Page 20 of In the Safety's Zone
“Do I even need to ask?” I almost didn’t want to because I could feel myself getting pissed off at the thought of what she was going to say.
“I mean you can.” Her voice had a slight note of humor in it so I hoped it wasn’t as bad as I’d assumed.
“What morality reasons?”
“Publications wanting me to pose in something far more risqué than the outfits they had for me today. And even those were fairly revealing.”
Like all female athletes, there was a lot of money in selling the sexual side of their talent than people focusing solely on their athletic prowess. Women in the WNBA and other professional sports leagues were inundated with offers to do shit that was salacious.
“What they picked was tasteful. The play on your name was a good touch.”
“Yeah, I’ve never had someone make me a giant clam shell to come out of before so that shit was cool. The interviewer was talking in absolutes since this will be released if I sweep this year. It made me feel like I could conquer the world.”
“Whenyou sweep it. You never feel like that?” I blew into my hands to keep them warm since leaving her wasn’t something I wanted to do right now.
She shook her head, the knit cap that covered her locs moving slightly. “No. I’m normally battling people’s negativity to sit around and think positive things about myself.”
I tapped the tip of her nose forcing her to look up at me. “You gotta change that.”
“I keep thinking that once I win enough or once I achieve enough that it will come naturally.”
“But?”
She bit her lip but a smile broke through as she started to laugh. “Damn, how do you know that I don’t still feel that way?”
I shrugged my shoulders because it was something I often felt. “Call it a hunch.” Someone exited the building drawing our attention for a minute before she spoke up.
“I mean you’re not wrong. I think today has just shown me that how I felt is wrong. I should feel good about myself based on what I’ve already done, not wait around to hit some achievement that in my mind will have other people accept me.” As she spoke she seemed to stand up taller than she had before so I hoped her words were being taken to heart.
I leaned against the side of the building so I could keep an eye out on who was moving around her. New York was a weird place because you legit could walk two blocks from this warehouse and be around brownstones that cost multiple millions of dollars. And then a block over from that was someone who had to eke out a living panhandling or scamming. Even so, nobody was going to get the drop on us while I was here.
“Who do you need acceptance from?”
She blew a cloud from her lips shaking her head slightly while she avoided my eyes. “You’d be surprised.”
“Your pops is that hard on you?”
“Damn, we didn’t hide it well did we?” Aphrodite’s grin was more sarcastic than anything and I empathized with the way she was probably embarrassed.
“You were cool but your dad seemed…uptight. I mean I haven’t been an uncle long but my baby niece is my world. I fight my brother to be in her face and he hates to share her with anyone. I don’t see that ever changing but your pops wasn’t likethat. I doubt that being a teenager or whatever would change how we feel about her.”
“You’re right. We’re not really that cool with one another. Probably too close to one another at this point.”
“He’s coaching you and shit?”
My face was frowned up because even I knew it wasn’t smart for a parent to coach a kid. I’d seen it often growing up in sports where people were always playing favorites with their kids and also going too hard on them.
The shake of her head was quick but it made me feel easier that he wasn’t that hands on with her.
“We all live under the same roof but we don’t see each other a lot. I think it’s the fact that we have the same profession that messes up our ability to bond.”
I could tell when they were taking their pictures and I was watching them on the sly what the deal was. I wondered if she could see it as clearly as I could.
“Oh, he’s threatened by you.”
Aphrodite opened her mouth to refute what I was about to say and then stopped. Her eyes traced my face looking for sincerity, before she spoke again.
“Do you have a degree in psychology or are you really good at reading people?”
