Pride

Chapter Twenty-Five

Trevante Rhodes

"You're goin' left and I'm goin' right Its crazy but I'm still waiting..."

-John Legend; Dreams

I had just enfolded Shakyra into a hug that put me on cloud nine. I had meant to ignore her, but I was pretty weak when it came to her and I almost didn't care that much. I had told myself over the weekend that I needed to cut her off. I was certain by the look in homeboy's eyes that he'd had enough of me standing in her space. I was pretty sure in his mind I was pretty much just entertainment for her until he got his act together. He didn't know...any longer and the pretty lady would've been mine. Damn every single consequence. I'd make it work however I could.

We danced closely that night and looking into her eyes, I could see my very future and it was love. I could easily picture long days and longer nights. I could picture making a life with her. For her. I couldn't fathom how this dude let a picture of a hug destroy the foundation that he built with her because I knew in my heart of hearts it'd take more than that for me to have ever given her up.

It killed me to walk away from her that night. I wanted nothing more than to just drag her in my car and drive her to my place. Promise her things I wasn't able to give her momentarily but in the long run. Promise her faithfulness I could only give to her bit by bit because of the string of girls I had on standby waiting to mess up my good thing. Me remembering all that was the reason I announced my departure. I wanted her so badly I could taste it. Again, Kofi's wisdom stopped me. I wasn't ready. Remembering the way Wendell stared at me as if he could walk up to me and snatch her from me was daunting to me as well. While I was certain the feelings were there on her end, their chapter wasn't finished. That rendered her unready for me as well.

I couldn't help myself however when I saw her walking past me that Monday morning. Her smooth caramel skin called to me as well as the soft smile on her face. She wore a dark blue Champion sweat suit. The hoodie and matching sweatpants added to her laid back vibe that calmed me on many days. She looked content with herself and the world and it was attractive...that was until she'd glanced in my direction and the look in her eye was unsure. We both knew in a sense when I made my departure the night before it was meant to be a true one.

But.

Against my better judgement, I reached out and pulled her to me. Her body melted into mine the way a puzzle piece snapped against the other when it fit. I almost sighed but she'd done it for me.

"Hey, sweetheart."

She pulled away, looking up at me with her pretty smile.

"Hey, you." She said, "What's up?"

"Same old, same old."

I sighed, "I know that was random but..."

She smiled back, "It's cool. I assumed you weren't going to talk to me anymore."

I shrugged, "Nah. I said you'd see me."

"Let me head to class though." She said, shuffling a little bit, the blush on her face getting deeper, "I'll catch you later?"

"At some point."

"Mhm." She smirked, "We'll see."

Then she was walking away from me again. It took everything in me not to pull her back toward me and lay claim. Man or not...which I wasn't quite sure of. It wasn't like her to walk away from me the way she had either.

Still, I watched her walk away, in a daze. I hadn't even known I was dazed until I heard a cough behind me. I turned to see Wendell staring at me as if he could split bricks. I rose a brow, silently asking what his issue was.

"Listen, I don't know what you thought you had with her but all that's dead. That's mine."

I shrugged, "Okay?"

"All that hugging shit is dead. All that hanging out shit is dead. Stay on your side, homie or it's going to be a problem."

I chuckled, finally understanding where the animosity was coming from. I was partially saddened because I'd gotten the rude awakening I didn't want. Just knowing that they weren't totally over was one thing but having the fact shoved down my throat was another. It put a sour taste in my mouth. I wanted to spit in his face for being the bearer of the news, specifically.

"Aye, man, listen. If she's yours she's yours. But whatever side of the line I wanna be on I'm gonna be on. That's not up for you to dictate. If she's yours, all that shit you talkin' wouldn't be necessary, would it?"

There was silence and I knew I struck a nerve. It gave me a sense of confidence as I dug my heels in. He had me thinking of any way I could bump into her just to give her a hug. I even thought of sneaking a tap to her backside every now and again. I stopped my thoughts when they began to become shameful. She wasn't a piece of meat to satisfy my ego. Especially not for Wendell.

"I'm just letting you know in case you didn't. Now you know, homeboy. Stay on your side." He shrugged, and walked away, without giving me a backwards glance.

I balled my fists up, ready to go to war in that moment. I was already disgusted with the way he approached me but for him to walk away like he really said something pissed me off. I wasn't sure whether I was more upset that he came to announce that he got back with her or if it was his energy overall. In his shoes would I have done the same thing? I highly doubt it. To be fair however, I felt like he was a clown and needed to grow up as far as it came to dating the opposite sex. He wanted so badly not to be a joke to women that that's what he became each and every time.

Moments later, Lichelle walked up to me. I held out my hand for dap which she gave.

"What's up, Rhodes?" She questioned, "I didn't know y'all knew each other like that."

I sucked my teeth, "We don't. He came to tell me to back off of ya girl."

I chuckled at the sound of my explanation. It forced a slight chuckle to come from her as well.

"Don't pay him no mind. He's just happy as hell they got back together."

"I mean, I just let him know. If she's his, she's his."

Lichelle looked up at me, smiling sadly. I was pretty sure I wasn't doing good at hiding the hurt in my own eyes. It felt like a breakup happened although in reality, we were never together. The past couple of weeks showed me that I cared for her a great deal. It already took a great deal of sacrifice to walk away from her in the first place. To have to watch her get back with dude at all was the finishing move.

Lichelle put a small hand on my shoulder and sighed once more.

"There's a Bible verse my Pop likes to say every now and again. How everything becomes beautiful in its own time. Or something like that...he'd also say while we were in Chicago, if you don't like the weather give it time, it'll change."

I chuckled a little, somewhat comforted by her words. The warning bell rang so we separated. Lichelle had gone her separate way but out of nowhere, DeMarcus had shoulder bumped me. I wasn't a short man but a shoulder bump from DeMarcus might as well had been a charge. That was enough to have bought me back to my sour mode. With all the aggression that was probably meant for Wendell I had turned and punched DeMarcus Cousins smooth on the back. That had turned into the best workout I'd had in months.

I don't know how we ended up being torn apart but the fact of the matter although I held my own pretty well, I wouldn't recommend anybody going against DeMarcus Cousins in a fight unless they were about that life. His reach alone was the biggest reason plus, I hadn't realized that he didn't just have size on him, but he knew how to move as well. If I wasn't as good of a fighter, I would've been embarrassed for pretty much the rest of the school year. Probably even life. If I didn't know how to duck and dodge, I would've been on the way to Interfaith Medical.

It was bad enough that I had to explain to my parents why I'd broken my six-month streak but at the very least, I didn't take a heavy loss.

The next couple of hours made me grateful we even had that fight. It was the integral moment in which things began to turn around for me. Also, it was the beginning of how DeMarcus had replaced Mahershala as my best friend.