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Cory dropped his hands and turned to Isaiah with wide, worried eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that. It’s just… Denise really wanted to hang out with me.”
Cory’s character on screen was taken out while he processed Isaiah’s warning. Teenage hormones were a dangerous thing and could lead to bad decisions. Hopefully the threat of getting him or his aunt in trouble would curb future attempts to sneak out of camp.
“What were you going to do once you got Denise back to your place?” Isaiah focused back on not being the next causality on the game.
Cory shrugged in Isaiah’s periphery. “I don’t know. Just talk and chill.” Cory went back to playing the game.
“Talk and chill, sure. Look, man, don’t bring girls to your aunt’s place. Especially when she’s not home and doesn’t know someone is coming over. You don’t want her to have a reason not to trust you, do you?”
“No,” Cory said sullenly. “I got excited when Denise wanted to come over. I’ve never had a girl ask to come over before.”
“I understand, but are you really ready to be alone with a girl?” No sense in pretending he didn’t know what Cory was really interested in doing with a girl over.
“I don’t know. All the guys I know say I’d be crazy to not want to, you know…be alone with her. I don’t want to seem like I’m scared. Because I’m not,” Cory said in a rush.
Isaiah understood the false bravado. He’d been excited and scared about the idea of being alone with a girl, much less doing stuff with her. Thankfully, he’d had his dad and brother to talk to. Cory didn’t have either.
“It’s not about being scared, but it’s okay to be unsure about rushing into anything. You should always talk things out with someone you trust if you’re feeling pressured into anything”
“Who can I talk to? My dad is in jail. My mom skipped out on me. And I can’t bring any of this up with Auntie without it being weird.” Defeat filled Cory’s voice. He fired several virtual rounds and wiped out the remaining villains in the game. His shoulders sagged and he lowered the controller.
Isaiah put his own virtual gun on the mahogany coffee table and placed a hand on Cory’s shoulder. “Hey, you can always talk to me.”
Cory used his eye roll to say whatever. “Camp only lasts a few more weeks. After that, you’re back to being a famous basketball star. It’s been really cool hanging out here, but I know you won’t have time.”
He tried to pull away and Isaiah held on to the boy’s shoulder. “I don’t make promises I won’t keep. I’ll give you my number. If you ever need a man to talk to, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. You’ve got a lot of promise, Cory. Don’t let your current circumstances bring you down. You hear me?”
Cory’s nod was hesitant, but a hopeful light came to his eyes. “You’re really going to give me your number?”
Isaiah tilted his head to the side. “I’m going to trust you with it. You aren’t going to pass it out to every kid you know or show it to girls like Denise to impress them?”
Cory stood straight and met Isaiah’s eye. “No, sir. I wouldn’t do you like that. Not after you’ve been so helpful to me.”
The doorbell rang. “Good. That must be the food.” He dropped his hand from Cory’s shoulder. “Play another game while I grab it, okay.”
“Can I wear your headset?” Cory pointed to a headset that would let him hear and communicate with online players.
“Sure, you’re better than me at this game anyway. Go ahead and hook up with an online team.”
Isaiah left Cory in the media room and ran downstairs to meet the pizza-delivery person. He didn’t regret his promise. His mom used to chastise him for playing the hero. Cory’s situation wasn’t his business, but he liked the teen. Saw in him the same awkward kid he’d once been, but where Isaiah had the support of his family, Cory just had Angela, who was more than capable, but he didn’t want Cory to feel as if he didn’t have a man he could reach out to.
