Meant To Be(?)

Chapter 11

I'm not exactly sure why it seems like all of Georgia is doing its best impersonation of Hell, but I'm even less sure why I was outside burning alive in this summer heat. If I'm being honest with myself, I could have avoided the scenario entirely if I had been able to tell Ice no even once when he asks if I want to come with him to the basketball courts near the park. I just love watching him play. The way he keeps control of the ball as he dribbles it through waves of defenders into an acrobatic layup, or a graceful high-arching shot is simply a work of artistry. He makes the game of basketball look so beautiful, and since he quit the team last year, the public park is the only place I get to watch him play.

Today, however, the courts were next to empty. I guess no one was willing to brave the one-hundred-and-three-degree heat index today so I find myself standing under the hoop rebounding as Ice practices his three-pointers. We were exchanging conversation as he drains his shots and the talks take a turn toward his love life.

"What do you mean y'all broke up?!"  I ask him.

    Ice gives me a look that indicates just how little he thinks of my question.

    "I mean that we broke up Icy." He said, before shooting a three-point shot from the corner and hitting nothing but the net. "I mean honestly, what else could I have possibly meant when I said 'we broke up?"

    I retrieve the basketball and pass it back to him continuing the exchange.

    "But, ...wait no that's not right."

Ice pauses momentarily.

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, wasn't y'all just all hugged up and happy like two days ago?"

    "Yea well..."

Ice swishes another shot before continuing.

"I guess she just wasn't the one for me."

    I pass the ball to him again.

    "Man that sucks! y'all were so cute together."

    "Come on Icy be real, we weren't that cute." He replies swishing his third shot in a row. "I mean She was cute or whatever. And I'm cute too. But we weren't like no match made in heaven."

    I start to giggle.

    "boy who told you you were cute? you not that cute."

    Ice looks at me with a sly grin before rising and shooting another shot, turning to walk to the wing before the shot even swished through the net.

    "I'm just as cute as my shot is true." He says, before catching my pass and swishing another shot.

    I start to cheese and I had to resist the urge to bite my lip in front of him. Apparently, confidence is something that I'm attracted to.

    "Whatever Izzy," I say passing the ball back to him.

    "Oh and I'm this cute too." He adds.

    Another shot and another swish through the net.

    "Anyways..." I say, forcing the conversation forward. "Why exactly did y'all break up?"

    "Oh, that's easy. She told me that if we was together I couldn't be friends with you."

    "Wait what?" I say just as I bounce the ball over to him. "The fuck did I ever do to her?"

    "I know right? Bitch had issues."

    He shot the ball and it rattled around the inside of the rim before popping out.