“What does he now know?” Birdie asked.
“That I was right all along. There is no such thing as a powerful First Family descending from the fucking moon or whatever…but there is such a thing as Gaia,” I said. Birdie gasped with intrigue while Namir shook his head.
“Really?!” She gasped but when Namir glared at her, she cleared her throat and adjusted her shoulders to focus. “What we all need to do now is focus on the trials coming up and wait for her arrival. From what I’m hearing right now, she’s not the only one that suddenly went missing. Apparently, Xavier Martin is now missing too, and the dean is in an absolute panic since he’s the damn face of all of this shit.”
“They don’t know where he is? He was just there on the Grounds last night. He just disappeared?” Namir asked. Birdie shrugged.
“He’s missed two major meetings already this morning. No one knows where he is and he’s not answering his phone.”
Just then, the sound of a phone buzzing suddenly caught our attention. I felt around for my pockets before seeing Namir pull out his own device.
“Yeah?” His voice, tired and demeanor drained but I could tell it was his brother Seth just from the unnecessary background noise he tends to have in his calls.
“Did you hear what that lady said about you? I just wanna make sure you heard it the way I did.”
“Don’t do this–––”
“YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ALPHA! Mothafucka you’ve been that dude this whole time!” Seth exclaimed. “THE FIRST WEREWOLF?! BRUH!? THAT SHIT IS CRAZY!” I glanced at Birdie with a quick wink of my eye while she anxiously stood in place waiting to hear everything. I would have to have what she calls ‘pillow talk’ with her later tonight. “How are you out here chasing this woman down, helping her with her life and shit but you running from yours this whole time?”
Namir gripped his head before using his hand to pinch at his eyes, trying to hide the fact that he was about to start crying. You could see it though, the hairs on his arms and legs standing up at the expressed emotion.
“Listen to me Namir…If your brother was alive today I can promise you, he would prefer you take his place over me. What happened at the funeral needed to happen. It’s cool being the interim alpha and all but the amount of…bitches on fours throwing it at me…I can’t stand it.” Namir started laughing as I shook my head. “I’m being serious! You know me…I’m not fucking no raw animal…I can’t do it…and that’s just me and my own personal issues with my image as a wolf. Maybe I should seek therapy…who knows?! I’m my mama’s son and will forever be her child. You on the other hand? You were born for this…born and bred for this and now you got the woman who is your equal…Yall were destined to be.”
“That might be the nicest thing I’ve ever heard you say, Seth,” I let out.
“Who is that? Is that Big Red?”
“One and only,” I replied with a light bow of my head. “So are you saying you no longer want to be alpha because you know you’re inferior to your little brother?”
“I’m saying I was never made official because I knew my little brother was meant to do big things. I’m just keeping his seat warm and away from others until he’s ready to sit down.”
“Awww,” Birdie cooed as she looked at Asha who smiled.
“Bellamy, what did Velma with the fangs say? Please wake my brother up and talk some sense into him. What did she say?” Seth asked. “Where ever she is, you know she’s not gonna come back the same woman as before. You and I both know that.”
I leaned my head forward with a tilt to look at Namir who looked like a child trying to find the strength to be strong. Something I will never understand, or experience is grieving the death of someone. So when Namir turned to look at me, I cleared my throat.
“Velma with the fangs said that you are the moon, and my sister is as powerful as the earth will let her be. Either get yo shit together or move aside so she can reign supreme.”
Seth sighed.
“That’s…Man come on now. That’s not what she said man.”
“Well it’s what I heard.”
Coach Namir
I sat my cup down behind me on the wooden table as I looked out at my athletes getting settled on the field. Looking up, I didn’t see the moon in the sky, but the clouds were clear, and the stars were bright. Quietly, I waited as I glanced down at my phone in my hand to see the picture of Maggie. She just woke up from a deep sleep and her hair looked like a cloud fell over her face. With a single yawn since she was still half asleep, I captured the zombie-like moment, sneaking to take the shot before pretending to be distracted with something else. Now looking at the picture, I found myself getting irritated because where the fuck have you been for you to reach out to Asha and not me?
“Coach?”
I looked up at the sound of my name before realizing everyone was waiting on me to say something. Grabbing my cup, I took a sip of the drink before placing it back down. These are my core athletes that were actively on teams and competing with other schools. Ones that had set uniforms, schedules, practice, and times blocked out for school, career and family time. Of the group, four were competing this Saturday in dome and though I had all the confidence in the world we were going to take home the win, I also had a feeling I couldn’t quite shake or explain.
“I called this meeting because for the next few days, I won’t be here to train and get y'all prepared for Saturday.” Everyone started to look at each other, already exchanging expressions, hidden stares and mutterings of whatever rumors they might have heard already. I raised my hand in the air for silence before scratching at my brow. “We’ve been at this for the past two years and I am confident that you all are more than prepared mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually for this weekend because it will test you. It will fuck with your mind,” I said as I tapped the side of my head. “What was my biggest thing when training everyone? Even if you’re not partaking in the games, what did I instill in you all and make sure your coaches have you do?”
“Endurance,” they all said together. Nodding, I reached for my cup again to take a sip.
“Endurance of the mind and body. No matter what, we don’t…”
