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If only it were that simple, Grandmother…
“C’mon, Lia! C’mon, Lia!” I barked on the roaring field while lunging down the sideline pitch alongside the ball and players.
“Go, Lee-Lee!” her mother shouted behind me.
She stopped, chucked her little leg back for a promising kick, and…missed. The whistle sounded just after the buzzer, and the ref called the game.
Shit!
Half the crowd cheered as the other half—my side—either grunted loudly or sucked their teeth. Her shoulders fell in defeat. Seeing that felt like a kick in the gut.
“Lia!” I called out to her. Soccer could be brutal. So could basketball, volleyball, tennis, and cross-country. “Lia!” I called again. When she looked up, I waved her over.
With slumped shoulders, she made it to me. I took her by her little shoulder, and before I could speak, my cousin, Charlie did.
“Lil’ Lee, you good girl. They ain’t ready for you out here.” His eyes scanning the busy pitch filled with kids, parents, and officials. “Fuck them.”
I tossed him a look, ready to check his ass. The nigga smelled like weed, something he knew I fucking hated. It was one thing to smoke to your heart’s desire, but an entirely different thing to reek of it in public. He felt my heat, mumbled a few words, and walked off. Shaking my head, I turned back to Lia.
“Yo, what’s up with that pouting?”
“I missed the goal, Daddy.” Tears welled in her eyes.
“Is it the end of the world?”
She twisted her lips, looking away while balancing with one leg crossed over the other. Then Elia shook her head.
“Okay. So, what now? What should be the course of your brain now?”
Her attention was on me again, eyes blinking heavily. “How I can do better next time—but—”
I shook my head this time. “Nothing can be done about what’s done until your next opportunity to do it. Getting in your feelings is what?”
“A waste of brain power.”
“My girl.” I heard the whistle being blown again. “That’s where I need your head to be now. Not in your chest with your heart.”
“Coach wants them,” her mother, Krista, announced over us.
Elia reached towards me for a quick hug and kiss. “Call me,” was all she gave before running off to where her team had gathered for their coaches to take them to the locker room.
I stood up, feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out as Krista stepped closer, chewing on a damn grin. Red hair topped her head while she wore her scrubs, likely not having time to change before getting Elia here.
“I ain’t think you could make it today?”
I paid her a glance before tapping into the alert.
Missus:Dinner around six?
It was Saturday. The official homecoming game for her school was likely happening at this very moment. Why would she be asking about dinner?
Me: I thought you and the girls were outside tonight.
“I had time,” I answered Krista. “I knew she’d be in her head about this team.”
“Awwww! She was good, though. I had a talk with her on the way.” Krista chuckled. “I actually told her to think about what you’d say if you were here.”
“Thanks for that,” I mumbled, reading Lennox’s text.
