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“Well, yeah.But…”
“So she didn’t tell you before she pulled the trigger,” he interrupted. “Given y’alls history, I can see why you think that’s messed up. But just because the similarities are there doesn’t mean she did it with the same intentions. And itdefinitelydoesn’t mean you should be handling it the same way you did when you were my age.”
Damn.
He was right.
Iwashandling this shit the same way I had at his age.
I’d been so wrapped up in my own feelings that I hadn’t really noticed it before. But now that he’d mentioned it, it was all I could think about as I played our recent interactions back in my head and realized just how immaturely I’d gone about this entire thing.
The pettiness.
Not being open to hearing what she had to say.
The silence.
All that shit was juvenile as fuck. And even though it was kind of embarrassing that it had taken a teenager’s help for me to recognize that, I was glad he hadn’t been afraid to call me out, lowkey making me proud when I dapped him up while telling him, “I appreciate you giving it to me straight, Ahmad.”
“You helped me get my relationship back on track. The least I could do is help you do the same with yours,” he responded, making me frown a little bit as I said, “Hol’ on. What happened now?”
“Remember that size six and half?” he asked, waiting for me to nod before he explained, “Me and my girl were beefin’ over some stupid stuff around that time. But once she saw the shoes, she couldn’t stay mad at me.”
Because I could tell his little ass thought he was so player for that shit, I couldn’t help but chuckle in response. But then it hit me that he might’ve been onto something, Ahmad giving a knowing smirk when he said, “You should get her the Diors.”
“Yeah, and what else?”
“And what else?” he repeated, already laughing to himself as he said, “If those alone don’t get your girl back, then there’s no hope for you, bro.”
He’d made a solid point.
As far as sneakers were concerned, the Diors were definitely a grand gesture on their own. So with that in mind, I left the community center and headed straight to Just Kickin’ It to see if they even had any in stock, taking it as a sign when there was only one pair left in Yani’s size that I snatched up before finally making my way to her father’s house.
There was no plan, no script, no list of points for me to make as I pulled into the driveway, rang the doorbell, and then waited for her to come to the door. And I guess it was a good thing that I hadn’t come into this with a firm idea of how this was all supposed to go since she wasn’t even the one who actually answered it, Mrs. Hayes II giving a confused smile when she said, “Hey Hawk. What’s going on?”
“I was umm… hoping to see Briyana,” I answered, for whatever reason feeling nervous about it as Mrs. Hayes II casually responded, “Well you’ll have to go to Beaverton for that.”
Wait, what?
My heart was already pounding through my ears when I asked, “I thought she wasn’t leaving until tomorrow?”
“They weren’t at first,” she confirmed. “But when Briyana’s apartment became available a little earlier than expected, she said she didn’t want to wait around anymore. And you know her wishes are her father’s commands,so…”
“She’s gone.”
That revelation hit me hard. And from the empathetic look on her face, I could tell Mrs. Hayes II felt a little bad about it. But I suppose I should’ve known it wasn’t going to be as simple as giving Yani a pair of apology sneakers, forcing me to come up with a real plan when I asked, “You wouldn’t happen to have her new address, would you?”
The question made Mrs. Hayes II scowl. And I didn’t understand why until she responded, “You mean, do I have the address of the place my husband and his ex-wife are currently staying at together under the guise of good parenting even though their daughter is a full-grown adult?”
Oh shit.
When she put it like that, I could understand why she was so bothered; especially after being a witness to some of the semi-flirtatious behavior between Yani’s parents the night we’d all had dinner together. But since their business was truly none of mine, I tried to be polite about it when I skipped over all that to ask, “Would you be able to share it with me, please?”
“Stay right here,” she replied, leaving the front door cracked as she took off into the house. And after a few minutes passed, she returned with an attitude and a piece of paper, shoving it into my hand as she said, “This is the address John gave me. But his ass could very well be lying.”
“Well damn,”I thought, trying my best not to outwardly react to the second part of her statement when I replied, “I really appreciate this.” And with everything Yani had already told me about her, I wasn’t all that surprised when Mrs. Hayes II responded with a subtle eye roll before closing the door in my face, leaving me out on their porch looking goofy as I glanced down at the piece of paper and asked myself, “Now what?”
With our final game of the regular season happening this weekend, I knew it wasn’t even possible for me to fly out to see Yani immediately. But I also felt too anxious about it to not make it happen as soon as possible. So once I got back to my car, I wasted no time getting my plans together, pulling up a list of available first-class flights on my phone and then booking one for right after the game on Sunday with hopes that she’d actually care to see me.
And that Mr. Hayes hadn’t lied to his wife about her address.
