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He had known her since the beginning of the Twelve, but they had never really had any meaningful interactions. He took note of how happy she always seemed, very laid-back and free-spirited, and sometime in the last few months, he began to look forward to the Twelve meetings.
The more he watched her, the more his attraction grew. He always spoke, always engaged in small talk with her, and she was always polite in return, but she had never given any signals that she was interested. And that was one way in which she was different from other girls he knew.
Bakari didn’t play dumb about his status. He was handsome gang all day. Add sports, muscles, and a little money to the equation, and all girl problems are solved. It was too easy. He never even had to ask anymore. Girls were buying him lunch, driving by his house, picking him up for dates. His mother would suck her teeth in disgust. “Doesn’t anybody know how to court anymore?” she’d ask. But she didn’t understand what it was like to be a young black athlete in this era. He had almost 9,000 followers on Instagram. “Your boy is in demand, Ma,” he’d told her.
He had been content to take the easy route. Until Danielle. She was different. She was special.
He was going to get to know her this year, and as unfortunate as the Nyleah incident was, it had worked out in a way. Now he had the perfect opportunity to bond with Danielle. His father had drilled into his head that he wasn’t to speak of it, even to the people who were there that night, but he wasn’t going to pass up the chance to get in good with her.
He had approached Danielle’s locker on Thursday and found her standing there fixing her hair. She looked good that day in tight jeans, a fitted grey t-shirt, and a white headwrap thing in her hair.
That was another thing about Danielle; she didn’t wear a lot of makeup that he could tell, and she kept her hair natural. He studied her as he approached. He got right up on her, maybe six inches away, and she simply turned and looked at him, a slight smile on her face.
“Uh…hey,” he’d said, feeling stupid already, but she smiled brighter, her dimples making him melt.
“Hi. How are you?”
“I’m good. What about you?”
“Same.” The two stood in awkward silence until Bakari realized she wasn’t going to make it easy on him. He stared at the floor and told himself to keep pushing forward. “How are you with…everything?” he asked.
Danielle looked to her left and right before speaking in a hushed voice. “I try not to think about it.”
Bakari exhaled. “Me, too. It’s hard.”
Danielle looked into his eyes, seemingly searching for something. “You’re the first person who’s said anything to me about it.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. And I’ve been wanting to talk to somebody.”
Yes!he thought. This was it, this was his opening. He stared into her dark brown eyes, nearly getting lost, and spoke with confidence. “We should meet up and talk. You and me, I mean.”
“Okay. When?”
“You free tonight?” He was embarrassed by his eagerness, but Danielle didn’t seem fazed by it.
“I can’t hang out on school nights. What about Saturday?”
“That’ll work. I can be by to pick you up at 7:30. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, that works. I’ll be ready.”
He got a light workout in the morning of the date, and then he went home and had his father line him up. After his shower, he gelled and sponged his hair before donning ripped light blue jeans, a white V-neck t-shirt, and a grey pullover. He finished the look with his white and grey Retro Jordans. After several minutes of agonizing, he decided on Jean Paul Gaultier as his scent for the evening.A young nigga is on point,he thought as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. But that confidence only lasted up until he’d pulled out of his driveway. He hadn’t felt this off his game in years.
He put his car in park at exactly 7:29, giving himself one minute to get to her front door. He rang the bell, and she came right outside in exactly the same outfit she had worn at school on Thursday. For a brief moment, he felt silly for obsessing about his own presentation, but he brushed it off. She didn’t care about impressing him, which only impressed him more.
They went to Chili’s to get a bite to eat, choosing a back booth away from the noisy bar. A pre-season game was underway on the mounted televisions. Ordinarily, Bakari would have watched, but tonight was about Danielle. She was getting his undivided attention.
They ordered their food. Once the waiter walked off, Bakari tried to relax. “So what did you wanna talk about?” he asked.
Danielle leaned closer from across the table, lowering her voice. “Just…it bothers me. I wasn’t there when y’all found her, but I was there most of the night. I talked to her right before I left. She was fine.”
Bakari took a sip of his water. “I was there, but I didn’t see anything.”
She peered into his eyes. “Do you think it was one of us?”
“Honestly, I don’t know what to think. I don’t wanna believe that. I mean, most of us have been knowing each other since elementary.”
