Page 87 of In the Safety's Zone
“By luck. If your father had actually done any of the work he could’ve been far greater than he was, but I bet he’d never admit that to you, right?”
“Of course not.”
“Cool. We gone watch this shit and get you ready for September. Nothing is going to stop you from being in the finals again. This is your year, AP.”
He kissed my cheek and pulled me to him to get back to watching tape. It thrilled me to hear his affirmation of my goals and without a doubt, I believed his every word.
CHAPTER TEN
Camp
ANTHONY
“HOW THINGS GOING with you and your girl?”
My smile was instant as soon as Twan’s question hit my ear.
“Good. Great, I can’t lie; I love having her around.”
I moved through the food line at training camp getting what I needed before we went back to the next practice of today. I’d been gone for less than three days but it felt much longer. AP’s time was getting less free as her training intensified. I missed her like crazy but we would both recap our day for one another when we could. I was grateful we both had work to focus on so we wouldn’t go stir crazy.
“She seems good for you. Keeps you focused and you seem happy.”
My brother’s approval was important to me because of how close we were. I also knew I might have blinders on with AP so his reassurance had me feeling more secure.
“I am. I mean I know I never talked about girls before, but the ones I dealt with weren’t anything like her. I mean let’s be real I wasn’t looking for quality or substance when I was dealing with people before so it’s not their fault.” I walked to an empty seat and plopped down to get this food in my mouth as soon as possible so I could check in.
“And you are now?” ’Twan followed me and sat his phone on the table next to his tray.
“I mean we’re still fairly young but she feels good. She feels right. The feeling that I have when I’m with her is…new. But it feels so good. I can’t describe it.”
“Nah, I know that feeling. I got it the first time I saw my Sunshine. She was…bold. Met my eye without issue and didn’t take my shit. And I tried my hardest to shake that feeling by inviting her to have a foursome with me and two ducks.”
I choked on the water I was drinking and started to cough uncontrollably. “My nigga, you did what?!”
‘Twan’s crazy ass was grinning like the memory was fond or something. More people were piling into the cafeteria and it got increasingly louder.
“Yeah, ya boi was wild.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t stab your ass.”
“Oh, she threatened to shoot me at some point in the night. Had a gun on her and everything.” That smile was still as bright and I knew right then, more than ever, that he and Rye’s crazy were perfectly matched.
“Something is fucking wrong with you.”
“Sadly, that ain’t even the worst shit I ever did to her.” His voice took on a wounded sound, and I felt like whatever he’d done had him really ashamed of himself.
“And she married you? And gave you a baby?”
“I mean, we were kinda toxic but we’re better now.” Twan’ wasn’t even being defensive; his ass was completely serious when he said that shit like it was normal.
I was staring at my brother like he’d lost his damn mind because there was no way he was being serious. “Bruh, do I even want to know?”
He laughed and then shrugged as he picked up his sandwich. “I mean…maybe. Probably not. But I went through a lot of shit and I’m hoping it’s so that you don’t have to.”
“That was true even before you were talking about your situation with Rye.”
Antwan nodded slowly, and I could see him release a breath before he spoke up. “You’re not wrong but that shit made mewho I am. I never let the issues that I had with Jill make me hate women but I damn sure disrespected a lot of them.”
