Page 57 of Off the Charts
I smiled wide hearing the sincerity in his tone. I appreciated that he valued the relationship I had with my son enough to build one of his own. All I could think about was that one day,they’ll both be under the same household, growing together. Peace had to exist and that’s what the three of us wanted.
“Well, since I only get the surface level details, I’m glad you two had fun. And yes, he is sweet. It sounds biased coming from me, but he’s the best version of me. I prayed over my stomach so much and God gave me more than I could’ve asked of Him.”
I looked over at Zy who was shooting free throws effortlessly. I prayed that by his sixth-grade year his condition could be controlled enough for him to join the SPA team. He was the farthest thing from a scrub, and I could easily see him going to the league if he stayed consistent. I guess he felt me looking at him because he glanced over his shoulder and placed a hand over his heart before giving me a thumbs up. That was his way of sayingMama I am good, don't ask me how I feel. I chuckled, returning the kiss he’d just blown me. Zion looked at Vayce and flexed his muscle, making them both laugh. I didn’t get it, but I assumed it was an inside joke, then he saluted Vayce, who returned it.
“Thank you for stepping in this morning. It helped so much.”
Vayce looked over at me, frowning a bit. “Zion’s part of you, so he’s part of me,” he repeated as he did at the cabin. “In whatever capacity y’all need me, I’ma show up.”
He was growing his hair out, so his little fade was in small curls. His freshly lined beard made my clit jump. Vayce was beautiful and it was clear that good genes ran in their family because so was Valen.
“I wanna put a baby in you,” I blurted.
Vayce choked on his drink. “Yo, J what the fuck is wrong with you?”
“So you wouldn’t carry my baby?” I looked at him in disbelief while he laughed his ass off. “You better be glad niggas can’t get pregnant. We’d have a slew of stair steppers. With yo’ fine ass.Six weeks who? Boy lay yo’ ass down and pull them Hanes to the side.”
“That’s yo’ last drink,” he laughed, shaking his head. While I had his attention, his eyes continuously scanned the crowd of people like he was waiting for something to be out of place. “But since you can’t, let’s change the roles and let me put one in you.”
My left brow raised, and I did a little dance in the seat. “You know sum? I never got fucked under the bleachers when I was in school ‘cause I call myself being modest, but you my man now, so what’s up? You tryna slide or what?”
He looked over his shoulder to the bleachers and back to me with a devious grin. From the darkness that flickered in his eyes, I knew he was considering it. I winked, making him laugh.
Vayce wrapped an arm around my neck and kissed all over my face making me giggle. I don’t know if I’d ever get tired of being in his embrace or his presence. Yes, he was my man, but there was a different connection you shared with a person when you were able to let your hair down and be yourself. I didn’t have to question being judged, overlooked, or feel like a fucking burden. Vayce was my favorite…everything.
The buzzer went off and I hopped to my feet to cheer the kids on. Devon was doing an amazing job refereeing. Valen was keeping score, while Jade was working the stop clock.
As Vayce said, Etta’s son was sorry. Out of the five free throws, he made one. I cut my eyes at Etta, watching her and her husband record and cheer. I looked back at Vayce, and he laughed. “You hell, baby.”
Zion made four out of five of his shots so he and two of his other friends advanced to the final round. The other two deserved to be eliminated.
“Let’s go baby! You got this.” I yelled and ran over to the DJ to request Zion’s theme song.
On the way back to that side of the court, the beat dropped and Zy scanned the room in search of me. I met him halfway on the court and circled him a few times. I played this when he was around two and he did the cutest dance to it and still loved the song till this day. Zion put his ball down and started going in. He didn’t have a lick of rhythm and that made it even funnier. Everybody crowded around hyping and recording us.
“Here we go now, here we go now, here we go now!” The DJ added on making everybody else dance too.
“Let me clear my throat!” I had one hand in the air doing a family friendly body roll that had me dropping to the floor. “Hammercy babe. I hope you don’t mind.” We danced through the song. When I sat back on the bleachers, Vayce handed me a water bottle, and I downed it as the last round began. The rules changed, it was three buckets instead of five from the score markers.
The first boy hit one. I did a little dance. The second boy made the first two shots. I put one hand over my mouth as he dribbled the ball. Everybody was shouting different things, includingyou got this, miss it,andI see you. The little boy shot the ball, and it bounced off the rim then hit the ground. I damn near leaped off the ground.
“Give it up for Zionnn!” The DJ yelled. Everybody cheered while he gave a shy smile. He was locked in and all he had to do was bring it home.
The first shot went in easily. The second, he moved back, shot, and the shit was smooth as butter.
“That’s my baby!” I clapped my hands.
“Yeah, Zy!” Vayce yelled along with the rest of the family.
“You got it, Granny baby!” Mama cheered.
Zy dribbled and shot and it was all net.
“Yess! On yo dawg ass!” I slapped hands with Vayce. “Yeahhhh!”
“And the birthday boy is the winner!”
Vayce ran on the court and threw Zy on his shoulders, spinning him around a few times. Everyone cheered for him, even his friends that lost. They weren’t sore losers, but I was. Real tournament or not, we got the dub.
