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It was halftime,and Dallas was up by ten points. Nate had fifteen points and six assists. He was on his way to a double-double. Yendi wanted to step out and buy a couple of souvenirs. We left out and headed to a store that sold jerseys, key chains, and whatnot.
Once she’d picked out the things she wanted, we headed to the register and paid for everything. She lifted her camera and took a selfie of us then one of herself. Her smile was big, and I couldn’t wait to wipe that shit right off her beautiful face. Her titties were on display every time her duster sweater thingy fell open.
“See, I’m gon’ have to punish you tonight for wearing this shit, showing off my goods. That’s my pleasure bags, Yendi.”
She giggled and tilted her head back, puckering her lips. She knew I couldn’t resist those soup coolers. I leaned over and kissed her then pulled away with a smile on my face. It didn’t take long for that shit to fade though. I was hoping I didn’t see who I thought I’d seen. Grabbing Yendi’s hand, I pulled her harder than I’d intended. “Whoa, Jakari. What’s up?” she asked.
“I’m sorry. I’m tripping.”
I slid my hand over my face then brought her hand to my lips and kissed it. She gave me a soft smile, and we made our way out of the store to head back to the box. Before we could get there, I nearly walked right into him. I stopped in my tracks and stared right at him. Yendi looked from me to him and him back to me then brought her hand to her mouth.
He swallowed hard, and said, “Hey, son.”
My jaws flexed as I gritted my teeth, doing my best to control myself. I always wondered what I would do if I came face to face with him. When my mama told us about him and what he’d done, the only time I saw him after that was in court. The only reason I’d even gone to the hearing was to support Nesha, Chenetra, Shakayla, and Aunt Syn.
I’d imagined that I would punch him in his shit or curse him out. Right now, I couldn’t seem to move or speak. This was the last place I expected to see him. Yendi wrapped her arm around mine, clearly nervous about how I would respond. She knew who he was because me standing face to face with him was like looking in the mirror. We were the same height, same complexion, had the same hair and smile. My fingers even looked like his. Everything about my looks was a carbon copy of Avery Bolton.
“Avery, are you ready to go be seated?”
I turned my attention to the woman that was speaking and jerked away from Yendi. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
Avery looked confused, but the woman knew what the fuck was going on. It had been ten years, but Shakari looked almost the same as she did back then. The only thing different about her was her hair. I didn’t understand why the fuck he was with a twenty-six-year-old woman. She was younger than his youngest son.
“Umm… hey, Jakari.”
“Man… don’t fucking speak to me. Why are you here, enjoying yourself, while you being free has nearly destroyed the woman you raped for fourteen years. Didn’t you have to register as a sex offender? You a fucking pedophile. Ain’t no reason you should be allowed at a basketball game around little girls. Your parole officer know you here?”
All I saw was red. We had an audience, but I didn’t care. “Jakari, son… Can we talk?”
“Talk about what? Talk about how you’re a sick ass muthafucka that like lil girls? You gotta be a good thirty years older than the woman you with. You ain’t changed! You lied to them people at the prison. You need to still have your ass locked up. I can’t believe this shit,” I said as I paced,
“Jakari.”
I turned to Yendi as she silently pled with me through her gaze. Just as I was about to walk away and just go with her, he grabbed my arm, trying to pull me into an embrace. I shoved him to the floor. I didn’t know who the fuck he took me for. “Don’t you ever in your fucking life put your hands on me. Period!”
I walked away, practically running as security guards and cops came our direction. One caught up with me. “Sir, what’s the problem?”
“A misunderstanding with the man over there. I’m leaving because this arena ain’t even big enough for the both of us.”
“Okay. Let me escort you to the door.”
I nodded and headed that direction as I heard Yendi yelling my name. I couldn’t turn around to even acknowledge her. If I had to look at him again, I knew I wouldn’t be able to control my actions. The surge that I felt when he touched me had me dangerously close to going to jail tonight. I made my way out of the doors and called one of the people that always had my back. “I saw y’all in the box, nigga!”
“I need you to come get Yendi. Now. I gotta go.”
I ended the call and went to find my SUV. The voices in my mind were speaking loudly. If I went back in that arena, I would definitely kill Avery. Uncle Jasper was calling me back, but I couldn’t answer. I sent him Yendi’s contact information and hopped in the Suburban. I rested my head on the steering wheel for a minute then lifted my head and punched it.
I felt like I could barely breathe, but somehow, I was able to burn the fuck off. My phone was ringing again, but I didn’t bother looking at it because I knew I wouldn’t answer it. The voices in my head were telling me that Yendi didn’t deserve this, and I knew she didn’t. I thought I had this shit under control. Allowing her access to all of me was a mistake. She deserved better than this.
They were also telling me to track Avery down and do what the system should have done. I hoped he got raped in prison. Thoughts of him being somebody’s bitch gave me a little relief, but not enough to stop the pounding in my head. My phone was ringing again, and I could imagine it would be doing that for the rest of the night.
I grabbed it and powered it down, but not before seeing Yendi’s beautiful face. Noah’s words had found me quick as hell. I failed the test. I wasn’t ready for a relationship. I was no better than Avery at this moment. I literally just left Yendi stranded in Houston. I couldn’t see past my anger. Leaving was what was best. She needed to move on with her life and find someone that was better for her.
You should have punched that muthafucka in his slick ass mouth. That was the same mouth that coaxed little girls out of her panties.
I quickly pulled over and threw up. My mind created visuals for everything and at this moment, that was a curse. Seeing what he did to a young Nesha and a young, impressionable Aunt Syn was too much. Knowing he’d gone all the way with them and had the audacity to come home and sleep in the same bed with my mother after that, only made me regurgitate more.
