Page 9 of Saved By the Game

“You don’t know my name. Twenty thousand dollars isn’t anything to me. I play for the Bucks in the NBA. I make that amount of money per game. I’ll have the money in your canteen tomorrow.”

“Yeah, okay. We’ll see. So, make it twenty thousand dollars now. Which means you will have to send ten thousand twice, since the limit is ten thousand a transaction. He gritted his teeth. Oh, and you used to play for the NBA.” Bourbon sarcastically responded. “You’ll never play for another team again. I know all about you because I’ve watched your games on TV during recreation time. You’ve been traded to several teams. You’re finished now. Your basketball career is over, young blood.” Bourbon chuckled.

The guards called them out their cells for breakfast. The food wasn’t appealing to his eyes, so he refused to eat it. “Is this the only choices we have for meals in here? All they’re feeding us is a boiled egg, bologna, and a biscuit.” Brian complained to Bourbon with a frown on his face.

“Until you get someone to put money in your canteen, you’re stuck with the regular food. We should get a chance to use the phones after breakfast. Make a call to your people for the money. It should be easy for you to have all your needs met in here. Aren’t you a big time NBA player?” Bourbon chuckled.

After breakfast was over, the inmates all ran to the phones. Many were pushing and shoving to get first dibs on a phone. Bourbon smiled at the look of disappointment on Brian’s face. “Come on young blood, I got you.” Bourbon went directly to the first phone. The other prisoners must’ve known not to use it because no one was using it. “This is my special phone. I’ve chin checked a few inmates behind my phone time. Ever since it was a big brawl behind these phones, no one has interfered with myphone time. “You go ahead and make your phone call. I believe your call is more important than mine right now.” Bourbon said with a wink.

Brian thought about which one of his ladies he should call. It was out of the question to call Bella to help him. He knew she wouldn’t accept his call. His next best thing would do anything to move her spot to his main chick. That was Hazel Ryan. He ran to her whenever he and Bella were on bad terms. He dialed her number, and she picked up the phone as soon as the call was pushed through.

“Brian why are you calling me from jail? I hope you know you’re paying for this call too!” Hazel fussed.

“Hazel, can you listen to me. I don’t have much time on this phone. I need you to go to my mama’s house. Tell her to give you twenty-two thousand, four hundred and four dollars and seventy cents out of my stash. Then I need you to go and add the money to my cellmate’s canteen at the La Santés Prison. The unique identification number is JZ7543. I also need you to call my lawyer to get me out of jail. Once I find out the judicial control then my mama will give you that money. Can you do that for me?”

“I guess, Brian, baby. You know I would do anything for you. Hopefully, your time in jail will help you see I’m the only woman for you.” Hazel smacked her lips after she explained herself.

“I appreciate you. I got to go but do that for me now. Get in your car and head to my mama house as soon as you hang up the phone.”

“I got you, Brian, baby.” Hazel replied but he’d already hung up the phone. Hazel grabbed her pink Louis VuittonNeverfull bag. She needed her biggest bag to carry the cash inside. She jumped inside her pink, custom made Jeep and headed to the north side of Dallas to Mama Porter’s house.

Brian thought about Hazel. She was a thick, curvy, chocolate skinned woman with a beautiful face. She was a dancer Brian met at a strip club. He paid her to become his personal private dancer. So, she’d been dancing for him since they met, when she was only twenty. Hazel had hinted to him before that she wanted to marry him. She was only twenty-two and he used her gullible nature to have his way with her. He’d told Hazel about his relationship with Bella, but it only made her compete for his love more. He called Hazel to get him out of trouble to avoid hearing Bella’s nagging. Mama Porter knew Hazel well because she would always go to her house to get money. Brian only trusted his mother with his money. He didn’t even want his money in a bank account because he didn’t trust corporations. Mama Porter taught him not to share joint accounts with any woman. She kept a safe at her home for him and that’s where she kept his savings.

“There, I have the plan in motion.” Brian gave Bourbon a nod. Bourbon called his hit man to give him a word. One word was all he needed to hear over the phone. The code word washit. They couldn’t talk too much over the phone because the calls were all monitored. On the next visitation day Bourbon would give more details to the hit man about the job. After that ten thousand Euros was put into his canteen account. Brian forgot to tell Hazel to give him a little more money for food. He didn’t mind being hungry because he was hoping to be released soon. The guards were walking around looking at the inmates with a mean mug. They then gathered everyone into a straight line and escorted them back to their cells.

5

Vanessa Porter (Brian’s Mama)

Vanessa was in the front yard of her mansion planting flowers. She planted a bed of sunflowers and roses in her flower beds. Half of the front yard was already done, and it looked nice. Her son, Brian, gifted her the mansion after being drafted into the NBA. It was the least he could do for his mother who often raised him on her own. It was often just her and her three sons’ home while their father was in and out of jail. Raising three boys wasn’t easy for Vanessa. She raised her children on a vocational nurse’s salary. She would often have to work double shifts to keep the bills paid. She knew how to live on almost nothing and with everything. When Vanessa and her husband weren’t home the boys went bad. They ran wild doing what unattended children did. Most of the times Brian’s older brothers would be out stealing or fighting other kids. Brian on the other hand was too busy on the court playing basketball in his free time. He could be found on the court at the neighborhood park out scoring everyone. Coach Brad Hicks picked him up daily for basketball training, mentoring, and games to help his mother out.Once Brian went to college, Coach Hicks died from cancer. Brian built a recreation center in his honor and named it the Brad Hicks Recreational Center. Vanessa spends some of her free time there with the children. She also hosts a live podcastshow in the center for mothers of sports athletes. She interviews other mothers of current and upcoming athletes. The guests provide advice to other mothers. Other guests on the show include coaches, sports agents, and recruiters.

Vanessa stopped gardening to see Hazel pull up in the driveway with her music blaring and the bass banging. She sighed when Hazel hopped out of her Jeep, tossing her long knotless braids that cascaded down past her waist. It was hot outside, so Hazel wore a spandex bodysuit that showed every curve on her body.

Mama Porter shook her head in embarrassment as Hazel walked towards her house. Vanessa was a sophisticated, classy, educated woman devoted to her family. She did what was needed to keep her family’s lives in order. Brian gave her enough money to retire from nursing since he’d been playing in the NBA. She made a number of investments during her retirement that would ensure she lived comfortably.

“Hi, Mama Porter.” Hazel greeted Vanessa while giving her a hug. “Your flower garden is looking good. I hope you can do mine once I have my own home. Anyway, I’m here because your son sent me over here for money. I don’t know if he’s told you, but he’s in jail in Paris.”

Mama Porter darted her eyes toward Hazel and gasped. “Lord, what did my baby do this time?” She kneeled in prayer, “Jesus, help my son.”

“Come on Mama Porter, let’s go inside the house. Hazel took Vanessa’s hand and led her inside the home to sit down. “Calm down. Everything will be alright. I’ll call his lawyer and get him out. In the meantime, he asked that I get twenty two thousand, four hundred and four dollars and seventy cents twenty thousand dollars from you to put on his canteen.”

“My Lord twenty thousand Euros is a lot of money! I’ll go ahead and give it to you sweetie. I pray you’re going to do what he asked for with his money. I can’t do anything but trust God to handle this situation. Hopefully, my baby will call me soon and let me know what’s going on with him. I haven’t heard one word from him in jail. Stay right here and wait while I get the money.”

“Okay, Mama Porter. If it makes you feel better, he was just booked into jail last night. I’m waiting for his charges to appear in the system. It probably has something to do with Bella. She’s been trying to get him locked up since she found him cheating with me.”Mama Porter watched Hazel look around her mansion.She had just finished decorating the house with white, black, and gold throughout. She had just placed a new art piece on the wall painted by famous artists Picasso. She wanted her house to look like a museum. She wanted the family pictures, trophies, and degrees to showcase her family’s personal triumphs.

Vanessa stopped walking and looked back at Hazel. “Paris jail?” She replied in shock while shaking her head. “Lord, what am I going to do about Brian? When will he leave that girl alone? I told him that she was tired of him hitting her. I’m sure Bella’s the cause of the charges. I asked him to let her go. Now he’s in some more trouble. Sit there for me baby, I’ll be right back.”

Mama Porter stepped inside her room and locked the door. She then stepped into her closet and opened Brian’s safe with its special code. It was filled with thousands of dollars. She put money into the electronic money counter machine inside her closet, until she had the exact twenty-two thousand, four hundred and four dollars and seventy cents. She let out a deep sigh of relief. Vanessa would do anything for her children, but Brian caused the most problems out of all three of her children.He’d become just like his dad and the money made him worse. After all the money was accounted for, she put rubber bands around each stack and put it in a big manila envelope. Then she got on her knees and prayed to God. “Father God, we need you again. My son Brian is in a situation. He’s been put behind the prison door, but I believe that you can open those prison doors for him. Change him oh God and make him over to become more like you. I ask that you heal his heart and take away everything that is not like you God. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.” Vanessa wiped the tears from her eyes. She gave her worries away to God and believed he would take care of the rest.

“Here is the handout you asked for Hazel. I mean the money my son asked you to get for him.” Vanessa made an exaggerated eye roll. She thought Hazel was a gold digger and she didn’t trust her. But she was there when Brian needed her, so she gave her the money. I prayed about this, and I hope everything works out. “Please tell him to call me the next time you speak to him.”

“Okay, I will Mama Porter. Hazel reached out to take the brown envelope of cash and gave Vanessa a hug. Taking care of Brian’s needs made Hazel feel like she was his wife. She didn’t care that she wasn’t the one he really wanted. The one he really wanted was Bella. Instead, Hazel was an accessory helping to pay for a hit on Adonis. She didn’t even know Brian had her helping him with hiring a hit man.

Typically, most NBA players had their attorney to take care of legal matters, but Brian trusted her to handle it. Hazel was used to paying for Brian’s petty speeding tickets. Vanessa peeped out the living room window to watch Hazel. She was sitting in the car on her phone. Her hope was that Hazel was finding out information on Brian’s charges. Vanessa took theopportunity to do her own research. She searched the internet about how to wire money to a Paris jail. A quick internet search pulled the results indicating the prison has online platforms to deposit and receive money. Vanessa decided to tell Hazel the information before she drove out of the driveway. She ran to Hazel’s car. “I want to tell you the information I just found out about the Paris jail system. You will need to contact the prison’s registrar of personal accounts to obtain the jail’s bank details. Then you’ll fill out a transfer order and specify the inmate’s name, surname, and prison number. You’ll also have the option to deposit funds using their online platform. Please call the Paris jail for the information.”

“Thank you, Mama Porter. The information you gave me helps. I’ll call the jail and the lawyer now.”

“Good, I’ll wait while you make those calls.” Vanessa replied while she stood by the door waiting. It took some time, but Hazel was able to speak with the prison’s registrar.

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