Page 28 of Shooting his Shot

"Man, damn!" I bellowed as the other team scored a point.

I could see the stares my teammates were giving me, and they weren't happy at all. Hell, I wasn't happy with myself either. I wasn't playing anything like my norm.

By the end of the game, we had lost by twenty points. My coach even pulled me out of the game for a while. As I was trying to make my way to the locker room, reporters were trying to talk to me, but I had nothing to say.

"No comment."

They'd better be glad I said that and not punch them in their faces. They were going on and on about me not scoring a lot of points and how badly I played. Yeah, ESPN was going to have a field day with this one.

"Avani!"I banged on her door, waiting for her to let me in. She'd better do just that, or I'd be kicking the door down. "Let me in!"

The door was snatched open, and I was met with glaring eyes. It almost scared me, but I pushed forward. "Man, why the hell you left for?" I squinted my eyes at her.

"What was the point of staying around when you had the women there for you? You let them touch your face and rubbed on you and didn't do a damn thing about it!" she shouted.

I ran a hand down my face. "I didn't have time to do anything about it. My main concern was you. You left for no damn reason!" I shouted back.

We had lost the game, and the way my teammates looked at me in the locker room made me feel bad. I had let them and my coaches down. The way I played was lousy as hell. Every time I thought about it, I felt down. It was the worst I had ever played. Just thinking about it, I wanted to blow up on Avani. Shewas why my concentration wasn't on the game as it should have been.

"What was the point of sticking around? You had your groupies with you."

"I can't do this shit anymore, man. Every time I think we're going to be good, you always throw groupies up in my face as if I give a damn about them. You don't trust me, and I refuse to tell you I'm not doing anything again. What would be the point when later down the line, you'll be back to the same bullshit? Nah, I can't. No matter how I feel about you, you need to work on yourself. I won't let you bring me down any longer."

It was hard for me to say that, but I had to get it off my chest. I no longer see the point of being in a relationship with Avani. It was only going to bring me down. I couldn't lose another game again. As much as it pained me to break up with her, it was something I had to do.

She pressed her lips together. "Hmm, so that's it? You're breaking up with me?" Her voice cracked. "Wow, of course you would. You're just lik?—"

"Don't you fucking say it!" I yelled. "I tried being with you, tried loving you, but you're too fucking blind to see what the hell is in front of you. I'm nothing like your mother. I didn't abandon you. You don't trust me. Why the hell should I stay where I know shit won't be good? Nah, man. You did this, not me. You're the reason I'm walking away. Until you get over your past, we will never work, man. I'm done." With that, I walked away.

"No, please don't leave me," she cried. "Please, Akari!"

I paused and dropped my head to my chest. "I can't stay, Avani. We aren't working out. I'm sorry, but I can't do this no more."

"Kari! Kari!" She yelled my name, but I kept walking out of her house and her life. It was the right thing to do. I had to do it.If not, I'd end up hating her, and I didn't want to do that. I knew in my heart it was for the best.

I wonderedwhen the tears would stop. It seemed to be going on forever. Akari broke up with me and hasn't yet returned. I had never felt as alone as I did right now. I had been crying every day since he left my house and me without a backward glance. Two weeks had passed, and no matter how many times I called or texted him, he hadn't responded to me. I hadn't expected him to walk away from me the way that he did.

It felt like forever since I saw Akari smile at me. The only way I'd see it is if I went through the pictures of him on my phone. Even that was painful to do since I missed him so badly.

I knew I needed to pull myself out of bed, but I didn't want to. Since I was done cleaning out my childhood home, I didn't have to worry about that too much anymore. Now, the thoughtof bulldozing it and starting over or just renovating it was heavy on my mind. I said I wanted to renovate it and add to it, but I knew it was best to start completely over. I needed to hurry and make up my mind about it.

One thing I was happy about was it being the weekend. I wouldn't have to worry about a thing. I could stay in bed and cry all I wanted. I knew if I were with Akari, we'd be out doing something somewhere. He always took me places I'd never been before. He took me to Atlanta one weekend, and we had a blast. We went to an arcade and won so many tickets that he was able to get me anything I wanted from the award shop at the arcade. Then we went to a club, man, what a time we had. We were so hot for each other that we ended up having sex in the back seat of his car as his driver drove. I had never been more embarrassed than when I got out of the car that night.

More tears gathered in my eyes, but I wiped them away, not wanting to cry anymore. It was over and done with. I just had to find a way to move on from him. I knew it was for the best.

My eyes fluttered open at the sound of my cell phone ringing. If it wasn't Akari, I didn't want to talk to anyone. My thing was, why couldn't he see how I felt? Those groupies were touching him and had been the ones who said they would trap him with a baby. I was never the type of person to be violent, but I wanted to beat the hell out of those women. They were touching and rubbing on Akari as if they had that right. Nah, I had a feeling I was going to have to put them in their place one of these days if Akari and I got back together. From the way things were looking now, I doubt it.

My cell phone rang again, causing me to groan. I rolled over to retrieve it from the nightstand and leered at the screen. It was Laisley.

"Hello?" I answered, wondering what she wanted.

"Hmm, I haven't heard from you in a while, and I'm calling to check up. How are you?" she asked in a concerned voice.

I hadn't told her anything about Akari and me, so why the concern?

"Umm, I'm okay. Tired. I'll be spending the day in bed." As much as I wanted to add licking my wounds, I decided not to.

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

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