Chapter 13 #2
“You’re not the only one who knows about hidden gems in Vegas.”
“This place is hardly a hidden gem, but it’s a nice way to spend an evening.”
“Don’t be a hater because I’m becoming well versed in all things Vegas.”
“Really, do tell me more of what you’ve learned.”
“Vegas has a rich history, you know Elvis … Tom Jones … the Rat Pack … the Bunny Ranch.”
“How do you know about the Bunny Ranch?”
“Are you kidding, that’s the reason I agreed to join the Ramblers.”
“I thought Vegas was a shit hole?”
“I never called it that. It’s hot as hell and the residents tend to stare, but I’m learning this city has some redeeming qualities.”
“You’re Aldridge Mosley of course people stare.”
“Someone should tell them it’s rude.”
“I thought you’d be used to people asking for autographs and singing your praises.” She pushed the foil from her burrito, taking another bite.
“I don’t ever wanna get used to that. It’s weird. I’m just a guy who’s good with a ball. The Stan culture is disarming.”
“You handle it well.”
“Because I don’t wanna be the headline story on SportsCenter. First rule of being an NBA player is, keep your nose clean.”
Her brows inched up her forehead. “I don’t think I could willing surrender my privacy for wealth and fame.”
“Fame takes for sure but it also gives back when you have talent to go with the celebrity.”
“Sounds like the cost is worth it for you.”
“This job allows me to support my family. If I get stopped in the mall or at the grocery store so be it.”
“The love from the fans is also a great motivator.”
“There’s nothing like locking eyes with a kid in the crowd with my jersey on.
That’s something you never get used to.” I could never afford to attend professional sports games as a kid, but I did stand outside and arena waiting for my favorite player to make an appearance, and was rewarded with a signed basketball from Deion McCabe.
“It’s cool knowing you’re out here inspiring the next crop of young ball players.”
“I don’t know about all that.” The thought of being someone idol was unsettling.
“Well, I do. Some kid is out there right now with your poster on their wall watching the highlights from tonight’s game and taking notes.
” While I wore blinders singularly focused on my next goal, Danessa was always thinking about the bigger picture and my legacy.
I was just manifesting a championship, but Nessa was already envisioning my number getting retired and me being inducted into the basketball hall of fame. I’d missed having her in my corner.
We both focused on our food and looked to the crowd for entertainment.
I took the time to workshop the logistics behind a do over.
There was a reason Danessa was back in my life.
Maybe there were lessons we still needed to learn.
Or perhaps it was the universe’s way of telling me Danessa was my person, which was something I’d started to doubt the longer we were apart.
“I’m tapping out. I can’t eat anymore.”
“Lightweight.” My burrito was already gone. “So did Anika go home?”
“No, she went to celebrate with her fiancé.”
“That is still so bizarre. I mean he’s a fuckboy, she’s a fuckgirl. What could they possibly have in common?”
“The fuckary is the common thread. They’re both chaotic and spontaneous. Just like their whirlwind romance.”
“I say we place an over-under type bet on the union because there is no way.”
“He gave her an official ring.”
I gasped. “Shut up.”
“Five carats, pear-shaped, flawless diamond.”
“Oh shit, her pussy be talking.”
“That’s my sister you’re referring to.”
“Your sister got that good good. That Sergio Mendes ‘Never Gonna Let You Go’ type of pussy.”
“I don’t know who or what that is.”
“Oh it’s a classic song. It will give you all the feels.”
“Right. Anyway, I think this wedding just might happen.”
“I’m gonna get them a toaster oven but like from Williams Sonoma because your sister is bougie. Don’t even ask me to include your name on the card. My gift is going to kill. And every time they reheat a Hot Pocket, they’ll think of me.”
“That’s thoughtful.”
“They’ll probably be able to pass it down to their kids and shit. Generational wealth.”
“I’m glad you think this is funny.”
“What did Jemini have to say?”
“Jemini wants to invite five hundred people to the wedding. She thinks it should be a destination affair, and she’s looking into the possibility of John Legend performing.”
“Pfft, John Legend does not perform for players who come into a game from off the bench. They’re not getting John Legend. Maybe Johnny Gill.”
“Wait, is John Legend on your wedding vision board?”
“What? I … I don’t know what you mean. What’s a vision board?”
“You’re lying.”
“I don’t care who Mr. Legend performs for.”
“Sure. So what else is on your wedding vision board?”
“Shiiiit I don’t really know.” I scratched my head acting like I didn’t know exactly what my dream wedding would entail.
I’d only considered marriage one time with Danessa and you know how that ended.
“Let me think … okay so boom, beach wedding, lilacs, my wife will have three dresses, one for the ceremony, another for the reception, and the last one for the kick back after the older folk have gone home. Something a tad bit more racy, short, ass cheeks abundant. Cigars, mocktails that are so good you don’t even notice the liquor is missing.
My best friends from childhood all hyping me up.
Bridesmaids all tens. Food immaculate, vibes top tier. Wedding night sex … scandalous.”
“You’ve given this some thought.”
“Nah, that was just off the top of my dome. I was freestyling that shit. What about you?”
“Small, intimate. Like a micro wedding. Just close family and friends. No great-uncle Lester’s.
No random lady who used to know me when I was little, asking me if I remember her.
I want it to be one hundred percent authentic to the love me and my husband to be share.
Maybe some food trucks like this or In-N-Out Burger.
A cotton candy machine. A private moment right after the ceremony, just him and I. ”
Shit, sign me up. “That sounds dope.”
“Really?
“I hope I’m invited.”
Danessa leaned over the arm of her chair. “I hope you are too.”
I don’t know exactly what was happening. But this woman was my future wife, and I was prepared to beg, borrow, and steal to make that my reality.
Danessa turned her attention back to her margarita. “Did you know your father was coming tonight?”
“No.” I wasn’t in the mood to talk about parents, but I understood it’s been forever since Danessa had seen my mother.
“It’s nice to see the first-game tradition is still alive.”
“She’s been to all my first games.”
“Your dad was less talkative.”
“That’s Lamonte Mosley, the life of the party.”
“I’m surprised your mom is still with him.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know if my mom is scared or if she just actually loves him.
We’ve talked about her leaving and she’ll listen, but she also makes excuses for him.
And it just pisses me off because how do you love someone more than yourself, more than your kids?
Like he broke Duane’s arm. Tootie peed the bed until she was twelve. ”
Danessa’s expression was solemn. I wasn’t telling her shit she didn’t already know.
When I was in college my sister, Tootie, would call me bawling her eyes out because our dad had come home drunk and looking to pick an argument.
Duane was in jail, I was away at school and Tootie was left alone to deal with the broken pieces.
And my emotions were mixed because while I was free of the drama, my sister was smack dab in the middle of it.
“I love my mom, but I swear for God I hate her just as much.”
“She’s a victim too.”
“Yeah, but she was the adult. Like at seven I knew our family dynamic was fucked up. We could never have friends over. We had to lie about obvious bruises. At ten I was telling teachers who asked about my black eyes that I fell off the top bunk bed, I’m just clumsy and accident prone.
I hate him. And I don’t …” My throat was tight and my chest was heavy and I needed to pause so I didn’t lose my shit.
“I hate him. And in the same moment I want him to say ‘Good job, son. I’m so proud of you. I’m so proud … ’”
“Have you tired talking to him about this?”
My mind went back to the bruise on my mother’s arm.
“I try not to think about it. Sometimes Tootie will mention an argument or Mom crying and I just don’t acknowledge it.
Distance is a luxury because I can pretend that shit doesn’t exist. I can go to sleep every night and just act like it’s not happening anymore.
What do they say? Out of sight, out of mind.
But every time I get a call from an unfamiliar number I think, this is it.
This is the call where the cops or a hospital tells me my mom is dead. ”
“Aldridge.”
“I can’t make my mom leave him. I can’t want it more than she does.”
“You have to remember your dad was significantly older than your mom when they met. And he did what abusers do. He isolated her, he groomed her. He made her believe that she wouldn’t survive without him.
Even now with a rich and famous basketball playing son.
I’m not trying to make excuses for her but it’s so complicated and deeply ingrained.
They’ve been together for almost thirty years. ”
“I don’t presume to know what my mom is thinking or what she went through.
I just wish she made different choices. And not for me but for her.
Because she deserves to be happy and the thought of her living a lifetime of sadness doesn’t sit well with me.
” Danessa had moved from her chair to kneeling in front of me with her hand on my knee. “I wish he hadn’t come to see me play.”
“You know your mother loves you right?”
“I know that my father ruptured my eye socket and at the hospital my mother said I was hit with a baseball bat while playing outside.”
“I don’t have the words to make this all better. I just wish I could take away your pain.”
“You can’t fix something you didn’t break. But you did show me I was capable of having a mature loving relationship. Until I met you, I avoided commitment because I feared I’d be just like my dad. Nurture versus nature, you know. I learned how to love with you and for that I’ll always be grateful.”
Danessa’s bottom lip quivered, and tears streamed down her cheeks. I stood pulling her to her feet. “Please stop crying. Cause if you continue to cry then I’ll start crying and get a headache.”
Danessa’s face brightened slightly as she wiped away the tears.
Her shoulder brushed against my arm as we watched the water in the large fountain a few feet away shoot upward, swaying in synchronization with the music.
The evening was warm, the kind that made the city feel like it was holding its breath.
It had been years since we’d been together, but time hadn’t dulled the magnetism between us.
If anything, it had become sharper, more potent.
Every glance, every brush of skin sent electricity crackling through my body.
I could feel her now, just inches away, the heat radiating off her.
Her familiar and intoxicating floral vanilla fragrance pulled me closer.
Danessa turned to face me, the shadows of the lights scattered across the plaza danced across her delicate features.
My heart thudded against my chest, louder than the music and commotion from the bustling crowd.
It was impossible to deny the way my body reacted to her presence, the way my pulse quickened when she looked up at me like that, as if we were the only two people in the world.
She took a step closer. Her movements were slow, almost hesitant.
Her eyes searched my face as if trying to gauge whether she was crossing a line.
I held my breath, unable to move, unable to break the invisible thread between us.
Then, so gently it almost hurt, she reached up and cupped my cheek, her thumb brushing the edge of my jaw.
The simple touch sent a shockwave through me, and I leaned into it, into her.
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to steady my breathing, but the moment I did, the warmth of her breath against my skin forced them open.
Leaning in she paused, lingering just inches away from my face.
The anticipation was excruciating, the tension like static in the air between us.
With a slowness that only heightened the longing, Danessa pressed her lips against my cheek.
It was soft, but the emotion behind it was anything but.
Her kiss lingered, as if she was savoring the moment, pouring years of regret and desire into that single touch.
Danessa’s lips were warm, but the contact still sent a shiver down my spine, making my knees weak.
She pulled back and her eyes met mine, everything around us was moving at normal pace but it seemed like in our little bubble the world stood still.
The air between us thickened with the unspoken things we’d left unsaid for far too long.
I could feel the heat of her body, the barely restrained desire simmering beneath the surface. Her lips parted, but no words came out.
Instead, she let her fingers slide down my arm, my muscles tensed beneath her touch. Was it really that easy to just pick up right where we left off?
With her initial kiss still burning my skin, I stepped back. “Thanks for coming to my game.” My voice was light as if my DNA had been sprinkled with a dash marshmallow fluff.
“I appreciated the invite. Even though I watched most of the game through my fingers.”
“You just need to trust the process. I can feel a championship in my bones.” My instincts were rarely wrong. The Ramblers were going to win it all this season, I was going to find the home of my dreams, and Danessa was going to remember why she fell in love with me.