Pretty Rich Dreams

Chapter Three

OTIS BLAKE
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I watched as the ball, once again, sunk itself into the hoop. I loved this feeling. The fast beating heart. The sweat dripping down my body. The adrenaline rush that made me feel supernatural.

Basket ball was somewhat of a constant in my life. My one true love if you will. But like everything else, my father tainted it's brilliance. He took away every opportunity i've ever had to peruse my dreams, all because he couldn't do it himself.

Basketball was my fathers dream, but i made it my reality. I was on a straight track to become a professional NBA player and my father was jealous. He handed me the reigns of two of his hotels at the ripe age of 25 when we'd both agreed i'd take over on my 30th birthday.

At the time, i'd just assumed he saw good in me. I truly believed that he thought i could handle his business. I thought he trusted me. When, in hindsight, it was the complete opposite.

He saw my success. He saw all the offers I had from different teams across the country. He saw my dreams coming true and he crushed them between his fingers. And I let him. I let him take away my opportunities in an attempt to prove myself to him.

All I wanted was to please him, to make him proud. And my 25 year old self thought that taking over the hotels he was freely giving me would do that. But no. His motive was selfish and now my path in life has shifted, and I don't think it will ever switch back.

"You're spot at the Knicks is always available." Tobi's reminder snapped me out of my thoughts. I nodded my head solemnly, "I know, I just can't commit to something like that's while running the hotels." His head nodded in understanding.

"You know," He threw the ball to me, "There's this new guy, Kai, I think his name is. Fresh out of college, just signed his first contract with our team. He's good."

"Why are you telling me this?" My question rang through the air as i threw the ball back to him.

"I don't know." He tried to dribble the ball around me but I stopped his movements, "I feel as though you're good at reading people and this kid, his though to crack."

"What sort of vibe does he give off?" I bounce the ball past Tobi and ran, quickly before turning to face the hoop.

"He's a good person, we get along, but I feel like, ugh, I don't know." He stopped talking as he blocked my shot. He grabbed the ball out of my hands and moved down the other end of the court before he resumed what he was saying. "I feel like he's not trustworthy."

"In what sense?"

He looked at me, contemplating his next words, "In the sense that we both see different things as being wrong."

"So you don't agree with him." I stated.

"It's not that I don't, because I don't know his opinions on anything but I just have a feeling that we won't agree on certain things." I stared at him in confusion. This man may be my best friend and I may known him like the back of my hand but fifty percent of the time i have no idea what the hell he's on about.

"What? You have a feeling that at some point in your life you're going to disagree with one of your team mates." I stopped moving, putting a pause to out 1v1 game for a second. "News flash Tobs, but that's kind of inevitable."