Alleyway BxB

XXVI (Kingdom)

THURSDAY, 25 OCTOBER
NATHAN COVINGTON

I was so dizzy. I was about to tumble over at any sudden move. This was it. It all came down to this moment. This day.

Marcella was all over me with the little sticky roller—rolling up and plucking every little speck of lint she could sniff out. I was wearing one of Marcello's many different suits. We really were the same size. Wearing his clothes felt nice, like he was always with me for comfort and support.

I saw a nice one that I could use for the dance. It was navy blue, and it fit perfectly.

Zach was right next to her and he did the same thing to Matt. As soon as she was done, she threw it onto a table.

"Come here," Antonio ordered as he tugged me to the couch by the wrist.

Marcella and Zach skipped school just to help us get ready. Antonio and Rosina got up early to help too.

I sat myself down and now I really felt like I could throw up. We weren't even at the court house yet.

"Mrs. Covington is here," Zach announced, but I was in too much of a panic to turn around. I would talk to our aunt when I started to see less than two of everything. I was more panicked than Matt and there was no doubt about it.

Two hands grabbed either side of my head. They guided me to focus. Antonio. I tried to focus on Antonio. "Look at me, Nathan. Are you listening to me?" He asked and his voice was stern—serious.

"Yeah," I said but it came out shaky.

What if we lost? We couldn't lose. We had all the evidence. We had the best lawyers in the area.

"I need you to breathe. Slowly," he ordered and even started to breathe slowly himself.

I watched him and tried to sync my own breathing pattern to his one. It was as if I was pregnant. They had breathing classes for pregnant women, right? I swore I heard that from somewhere before.

Focus.

In.

Out.

In again.

Out again.

Repeat.

We did this for what felt like an hour, but it must have only been a minute. Soon, my eyes came into focus and he was no longer blurry. We had some intense eye contact going on and it was almost too much for me to handle.

He stopped the routine when he realized I was calm again and fixed something with my hair. He must have patted down a strand that was sticking up after he styled it early. "Just relax, okay? You're going to be fine. You're going to win this case and then you're going to come back here with Matthew so you can meet with the rest of your buddies afterwards. Then, we can all laugh about it and stuff our faces with food. That's what's going to happen. How does that sound?"

Yeah. Yeah. That is exactly what's going to happen. Exactly that.

"You need to believe in yourself for this, Nate. You have to be confident up there so you can win. You can't just show him you're scared. That's what he wants to see. I'd call my son to help you out but he's a little tied up right now. I'm sure you spoke to him last night. He's supporting you always. I am too."

I nodded as I kept up with my breathing. I hoped so too... Antonio was so much like Dad before everything, just so much nicer. The couch dipped beside me and Antonio let go. Matt was quick to replace him as he wrapped his arms around me tightly. I could tell he was scared too, but not as much as I was.