Page 14 of In the Safety's Zone
My curiosity was high since normally I wasn’t involved on this end of things. I was told where and how to stand and I went through the pre-selected motions.
“What do you need help with?”
Rachel tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she glanced around. “The photo we wanted means we need you to select a “younger” athlete that is here. One of the guys. We had you guys pose by yourselves so we could superimpose you all into a picture as a passing of the torch from one generation to the next. But this article will be strictly focused on you.”
“Which person has been selected for this photo?” My mind went straight tohim, but I knew it was probably going to be someone hand-selected for their palatability to the masses. Meaning a white guy.
Lord, the last thing I want is for them to think that I’m going after one of them. Once is a choice but twice is a pattern…
“It’s up to you.” Rachel was smiling like she knew where my mind had gone and I shifted again.
“Up to me?”
“Yeah, we don’t want you to shoot with someone that you’re not comfortable with. That wouldn’t look good and even though you’ve done this before you’re not a professional model. We wouldn’t want you to be in a compromising position. The assumption is you might know someone here or if you can at least find someone that you can get along with for a time.”
I glanced around with furrowed brows and a nervous smile on my face. “I don’t know any of these people.”
“Well, take a few seconds and get to know them or watch their pictures. That will tell you everything you need to know.” She shrugged it off but I could tell it wasn’t because she didn’t care. She had a job to do and I knew she needed me to figure it out. I’d agreed so there was nothing I could do but figure it out.
I nodded but stood still even as Lilly walked away to get things set up but I wasn’t sure about any of these folks. There was a boxer and his father who’d been in the NFL, several father-son and, mother and son, and father-daughter NBA duos. Hell, there was one whole family that was filled with athletes, including Olympians and Hall of Fame inductees in their respective sports. Several other young track stars, a pair of cousins that were in gymnastics were there and I wasn’t convinced that I was going to pick someone without offending someone else.
And then I saw him again.
The man from before as he stood and watched his brother get filmed. I don’t know what struck me about him first. I mean, yeah he was fine as fuck, especially with how they had him all oiled up for whatever their photo theme was and it had every muscle on his body glistening.
But the thing I truly noticed was the look of pride on his face as he watched his brother. When I was in pictures with my dad he was always trying to stand in front of me or make sure he was the center of attention. Even the playful game of tennis they hadus playing with the golden rackets and couture outfits turned competitive when he tried to aggressively serve the ball at me with a bunch of people around. I’d laughed it off but there wasn’t anything funny about it.
When I was in pictures by myself I could see that he was pissed at the attention I got and stood to one side frowning. But not this man. He was shouting out words of encouragement and teasing his brother from the sidelines all while wearing a look of pride on his face. This man seemed to cheer for his brother even when it wasn’t about him. And I was intrigued. It bothered me that the man was half naked and plenty of women couldn’t help staring at both of them. Not like I had a reason to feel possessive but it was there.
Damn, is my libido waking up from such a long slumber?
I saw Rachel heading toward me and I needed to know who he was before I decided on him. “Rachel, can you tell me who that is?”
“Antwan Phillips? He’s the star wide receiver for theDesperados. Girl, I understand that he’s fine but leave that one alone. I heard his wife is crazy as hell.” She was looking at me like I was my father’s daughter and I had to reset her opinion of me because nothing could be further from the truth.
“No, not him, the one on stage with him.”
They’d switched up the positions again and now both brothers were playing around and joking with one another as the cameras kept flashing. They were in reimagined football pants that made them look like warriors. The material was kente fabric, with their thighs encased in pads and their upper bodies bared. Someone was tossing a ball and having them go after it and I could tell they played opposite positions on the field.
Her face lit up and had a look of relief. I knew she was glad I wasn’t a weirdo like my dad. “Oh, that’s his little brother Anthony. He is really good even though he is just on the practicesquad but he would’ve been a top draft pick if he hadn’t messed it up.”
“Messed it up how?”
I’d seen the NFL draft overlook plenty of transgressions as long as they felt like a player could produce. From sexual assault to battery, to many other criminal offenses, they were all swept under the rug as long as it meant their player could suit up and make them money. As attractive as he was, I couldn’t have someone with serious transgressions tarnishing my brand.
“He took money from a booster right before the NIL happened. He legit got kicked out of school and lost everything only for the courts to turn around less than six months later and make it legal for players to profit off of their names and likeness. It was really fucked up.”
“Dang. You know a lot about them.”
“I from Baton Rouge so it was big news back then. I’m not a stalker or anything like that. I’m trying to be the next Ana Wintour, not the next sports wife.”
“I heard you. Thanks for the information. I don’t have time for other sports but I like to see how everyone is getting along with their people.”
Just then, Anthony went up and snatched the ball out of the air jumping just higher than his brother to get the interception, The people on set were going crazy and even his brother was grinning and congratulating him instead of being angry he missed the ball.
Is that what familial love looks like?
It was crazy to see how his brother hyped him up and the bashful way that Anthony almost shied away from the praise. Like he wasn’t used to the limelight. But if he’d been a star in college, I wondered what made him run away from the praise now?
