Brittany Hills Chronicles: Act 3

Ronnie 97

I was sitting in class trying to pay attention but my eyes kept drifting over to Twan's empty desk... it had been a week since his dad's funeral and while we text and talked on the phone damn near every day our conversations were always focused on his well-being. His dad's funeral.... I don't even wanna think about it, that shyt was hard ass fuck to sit through; I hated funerals already but that one.... man... But it was difficult to focus on what my teacher was talking about because I was worry about Antwan, his pain was my pain and his hurt was my hurt and when we spoke this morning I could just tell it was a bad day for him and I really wanted to be there for him. I shook my head and looked up at the board trying to focus on something, anything because the more I thought about Antwan the more I wanted to walk the fuck up outta here and go check on him. I couldn't do that because we were having a banquet for the basketball team tomorrow night and I wasn't trying to miss that shyt because I got suspended. Speaking of the banquet, I needed to call Black and see if he was still coming; it was supposed to be for family and friends, and since he was the only family I really talked to I really wanted my big brother there.

"Ronnie... Ronnie...... Man, this nigga is zooted." Xion said kicking my chair, damn I have heard that word in forever. I looked up at him and everyone was staring at me. "We're needed in the gym....." He said and I figured it was some basketball shyt, so I got up, walked over to the teacher, and got waited for her to sign off on the hall pass. "You good man?" Xion asked once we were alone in the hall.

"Yeah man, just has a long night... barely got any sleep." I said thinking about the changes that were supposed to be coming to Brittany Hills. That was my home, the only home I've ever known and it was inching closer to the time where I would have to leave, and right now my options post-high school was limited. I was a great basketball player, but I was an average student the only classes I excelled in were English and History.... I was also a realist, I knew I needed some more development before I was NBA ready but going to school just wasn't for me....

"Yeah, Carter's been stressing as well.... it's like we've spent most of our lives in classrooms and now we're rapidly approaching the end, at least of high school. From what my brother told me, college is a different beast.... it's like you're on your own and those safety rails aren't there anymore." Xion said and that shyt lowkey made me sad, it felt like the end of an era and I was stepping into the unknown. "Have you spoken to Antwan?" Xion asked and I nodded.

"Yeah this morning, but I don't think he'll be back until some time next....." We stepped into the gym and Antwan was sitting with the rest of our team laughing, like he seemed completely carefree.... it was a complete 180 from our conversation this morning.

"Wassup Booter..." He said jumping up and walking over to me, before I could say anything he started kissing me and of course, there were complaints from the rest of the team but it was mostly playful. Antwan pulled away and looked into his eyes; they were clear and I didn't taste any alcohol on his tongue... he just seemed happy. "We'll talk later... he comes coach." He said nodding toward the locker room.

Basically, we did a quick run-through of how this banquet was going to go, nothing too crazy but the plus side the seniors were able to cut out early so we could get haircuts and handle whatever else we needed to do since we were going to be so busy tomorrow. Xion and Zyn went off leaving me with Antwan as we walked out to his car, he just had this aura about him... like he was completely at peace.

"You got anything planned for this weekend?" Antwan asked trying to sound casual but failing miserably.

"I thought you weren't coming to school today?" I asked wanting to know what brought about this sudden change in his demeanor, call me a skeptic but considering how he was on the phone this morning, this turnaround was unnerving.