Page 3 of Shooting his Shot

"What's going on?" our mother asked.

While Aisha filled her in on what was going on, I took a minute to look at my family. All we had was each other in this world. I guess that's why my parents kept us as a family. Neitherof them was in a relationship with anyone. If they were going to continue seeing each other, they might as well get back together.

Growing up, my parents were happy — well, I thought they were. We always did things as a family, and my parents made sure my siblings and I had the best childhood. We had never gone without or lacked for anything. They showed up and showed out for all of us. They had never argued around my siblings and me. I was in college when my parents told my siblings and me they were getting a divorce. That crushed us. The reason was that my mother accused my father of cheating on her. Come to find out, my father had never stepped out of their marriage and was always faithful to my mother. He didn't want to hear it when she tried apologizing to him. Ten years later, they were still friends and were in each other's lives as if they never left, although my father stayed in a condo on the other side of town.

Over the years, the family house was renovated, and rooms were added. My parents didn't have to work if they didn't want to. I took care of them all and was glad to do it.

Aisha turned her attention to me and smiled. "Baby brother, how are you?"

I rolled my eyes, not at all happy that she was calling me that. Since she was the oldest sibling, she called Antonio and me baby brother.

"I'm good. I'm about to go home once I fix myself something to eat. How are you?"

She rolled her eyes. "I am going through it, but I will be okay. Men," she growled with a pout on her lips.

I nodded, knowing not to ask anything further. Whenever my sister was going through something in her marriage, we stayed out of it. She and her husband stayed going back and forth with each other. For them to be separated, they communicated witheach other but still fussed and fought. That was something I didn't understand. I stayed out of her business.

"Will y'all be at the game tonight? Do I need to send a car to get y'all?" I asked my parents.

They shook their heads.

"We will be coming together," my father answered.

Antonio, Aisha, and I exchanged looks with a grin on our faces. That was all I needed to know.

"Word. I'll see you all there then. Take care." I got up and went to the kitchen to fix my plate before I left the house.

It was game night,and I was pumped. I was ready to win this one. When it came to basketball, I was a beast. It was a game I knew how to play since the age of five years old. I have been playing it for twenty-five years. Many people asked me when I would retire, but I didn't have an answer. I was going to go for as long as I could. The game was inside of me.

I was one of the greatest around. My position on the court was a shooting guard. I was a beast when it came to shooting threes. I had many titles, man. The love of basketball kept me going. Being an all-star player in the league with a high IQ, many people envied me, too. It didn't matter to me since I was playing for myself and nobody else. I played because I enjoyed the game, win or lose. But of course, I loved to win. I had five rings and was working on my sixth one. People called me a bully on the court. I laughed since it was me. I was known for talking shit. It got the job done, too.

I went to college for a year before getting drafted to the Skyeville Rayvins, one of the best teams around. This was my home team, and I refused to leave it.

I stretched and shot around before the game began. I tuned out everything that was going on around me and started praying in my head. It helped keep me sane on the court. I was a strong believer in God and had a lot of faith in everything I did, no matter what it was.

When the game started, everything was going well. I was one of the starters, along with Kennis. It felt good to have my best friend on the court with me. Some of the players on the other team were already talking junk. They were about to find out I was like that. When I got in my mood, it was going to be over for their asses. They kept nitpicking with me. I didn't start my trash talk until I was fired up. They were going to push me, and I was going to set it off. That was how I was.

It was the fourth quarter,and the game had gotten intense. They had to pull Kennis off the court because his hotheaded ass was about to go toe-to-toe with one of the other players.

After a play was set up, one of the players from the other team tried guarding me. It was their ball, which was all good. They wouldn't keep it for too long, though.

"Nah, man. Don't do it to yourself. When I say you were the weakest link, I meant that shit chump."

I almost laughed at myself. He was mad as hell from the way he was glowering at me. As long as he didn't put his hands on me, we were straight. "Don't piss yourself. Ahhh!" I jumped at him, causing him to flinch.

His teammate was passing him the ball, but I caught it and took off. The crowd went crazy when I shot the three-pointer. I looked over my shoulder at the player and laughed at theshocked expression on his face. That was how I got my points. I talked trash, caught their asses off guard, and put in the work.

The crowd went crazy when I shot the ball from half-court just when the buzzer went off. I threw my arms in the air and thanked God. I had once again done it again. My teammates came up and cheered us on. It was one of the best feelings in the world to win a game. I couldn't wait to get home to crash out for at least two days. I needed it and deserved it.

A scream escapedmy mouth as I jerked awake, trying to get control of my breathing. Not this again. I groaned and fell back onto my pillow. I had been having the same dream for the past twenty years. I was ready to stop thinking about that woman. It was over and done with. Why the hell was she still on my mind? It was bad enough that I hadn't laid eyes on her since I was eighteen years old. Now, at the age of thirty, I hated her more than I did before.

My cell phone rang, causing me to growl. All I wanted to do was go back to sleep, but that was impossible now. I reached for the phone on my nightstand and eyed the number. It was one I had never seen before. However, since it was a Skyeville number, it might be someone important.

"Hello? Avani is speaking." I sat up, rubbing sleep from my eyes.

"Hello, Miss Burton." They told me who they were, causing me to frown. "I am calling to inform you that your mother passed away in her sleep."

I closed my eyes and swallowed the lump that grew in my throat. I felt tears well up in my eyes, even with my eyes closed. What the hell was I to do with that information?

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