“Hi.” I leaned in offering up a respectable hug before claiming a seat next to her
“Did you get enough rest?”
“I slept like a baby. Opened the sliding door and listened to the ocean.”
“I woke up drooling, that’s how hard I slept.”
“Well, you can’t tell, you look beautiful.”
“Thank you, you look really nice too.”
“Are you hungry? Cause I’m starving.”
“Yeah, let’s eat.”
Dinner was red snapper with rice pilaf and an assortment of sides. For the first twenty minutes or so the only words uttered were to compliment the food. With Danessa I didn’t feel the need to fill the silence. We could say multitudes with little to no words. And right now, I was giving full and content.
“Tell me what you’ve been up to these past few years,” Danessa asked, setting her fork down, her stomach finally catching up to her eyes.
“Basketball, all day every day.”
“You had to be doing more than that.”
“I’ve been working on Hoop Legacy, my active and loungewear company. It really took off in the past few years, so a lot of my energy is focused on that. And then there’s the businesses, I have a few laundromats in Philly. And that shit is mostly passive cash for me.”
“Smart to have secondary streams of income.”
“I’m not going to end up a fucking cautionary tale. This money I make today is going to send my great, great, great grandchildren to college. This isn’t just about me. It’s so much more.”
“It’s something to be proud of, not many people succeed as loudly as you have. Positive press, your own shoe, sold-out jerseys before your first Ramblers game.”
“You heard about that?” I beamed with pride.
“Yeah.”
“The Ramblers have definitely crowned a new king.”
Danessa squinted. “Ouch, I think I got something in my eye.”
Leaning forward, I was ready to investigate. “You okay?”
“Yep, it’s just your ego. A bit flew in my eye, but I got it … here you go.” She pretended to hand me back a chunk.
“Motherfucker, I was about to blow the hell out of your eye socket.” Danessa, indulged in an extended giggle. Picking up a dinner roll, I threatened to throw it at her.
“Don’t you dare.”
Ripping the bread in half, I said, “Tell me about this law school?”
Her eyes flickered, excited to talk about the news. “It’s local, which is a major plus. Boyd is the seventy-ninth best law school overall. I know that doesn’t sound like much but being in the top one hundred is impressive. It has a respectable criminal law program. But I’m still torn between criminal law and property law.
“Did you apply to any other schools?”
“Yeah, like a dozen but Boyd was my top choice. I’d love to go to Stanford or Yale, but I’m not fresh out of college and my priorities are different. So, Boyd just makes the most sense.”
“Have you told your mom or Anika yet?”
“Nope, only you and I know.”
