Page 111 of Chosen By a Baller 3: Playin’ For Keeps

I had been stuck doing this rehab shit for what felt like forever, watching everybody else get to do what the fuck I loved while I had to sit my ass on the sidelines.

But now? I could finally see the light at the end of this bullshit.

Just the thought of putting my cleats back on, stepping onto that field, and hearing the crowd again had something waking up inside me.

Yeah. Twenty-one was coming the fuck back.

After we finished all the basic shit, my therapist had me do a little work on my arm. By the time we wrapped everything up, I could feel the soreness setting in, but it was nothing like it had been before.

That alone had me feeling good as fuck.

I dapped him up before checking the time. It had been a minute since I’d been out on the field with the guys, and since I was already at the facility, I figured I might as well go show my face.

The second I stepped outside, I spotted them running drills. And from the looks of shit, they needed me.

“Aye! Y’all ass suck without me!” I yelled, a wide ass grin spreading across my face.

Heads immediately turned in my direction. Even Coach looked over before blowing his whistle.

“Aye, bruh! What’s good?” Maurice called out as he jogged over and dapped me up.

“Shit, nothing much.”

He stepped back and looked at me. “Why the fuck you smiling so hard?”

“Because they said I’m getting closer to being back.”

His face dropped. “Oh, hell. Here go this nigga.”

I laughed. “Y’all been sorry as fuck without me anyway.”

“Nawl, we actually been doing good as hell without you.”

“I can’t fucking tell.” My eyes shifted toward the field just in time to see a lil’ nigga damn near fumble the ball. “And who the fuck is that?”

Maurice followed my eyes.

“Some dude from the B team. He been doing good, so they brought him up to give him a shot.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the ball hit the ground again. I slowly looked at Maurice. This nigga busted out laughing.

“Man, shut the fuck up.”

“I ain’t even say nothing.”

“You ain’t have to.”

“Well, shit.” I looked back toward the field. “They should’ve left his ass where he was.”

“Nawl, for real.” Maurice shook his head before looking back at me. “But according to the internet, football should be the least of your problems right now.”

The smile slipped from my face.

“What the fuck that mean?”

He started laughing. “Man, they got your ass getting a divorce, raising somebody else’s baby, getting cheated on, all kinds of shit.”

I sucked my teeth.