Anthony
ANTHONY
I DIALED A number that I normally reserved for our biweekly check-ins which had waned in the last few months.
I had been speaking with this man less because not only was I busy but also because his wife had just given birth.
It seemed like my head had been on straight so we conversed a lot over text to check in.
After forcing Phro to have a bath, we sat and ate the dinner I’d brought home amid the boxes in the condo.
They felt symbolic. The condo was me being comfortable in what I thought was my success.
And I would’ve stayed in that mindset before I met Aphrodite.
But I was packing up all parts of my old home and only some of it was being taken to the new one.
The same was true of my habits and even the people in my life.
I was sitting out on the balcony enjoying the cool early October weather and trying not to wake Phro up.
He answered in the usual way he did that immediately redirected my thinking.
“If your head is down lift it up.”
I cracked a smile at the easy way he could shift my thoughts with a simple sentence. God really had to have his hands on this man because he was gifted and walked fully and joyfully in his purpose.
“I take it you’ve seen what’s going on?” He was always positive but for him to start out the conversation attempting to bolster my confidence meant he knew it had taken a hit.
“I have. If we’re having our first live conversation in the last few months I know something is up.
” I could hear him shifting and when the soft breathing came over the phone I knew he must have his son near him.
The announcement of his birth had been made on social media and I’d sent my congratulations and two big gift basket things that Aphrodite found.
One was filled with baby stuff and the other was specifically for his wife.
I was more than happy to let her handle it because I didn’t know anything about what women needed after birth.
He gave me patience to confess my feelings and I was thankful that he never rushed me. Traditional counseling meant you had to stay within the confines of their schedule and dealing with the demons controlling your actions didn’t work on a clock.
“I’m feeling conflicted.”
“About?”
“The emotions I’m feeling.” Because I wanted to do bodily harm to a lot of people right now.
“Speaking to your brother wasn’t an option?”
One thing about Jahmir is that he didn’t feel the need to be everything to everyone. He had a circle that he went to in trouble and wanted the people he counseled to have the same if possible.
“Nah. He’s as hotheaded as I am. Probably worse and right now our emotions playing off one another’s isn’t what needs to happen.” We’d both played well in our last game but shit talking opponents had us both getting senseless penalties.
“And your lady?”
“My lady. I don’t want the way I’m feeling to scare her off. I’m pissed, Jahmir. Like ready to go break a commandment pissed.” My people had been far more visible lately than before and I knew it was because they were basking in being the center of attention of the mayhem they’d caused.
“Your emotions are normal. It would be different if you were out here feeling the way you did for no reason at all. But that’s not it. You are more than justified in feeling the emotions that you do. Your parents haven’t been the best and I can empathize with you on that because I’ve been there.”
I’d been watching the nightlife move around below me like it might hold the answers on how to calm my emotions.
“How did you handle it?”
He chuckled and it sounded…different from how I was used to him being.
The man was normally stoic but for him to laugh meant the situation must’ve gotten out of hand with his people.
“He died before he had a chance to truly repent for his sins and my mother went on a sabbatical. She’s not at all repentant. ”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
I felt like shit bitching about this when his people died without him getting any type of closure. But I had to wonder if closure was even possible for us in this situation.
“It’s no bother to me. I made peace with both of their stances a long time ago. It just took me a while before I could impress upon them how disappointed I was in their behavior.”
“That must’ve been a tough conversation.” I couldn’t think about doing that with Jill and that nigga she was crazy about. We’d go to blows within the first few minutes.
I heard that chuckle again, and then some patting sounds as he cared for his son.
“I had my close family friends with me for support so it made dealing with them much easier with their support.”
“I feel you. I have a lot of people behind me, but they could be kinda rowdy, Jahmir. There won’t be any resolution with them, they do a lot more speaking with their fists than their mouths.”
“Understandable and you won’t find me convicting them. But you do need to be focused on maintaining the standard of play that you’ve started out with.”
“Why you say that?”
“Because doing anything less than playing at the top of your game will lend validity to what they’ve said.”
I thought about the way the commentary had been me and Antwan not being focused showing that the rumors had bothered us. If anything, we both balled out each game we wouldn’t have to worry about people we were bothered by what they said.
“Damn, that’s facts.”
“I told you that you are anointed. Everybody stumbles in their path but those who are faithful know that a mishap is only a small portion of a journey. The athleticism that you have is something that you were blessed with but you have worked to take raw talent and ensure that you can provide for not only yourself but your future generations. That isn’t a gift to take lightly and an enemy attacking that ability isn’t something that you should just let slide.
” He sounded far more Old Testament than New and I could tell that Jahmir would take off those preacher’s robes in a minute if he needed to.
“Not what I expected to hear. Thought you’d tell me to turn the other cheek.”
“You tried that. You’ve been slapped twice. You need to move smartly and logically so that you prevent the enemy from returning.”
“This is not at all how I expected this conversation to go. I thought we were gonna pray and you would give me some Bible scriptures to check out. Never thought you would tell me it was okay to put belt to ass.”
“Didn’t our God drown the Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea? The entire Bible is one long war against the enemy and our needing to be diligent is keeping them at bay.”
My brows rose because, damn, he wasn’t wrong. “But for now I need to chill and perform.”
“Yes, you’ll know when it’s time for you to do anything about the situation so don’t rush it. Keep your mind focused on what you need to so that you’re able to make your performance speak for you until you’re able to clear your name. This country loves nothing more than a comeback story.”
“Not for niggas, Jahmir, be for real.”
“They do when they can forget the color of your skin because it’s cloaked in their favorite team colors.”
Again, this nigga was spittin’ indisputable facts.
“You’re right. I gotta put my head down and live my life like this shit never happened. Playing into it and letting it get e off my game is exactly what they want. ‘Preciate you reminding me that I needed to tighten up.”
“Any time. But Jahbari just left me a deposit in his diaper I gotta handle. Just know that you have warriors working things out so the truth is exposed. Truth is the greatest power there is next to faith. You have both so don’t let anyone try to stop what you've got going on.”
I heard him moving around again and knew we needed to wrap it up. I had practice in the morning and my alarm would be going off before I realized it.
I stood up and stretched my mind feeling more at ease. “Thank you again, Mir. Go handle the young king and I’ll let you know how it turns out.”
“The victory is already yours, Anthony.”
My leg was jumping as I sat beside my brother in the boardroom. I’d experienced a bunch of highs in this building and I didn’t know if this was going to be one of them or not.
Billy, in her infinite wisdom, had us meeting with Jill and Antonio today.
I hated that my name was so similar to that nigga’s.
My mama told me that he never wanted a junior but in truth he already had one.
She was in constant competition with all the other women he was dealing with and to be honest I was just grateful that she hadn’t done that weird ass George Foreman shit and named me after him, anyway.
I looked at Antwan out of the corner of my eye, and his body was stiff as hell. Rye was on his right keeping her hands on him the way Aphrodite was on my left, using her touch to soothe me.
“Y’all good?” Billy glanced between the two of us and I kept my mouth shut before I got smart with her unnecessarily.
We both stayed silent and she smiled, realizing how we were feeling.
“I know y’all aren’t good because this situation isn’t one that would leave room for that.
I only hope that y’all get off your chests whatever you need to now before we move forward with what we’re doing.
I nodded, and Choo sat forward, dropping his head down. My hand went to his back as Rye squeezed his shoulder.
“Neither of us wants to be here but we know it’s unavoidable. We gone act right, Billy. I ain’t about to have you fining my ass if we mess something up in here.” I tried to smile but that shit came off awkward as hell judging by Billy’s laugh.
“Do what you've got to. This stuff is replaceable and I know the situation. Shit, y’all might need to keep me and Rye from getting out of hand.” Rye was nodding and I prayed they kept themselves in check or else it would be a brawl in this room.