Chapter Forty-Five
Nola
I followed Bee’s lead when we got to the beach. She didn’t want to talk about Aaliyah’s response while I got changed, and I was respecting that decision, for now. But I was scared the quieter she got, the closer she was to letting this go before we gave it a real chance.
But the minute Bee and her little sisters dragged me to play mermaids, which was really just swimming around the ocean and picking the colors of our tail, every ounce of agitation melted from Bee’s face.
By now, I thought I had seen Bee in every state.
But in the safety of her four siblings, she was unreal.
Her goofiness was released as she splashed around with Celeste, the moodier of the two younger twins. With Celeste’s bangs flipped off her forehead, she looked so much like Bee it was scary.
I didn’t realize Colette had swam closer to me until she started talking, “You know, I’ve never seen my sister look at anyone the way she looks at you.”
“Because she’s never been in a relationship.” I dismissed easily.
“Nah. She was this weird when she came back from Spain, and even after her freshman year and they lost the natty.”
I flicked my eyes over to Colette, floating on her back and looking up.
“Yeah, well she took that out on me the next year, when she beat me.”
“True. But you’ve always been around. Even when she should’ve cursed your name, you always managed to come up in conversation.”
“I’m just trying to make sure she never has a reason to curse my name again.”
“Make sure of that,” Colette switched her position to swim away from me. “I know where you sleep now, Nola Young.” She smiled.
“I think you always did.”
“Smart ass!”
Bee swam over to me while Celeste went to meet her sister on the shore. “Was Lettie threatening you?”
“Definitely, but at least she was nicer than Aaliyah,” I joked to gauge Bee’s temperature.
In response, Bee sank her head under the water to scream. Her hair floated around her Medusa style as the air bubbles rose to the surface before her head popped back up.
“How was that?”
“Cathartic.” Bee eyed me. “Maybe if screaming was allowed, I wouldn’t crash out as much.”
“I’ll see if I can change some rules for you.”
“Thanks, baby.”
“Anything for you, honeybee.”
Bee’s eyes squint, her eyes assessing the top of my head. “Does anything include letting me re-twist your hair?”
I winced before I could think about it, “Only if you can be gentle.”
“Aw, are you tender headed?” Bee grabbed my face like I was a small child.
“Unfortunately yes, and I wasn’t expecting to get my hair wet.”
“Well that’s the life of a mermaid, baby.”
“So I’ve learned.”
The tension from Aaliyah and Bee’s fight still hung in the townhouse like a bad smell that wouldn’t leave even with the windows and doors open.
Even with mine and Olive;s age gap, we still found ourselves in stupid fights that took me too long to get over, while she moved on like she wasn’t just slinging insults at me left and right.
It seemed like Bee processed the same way. Between the way we floated with her little sisters in the ocean for hours, to the Mean Girls movie night we had after Aaliyah and Amir went to the house they were staying in, no one brought up the fight.
And that was so odd.
But tonight was our first game. The first opportunity for everyone else to see how we’d been fairing as two people on the same team for the first time in almost a decade. I’d understand if she wanted to keep everything bottled in tonight, but I also knew it wasn’t like her.
I sat in between her legs as the morning rays poured into the living room. The cool feeling of the rattail comb she held parting my hair into halves then quarters then sixteenths as she got ready to re-twist the hair I washed and blew out just for today.
“Thank god you’re doing my hair. I didn’t know what I’d do after the beach day.”
“Getting a girlfriend who can also do your hair might be your best idea yet,” Bee murmured before ripping open a pack of hair rubber bands that she had on hand.
“Bee, dating you was my best idea yet.” I braved when I wasn’t looking at her. I felt her hands still though, ever so briefly, before going back to applying gel to my scalp.
“Keep buttering me up, and I’ll outscore you in points.”
“I don’t need to butter you up to do that.” Bee’s hands moved fast as her fingers moved throughout the left side of my head.
“Nola, stop kissing ass.”
“Who’s kissing?” A sleepy voice asked from behind, and Bee didn’t even have to shift to guess which sister.
“Good morning, Nessie.”
“Morning. Happy first game day!” She yawned and came to sit on the floor across from me.
“I was going to make breakfast once Bee’s done.” I announced as Bee finished what felt like the last of my hair on the left. I was always bad at guessing how much hair was left. I could only pray we were close.
Celeste shook her head. “Lettie and I were going to do it; you guys are working tonight.”
“Please, you’re our guests,” I countered
“And I need time to interrogate your intentions with my sister.”
“Oh, God.” Bee probably rolled her eyes behind me.
“Understood.” Celeste still wore her bonnet so the forehead that was usually covered by her bangs was smooth and undisturbed as she leveled her gaze at me.
Where Bee, Colette, and Amir all had a silly streak that naturally flowed from their bodies, Celeste appeared to be all business just like Aaliyah.
Celeste pulled out her phone, ready to consult with it.
“Nessie, you wrote questions?”
“Yes, Bee-sting, how else did you think I’d keep all my thoughts down?” She rolled her eyes like the question was a dumb one to ask.
“What are your thoughts on live theater?”
“I love them.” I responded while Celeste typed out my answer.
“Name your favorite musical?”
“Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
Celeste nodded. “Extra points for taste.”
“Can I ask what a wrong question would’ve been?”
“Any jukebox musical. Obviously.”
“Right.” I nodded before Bee straightened my head.
“Is cheerleading a real sport?”
“Absolutely.”
“Do you believe in aliens?”
“I believe in something that exists in space. More of my money would be on Bigfoot though.”
“Another good answer.”
“I would love to know how this is an interrogation of her intentions.”
“I need to know if she’s a sane human being before I question her heart.”
“Did I pass the first test?”
“With flying colors, unfortunately.” Celeste’s face didn’t move.
“Why is that unfortunate?”
“Because it all comes down to this moment.”
“In regards to my sister, Brittney Lee—”
“—Thank you for the clarification.” I heard Bee interject behind me.
“What is your biggest regret?” Celeste kept unwavering eye contact with me, her eyes blinking, all-knowing like an owl’s, in a way that I didn’t know if she would strike at any moment or quietly observe the rest of my existence.
The Miami Waves home opener was easily the loudest game I’d ever played in during my professional career. It could be the overpowering energy of a reactivated team back for its second year, the familiar faces of half of the starting team or the chaotic energy Brittney and I brought to the city.
Every time I thought about this moment, I dreaded it.
That first feeling stepping into another uniform that wasn’t the Violets.
Seeing my name inked on another locker stall that wasn’t somewhere in Chicago.
I anticipated this moment to feel like pain, predicted that the only way through was the promise of everything just getting better with time.
But the time went by quicker than I could have thought.
I felt unstoppable from the moment I came out onto the court to run practice layups and shooting drills. I was still in the warm-up gear but knowing what laid underneath didn’t sting like I thought, it felt comforting.
By the time the arena lights dimmed and the screens started playing our team intro, my energy couldn’t stop me from moving.
The crowd roared when Farrah, Poppy and Courtney came on the screen, but everyone went crazy when the clips of both Brittney and I standing back to back appeared.
For two people who managed to be fire and fire, we burned brighter together and I couldn’t help but smile that not only did our on court relationship benefit but so did what happened off of it too.
I was crazy about Brittney Lee and I couldn’t wait to demolish the Los Angeles Rush.
We started the game slow and steady, both teams getting a lay of the court and how hard we could push each other.
But by the end of the first half we were up ten points and no one could keep up with the way Bee and I played together.
She was fast where I was sturdy, we tested out the new dynamic plays the coaching staff developed.
We stuck to our roles with Farrah as point guard but when the Rush started closing the gap, our coach got the idea to have Bee as the point guard with me playing as a forward.
From there we widened the gap back up. My threes sank easily when I switched to point guard, Gia got her first minutes as a rookie in the league and managed a sick block when someone from the Rush tried to get a breakaway.
We ended the game up thirteen points. A killer home opener that had me on the verge of kissing Bee on the court, but I stopped myself and settled for our first public hug instead.
After the game, I rushed through my shower and got ready so I could head over to the family lounge. Tonight was perfect, but there were a few more things I wanted to do before heading and going out to celebrate with the team.
For my first tunnel fit tonight I went with a white button down and black tie with graffiti painted black jeans to match.
It was one of my calmer outfits for the season but it still felt like I was making a statement.
As soon as I stepped inside, the crowd started to clap for me, but I waved them off in order to find where the Lee siblings stood with Rashida and Allison.