Coach Namir
“You did what?!” I hissed over the phone. The door to my office opened as a chubby black cat came sloshing in with its stomach moving from side to side with each step. I motioned for him to close the door before focusing back on the call.
“You said this man tried to fight my sister. I did what a big brother is supposed to do–––”
“You just made our situation worse!”
“I doubt it,” Bellamy said coolly. “It was more of a fair warning.”
I watched the cat leap onto the couch as its body stretched out into that of a dark-skinned man with bright vertical eyes and dark curls that laid low on his head.
He wore the gym shorts fitting for shifters of his size that could easily mold into skin when the body changes.
Courtesy of me pushing for uniforms so I don’t have a bunch of ass naked students running around in mid shift.
Quan sat back on the couch tired as he stretched and rolled his neck from side to side. The man might be one of the biggest on the Grounds, if not the biggest. He reached into his duffle bag he kept in my office to grab a pair of socks and white t-shirt.
“When are you all trying to do this? We can’t wait much longer. As soon as we get an opening, we need to take it. Drop whatever you’re doing and–––”
“Just call me when you’re ready to go,” I said before hanging up, annoyed. Scratching at my scalp, I leaned back in my office chair trying to think.
“They’re saying Maggie is the one who attacked a witch,” Quan said as he leaned back on the sofa. “The dean is looking for her now with two officers.”
“So I heard,” I muttered, thinking back to our fight we had last night. “The problem with her and Bellamy is the same shit,” I suddenly said with a slam of my fist on the desk. “Impulsive. They don’t think, they just act.”
“Aren’t you…concerned?” Quan asked.
If only he knew but for the sake of remaining levelheaded, I shook my head.
“Maggie didn’t do it,” was all I said.
“But on the off chance that she did and left?” Quan asked as he leaned forward to stare at me. “Why would she leave without saying anything unless something happened?”
“Do you think something happened?” I questioned, staring at everyone’s favorite pet cat in search of direction and clarity.
Once I learned Quan’s real story during his pledging process, and his true background.
He became my neo and eventually came clean with everything, and now my view of this school, its history, and the First Family has changed.
Maybe one day he’ll come out with the truth, but he seemed to enjoy playing around with everyone instead until things got serious.
Quan leaned back with another stretch, having gotten used to the feline body before parting his legs.
“I don’t know. She’s not like the others so it's hard to say. They can’t find anything on cameras so it's likely she left via a door but there is no door in that house.”
“Does it show her staying there? No sign of her ever leaving?”
“Correct.”
“So they can’t truly blame what happened to ol boy on her.”
“But they will,” he concluded.
He started texting on his phone as I stared at him. Something told me not to be concerned. I know my woman better than most here but it's tough when she doesn’t know herself or what she’s capable of.
The door to my office opened as my assistant, Cherice poked her head in.
“You’re being requested to sit in on an aquatics class,” she said. “Apparently, they’re taking a dive in the pool and just want to be sure everything goes smoothly.”
“When?” I asked.
“In about another hour. I sent the details to you.”
The door closed as I turned towards my computer to check my email.
“You’re strangely calm for all of this to be happening about the chosen one,” he said with a roll of his eyes. I smirked while continuing to go through emails.
“I’m not giving anybody a reason to use me to get to her and I know that’s going to be next,” I said. Leaning back in the chair with my hand on my chin, I pulled at the soft curls while looking at Quan. “Why aren’t you sitting in Souxie’s tote bag?”
“Because that idiot gay boyfriend of hers keeps bothering me,” he snapped with an attitude.
“Why don’t you just come out and say you like her–––”
“I don’t like her. Everyone thinks I like her, and I don’t.”
“You probably did at one point,” I accused. Quan shrugged like a child.
“If you believe that then fine but I never liked her. I know too much about her. We’re too much alike…”
“So you still linger around her like a familiar…You like being her pet.”
“I don’t.”
“You sleep with her.”
“I’d sleep with them all if I could,” he grinned before clearing his throat. “Obviously not Maggie.”
“Obviously,” I said with a tone. Quan ducked his head like the younger brother role he settled into when it came to me.
“I can’t stand Isis.” He suddenly said with disdain. Pinching my nostrils with a quick sniff, I leaned to the side on the chair with a smug grin. “Every time you look, she’s in another man’s face.”
“She’s single. She can do that and technically, being that you’re a nymph…” Quan glared at me while I suppressed my own laugh. “That’s how they move you know…Real overly sexual. No different than a regular siren,” I concluded.
“Solomon is getting close with her now. I guess it's his turn to take a ride.” Quan stretched his leg out with an angry expression on his face. “What does she even see in half these men? They only look at her as a fucking body to bag.”
“Didn’t you and her mess around once?”
“More than once,” he grumbled, annoyed.
“You also said you didn’t like her in that way…just wanted to have your fun and move on.”
“Yeah well…”
Quan didn’t say anything else about the matter. Knowing what I know about his background, the irony in him catching feelings for Isis and trying hard not to, was humorous to say the least.
“If she knew the truth about me, she wouldn’t dare look my way again,” he suddenly admitted. “That’s why I can’t be in a relationship with her. Then again who knows… Her and Solomon have fucked up history and she may still open her legs for him. Maybe I’d have a shot after all.”
“If you told her about your background, and she still decides to be with you? Would you go for it?”
“She won’t want to be with me.”
“But if she did? Instead of you doing everything to push her away, if she accepts you the way you are…this…feline nymph thing,” I said with a wave of my hand. “Whatever the fuck you wanna call yourself.”
“A curse. That’s what it is. A fucked-up spell I can’t get rid of.”
“If she accepts you for who you are, would you be her boyfriend? You already met the family; they fuck with you. Would you be with her?”
Before he could answer, my office door suddenly opened again. One of my students came in with two duffle bags as he dropped them to the floor.
“Coach, they kicked me out of physics,” Darnell complained.
“All because I heard someone say the professor had cankles and I didn’t know what that meant.
So I asked because I never heard the term before.
I don’t live above ground! How was I supposed to know?
!” He defended. “Can I go to the field instead of study hall?”
“Go wait in my lobby until I’m done with my meeting,” I motioned. Darnell was just about to leave when he turned back.
“Oh! Did you hear about the witch’s hack?” He asked as Quan looked up, confused. I already heard via email, but I figured it was better to hear it unfiltered and raw from a student.
“The what?”
“Yeah,” he said as he stepped further into the office.
He still looked every bit of a high schooler instead of a newly graduate.
“Someone hacked into the system and wrote on the boards a witch has been attacked by the First Family. Everybody is talking about it. I said they just wanna start a division man…. Who is really cut from magic and who isn’t, you know?
That’s what it's gonna come down to. That’s what my pops says anyway. Can I go get some lunch at the hall?”
“Go wait in my lobby like I asked.”
He sucked his teeth before walking out as the door closed behind him.