“Yeah,” he finally admitted.
I nodded once, then drove my fist into him without warning. The impact folded him just enough to make the point. He staggered back, grabbing at his chest, but I had already moved on. The second one didn’t make me ask twice. He answered quicker, and I gave him the same treatment. A clean hit that reminded him exactly why he was standing there. At the end of the day, I was a father, and these little niggas needed a lesson.
By the third, the tension had built enough that I didn’t even need to repeat myself the same way.
“You too?” I asked, and he nodded fast, almost eager to get it over with.
The hit landed just as precisely as the last. The fourth swallowed hard before answering, his voice barely there, and I handled him the same way I handled the rest. Then I stepped in front of the fifth. He shook his head before I could even finish the question.
“I ain’t touch him,” he said quickly, like that would separate him from the rest.
I looked at him for a second, letting that sit, then dropped my gaze briefly to his hands.
“Well, you still got hands,” I said evenly.
The punch came just as fast as the others. But he caught it in the jaw for his slick ass mouth. The impact snapped his head back and sent him stumbling like his answer didn’t matter at all. Because it didn’t. I took my time stepping past him. Last but certainly not least was Cornelius. Sha still had the gun pressed against his chest, keeping him right where he needed to be. I could see it all over his face now, the fear sitting where that confidence used to be. I stepped in close. My tone was so low that I’m sure the other boys curled on the grass from pain didn’t hear anything that I said.
“This is the third time that you’re being touched. This one is going to hurt.”
He tried to speak, but his words tripped over themselves.
“Man, I…”
I grabbed him by the jersey, which made his words catch in his throat. My eyes dropped to the ground as I reached for one of the helmets. I already knew how this was going to end.
When I straightened up with it in my hand, he saw it. And that was when the panic fully set in.
“Nah, please.”
“Relax,” I said calmly.
Then I brought the helmet down hard against his knee. The crack echoed across the field, and his body gave out instantly as a scream tore from his chest. He dropped, grabbing at his leg, but I didn’t rush or lose control of the moment. I lifted the helmet again and brought it down a second time, this time more precisely, making sure the damage was exactly what I intended it to be.
His voice broke as he cried out. I leaned down slightly, making sure to keep my tone steady.
“My son can’t play right now,” I said.
I let that sit for a second before finishing.
“So, neither can you.”
I dropped the helmet beside him before looking around at the rest of them.
“Next time,” I said calmly, “y’all think a little harder about who you put your hands on.”
Nobody said a word. That was all I needed. I turned and walked off the field. Sha fell in step beside me.
We walked off that field the same way we came in: unbothered and unhurried. Sha was quiet at first, but I could feel it building in him. By the time we hit the edge of the parking lot, he let out a low laugh while shaking his head as he finally spoke.
“Man, I ain’t even gonna lie,” he said, dragging the words out like he was replaying it in his head. “You really lined them boys, up like that scene fromBaby Boy.”
I huffed out a small chuckle while pulling at the strap of the football gloves. Once they were loose, I started peeling them off my hands. The leather stuck slightly from the blood on them, so I worked them loose one finger at a time.
Sha kept going. He was clearly entertained now.
“I’m talking about one by one, you were asking these little niggas questions and everything. You ain’t even rush it. That shit was cold.”
I shook my head slightly, but I couldn’t stop the small smile that pulled at my mouth.
