Page 33 of Crash: Love in Scrubs
We laughed together, as we joked about our names, “But yours is worse. Jonelle is cute.”
“Damn, it’s like that.”
“I’m sorry. I mean, that’s just part of being in a Black family. Right up there with being greased up before heading out the door. We do the most.”
She wasn’t lying. I had a flashback to a summer day in Alabama when that Vaseline almost cooked me alive.
“You ain’t lying. What you wanna know, LT?”
“I like LT. But you know I’ll be doing school, so I’ll only be volunteering at the firehouse. So, you gotta find a new nickname.”
“Girl, you’re still a lieutenant to me. That shit’s sexy as fuck, ain’t gonna lie.”
I looked over to see her blushing, looking down at her hands. “You’re something else. How did you grow up? I can tell your mama raised you right, but what else? Is work like your thing, or is it just something you do for money? Like Dr. Cain from The Resident.”
“What?” I laughed as she moved in between my legs and leaned back into my chest. I was shocked but also not tripping. I wanted her wherever she wanted to be.
“You don’t watch TV? What do you do for fun?”
“I work. But I watch sports. I don’t really do much. And I don’t really make friends easily, shocking, I know,” I joked, causing her to laugh. “But I ride the bike here and there. Hit the gym. You can tell me all about The Resident one day because I ain’t ever been big on TV. And I love what I do.”
“Yeah, we got a life sentence ahead of us, huh?”
“Exactly,” I said before my thoughts caught up to me. It was my turn to question her intentions. She gave in too easily for me. “Why you gassing me up though?”
“Malik, I like you, okay? And whatever happens, happens. I’m going to enjoy it and enjoy you. Next date is on me. Even if it’s just me cooking for you.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No. But back to the other question, I grew up on the cusp of struggle and middle class, but happy and blessed. I lived like other kids dealt with bullies, dealt with tryna go down the wrong path. Raised by a single mother in Alabama, who drove the school bus for fifteen years. My mom is my everything. She sacrificed everything for me, and I was blessed to return the favor.”
“How so?”
“She got into a car accident in my junior year of high school. I was a top football recruit, and it was then that I decided to give up my dreams to help my mother recover from a hip replacement and pelvic collapse. It was ugly. That’s how I came to this field, I studied and studied to help her do the work with fewer pain meds. I was seventeen.” I paused, feeling her settle deeper into me. “It’s how I know Samaj is gonna come around. Be patient with him. This was a wake-up call for both of y’all.”
She was quiet for a moment, processing what I’d told her. Then she turned in my arms to look at me.
“You gave up a football career for your mama?”
“Without hesitation. Playing wouldn’t have felt like love without her there. She was and still is my biggest cheerleader. If my mama couldn’t be there, then neither would I. Some things are more important than touchdowns.”
“And you don’t regret it?”
“How can I regret something that led me to you?” I twirled a curl around my finger before touching the tip of my nose. “Besides, I make more money now than most NFL players anyway. They come to me for physical therapy, and I see God’s hand in my life.”
She smiled, shaking her head. She was quiet again, and I could see her thinking, weighing my words against her fears.
“You scare me,” she whispered.
“Good. You ready to head out?”
“Good?”
“Yeah, good. You should be scared. This kind of love changes everything, and there’s no going back once you let me in. Ready?”
“Yeah, but can we take a long way? I want to ride on the bike a little longer.”
