Basketball Jones (14 page)

Dray looked exhausted. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, and kissed me on my forehead. “I’m under a lot of pressure here but things will be cool soon.”

“I know, boi, I know.”

The moment I saw Jade at Willie Mae’s Scotch House, home of the best fried chicken lunch in the state of Louisiana, I could tell something was different. She looked especially vibrant and vivacious and her eyes were twinkling almost mischievously.

“What’s going on with you?” I smiled, taking a seat across from her.

“I’m getting close to the prize,” Jade said as she rubbed her hands together like she was getting ready for something real good, and I don’t mean the fried chicken.

“Close to what?”

“Close to meeting Reggie Bush, and then it’s gonna be on! I met one of his teammates at the casino where I work and of course he asked me for a date. I asked him if he knew Reggie and he told me he was one of his best friends. So the way I figure it, I’m bound to meet him.”

“Who’s his teammate?”

“His name is Steve Slater. He’s an offensive lineman, which was clear the moment I saw him. That boi got a big ol’ ass and a
big head to match. He’s cute but not Reggie Bush cute. But I can date him for a minute.”

The place was packed, so our waitress hadn’t acknowledged us yet. The restaurant had been closed down after Katrina and had only recently reopened. I guess the people in New Orleans missed their chicken.

“Does he know you’re after Reggie?”

“Of course not, silly,” she said with a smirk. “Do I look dumb to you? This guy Steve is married but his wife is still in Michigan. So there ain’t anything I could do with him even if he was my type.” Jade looked around impatiently. “What does a girl have to do to get some service around here?”

“How did you find out he’s married?” I asked. Dray came to mind all of a sudden. I’d left a message when I woke up, but I hadn’t spoken to him today. I wondered if he’d cooled down since yesterday.

“I find out lots of information before I pounce,” Jade said. “Besides I’m not going to sleep with him.”

“You’re not? What if he pressures you?”

“I can handle myself. I’ll make it clear I’m not that kind of girl.”

A plump girl with a pad, plenty of lip gloss, and a lot of attitude approached us. “My name is Latrelle. May I serve you?”

I set down my menu. “What’s the special?”

“Chicken,” she deadpanned.

I turned to Jade. “How does gumbo and the two-piece lunch special, dark meat, sound to you?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Anything to drink?”

“Two sweet teas?” Jade said.

“Okay. Salad bar is over there,” she said, pointing to the rear of the restaurant. “It comes with your meal.”

“I don’t want any salad,” Jade said, but the waitress had left already.

I couldn’t resist asking Jade what she was going to do if Reggie wasn’t interested in her.

“Oh, that won’t happen.” Jade smiled. “You should see me when I fix myself up. It’s something to see, honey.”

I gave her a little laugh. “Have you ever failed at getting the man you wanted?”

“Just once,” she said, holding up her index finger.

“What happened?”

Jade crossed her arms on the table and leaned forward with a sly grin. “Let’s just say he fell out the closet when I tried to give him what most guys want all the time. It seemed I didn’t have the equipment he needed.” Jade laughed to herself.

“Oh, I see.” I smiled back.

“What kind of guys do you like?” Jade asked me.

“I don’t have a type,” I lied.

She sat up and looked me square in the eye, as if she were about to get serious. “C’mon, do you like feminine guys or those homo thugs? What about the down low men?”

“I don’t have a type,” I said again, and smiled.

“I don’t believe that,” Jade said with a wave of her hand. “I bet we like the same kind of bois.”

“And that would be?”

“Jocks. Right?”

“How you figured that?”

“I told you I’m psychic, silly.”

As if on cue, my phone rang. It was Dray. I asked Jade to excuse
me for a second and stepped outside the crowded restaurant to take the call.

“Dray, I’ve been waiting on your call all day. How are you?”

“I got another note,” he said, cutting to the chase.

“What?”

“I got a note demanding money and this one had my father’s cell number. It said they would be calling him if I didn’t meet their demands immediately. I told you this shit was real, AJ.”

“Wait a minute. How did they get your father’s phone number?”

“I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter because they have it. I need you to get over and help me figure this out.”

“Where are you?” Why didn’t this man figure out it had to be somebody in his family? Who else had access to his father’s phone number?

“At your place. Where are you?”

“Having lunch with a friend. Do you need me?”

“Yeah, I do, boi. Just hurry up and get here.”

“I will.”

I clicked off my phone and went back inside. Two sweet teas sat on the table where Jade waited. I told her I had an emergency and was going to take my chicken lunch to go.

“Call me later?” Jade asked with concern in her voice.

I flagged down the waitress as I slipped on my jacket. “I will.”

“I got your back, baby,” Jade said.

“Thanks, Jade. That means a lot.”

I arrived home to the sounds of Kanye West blasting throughout the house. I expected to meet Dray in the living room, but his sneakers were the only sign that he was somewhere close by. I followed the music upstairs to the bedroom, where Dray was lying shirtless on the bed.

For a man in crisis, he looked surprisingly calm. He had one leg crossed over the other and his hands behind his head. Dark glasses covered his eyes. When I walked into the room, Dray didn’t budge. Maybe he was sleeping.

“Dray, what are you doing? I rushed right back from the restaurant.”

“What up, boi?” he replied. Was he drunk or high?

“Can I turn down the music so we can talk?” I said, moving to the CD player.

“If that’s what you want to do, but I don’t think there’s much to talk about.” Gone was the panic in his voice from just a while before. Now there was a calmness that was almost more dis concerting than his panic.

“What about the letter with your father’s phone number?”

“Kanye’s new CD goes hard,” Dray said, avoiding my question.

“That’s cool, but I didn’t rush away from my lunch to come and talk about Mr. West.” I was totally confused by his sudden indifference to what only a half hour ago was a crisis.

“You didn’t have to leave your lunch.”

“You said you needed me.”

“I always need you, AJ. You know that.”

I sat on the bed and laid my chin on his muscled stomach. “I was worried about you,” I whispered. “What happens to you happens to me too. We’re in this together, and to be honest I’m scared for the both of us.”

He stroked my head. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure nothing happens to us.” Dray took off the dark glasses to reveal watery, red eyes. He’d obviously been crying.

“So what are you going to do?” I asked.

“I’m going to give them the money,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Just like that.”

“You heard me. What other choices do I have?”

“How did the note arrive?”

“FedEx. Like the first one.”

“Do you have any idea how they got your father’s phone number?” I realized suddenly that whoever was behind this had something even I didn’t have in Dray’s father’s cell number. The blackmailer had to be someone in Dray’s family or a friend of the family. But how did they find out he’s bisexual?

“No idea whatsoever. But it is his number.”

“I bet it’s someone in your family.” Why didn’t Dray see that?

“I doubt that,” Dray replied quickly, sounding almost insulted.
“My family and I are tight. They wouldn’t pull some dumb shit like that.”

Right. So tight you can’t tell them about me, I thought.

“I don’t think you should give them the money. I think you should call their bluff.”

He sat up. “Why?”

“If you make this easy on them, they may come back for more money or demand something else.”

Dray stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.

I sat next to him. “You don’t have to play along, Dray. They have no evidence. All we have to do is deny their accusation.”

“I thought about that, but I can’t let my pops find out.” There it was again. Dray’s unbreakable devotion to his father and his family.

“Then tell him,” I said. “Who knows, he might be cool with it.”

Dray looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

“Are you fucking serious? You want me to tell my father that I like dudes? Tell him that I got a boyfriend that I take good care of? Do you know something about my father that I don’t know?”

“Like what?” I asked, wondering where this was leading.

“Has hell frozen over? Because that’s the only way my pops will accept some shit like this.”

“So you got jokes? I’m serious, Dray. Tell the truth. Then we could be together every day and not have to hide. Lead normal lives just like everyone else.”

“That is not going to happen. I’m getting ready to have a baby. I’m going to need my father to help me be the best parent that I can be.”

“If he’s the man you think he is, he will be there for you, Dray. So will I.”

“You’re talking fantasy bullshit, AJ. This isn’t as easy as you make it sound. Do you realize that I got eleven teammates to deal with as well? The NBA ain’t ready for somebody to be that truthful. You should hear the shit in the locker room about dudes who came out. I’m not ready to be a spokesperson for nobody but my family and me.”

I wanted to say that if Dray’s father was as closed minded as he sounded, then he would be the last person to teach Dray how to be a good parent, but I knew despite his father’s conservative ways that Dray would always idolize him.

“So what are you saying, Dray? Are you ashamed of me?”

“Aldridge, this isn’t about you. This is about protecting my rep. We can’t have all this if I’m not playing ball,” Dray said as he waved his arms around, gesturing to the town house.

“Well, it’s not your rep when it’s a lie,” I said defensively. Suddenly this was more about our future than the blackmail threat.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore, AJ. I’m going to pay the money. I’m just glad I followed JB’s advice and set up a BM account.”

“JB? That’s your agent, right? And what in the hell is a BM account?”

“Yeah, that’s my agent, and he told me I need to have an account set up just in case any unwanted baby’s mama shows up and we need to take care of it. I don’t think JB had anything like this in mind.”

“Promise me you will think about this before you do anything. Maybe we could go to the police quietly and they’ll devise some kind of sting.”

Dray stood up and turned to face me. “When you gonna get it through your thick skull that this isn’t about us? This is about
me. My career and future. Don’t nobody give a shit if you’re gay or straight.” Dray’s voice was restless with anger.

“So you’re saying I’m a nobody? What happens to you has nothing to do with me?” I asked. “Fuck you, Dray.” How stupid was I to sit there and try to help this asshole who’s telling me that nobody gives a shit about me? I felt like a fool.

Dray grabbed his shirt from the nightstand and put it on in silence. He glanced at me in disgust. As he tucked his shirt into his warm-ups, he looked around the room for his sneakers and then headed for the stairs.

I couldn’t let him leave like this.

“Dray! Come on, dude. Let’s talk about this,” I said, calling after him.

He had nothing more to say. Instead he stormed out of the house without a word.

I needed to get a life.