Memoir | Klay Thompson

29 // Severity

"Did you tuck her in safely?" Cameron asks over the phone. She was driving to Klay's house. "Uh, yeah I did."

"You sound off... you okay?"

Klay was not okay.

Too many things happened in one night that Klay didn't want to speak of. He rather it all not happened.

"I'm tired. I'm gonna leave the door unlocked for you. You have the passcode."

Cameron had this weird feeling but for the sake of traveling while late,  she would focus on the road. The ride to Klay's house seemed longer than usual and it gave her time to think. She thought about what Maurice said, about her family. Eventually she would have to share those details no matter how bad it hurt.

••••

They laid in bed together but seemed to be far apart. Both holding secrets that would alter the relationship they were building.

"I can tell something happened." Cameron broke the silence. It was dark in the room, but the light from his window shined upon her face. "And I know eventually you'll tell me. I just hope it won't be something that'll rip us apart, you know? I know I haven't been forthcoming about my family. I just don't want you to judge me."

"I would never judge you." Cameron flinched as his hand caressed her cheek. "I'm not going to hurt you Ronnie."

"Don't say, you'll jinx it."

Cameron truly believed that putting things in the atmosphere could change everything. She never wanted to speak on negative things. As a child Cameron would be banished for everything she said or did that wasn't pleasing to her family. When she turned 17, she was eligible for early college admissions. She took that chance.

Klay's biggest problem was living in the shadow of his father. His father was a professional player, collected accolades and set his children up to follow his path. Klay's brother's tried and given that only one of them had true professional success, he bore the responsibility of the legacy in the NBA.

Only a handful of father-son duos were champions, Klay and his own teammate were apart of such history. His father's ego got the best of him and force some of their memories to be toxic, including how he treated his, Julie.

••••

"I've got the worst hang over." Delia groaned at the lunch table with Tisha and Monai. The friends were officially reuniting for the first time in a long time. Finally burying the hatchet.

"I wish I could've gone to that party." Monai sighed. "You? Oh, the way that this girl was pouring her horny heart out! I would rather not."

"Huh? What I miss?" Monai was beyond confused. The small detail Delia left out surrounded Jordan. Another reason she was resistant to being with him is because Monai had a crush on him. To her belief it was small, because Jordan only flirted with Monai when they first met. Which was years ago.

"She told Mr. Poole she wanted to ride him." Delia slapped Tisha's hand and quickly covered her face in embarrassment. "Wow, it's like that over there?"

"Yeah, I mean I'm with him all the time, he lives in my skin without the sex. I like him Monai."  

Monai's face was unreadable. Their waitress walked over and refilled their waters. Leaning an awkward silence amongst the friends.

"Ma'am. Are you upset with her?" Tisha asked breaking the silence. "No, I'm not."

"So why is your face frowned up? You've never taken Jordan seriously, he never approached you outside of that one event. You're acting like Erika and I don't like it." Tisha, fed up with her friends and their behavior over mean, speaking the truth.

"It's okay Tish. It's touchy. I get it." Delia was used to being disappointed, her friends not supporting her, calling her stupid or easily influenced, loose, none of it would be surprising.

Monai felt a way, but not at the expense of her friend, not like that. "Delia, I'm happy for you. I'm not a hater. I just wish you would've felt comfortable to tell me."

••••

This was the game to be at. High energy on both ends. It could be classified as a perfect game. The Lakers were on the fast track to gaining on Golden State. Jordan passed the ball to Steph for a quick layup. They were cutting down on their lead.

Klay wouldn't accept that.

He was now working on defense against one of their bench players. Most of their starters were collecting too many fouls. A turnover from Los Angeles gave the Warriors their edge.

3 point shoot out!

Klay sinks one in, all net. The crowd in San Francisco went wild as the intensity of the game remained consistent. He had two fouls himself but he wasn't worried about that. The plan was to stay afloat.

Cameron unfortunately couldn't make the game because she had a video conference with the board members of Harden Publishing. Things were moving along during her time as Lead Editor. She wouldn't complain, she was finally getting t a handle of the things most desired.

5:37 seconds left on the fourth quarter.

Everyone stood to their feet. They watched as the Warriors went for the rebound. In a photo stop motion, Klay collided with Austin Reeves and DLo, his former roommate. As he hit the ground, he would be seen clutching his knee and screaming in agony.

"SHIT!" Delia screamed as she jumped out of her seat, trying to run onto the court. The game stopped as the team doctors assessed the severity of the injury.

"Bring the stretcher!"

You could hear a pin drop as the audience awaited some sort of update. As the paramedics entered the court, the team made a hole to allow them through.

••••

Finally able to end the meeting, Cameron packed all of her work and headed to the door. She checked her phone seeing that she had 20 missed calls from Delia, 5 from Mychal, 2 from Ayesha and 13 messages from Hazel.

"Of course you're still here at work, my God Cam, we've been calling you for an hour." Delia sighed finding her in her office.

"What's wrong? I didn't even get the chance to read or call back."

"It's Klay."

As if things couldn't get any worse, Cameron's heart dropped as Delia explained what happened and why she was quick to get to her.

He begged for her, he needed her.