“Ugh, I’m kidding! But damn, I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“Because bus rides are the heart of everything! You talk to people you wouldn’t have before, you try a snack someone’s dad made, it’s just the best part of basketball.” Brittney declared while opening a wrapper of sour candy.
“I think the best part is winning.” I countered matter-of-factly.
“Of course you do, Nono.”
“Nono?”
“Yeah, I just came up with it. I think it means no fun.”
“Iamfun.”
“Said no one fun ever.” Brittney rolled her eyes.
“Who died and made you fun police?” I took sour candy from her hand right before it entered her mouth.
“My siblings.”
“How many do you have?”
“Four.”
“Huh?!” I nearly choked. “There’s four ofyou?”
“I am choosing to take that as a compliment, but yes. I’m in the middle of two sets of twins. Amir, Aaliyah, me, Colette and Celeste.”
I ran through the names in my head in my best effort to commit them to memory. “Wait. A, B, and…C?”
Brittney nodded. “It started because of Aaliyah and Amir and then just…stuck around.”
“How creative.”
“Says the one with your dad’s name.” Brittney mouthedyikesbefore she ate her candy.
“Touche.” I laughed, opened the ginger ale, and took a sip.
“Any siblings for you?” Brittney reached out her hand, eyes on the ginger ale and I passed it to her.
“Uh, my mom and my stepdad had a daughter five years ago.” I winced because I already heard it coming.
“Aw, cute! What’s her name?” I watched Brittney drink my ginger ale, throat bobbing greedily. She closed her eyes like she was in the middle of an ecstasy spell. I forced myself to look away and stare at a spot on the wallpaper.
“Olive,” I mumbled.
“Be forreal, Nono.” Brittney lightly shoved my shoulder and giggled. She grabbed another candy from the bag but I beat her again and snatched it from her fingers as it entered her mouth.
At her look of shock, I winked at her.
“Unfortunately, I am.” I smiled back. “But yes. We both have our parents’ names.”
“How creative.” It was Brittney’s turn to mock now.
For once, I took it on the chin because dare I say, talking to someone else was easy. And it wasn’t because it was best to be nice to me because of who my parents were or how well I played. Brittney made this easy. She made me feel like I’d been missing out on friendship and being emotionally vulnerable for a long time. I’d only been able to achieve this level of ease with my childhood friend, Daya.
Now In had swept Brittney Lee, making me think the impossible was possible.
