Stay Down

22

i kept looking at it, thinkin' how i was gonna say it, what would she say about it, how she gonna react.

"wow that's nice." coached sat next to me as the locker room emptied.

"im nervous."

and he knew i wasn't talking about the game. "what if she think im movie' to fast."

placing his hand on my shoulder, he gave me a light squeeze. "if she loves you son, i mean truly loves you, trust me you'll feel it in your heart and you'll know your doing the right thing."

"thanks coach d."

he nodded, standin', "now ion know 'bout you but we gotta game to win."

laughing, i tucked the ring in my bag, running out onto the court. slapping hands as i exited the locker room, i ran over to me team.

"y'all ready ?"

they looked uneasy.

"what ?"

"man" trevor explained, "im scared as hell."

"yea, man." honor agreed, "clement ain't never lost a championship, we can't beat them."

staring at all of them, they looked worried, they watched me to see any sighs of weakness and their wasn't none. we ain't come all this way to fail.

i put my heart on the line fa this moment, this chance to be better then i was before, ain't no way i wasn't gonna show it.

"we ain't come this far to get knocked down." i told 'em, "everything we worked hard for was not for us to get here and give up because we feel it's hard. if we did that half of us wouldn't be standing hea now. win or lose we still a team, we still a family. you can't achieve if you don't believe. and i believe." my hands grasping the gold cross that laid flat against my chest. "God didn't bring me along this far to give up on me. i need y'all to believe that to."

josh smiled at me before sayin', "we a family, we a team."

they all nodded, hyping themselves up. "we got this." trevor pumped, shuffling from side to side.

honor laughed, slappin' me against the back, "let's do this, nigga."

we ran on the court. me face to face with the other captain.

"look at this nigger" he taunted to his teammates, "thinkin' he big shit."

ignoring 'em, i watched the ball be thrown in the air, pushing it to my side of the court, side steppin' him as he fell back, he stared at me in shock.

"don't hurt ya self man." holdin' out my hand to help 'em up, he pushed me away as he rose to his felt while i just grinned, getting into the game.

my adrenaline pumping, making shot after shot. doubling my numbers from previous games, it's like before they even moved i could see their play, how they were gonna shoot it and where.

taking the ball, i threw it half court, the swishing sound, clear to my ears as the crowd cheered for my team.

it was more packed then usual as people stood, not enough seats to occupy the capacity.

we were down three and in the final seconds of the game.

holdin' the ball in my hands, my eyes wandered to joshs family, a little boy with big brown eyes sat on a girls lap cheering, he looked so much like him. his shoes looked old and he had on a too small onesie.

"shoot!" i heard coach yell.

i looked back at them to see the little boy staring at me.

then to josh who watched me.

then to the scout that sat, eyebrow raised questioning me.

some people needed it more then i did.

throwing the ball to him, he stood there stunned before finally shooting it, making a clean shot as the buzzer sounded off.

i ran over to him, smiling, "that's what im talkin' bout man."

he shook his head, amazed by his own actions.

his girl ran from the bleachers with they son, hugging him so tight. "im so proud of you babe."

"why man?" he asked me, holdin' onto her.

i looked at his son, "you need that contract more than me fam."

he just stayed silent wandering why blessing would give all that up for him.

"excuse me sir." a man in a grey suit, called walking over to him. "im a scout from the seventy-sixers. here's my card, id enjoy meeting with you to discuss your future." his shaky, hands, gripped the card.

"t-thank you." he stuttered.

"and congratulations on your win."

i watched him kiss her in happiness as the chaos around me increased, everyone cheering in excitement.

my eyes wandered the room as i seen her near the exit of the building. i maneuvered through the crowd, grabbing her hand.

"we won." i panted.

she smiled, "you won." she repeated.

"let me take you out-"

"blessing-"

"on me." i held her hand. "just the two of us."

"blessing" she stared into his eyes, "i have to go home."

"so then when you get back ." the smile never leavin' his face. he had everything planned out, the dinner, the music, the proposal.

her hands caressed his cheeks, shaking her head, "i told you not to fall in love with me."

her eyes low with sorrow from the bittersweet moment.

kissing her hand, he let it stay rested on his cheek. "you've done it." she smiled, "you've passed the test." letting her hand drop as she stepped back. "but i have to go."

"blessing!" a man in black slacks with a red shirt, the miami heat logo evident in the corner.

he turned back to her, "i gotta go but, i'll see you tanight, right? "

she smiled, nodding as he kissed her cheek.

"i love you, kapree."

"bye, blessing."

he smiled running off to the scout, looking back and she was gone.

"those were some impressive numbers kid."

"thank you sir."

"i can definitely see you on the heat, that is if your interested."

"of course." my heart pounding, against my chest.

"good, i'll see you monday morning." handing me his card as he walked away. josh ran to me, hitting me on the back. we ran in the locker room with the rest of the team who were ecstatic about the win.

"man, we really won our fist championship." trevor yelled, throwing his jersey in the air.

"and many more to come." honor added, "aye man." he said, getting my attention. "this was left on ya bag."

he handed me the vanilla envelope, walking away, my fingers tearing it open. i stared at the words from the familiar hand writing.

you can handle more then you think
you were built to save yourself and you
deserve more than you can ever begin
to imagine. maybe one day we'll find
that place where you and i could be
together. and we'll catch our dreams within the waves of change, so smile for me
one last time and believe that we'll
meet again. until then,
i'll be missing you.

dropping the note on the ground, he ran out.