Page 129 of In the Safety's Zone
I heard that chuckle again, and then some patting sounds as he cared for his son.
“I had my close family friends with me for support so it made dealing with them much easier with their support.”
“I feel you. I have a lot of people behind me, but they could be kinda rowdy, Jahmir. There won’t be any resolution with them, they do a lot more speaking with their fists than their mouths.”
“Understandable and you won’t find me convicting them. But you do need to be focused on maintaining the standard of play that you’ve started out with.”
“Why you say that?”
“Because doing anything less than playing at the top of your game will lend validity to what they’ve said.”
I thought about the way the commentary had been me and Antwan not being focused showing that the rumors hadbothered us. If anything, we both balled out each game we wouldn’t have to worry about people we were bothered by what they said.
“Damn, that’s facts.”
“I told you that you are anointed. Everybody stumbles in their path but those who are faithful know that a mishap is only a small portion of a journey. The athleticism that you have is something that you were blessed with but you have worked to take raw talent and ensure that you can provide for not only yourself but your future generations. That isn’t a gift to take lightly and an enemy attacking that ability isn’t something that you should just let slide.” He sounded far more Old Testament than New and I could tell that Jahmir would take off those preacher’s robes in a minute if he needed to.
“Not what I expected to hear. Thought you’d tell me to turn the other cheek.”
“You tried that. You’ve been slapped twice. You need to move smartly and logically so that you prevent the enemy from returning.”
“This is not at all how I expected this conversation to go. I thought we were gonna pray and you would give me some Bible scriptures to check out. Never thought you would tell me it was okay to put belt to ass.”
“Didn’t our God drown the Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea? The entire Bible is one long war against the enemy and our needing to be diligent is keeping them at bay.”
My brows rose because, damn, he wasn’t wrong. “But for now I need to chill and perform.”
“Yes, you’ll know when it’s time for you to do anything about the situation so don’t rush it. Keep your mind focused on what you need to so that you’re able to make your performance speak for you until you’re able to clear your name. This country loves nothing more than a comeback story.”
“Not for niggas, Jahmir, be for real.”
“They do when they can forget the color of your skin because it’s cloaked in their favorite team colors.”
Again, this nigga was spittin’ indisputable facts.
“You’re right. I gotta put my head down and live my life like this shit never happened. Playing into it and letting it get e off my game is exactly what they want. ‘Preciate you reminding me that I needed to tighten up.”
“Any time. But Jahbari just left me a deposit in his diaper I gotta handle. Just know that you have warriors working things out so the truth is exposed. Truth is the greatest power there is next to faith. You have both so don’t let anyone try to stop what you've got going on.”
I heard him moving around again and knew we needed to wrap it up. I had practice in the morning and my alarm would be going off before I realized it.
I stood up and stretched my mind feeling more at ease. “Thank you again, Mir. Go handle the young king and I’ll let you know how it turns out.”
“The victory is already yours, Anthony.”
My leg was jumping as I sat beside my brother in the boardroom. I’d experienced a bunch of highs in this building and I didn’t know if this was going to be one of them or not.
Billy, in her infinite wisdom, had us meeting with Jill and Antonio today. I hated that my name was so similar to that nigga’s. My mama told me that he never wanted a junior but in truth he already had one. She was in constant competition with all the other women he was dealing with and to be honest I wasjust grateful that she hadn’t done that weird ass George Foreman shit and named me after him, anyway.
I looked at Antwan out of the corner of my eye, and his body was stiff as hell. Rye was on his right keeping her hands on him the way Aphrodite was on my left, using her touch to soothe me.
“Y’all good?” Billy glanced between the two of us and I kept my mouth shut before I got smart with her unnecessarily. We both stayed silent and she smiled, realizing how we were feeling. “I know y’all aren’tgoodbecause this situation isn’t one that would leave room for that. I only hope that y’all get off your chests whatever you need to now before we move forward with what we’re doing.
I nodded, and Choo sat forward, dropping his head down. My hand went to his back as Rye squeezed his shoulder.
“Neither of us wants to be here but we know it’s unavoidable. We gone act right, Billy. I ain’t about to have you fining my ass if we mess something up in here.” I tried to smile but that shit came off awkward as hell judging by Billy’s laugh.
“Do what you've got to. This stuff is replaceable and I know the situation. Shit, y’all might need to keep me and Rye from getting out of hand.” Rye was nodding and I prayed they kept themselves in check or else it would be a brawl in this room.
