Page 115 of In the Safety's Zone
I sat back down willing myself not to fuck up this chance and swing on this nigga. I was tired of people thinking my chances were only coming because of my brother. It didn’t matter if he got my foot in the door, even though he swears he didn’t. It was still my job to take the opportunity and make something of it. I could be out partying and doing stupid shit with my life but I wasn’t. I was earning my spot, had moved up from scout team to having a roster spot, and now I had the chance to start. Instead of celebrating this shit, my mood was all fucked up because of this man and his fucking pride.
It ain’t take long for Coach Stew to walk in the room. He still looked like he could strap on pads and take care of anyone on the field. He glanced around the room before his eyes found mine.
“What’s good y’all? I heard I was needed in here. Say, you heard the good news, young?” Stew was grinning and I would’ve joined him had Fontaine’s ass not fucked up my mood.
I gave him a quick nod to give myself a second to control my anger. “I did. E’rbody ain’t happy ‘bout that shit though.”
He gave me a nod before speaking again. “Who the fuck cares about who’s happy about your good news? You ready to play?”
“Yessir.”
“Then it’s real bold for somebody to have a problem with the decision made by the coaching staff.” He was looking around the room and his eyes fell on Fontaine.
“But tell him the real reason the decision was made, Stew.”
Stew’s head leaned to the side as he assessed Fontaine in a way that had me worried that man was about to lose his job.
“You the one talking shit? I know that ain’t it.”
Stew chuckled and it seemed like everyone in the room was holding their breath. The room wasn’t much bigger than fifteenby twenty but I could see Stew picking this nigga up and tossing him against each of these walls like a rag doll.
Fontaine must’ve realized he was in dangerous territory because he tried to backpedal. “Stew, I’m saying—”
“You saying what?” His hands went in front of him one hand gripping the opposite wrist as he waited on Fontaine to speak up. “Nah, for real, you saying what?” Stew leaned forward and everything to ensure he heard him clearly.
“I know you don’t think I’mma be okay with y’all letting this nigga take my spot.”
“Nah, we not.”
Fontaine looked relieved and he glanced at me like he’d won something. “I thought so—”
“You’re the one who let this nigga take your spot. You’re the one who thought that because you got drafted and he didn’t that you didn’t need to put in work. Fontaine, you thought that since he had a break in playing that his skills and his talent would suffer so you ain’t grind. You looked at Anthony as a pity hire or some shit which ain’t how we work here. Everything we do is based on performance and merit. And real talk, if that nigga would’ve kept his head on straight back at LSU you wouldn’t have even been aDesperado. We had our eyes on him since high school. But you want to sit here and act like you run shit? Questioning us? You were a consolation pick. I don’t appreciate anyone trying to undermine the authority of their coach or erode the confidence of a teammate. That ain’t what we do here. This shit ain’t all sunshine and roses, but we’re supposed to work as a unit. One thing for sure: if I see you fucking up everything we’ve built, I’ll put you in your gotdamn place quicker than I used to put a QB on his fucking back. And we all know I was the record holder until Goldilocks upstaged me. He’s lucky my ass can’t suit up again. Now, does anybody have anything else left to say or are we going to act like men? Fontaine you want your spot back?Earn that shit. Just like the man who took it from you. And let me find out you're trying to hold a grudge about this shit. You’ll be riding the bench and up on waivers faster than you can blink. We don’t do that divisive prima donna bullshit. Even the folks here who got rings, accolades and reasons to brag come here everyday willing to put in the work. I ain’t never seen somebody bitch because they weren’t handed something. You make me want to suit up so we can square off at practice today.”
“That isn’t necessary, Stew.” Fontaine’s ass was far more humble than when I stepped to his ass and that was his mistake. It was clear I was gonna keep busting my ass so this nigga never saw a start again.
Stew was looking around the room at the rest of us like he was daring someone to say something else. “Let’s hope not. And let this be a lesson to the rest of y’all. On this team, you eat what you kill. If you're hungry you better get your asses in the game cause there ain’t no handouts.”
Every man in the room responded to him in unison. “Yes, Coach!”
“Now, like I was saying Ant, good job. We see you putting in the work. Continue to handle your business, bruh. I’ll see y’all on the field in ten.”
“AP, you want me to follow you to the airport so that we can leave a car for you in the parking garage?” I stuck my head in the bedroom door in the condo waiting on her to answer me.
She looked up from where she was putting the rest of her items in her bag confused. “I thought you were okay with dropping me off.”
Billy had arranged for her to do a brand shoot that was going to have her gone for two days but thankfully back before the next home game. I hated the thought of not being able to go with her but Billy had Isis traveling with her.
“I am but I also don’t know for sure where I’ll be when you get back. I don’t like the idea of somebody we don’t know having to come out and get you. And the only people I’d trust with you are gonna be with me or have kids.”
She shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “I can always find a ride share, baby. I appreciate the fact that you want me to be safe, but I’m good.”
“Okay, so we're gone have a guard come get you then.” I pulled out my phone to text my brother to get the number for the bodyguard service he used. It was wild to me that she didn’t have one to begin with.
“A bodyguard? Anthony are you okay? I don’t need that. I never let people get too close like that. They are normally respectable.”
“Right, because you’re used to dealing with tennis fans. And people might know you but besides being a beautiful woman you can go relatively incognito in the airport.”
She looked even more confused than when I started. “Okay, so what’s the issue?”
