CJ sits back and watches me, then nods.
“You lose some money, my guy? Bad investment? Your parents again?”
I let out a breath and just stare at him.
“You got another sister or brother somewhere out there? Your dad building a whole other team?” Devon asks.
I’m about to slap him.
“This is about a woman,” Tank says, all-knowing.
A collective “oh” rings out among my friends.
I shouldn’t have come here. Not today.
I haven’t eaten anything today, and this place has the best steak. We’re just going to have to ride it out.
“Is it somebody new?” Devon asks, taking a drink from his beer.
“Now you know you ain’t seen this nigga with no one,” Jalen says. “He’s been quiet, quiet, quiet. I don’t even really think he’s been smashing anybody.”
“Why you worried about what I got going on?” I shoot back.
He throws his hands up. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, Mr. Sensitive. Calm down. You the one coming in here looking like a sad little baby, like you lost your pacifier, like your mama popped your hand. Don’t get on me like that.”
“Just drop it. Let me be.”
CJ adds, “No, we’re gonna get to the bottom of this. You’re not gonna come in here and bring down the group. We are on summer break. Off-season is about to hit hard and hit good, and you need to be in the right mindset. I can’t have you all wound up off-season so you start preseason messed up in the head. What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” I say. “Are we going to eat? I’m really hungry. I haven’t eaten all day.”
“Strike one,” Devon says.
Jalen nods. “Because we know this man eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner twice. You ain’t ate all day? Nah, man.”
“So what’s her name?” Devon asks. “Who is it?”
I scrub my hand down my face and scratch at my beard. I don’t want to do this right now. I look down at my menu.
CJ, sitting to my left, leans in, looking at it with me.
