The Summer Daze

Chapter 11

            "Pass the ball man," Tavian called out to me while I was being blocked. "Over here, D!"

            It was over one hundred degrees outside and for some reason, we were playing outdoor basketball with Malcolm and three other dudes. For the first time since I began playing basketball regularly with Malcolm and my brother, we lost. And it was a big loss of fifteen points. We got our asses whipped. Still, I was in a good mood and not even losing a basketball game could ruin that day for me. That hot late-June day was going to be my first date with Noah.

            "Man, y'all niggas got lucky," Tavian said to the other three guys as they walked away. "We're gonna come back on y'all, believe that."

            "It's too damn hot out here," Malcolm said as he wiped sweat from his neck and face with a towel.

            "You can say that again," I said. The three of us walked over to our water jugs and drank from them. After finishing mine, I looked at Malcolm and told him, "You got it made, man. I'd kill to have a job in the mall with all that air conditioning."

            "I'd kill to work at Pennbrook," he said back with a laugh. "Y'all make way more money than I do working at Foot Locker. Shit, let's trade."

            "Foot Locker don't have fine ass white bitches though," Tavian added. "Them white girls at Pennbrook always be on the lookout for some black dick."

            "Man, is that all you think about?" I asked him. "For real, you can't go an hour without talking about women."

            "True," Malcolm agreed. "That's not even an interesting topic for me since I don't even think of women like that." He kind of gave me a look and I winked.

            "D is straight like me. He knows how good pussy is. Ain't that right, bro?"

            "I do but damn, it's all you talk about."

            "Man, fuck y'all niggas." His phone started ringing and he told us, "That's my pussy line. I'll be back." He walked off to answer the phone, leaving me and Malcolm to talk amongst ourselves.

            "Your brother is a trip," Malcolm said with a laugh.

            "Tell me about it." I shook my head and changed the subject by informing him, "Hey, I'm going on my first date with Noah tonight."

            "Oh snap, that's wassup. Where are you taking him?"

            "We're gonna so see a movie at this drive-in theater out in a place called Sycamore Valley."

            "Oh, that's the small suburban area on the outskirts of the city. Tavian and them went to the private school out that way. There will be nothing but white people at that drive-in theater, trust me."

            "I'm nervous, man. Like I don't wanna do anything that messes it up."

            "I know the feeling. Just be yourself and don't put too much pressure on him about sex or anything like that."

            "That's gonna be hard because I get so turned on when I'm around him. And he be wearing them little outfits and stuff, showing off his cute navel."

            "Him and his cousin Morgan are cute and sexy, but you gotta play it cool. My boyfriend, Demi, he's more in-between than he is fem or masculine. I can kick it with him like a friend all the time and I can switch it up and be all over him at other times. But with dudes like Noah and Morgan, it's hard to do that. They're more fem and you get this natural urge that draws you to them constantly."