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“Just got home from the zoo.”
There was all sorts of confusion in his tone when he repeated, “The zoo? What you have an animal print shoot there or somethin’?”
“No,” I giggled, slipping into a side room as I quietly shared, “Kendall and I actually went there on a date.”
“A date?” he asked, not giving me a chance to respond before he followed up, “But I thought y’all were just friends?”
“Not anymore.”
“More like, never was,” he grumbled. “But anyway, I was callin’ to let you know I’ll be in town this weekend since you complained about me showing up unannounced last time.”
“I appreciate you letting me know in advance,” I replied, then asked, “Where are you staying?”
“What you mean, where am I stayin’? You get a little boyfriend, and now your daddy can’t use the guest room when he comes to visit?”
Shaking my head with an amused smirk, I explained, “I was just trying to confirm, old man. You know I’m always happy to have you. Maybe you can even come to the Skyhawks game with me on Sunday.”
“Like old times, huh?” he asked, the fact that I could literally hear the smile in his voice making me smile too as I told him, “You know the vibes.”
“In that case, count me in.”
“Great.I’ll have Kendall put you on the ticket list,” I replied, already looking forward to it as my dad and I shared a little small talk before we said our goodbyes. And once the call was ended, I wasted no time mentioning our plans to my man, phrasing it as a question when I approached where he was sitting in the living room to ask, “Hey, would you be able to put my dad on the ticket list for this weekend’s game?”
“Your dad?”
“Yeah, he said he’ll be in town this weekend, so I thought it’d be fun to have him join me,” I explained, grinning about it until I saw the blank expression on Kendall’s face. And when he sat up towards the edge of the couch, I only became more concerned, all but ready to ask what his problem was until he came out with it on his own.
“Shakira, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“And why not?”
“I just don’t want people to get the wrong idea about our involvement,” he answered, that response making me frown instantly as I crossed my arms over my chest and repeated, “The wrong idea about our involvement?”
“Notour, as in you and me,” he clarified. “Our, as in me and your pops.”
That was only relieving to a small degree since I still didn’t fully get what he was trying to say, vocalizing exactly that when I sat down next to him and said, “I don’t understand.”
“Basically, because of the business your pops is in, there’s a lot of risks involved with me,an active player in the NFL, being associated with him.”
I appreciated Kendall making it plain for me. But finding out the root of his issue still had me a little baffled when I asked, “So this is about the gambling stuff?”
“Correct.”
“So my dad can’t attend a game with me because the powers that be might think, what? That you’re like, doing stuff for him to win his little bets or whatever?”
“Notlittlebets,” he corrected. “But yeah, pretty much.”
With a humorless chuckle, I argued, “Kendall, that’s ridiculous. My dad might be about his money, but he would never do anything that could potentially put your career in jeopardy.”
“I’m not sayin’ he would or wouldn’t,” he replied. “But either way, I’d rather not have to deal with the kinda speculation you and I both know his attendance would draw.”
Considering how folks were quick to speculate based on just a picture of Kendall and me, I knew there was some validity to what he was saying. But I still didn’t like it, frowning when I told him, “Fine. I guess we’ll just watch it together at home then.”
“So now you’re not coming either?”
“I mean, I’d hate for anyone to get the wrong impression.” I groaned sarcastically, rolling my eyes as Kendall grumbled,“Don’t be like that.”
And I suppose the silence I responded with was enough to bother him into asking, “You’re really mad at me?”
