14. Mercy
MERCY
“Keep that same energy!” I laughed as I ran backward down the court. “Keep it!”
“Nah, man, you cheating!” Givens yelled as he walked up the court. His face was twisted in playful annoyance; all I could do was roll my eyes. “Legit, y’all are world champions, y’all running us ragged.”
“Just say you're not in shape and stop fronting,” I replied, and Givens scoffed. “I mean, I’ve seen you work out, but you never break a sweat.”
“Cuz I’m a professional,” he replied, and I waved him off and got into a defensive stance. “DeCorte, you trying to show me up.”
“I don’t have to try too hard,” I said, and he shook his head. I lowered my voice so that only he could hear me. “Just know later, when I collect my prize, you’ll love it, too.”
“You talkin’ dirty to me while my daughter on the sidelines?” he dribbled between his legs and smirked. “Is that how women play? Talk nasty to they nigga and hope our dicks get hard so we forget about the game and want you?”
“Nope,” I said, then stole the ball. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Legacy sprint full speed down the court, and I knew Givens nor Hood would be able to catch up with her. I threw a baseball pass down the court into Legacy’s hands. “We ball out and talk shit.” I ran past Givens and laughed.
“Come on, daddy!” I heard Faylin yell from the side lines.
“Game!” Legacy yelled as the ball floated in the air toward the rim. I watched from the top of the key as it ripped through the net. The girls jumped to their feet, cheering, and ran to us. They were excited that we’d won, which meant practice was over for the night.
“Y’all won, so that means we get a game night!” Faylin said as she wrapped her arm around me. I don’t know what I expected from her once she learned that her daddy and I were dating, but she hadn’t changed. Faylin always liked being with me and hanging out.
“I heard you cheering for your daddy, though,” I laughed as I pulled Faylin closer to my side.
“Cuz he’s my daddy, coach; somebody has to cheer for him,” Faylin said, and I playfully rolled my eyes.
Hood pulled Legacy to the side, and they started talking. The girls pooled at the center of the court and started stretching so they could wrap up for the night. We had to double our practices to prepare for our first game, so I knew they were tired.
“No, I don’t want to go,” I heard Faylin say to our center, Lulu. They shared a look that I let slide and went back to looking over plays. “She’s just doing too much, you know?”
“So what are you going to do since your dad is leaving? You think he will let you stay at home alone?”
“Nope,” Faylin denied and shook her head. “So that means I’ll be there.”
“I’m sorry, friend,” Lulu said, and Faylin shrugged.
“Faylin, let me talk to you,” I requested. She got up from her spot next to Lulu and jogged over to me. “What do you think about staying the night with me to go over plays and drills?”
“Really?” she asked, and I nodded. “Yeah!”
“Go talk to your daddy about it,” I said, nodding to Givens, who’d just finished talking to Hood.
“You are not slick,” Legacy said, standing beside me. I quickly glanced at her before shrugging. “That little girl has your heart just like her daddy does.”
“They are alright,” I laughed, and Legacy bumped her shoulder against mine. “Okay, I like her. She’s not over-the-top dramatic, and she’s a damn good player. She reminds me of me at her age.”
“Minus the crazy shit you did?” she replied, and I shrugged. “I never thought I’d see you in another relationship. I like the domestic look on you.”
“Truthfully?” I asked, and she nodded. “I do, too. I mean, he could be with the drama, but he’s not.” I shrugged as I watched him and Faylin interact. “It’s peaceful over here as a girlfriend.” I quickly glanced at her. “You should try it.”
“No, thank you,” she denied, shaking her head and laughing. “I like being single.”
“But the sex, friend,” I whispered, and she waved me off. I grabbed her arm when she tried to walk away. “For real, the things I’ve done with him and want to do! Get you a man, asap.”
“No,” she laughed and backtracked. “I’m good at the single life.”
“Fine,” I huffed, which only made her laugh harder. “But when Hood locks you down, I don’t want to hear shit about how much you’ve been missing.”
“Goodbye, Mercy!” she shouted as she walked away. “I love you; call me later.”
“Later!” I laughed. “Love you, too!”
I set the last ball on the rack and watched Lulu leave the gym with her mama.
Out of all my kids, Lulu was the one I knew needed to be here the most. She came from a single-parent household that would prefer her to get a job to help with the bills rather than play ball.
She could use her talents to get into a D-2 school and get a free education.
My hope for her was to get out and never come back.
Faylin approached me, and Givens trailed behind her. “Coach, my daddy said it was fine if I stayed with you,” Faylin quickly said. Even though she was happy, Givens looked anything but. “I have to get a few things from the house, but I will be ready in an hour.”
“Can you give me and your daddy a minute, Faylin?” I asked. Faylin nodded, grabbed a ball from the rack, and ran onto the court.
“If you wanna change your mind, it's alright,” I said. Givens turned his attention from Faylin to me and lifted his brow in question.
“I didn’t know Faylin was going to ask you to stay the night.”
“She didn’t ask me,” I said, shaking my head.
“I asked her because I want to go over some plays and drills.” I didn’t mention overhearing that Faylin didn’t want to go to her mama's house because I didn’t know the dynamics of Shai and Faylin’s relationship and didn’t want to overstep my boundaries.
“If you’d rather she go to her mama’s, I’ll understand. ”
“Yeah, she really ain’t fucking with Shai right now.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he watched Faylin shoot free throws. “I don’t even know how to fix their issue.”
“That’s not your job, Givens,” I said, shaking my head.
“I know I didn’t grow up with my mama, but one thing Mary DeCorte instilled in us is you can't fight for someone else's relationship. If Shai and Faylin aren’t getting along, they have to learn to navigate that themselves. You have to support her as her father, but that’s it. ”
“Mrs. Mary and Shai are two different types of women,” he said and shrugged. “But I hear what you’re saying.”
“Do you?” I questioned, and he nodded. “Then, for now, let it go. Faylin will figure it out, and if she can't, I trust she’ll come to you with her questions.”
“Bet,” he said, then pulled me to him by the bottom of my t-shirt. “Now that all the adult shit is over with, give me a kiss.”
“Say please,” I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck. My lips brushed against his, but I wouldn’t give him a full kiss until he did what I asked. “Say please, Givens.”
“Please, DeCorte,” he laughed. I pulled him into a kiss that left me breathless. “I’ma miss the fuck outta you.”
“You’ll only be gone a day and a half,” I said, shaking my head. “But when you get back, we can count down.”
“You promise?” A mischievous smile tugged at his lips, and I nodded. “Yeah, let me get the fuck outta here so I can get back and start from ten.”
“Ten?” my brows went up in surprise.
“Yeah,” he laughed, then kissed me again. I was going to miss his ass, too.
“You okay?” I asked Faylin as I stood in the doorway of the room where she was sleeping.
After practice, I’d come straight home while Faylin and Givens went home to grab a few things for her.
I had enough time to shower and order food before they knocked on my door.
After she showered, we agreed to take a minute for ourselves before returning to her room to watch a movie and eat.
“Yeah,” she nodded, brushing her hair into a ponytail. She watched me through the mirror before holding the brush in the air. “You think you could help me?”
“I’m not going to lie; my skills are very limited. I can do maybe two styles,” I said as I approached her.
“I don’t care; I just can't lift the brush for longer than a minute before my arms feel like they want to give out,” she said, and I nodded.
I took the brush from her and started doing her hair.
I wasn’t lying when I said I had maybe two styles that I could do confidently.
Hair wasn’t my forte; I kept my hair braided during the season, and in the off-season, I wore a silk press so I didn’t have to do much.
I quickly put her hair into a ponytail and braided it before handing her back the brush.
“That’ll work?” I asked as she looked at my handiwork in the mirror.
“It’s going to have to,” she laughed. “I’ll ask my daddy for some money to get it braided when he comes back.”
“If you want, I’ll schedule an appointment with my braider,” I offered, and Faylin nodded. “I’ll call her tomorrow at breakfast.”
“I can't help but ask, can you cook?” she shyly questioned.
“Yes, my grandma would never let me hear the end of it if I couldn’t,” I said with a laugh as we left the bathroom and returned to the room.
I grabbed the bag off the dresser, walked over to the center of the room, and sat on the floor.
Faylin sat on the bed and got comfortable.
“Madea said everyone had to learn to cook, and we did.” I shook my head.
“Almost all of us did. Krude can not cook to save his life.”
“Krude?” she questioned, and I nodded. “Who is that? Your brother?”
“Kind of.” I started taking the food from the bag and saw Faylin staring at me. “What?”
“What do you mean, kind of?” she asked. “Is he or isn’t he?”
“Biologically, he’s my half-brother and cousin,” I said and shrugged.
Her mouth dropped open in surprise. Most people would assume the worst and think that my mother slept with brothers or something, which was the furthest thing from the truth.
“His daddy and my daddy were identical twin brothers. So technically, he’s my half-brother and cousin. ”
“Oh, I thought this was going to be some Maury show thing,” she said then playfully wiped her forehead.
“What do you know about Maury?” I laughed, and Faylin smirked.
“I know some things, Mercy,” she nodded. “Maury, Jerry, and even Ricki, Jenny, and Montell.”
“How?” I asked in surprise. I could understand the first few shows she named, but a kid her age couldn’t have known about Ricki Lake, Jenny Jones, or Montell Williams. They were way before her time.
“Youtube.” She shrugged. “Now, back to Krude, what’s he like?”
“Goofy as hell,” I answered honestly. “Krude is naturally funny and works all our nerves, but we wouldn’t trade him for anything.”
“Is it a lot of you?”
I opened the container of shrimp fried rice, and my mouth watered. I loved Chinese food and ate it whenever I could. When Faylin said she didn’t care, I was in heaven because I’d been thinking about fucking her father all day. Since I couldn’t do that, I had to go with my other craving.
“I have seven cousins,” I answered between bites of food. Since she’d already met Cross, Psalms, and Corinthians, it wasn’t difficult to explain our dynamics. “Our grandparents raised everybody but Cross.”
“Y’all look close,” she said as she ate. “I bet you never felt lonely.”
“The exact opposite,” I said, shaking my head. “We all had our own thing that kept our interest. Don’t get me wrong, we supported each other, but none of them had an interest in basketball like I did, so I spent a lot of time alone on the court.”
“Then you met Legacy in college, and that all changed,” she said, nodding.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Even after we were drafted and went our separate ways, we were still close.”
“That’s going to be me and Lulu,” she declared. “We decided the other day at practice that we wouldn’t leave each other. If somebody wanted one of us, they had to take both.”
“Yeah?” I hopefully asked.
“Yeah,” she answered. “Lulu needs somebody like me in her corner. She’s good, and it would be better if she got the chance to practice more, but she can’t because her mama needs her to watch her sisters while she works.
She told me the other day that if she hadn’t gotten the scholarship to play on the team, she wouldn’t have been able to afford the fees. ”
“Then it’s a good thing she did, huh?”
“Yep.” She nodded.
She went back to eating but would shyly look at me as if she wanted to ask me a question every so often.
“My daddy really likes you,” she finally said.
“But I knew that before he told me. I used to see how he would watch you before all this. He’d take me to your games when you played in Vegas and Denver.
The entire time, he would sit in his seat, looking like he would rather be anywhere else but at the game, but as soon as you touched the ball, he would sit up and bite the side of his mouth. ”
“That could be because I stressed him out.”
“Nah,” she denied. “He only does that when he’s interested in something but doesn’t want anyone else to know.”
My phone buzzed next to me, and I picked it up to see a text from Givens.
Givens:
You miss me?
Me:
Yes.
Givens:
lol, lowkey, you got my yellow ass smilin’ big ass hell right now.
Me:
Good.
Givens:
Faylin ain’t driving you crazy, is she?
Me:
No, she’s giving me all the details on you that I didn’t know.
Givens:
Like?
Me:
You’ll never know—girl code.
Givens:
Bet.
The bubbles at the bottom of the screen bounced briefly, then stopped. I set the phone back down and returned to eating just as Faylin’s started going off. She picked it up and started laughing.
“What did you tell my daddy?” she asked without looking up from her phone.
“Nothing,” I denied. “Why?” She reached down and showed me her phone. He’d sent her a text asking why she snitched him out. “Tell him girl code.”
She pulled her arm back and texted him back. “Done,” she said, then set the phone back down. Mine alerted me to a text, and I swiped the screen.
Givens:
That number just went to twenty.
I licked my lips and smiled. He’d just threatened me in the best possible way. I wiped my hands with my napkin, then picked up my phone.
Me:
Promise?
Givens:
For you, Burglar, hell yeah.