“You’re just mad that whoever you’ve been texting day and night since the summer can’t be here tonight.” I pulled my jersey over my head.
“If that’s what youwantto think.” Poppy’s eyes flashed at me before moving to Bee’s side of the room and back.
“What does—” I started but was quickly distracted.
“Gia, if you’re going to hurl, do it now andnotduring the game. You don’t want that moment cemented on the internet forever.” Courtney shouted from across the room.
“Aww, poor rookie. Don’t worry, it’s just your first finals jitters.” Farrah chirped
“I thought it would go away after semis.” Gia jumped up and down to shake her body out.
“It never goes away.” Bee tugged off her headphones and put her jersey on, careful not to mess with the braids that lined the front half of her hair while the rest of it sat in her signature top bun.
“Listen y’all. We’ve had a killer season,” Farrah started her captain speech, reminding us to get in the zone. “The Violets and the Jaguars have been our biggest competitors this season and we’ve already knocked one out of the way.”
“Hell yeah!” Poppy hyped her up.
“Let’s lock in, let’s get this dub and then do it all again in our city. Onourcourt. Let’s remind them why no one wants to play in Miami.”
“Home court advantage won’t work for them tonight!” Bee shouted, adding to the growing yells of the room.
It took me a while to get here, to feel comfortable in this new place, so far from what I thought I wanted. I never believed that everything happened for a reason, but this year had shown me the opposite of that. Well, including a little intervention from my aunts and a walnut.
The team stood in the center of the locker room, right hands in, ready to head out into the Hunt Arena. But not before I felt a hand slip into my left one. My girlfriend stood eye-to-eye with me, a massive smile on her face that shone like the moon. This moment, this small intimate gesture would be the last one before we were out on the court and focused on everythingbutus.
And yet there was no other way I would rather play. With my equal by my side, my own home court advantage.
EPILOGUE
Bee
Four Years Later
Tokyo
“I’m failing to see the point of this.” Nola mumbled while she held a spotted pig that wouldn’t stop burrowing into her arms.
I didn’t know what was cuter, watching my wifetryto enjoy something she knew I loved, or watching a tiny little animal make a home in her arms.
This pig cafe had long been on my Tokyo itinerary and it was absolute kismet that I finally made the national team roster for the Summer Olympics taking place in Japan. A piece of me had long thought I wouldn’t get here after what felt like getting my hopes up every time I got called up or played in qualifiers. I knew every time I put on a USA jersey was yet another audition for making it to the world’s stage, but it was never guaranteed. But I was a dreamer, and no matter how scared a goal or a thought was, it was inevitable for me. It was destiny for me to get my hopes up and just pray that it all worked out.
But it was different to finally get that call.
And next to my wife and our families on my birthday, no less.
Every Lee and Young/Williams had made the trek to Japan to watch Nola and I play on the three versus three team. Back toour roots, back to the beginning. Olivia had taken the call to be an assistant coach on the larger team, while I got to thrive under the guidance of my college coach.
“You’re doing so well, Nono,” I teased. “He might think you’re his new mom.” I giggled as a black pig accepted my belly rubs.
I watched Nola raise the sleepy pig up as she said, “You know they call you pernil back where we live right?”
“How dare you!” I gasped and covered the ears of my own little pig.
“I guess this is a nice feeling.” Nola’s cheeks stretched with a smile I still couldn’t get over; she’d never admit it, but I knew she was eating this shit up. Her eyes twinkled, her shoulders were relaxed, and if I had a dollar for every time I caught her trying to suppress a giggle, I’d have a fifty dollar bill.
Five years together, and everyday still managed to feel like the first few months of our relationship. That wasn’t to say we didn’t bicker, that my constant yapping didn’t require her to actively ask for silent couple time. Or that I didn’t want to scream every time Nola swallowed her words instead of speaking her mind. But then I’d bat my lashes or Nola would smirk for me, and we both folded easily for the other. Our lives orbited around each other, and yet some days it still felt like we’d gone weeks without seeing the other.
With five years of playing with each other, we had long grown into speaking each other’s languages. The magic we made on the court together, translated well off the court too. Our eyes were able to translate and communicate what the other was thinking. Our bodies seemed to move without us telling them where to go. Five years and it still felt new, fiery, energetic. It was why we now had a total of three championship rings.
