I ran up the court trying to correct the mistake that DaShane had made, Patric was going up for a layup but with the speed, I was going and all the years of practice I had from hopping fences, I was able to block the shot and smiled because he never saw me coming. I needed this.... not the basketball game, but I needed my own friends..... don't get it twisted, I loved Marcelino but in our entire lives we've shared everything, and as selfish as it might sound, I wanted something that was my own. Lately, I've been having a lot of mixed feelings; like I wanted to have my own friends, but I felt guilty about not including Marcelino, then I was pissed at myself for feeling guilty, followed by even more guilt. It's crazy how much damage my dad has done to us, if it weren't for him abandoning us we wouldn't have felt the need to be so dependant on each other. Again, I'm not saying that it's a bad thing but we shared everything from our faces to each other's deepest secrets.... and lately, I've just been wanting to figure out who I am and not as a package deal. We finished the game and walked over to the bench where our stuff was waiting and I grabbed a towel and a bottle of water, before turning to Vinciano.
"So you've NEVER played basketball before?" I asked because I'm not trying to sound fucked up but this nigga was complete ass..... DaShane wasn't any better but Patric was better than me to the teams sorta even themselves out.
"Well in my last situation we didn't have much time for recreational sports, it was strictly business.... we barely got days off, so sorry if I'm not at your level." Vinciano said smirking. "Don't worry, I'm a fast learner.... I'll be more than ready for the Seattle vs Columbus Basketball tournament that Devin is setting up."
"Yeah, I'm just glad that we got Nayquinn and Patric..... they should be able to keep us from getting completely embarrassed." I said wiping the sweat from my face. "So are y'all still having trouble with that nigga Roland?" I asked and at the exact same time they all asked 'who'.
"Ya see.... we've taken the position that we're just going to pretend he doesn't exist like we completely ignore that nigga..... well most of us. That nigga Montello and that temper of his, he's the only one who Roland can provoke, though I'm not sure why he keeps trying because every time he does Montello puts him on his ass." Patric said shaking his head and laughing.
"That nigga Montello is crazy..... he actually reminds me of my bro Chasten, chill as fuck until he's provoked then all that nigga wants to do is fight." DaShane said smiling. "Speaking of my bro.... I need to call that nigga." DaShane said smiling, then the smile faded from his face as his eyes moved to the parking lot behind me. "Uhh.... we'll give you some space." He said as the three of them walked off as Ja'Koda approached.
"Are you fuckin stalking me?" I asked hoping that wasn't the case.
"Nah.... I was actually coming here to ball, your cousin was supposed to be meeting me up here but you know that nigga is always late. So how have you been?" He asked and I shrugged, the look in his eyes told me he was waiting for me to ask him the same and usually I would've sat there and let him wait, but I was trying this new thing where I stop holding onto old grudges.
"How you been?" I asked though the question felt oddly weird on my lips.
"I came out to my folks.... as suspected they've disowned me, cut me off entirely, I mean my bank account has been completely wiped out." Ja'Koda said sadly, I can't lie I was shocked.... then pissed when he started smiling. "Nah, I'm just fuckin with you.... I did come out though, they umm.... they weren't shocked.... I mean I wasn't the brightest kid when I was younger and I didn't know shyt about clearing the internet browsing history, so they knew....." Ja'Koda said.
"So they were coo with it?" I asked, realizing that most of the shyt I was saying to him has been pretty short.
"They gave me the usual speel.... they love me, they just don't agree with my choices even though I've tried to explain to them that it wasn't something that I decided. But it could've been a lot worse.... I also told them about us." Ja'Koda said fiddling with the † charm on his neck. "They also kinda suspected that we were.... more than friends and they were wondering why we stopped being friends."
