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Kendall
He was tryinghis hardest to provoke me.
Between the shit he’d apparently been talking all week on Twitter and the old pictures he’d posted of him and Shakira on his Instagram story a few days ago -both of which I only knew about because of Anastasia- it was obvious Enzo was determined to get into my head before tonight’s matchup against his team. And while I’d mostly been able to avoid getting caught up in his nonsense by staying off of social media, him approaching me on the field during pregame warmups practically made it impossible for me not to engage, especially after he fixed his crusty ass lips to say, “Hey, Lil’ Doggie.”
Against my better judgment, I decided not to respond since responding meant giving him the attention he so desperately wanted -Shakira’s words- and I had way more important shit to be doing right now. But of course, my lack of a reaction only encouraged Enzo to take things a step further when he moved a little closer to taunt, “Oh, so now you can’t speak? Or do I gotta bark at your ass for you to be able to understand me?”
Because the shit was so corny, it wasn’t all that difficult to just shake my head as I started to walk away. And with the circumstances considered, I was kind of proud of myself for turning the other cheek until I heard Enzo call after me, “So I see Kiki got her new bitch trained real good, huh?!” his question stopping me dead in my tracks since…does this nigga really think I won’t beat his ass?
I mean, it was one thing for him to make his little doggie jokes. But him calling me a bitch and having my girl’s name in his mouth was crossing the line. And for that reason, I had no choice but to turn around and address that shit, only to be stopped short of actually doing so once Hunter rushed over to hold me back while telling Enzo, “Bro, go find some business.”
“Come on, Hunt. You know I’m just messin’ with him,” Enzo chuckled. “Your boy is just acting sensitive.”
“Ain’t nobody actin’ sensitive,” I groaned, pointing my finger his way as I snarled, “You just need to watch who the fuck you talkin’ to.”
“Snoop, chill,” Hunter begged as he started to pull me away from the scene. And it was probably a good thing that he was, saving me from doing something reckless when he advised, “You’ve made it too far to let Enzo’s punk ass break you now.”
He had a point.
With the opening kickoff right around the corner, now wasn’t the time to be losing focus of what I was really here to do. But even knowing that, I still couldn’t help responding, “Nah, the only thing gettin’ broken is that nigga’s jaw if he thinks he can keep runnin’ his mouth without consequences.”
“Damn, Snoop,” Hunter chuckled. “I mean, I feel you,but… is Enzo really worth the money doing somethin’ like that will cost you?”
Putting it that way made it a little easier for me to calm down since Hunter was right; knocking Enzo’s ass out wasnotworth the future game check I’d be forfeiting if I were to get suspended. And even beyond the money, Enzo wasn’t worth me not being able to be there for my team, especially considering there were only four games left of the regular season which meant we were in crucial times as far as the playoff standings were concerned.
Thanks to the three-game winning streak my squad and I currently found ourselves on, that only put us two victory formations away from clinching a postseason berth. And as the top team in our division and one of the top teams in our conference, we were also in position to potentially start the playoffs with a first-round bye. But losing any of the games we had coming up -including tonight’s- would put all of that in jeopardy, making it even more important for me to get focused since Enzodefinitelywasn’t worth all that.
He thought he was, though.
You could tell by the way he immediately started talking shit again once me and my offense took the field for our first possession of the game. But instead of letting his little weak ass,“Here, boy,”taunt get in my head, I treated the moment as a test of my mental toughness. One that I didn’t plan on failing as I took my first snap and dropped back for a screen pass to our recently acquired veteran running back, Carmelo Calloway, who got up the sideline for about twelve yards before Enzo finally pushed him out of bounds.
“Lookin’ good, old man,” I joked once our new RB jogged towards the huddle, thirty-one-year-old Carmelo shaking his head with a smirk as he stood with his hands on his hips trying to catch his breath while I called out the next play. And again, it was one that just so happened to be going Enzo’s way, this time to Hunter who caught an easy fifteen-yard pass over his trash ass defender’s head before falling to the turf.
“Nigga must’ve stayed up all night writing jokes instead of studying film,” I muttered to myself as I made my way down towards our new line of scrimmage, this time skipping the huddle in favor of going right into the next play. But because of his newness, Carmelo wasn’t well-versed on the playbook quite yet, missing my call for a handoff that left me with no choice but to take off running for a few yards until I was forced to slide in order to avoid taking a hard hit.
“Yeah, you better get down,” Enzo groaned as he stood over me like he had anything to do with my decision, the fact that he could still find it in himself to act tough like he hadn’t just gotten exposed on back-to-back plays lowkey comical to me. And I suppose it was for that reason that I found myself going at him again on the next down, hitting Hunter in stride on a deep post route that had him leaving Enzo in the dust on his way in for our first touchdown of the game.
“Let’s fuckin’ go!” I yelled as I sprinted down towards the end zone to celebrate with Hunter who saw me coming and immediately shouted,“Nowthat’show you shut his ass up!” And while I wished it would’ve been that simple, the slow start to our next offensive possession proved just how challenging shutting Enzo up would actually be, especially after he managed to knock one of my passes out of play which gave him just enough ammunition to start running his mouth again.
“That’s it, Lil’ Doggie. Keep being a good boy for daddy,” he taunted from his side of the field, making me roll my eyes as I huddled up my team so that I could deliver the third-down play call. But after we broke and I saw the coverage the defense was in, I immediately called an audible that had me taking the snap and then faking a handoff to Carmelo before I took off running down the middle of the field for a huge gain until I was tripped up by one of Tennessee’s defensive backs near their thirty-yard line.
“Hell yeah, Snoop!” Hunter shouted, smacking me upside my helmet to celebrate the second I popped up from the ground. And with the momentum now back in our favor, I was completely locked in as I led my team down the field for our second touchdown drive of the night, putting us up fourteen to zero as the first quarter came to an end.
“Nigga did all that talkin’ just for his team to come out here and get shitted on,” Hunter bragged with a laugh as we sat on the sidelines between quarters, the accuracy making me smirk even though I didn’t want to get too ahead of myself by agreeing out loud. And it was probably a good thing that I hadn’t since Tennessee started the next period off with a bang, scoring a touchdown after a long drive by their offense and then putting themselves in perfect position for another thanks to a good play by their special teams who recovered the ball near the twenty-yard line after our returner fumbled the kickoff.
Just like that, the momentum had swung yet again in a major way. And unfortunately, all I could do was watch as our defense struggled to protect the end zone, Tennessee pretty much having their way with each down until they plowed the ball in for a score and then tied the game with a successful extra-point try.
Fuck.
As frustrating as that shit was, I knew it wasn’t the end of the world. And I was sure to communicate that with my offense when we huddled up on the sidelines. But once we took the field for our first possession of the second quarter, it was clear a lot had changed since the last time we were out here, the boisterous energy of the fans that resulted from the home team now being on a roll adding an extra layer of intensity that felt like a weight on my shoulders as I lined up behind my center, called out a cadence, and then took the snap before handing the ball off to Carmelo who almost immediately got tackled for a loss.
Fuuuuuck.
The film would tell me later if I’d made the wrong read or if someone had just missed their block. But right now, I couldn’t dwell on it either way, forced to shake it off so that I could communicate the next play to my team. And thankfully, it was one that brought us some success, the short pass to my tight end putting us three yards away from a first down and giving us a much-needed spark as we lined up for what was honestly one of the most critical moments of the game thus far since converting on this particular third down would not only extend our possession, but it would also put us in position to potentially score a touchdown.
On the flip side, if Tennessee got the stop, we’d more than likely have to punt the ball on fourth down, giving them a chance to take the lead going into halftime. And since the last thing we needed was for them to have any extra momentum, I was determined to get those three yards by any means, taking the snap for what was supposed to be a pass play but quickly turned into a quarterback scramble once I realized all of my receivers were covered.
When I juked left to avoid one defender, I almost ran directly into another. And when I spun right to avoid that one, I was almost caught by somebody else, leaving me with no choice but to move backwards to create some space. But all that really did was make me more vulnerable to the cornerback who was coming in hot, Enzo putting everything he had into the tackle that put me on my back and left me irritated as hell once he said, “I see you and Kiki both like it rough.”
