Page 58 of Love & Streetball

We said our goodbyes, and then it was just me and Slim, alone on the court as the sun started to set, casting long shadows across the asphalt.

“You still nervous?” I asked, my voice soft as I laced my fingers through hers.

She just nodded, her eyes fixed on the ground. “What if I’m not good enough, Kane? What if Law Grove is too much for me? What if we… what if we grow apart?”

I stopped walking and turned to face her, my hands gently cupping her face, forcing her to look at me. “Hey. Look at me. You are the best player I know. You’re gonna go to Law Grove and you’re gonna own that shit. And I’m gonna be at LSU, doing the same thing. We’re gonna be fine.”

“But what about us?” she whispered. “Ain’t long distance relationships hard?”

“It may be for some,” I admitted. “But it won’t be for us. We can handle a few hundred miles. I’ll call you every day. We can FaceTime. We’ll make it work. I promise.”

I leaned down and kissed Slim. One that was meant to reassure her, to show her that I meant every word. Her lips were soft, and she tasted like the watermelon lip balm she wore. I could feel the tension slowly leaving her body as she melted against me.

We stood there for a long time, just holding each other, watching the sun dip below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink. The future was still scary, and the path ahead was still uncertain. But as I stood there, with my girl in my arms, I knew that we could handle anything. As long as we had each other, we were invincible.

Fall semester before Thanksgiving break

“I hate exams,” Slim groaned on FaceTime

I chuckled as I laid back in the bed, tossing a ball up. “Don’t we all.”

“When are you heading home?” she asked, biting the end of her pencil.

“My last exam is Monday morning, so probably that evening. I can’t wait to see you,” I said, wiggling my brows. “And it’s your birthday.”

Slim would turn eighteen the day after Thanksgiving. I bought so much shit for her that I knew she would whine about it. My love for her went beyond materialistic shit. I went to sleep thinking about her. I woke up with her on my mind. Being with Slim was way different than the situationship I had with Kayla in high school. Kayla talked so much shit about other students, while Slim always not only talked about her accomplishments, but she’d tell me about her new friend, Janelle’s accomplishments too.

Janelle was Slim’s roommate and she played ball, so that’s how they became friends. The friendship made Slim’s college life easier. She even went to a few college parties, just to get out, but would be on FaceTime with me still. Even when I was at one, she’d be in my Air Pod. It wasn’t a trust issue either, we just did the shit. I really wanted to make sure she was good since I couldn’t be there in the flesh.

“I don’t want to do anything for my birthday,” she whined.

“You’re finna be eighteen.” My brows bunched.

“So.”

“Slim…”

“What, Kane?” Slim picked her HP laptop back up onto her lap.

“We gotta celebrate man. Stop playin’.” I put the ball down. “What do you want to do? Where do you want to go?”

“To sleep,” she laughed.

I narrowed my eyes, but an idea hit me and I picked up my phone that was propped up against my backpack. Slim was ranting about exams again while I was on my phone doing my big one for her. I didn’t care about her not wanting to do anything, because I was still going out for her. What I had in mind…Slim was going to freak out.

“Are you listening to me?” she asked.

“Mhhhm,” I mumbled with a smile. She was gonna kill me, but she was gonna love me at the same time.

17

“Haaaapy birthday!” Mama sang out.

I put the covers over my head.

“Thank you, but I want to sleep,” I told her.

Thanksgiving yesterday was so much fun. We were invited to Jalen’s house, but Mama cooked a few dishes to take over there. Everything was so good. Kane had gone out of town to his grandma’s but came over to Jalen’s right after.