Chapter 8 #2
“Shit. Good point. I’ll go to the grocery store after we eat. Where we going?”
“I heard Lovers & Friends was good.”
My phone chimed with a text message from Ward, telling me he’d landed and would be arriving at the hotel shortly.
“Ward just landed. I’ll tell him to meet us there.”
“Sounds good. I’ll meet you there.”
I sent Ward a text before gathering my things and leaving my office for the day. Knox and I arrived at Lovers & Friends at the same time. We were seated quickly, and a few minutes later, Ward arrived.
“Wassup, man! It’s been a minute,” I said as I stood.
We slapped hands and exchanged a one-armed hug. Although Knox and Ward didn’t know each other as well as Ward and I did, they exchanged a brotherly greeting before we sat down.
“What’s been up with you?” I asked Ward after the server took our drink orders.
“You know I’ve been doing the podcast with Levi.”
“How’s that going?”
“Let’s just say your call was right on time. We weren’t seeing eye to eye on the podcast's direction and decided to go our separate ways about a week before you reached out.”
“I hate to hear that, but I hope you didn’t part ways on bad terms.”
“We cool.”
I wasn’t sure if I believed him, but I didn’t care enough to press him for more details. The server returned with our drinks and took our food order.
“You didn’t belong behind the mic anyway. How’s the family?” I asked.
“Good. My wife’s not happy about the possible move and doesn’t think her and the kids should come just yet.”
“She has a good point. You know how it is in this line of work.”
“Yeah. It wasn’t a big deal when the kids were younger, but now they have school and friends and shit. If I can find a place soon, they’ll come here until school starts.”
“The realtor I connected you with should be able to find you something pretty quick,” I told him.
“How long has it been since you left the JUCO in Georgia?” Knox asked.
Ward was an assistant coach at a junior college in an Atlanta suburb for five or six years but resigned abruptly.
“About a year and a half. I didn’t realize how much I missed coaching. I’ve been on a high since I got your call. Who else did you bring on?”
We talked about the new coaching staff until our food arrived. The basketball game playing on the big screen caught our attention while we ate. The Onyx City Blazers were in the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season and were up by fifteen in the fourth quarter.
“How does the team look? Have y’all had time to watch film? Did the previous coach recruit well?”
“The team needs work, but they’re a dedicated and talented group,” Knox responded.
“As far as recruits, we’ll have to wait and see. The previous coach wasn’t able to lock in one of the most talented players in the state, but I tried my luck and reached out to him.”
“Oh yeah? How’d it go?”
“It went well. He committed this morning,” I said.
“What’s his name?”
“Nyeem Kurrie. He—”
Ward choked on his drink, causing me to pause for a moment to make sure he was okay.
“You good, man?” I asked when he stopped coughing.
He cleared his throat. “Yeah. The beer went down the wrong pipe. What did you say his name was?”
I could be wrong, but he wasn’t drinking anything when he began choking.
“Nyeem Kurrie. He’s academically gifted and was recruited by schools across the country for his talents in football, basketball, and track. He committed to BEU’s track team earlier this year, but when we met with him, we assured him he could do both.”
“Sounds like he’s the real deal. Hope he pans out and doesn’t turn out to be a flop. Maybe he chose track over football or basketball because he knows he doesn’t have what it takes.”
I shook my head. “That’s always a possibility, but after meeting him, the boy has the glow.”
“We have no doubt he’ll be a force,” Knox added.
“You actually might know his mother. She graduated from BEU a few years after you.”
“Nah, I doubt it. I didn’t mess around with the young girls.”
“I feel you, but she was a track star, so you might have heard the name Nyomi Kurrie amongst the other athletes.”
He shook his head. “Doesn’t sound familiar, but that was a long time ago. I guess I’ll find out soon enough if the kid can live up to his reputation.”
Something about Ward’s tone rubbed me the wrong way, but I pushed it to the back of my mind and filed it in my mental rolodex.
“Hopefully, Kilo don’t do nothing to make the kid change his mind before the season starts,” Knox said jokingly.
“Shut the fuck up, nigga. I know how to be discreet.”
“Discreet about what?” Ward asked.
“Nothing,” I responded.
“It’s nothing because Nyomi won’t give you the time of day,” Knox teased.
“You pushed up on his mom?”
“In my defense, I didn’t know she was his mother when we hooked up.”
“Damn, you already hit it?”
“Chill, bruh. It wasn’t like that. I mean, it was, but she’s not like that. Our connection was strong, and shit happened. Once we realized what was what and who was who, she let me know she wasn’t interested in going any further.”
“Be careful with her kind,” Ward warned.
“Her kind? You just said you didn’t know her, so what ‘kind’ do you mean?”
“You know the kind . . . Women looking for a come up with a man with a little money and status. She sounds like that kind.”
I looked at Ward for a moment, wondering his angle.
“I don’t get that vibe from her,” was all I said in response.
“You know what? Now that I think about it, her name does sound familiar. I think she hooked up with a few teammates,” he informed me, but something in my gut told me he was lying.
“If that’s true, it was a long time ago. We all have a past,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter, anyway. As long as Nyeem is on the team, that woman ain’t fucking with you,” Knox said before laughing.
Thankfully, the conversation went in another direction, because I didn’t want to talk about Nyomi anymore. I felt compelled to defend her name and was prepared to argue with someone I’d known a lot longer than her.
Although Knox’s words were in fun, he spoke the truth. Nyomi claimed to want nothing to do with me, and I had no choice but to honor her wishes.