Another round of hugs, and I was finally in my car. It was Mariah’s turn to start.
“Farrah—”
“I have no idea. Please don’t ask.”
She surprised me by staying quiet the rest of the ride. She didn’t joke, didn’t talk. She just kept glancing out the window, like she was expecting another car to corner us. I felt bad for that. I was going to talk to Ajani. And I guess I was going to have to talk to Mekhi. Ugh! Ten minutes later, we pulled onto the ballpark’s parking lot.
“You sure I look okay?” Mariah asked.
I rolled my eyes at her, but I appreciated the attempt to act normal, like nothing had happened. I focused on her. She was gorgeous with her flawless, milk chocolate skin and big, doe eyes. I hated that she needed so much reassurance.
“Okay? Bitch, get out of my car.”
I grabbed my phone and texted Kera to see which field she was about to play on. She texted back quickly, and I hopped out and made my way to the front of the complex, Mariah rightbehind me. I found Field Six and looked around for Kera. When I didn’t see her on the grass, I figured she was in the dugout. I walked over to the bleachers and Mariah and I climbed up a few before sitting down. We talked for a few minutes, waiting for the game to start. The sun felt necessary, like something warm and light, pushing the dark away. I smiled when I saw Seth jog up the bleachers toward us. He gave me and Mariah quick hugs.
“What’s up, ladies? I’m doing a concession stand run for Elena. Y’all need anything?” he asked.
“Not right now, thank you,” I told him.
“You sure?”
“Unless Mariah wants something…”
My cousin shook her head. “I’m good.”
“Okay. I’ll check on you again after the game starts,” he said.
We waved as he walked off. After about fifteen more minutes, Mariah started fanning herself.
“I can tell y’all really best friends,” she said.
“Huh?”
“You willing to come sit out in this sun to support your girl. That’s love.”
I waved a hand at her. “Riah, you so crazy.”
She opened her mouth to say something else, but then old school hip hop came blasting through the loudspeakers, and she started dancing in her seat. For a second, I forgot the car, the man, the flowers. I was so busy looking and laughing at her, that I didn’t even realize that someone was standing over me at first. Suddenly, I felt the fine hairs on my body rise, my stomach tingling as I felt the heat of a gaze. My cousin got still, a smirk on her face, confirming that we had company. Shading my eyes, I looked up.
Mekhi Venzant stood over me.
And even though he was frowning like I offended him just by existing…
I couldn’t deny the rush of relief that consumed me.
(A few minutes earlier)
I eased through the hood,eyes wide open as I blocked down street after street. I trusted my team, but there was nothing like seeing shit for myself. That attempted drive by from a week ago had me on edge. I wasn’t a scared nigga—I lived too fast for that. But I didn’t like to invite death, either, so I needed to be on top of everything going on around me. My phone buzzed from the passenger’s seat, and I looked down at it. Seth’s name flashed on the screen, so I picked up through Bluetooth.
“What’s up, nigga?”
“Shit, nothing. At the ballpark. Everybody and their mama out here. It’s like a big cookout,” he said.
“Yeah, I saw that when I drove by.”
“You need to bring your ass through. Kera’s playing and her team is good.”
“Nah, I’m on some other shit,” I declined.
