Chapter 2 #3
“Ain’t shit else to do in here. And you know me, I’m straight. Half the gang in here with me, so I’m always good. Same shit goin’ on out in the streets is going on in here. Murder, violence, and mayhem.”
“You been thinkin’ about what you wanna do when you get out? Last time we talked, you said you had about another ten before you were eligible for parole.”
“They don’t wanna see a nigga like me get out of here. I’ve already came to terms with the fact that I may never feel that warm Cali sun on my face again.”
As depressing as his statement was, he was telling me the truth. He’d gone from being one of the biggest kingpins in Cali to just another inmate with a number on his wrist. “Damn, Pops. You can’t think like that. Just keep doin’ what you been doin’ and you’ll get out.”
“Just in time to meet my grandkids, huh?”
I sucked my well-whitened teeth. “Grandkids? Where the fuck you get that from?”
He cheesed, showing a full grid of teeth. “I’m just sayin’.”
“What you sayin’, Pops?”
He shifted in his seat before changing subjects. “You know, I watch you on TV all the time. Niggas know what time it is when the king’s son is ballin’ on the tube.”
“Yeah?”
“Hell yeah. You’ve been upsettin’ niggas with these ass whoopings you’ve been handing out to these teams already this season. I tell niggas all the time, never go against a Croft man.”
“Never,” I agreed with him.
“You look good though, Prince. Life treating you well?”
I shrugged off his compliment. “I can’t complain.”
“You got somebody makin’ you happy. I can see it in your smile.”
“What you talkin’ about, man?” I asked, refusing to look at him.
“I know that smile, Prince. Shit, I invented that smile. That’s what good pussy does to you.”
I chuckled. “Yo, chill, Pops.”
“I’m just sayin’. Who is she?”
I sighed, not even able to downplay how I felt about her. “Her name is Cassidy. We know each other from back in the day. She lived in the same neighborhood as me and Moms after y’all divorced.”
“You trust her?”
“I do. She knew me before the NBA and shit, and even back in high school she was never on my dick like the rest of them broads. She’s got her own,” I affirmed.
“Shit, if I ain’t know no better it sound like you tryin' to put a ring on it.”
My shoulders locked up for a second before I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I am. She’s too bad not to wanna lock her down.”
“And you ain't putting up a fight, huh?” he asked with a chuckle.
My grin softened into a genuine smile. “Nah. I’m ready for whatever.”
He dipped his head in a nod. “Respect.”
“Yeah.”
“Besides your lady, what else is on your mind?”
“What do you mean?”
“I can tell you wanna say something to me, so go ahead and say what’s on your mind.”
“Aight, well, I wanna know what finally made you add me to your visitation list after all these years?”
“I told you, I never wanted you to see me like this. I wanted you to grow into the man that I raised you to be. I didn’t want everything I’d instilled in you to be torn down by an image of me behind bars.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like I ain’t know what you were doing out in the streets. You never hid that from me,” I interjected.
“I know that, but when they raided my shit and tossed me in this hell hole, I couldn’t allow you to see me reduced to this until I knew you’d found your place in the world.
I didn’t want my failure to hinder your success.
You may not respect it or understand it now, but you will when you become a father. ”
My father and I talked for another two hours before the correctional officer told me we had ten minutes remaining in our visit.
“Damn, it’s almost time for you to go already?” my father queried, sorrow in his voice.
“Yeah, I guess so. That hour went by fast, but I gotta get to the airport and catch my flight to Vegas. I’m playing in my old arena against my old team in a couple days on Christmas Eve.”
“How you feel about that?”
My shoulders hunched forward. “I don’t feel no way, really. A part of me is just ready to treat it like another game, but another part of me does feel a way. I won’t say nervous, but it’s something,” I confessed.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay focused and keep your head in the game? And look at you now. Just go out there and ball your heart out like you always do and give the mothafuckas hell,” my father advised.
I bobbed my head while reaching out to dap him up. “You already know.”
“Trust, I’ll be watching you and cheering you on.”
“I appreciate it, Pops.”
He stood to his feet, pushing the steel chair away from him with the back of his legs. “Well, I ain’t gon’ hold you. Have a safe flight and take care of yourself out there.”
“You take care of yourself in here, OG,” I said, extending my hand to dap him up once more.
He swiped his calloused palm against mine and pulled me into a tight hug before tapping my back.
I turned to leave when I heard him call out, “Hey, son?”
I twisted my neck back in his direction. “Yeah?”
“If I don’t see you, Merry Christmas.”
I cracked a grin, knowing he wouldn’t see me before Christmas, but I appreciated the lightheartedness of it just the same. “Merry Christmas to you too, Pops.”