Chapter 16
First semester was over with, and I’d been in Heart Heights for two weeks now.
I hadn’t told Slim because the feelings I had for were still there.
I’d been chilling, hanging out around the house with my folks when they were home.
When I walked in the house with a body full of tattoos, my dad had to catch the wall because he almost passed out.
It took a minute for him to spit out his words and when he did, he let loose.
That didn’t change the fact that I was lit up with ink, so I let him get that shit off his chest. I was no longer a kid, and I had my own life.
I wasn’t going to school on his dime. I had a full ride to LSU.
When my dad left to golf with his buddies, Mama looked over my body, fascinated.
Kayla approaching me at the graduation and trying to make it known to Slim that we’d fucked, blew me. I wasn’t the same Kane a year ago in high school. The old Kane let shit roll off. Now, I wasn’t with the foolery.
I was on Slim’s tail, hypnotized by the sway of her hips.
She was pretty as fuck with her locs neatly retwisted and down, the white dress hugged her body perfectly, and I knew she despised that shit.
Even with no makeup, Slim was eating the girls up.
She was just naturally beautiful…just a fucking tomboy.
When we made it outside the gym, I placed my hand on the small of her back to lead her in the direction of where I parked. Slim tensed up under my head and nudged me away with her elbow.
“Aight, bruh,” I laughed.
I unlocked the car when we grew closer to it. It was May, and about ninety degrees outside right now. Slim adjusted the vents on her side as soon as air began to blow out.
“Who taught you how to drive?” I quizzed once we started moving. We couldn’t go anywhere right away since everyone was trying to leave at the same time.
“Mama,” she answered. “It took two of her off days and then a third to go take the test.”
“And you used the money from street ball to pay for the car?”
Slim nodded. “Yep. It was a cash car. I had to fix some shit on it here and there, but it gets me where I need to go. Where we going? I’m hungry.”
“Where you wanna go?”
“Olive Garden,” Slim replied. “I’ve never been.”
“Bet.”
I hit the next exit, and we vibed to rap music until we arrived at the restaurant. We were seated immediately and sitting across from Slim with the feelings I had now made it a little awkward. I could even see her squirming in her seat at the moment.
It wasn’t intentional for me to change the dynamic of our friendship, but I couldn’t just not tell Slim how I felt. Ever since I met her on the court that day, it was something about her that I liked.
She was fiddling with the fork, her eyes darting everywhere but at me. The waitress came by, dropping off breadsticks, and Slim practically pounced on the basket.
“You good?” I asked, trying to bite back a smile. She was so transparent.
“Mmmhmm,” she mumbled around a mouthful of bread. “Starving.”
We ate in a weird, tense silence for a few minutes. I could feel her anxiety, and it was making me anxious. This wasn’t us.
“Listen, Slim…about the shit that happened at the end of spring break….I ain’t mean to make shit weird,” I let her know.
“We don’t have to talk about it, Kaaaane,” she whined.
“Then why you so tensed up?” I countered.
“I’m not.”
I let her have it because then it would be an argument leaving me dropping her ass off at the house and burning rubber out the projects. Instead, I changed the subject and we talked about her going to LGU and basketball.
Slim was getting sleepy after eating good, so we grabbed her mama a plate and headed to her house. As I was driving, even I was yawning ant my eyes were growing heavy.
“They had to have melatonin in that pasta,” I said through a yawn.
“I’m telling you,” she groaned. “Eyes ready to close.”
The engine was cut off when I parked in front of her house. There was no way I could drive all the way to Heart Heights like this.
“You can catch the couch,” Slim said, easing out the car. “What if they put drugs in our food or something because ain’t no waaaay.”
We looked at each other and laughed, not taking the shit seriously. I locked my car and stuffed the keys into the pockets of my creased jeans. Instead of taking the couch, I followed Slim to her bedroom.
“The couch,” she mumbled.
“Maaan, I’m too long for the couch. I need to stretch out,” I told her. We both can fit on this bed.
Slim flopped down on the bed, removing her sandals.
I stepped out of my wheat Timbs. She stood, grabbed some clothes and left the room.
I removed my pants, having shorts underneath, and my shirt.
Slim sauntered back in and her eyes stretched.
She tried to quickly catch her composure, but I’d already caught it.
Slim slowly walked over. I started to sit down on the bed but she stopped me.
“Let me see.” My brows rose. She rolled her eyes and huffed, “Your tattoos dummy.”
I cackled as I stood still, letting Slim move around me, eyeing the masterpiece. My back, stomach, both arms, and legs were tatted. I was bored…a lot.
“Wait,” she said through a breath. I closed my eyes shut, slowly opening one to squint. “You got my name with a basketball on your rib.” Slim snickered. “Why?”
The air in the room suddenly felt heavy with the weight of her question. I watched her finger gently trace the cursive Slim inked over my ribs. Her touch was light.
I cleared my throat that seemed to suddenly ache as I got my words together. My voice came out rougher than I intended. “’Cause you my rib…my best friend for real. I could get all this tatted without you on it.”
“I don’t see any other names on you, though. Your parents?” she whispered.
I shrugged. “They not on me.”
Slim stilled, her hand resting on my side she was now in a sports bra and ball shorts that stopped mid-thigh. Slim didn’t look up at me, just kept her eyes fixed on the ink on my skin.
“Dang, I mean a lot to you, huh?”
I heard the humor in her tone, but she did. She did mean a lot to me. Slim never saw me as the rich boy she could milk money out of. She genuinely became a friend. She looked out for me even when I didn’t think I needed it.
“You do,” I said, my tone serious. “You mean a lot to me, Slim. You’re the reason I’m still playing ball.”
Her eyes narrowed a little when she finally looked up at me. There was a mixture of shock, confusion, and something else on her face.
“Kane…” she started, but didn’t know how to finish.
I didn’t give her a chance to. Leaning down, my eyes locked on hers, I gave Slim a split second to pull away. She didn’t. Not this time. Not even a push or a slap across the face. She just stood there, her breath hitching and her lips slightly apart.
I kissed her.
It was a peck at first. It was soft and slow, a gentle press of my lips on hers. It was like I was sealing a silent promise I’d been waiting to make for a long time.
Slim froze. She didn’t poke her lips out. Then, something inside of her seemed to break. Slim melted against me, her body softening. She kissed me back.
Pressing my luck, I slipped my tongue inside her mouth to explore. It was a deep, hungry, desperate kiss.
Wrapping my arms around Slim, I pulled her flush against me, my hands roaming her back, then down to her ass. Then she pulled away, breaking the kiss. Her hand went to her mouth, a finger running along her lips.
“Um…”
“You don’t have to say nothin’ right now, Slim. My eyes heavy as fuck. Let’s go to sleep,” I told her, moving from her and climbing in the bed. Her air was blowing.
She rounded the bed and sat on the other side. Lying on my back, I held my arms out.
“Come on,” I told her. “I ain’t finna rub on that booty or nothin’. I’m tired for real.” I smirked.
Slim scooted toward me and laid her head on my chest, her body facing mine, and we went to sleep.
Two weeks later…
I passed the ball to Slim, and she easily sunk the ball in with a jump shot. We slapped hands and quickly kissed. That was now her favorite thing to do. Who would have known?
After that kiss in her bedroom, when we woke up from the coma Olive Garden put us end, we had the talk.
It was more me pouring my heart out to Slim—again, but this time, she listened and told me that she would try to be a girlfriend.
She ain’t even held a nigga’s hand before.
If we were being real, I ain’t been in a relationship before either.
Kayla didn’t count. Me and Slim were both learning as we went.
It was more of us kissing and holding hands. We haven’t went past that.
“I kneeeew y’all were gon’ get together. If Vani were alive, he owed me ‘cause we had a bet. He said y’all weren’t ‘cause he’d fuck you up first,” Jalen laughed. “That nigga owe me a band! I should dig his ass up and let him know he lost. He’d be pissed!”
Slim shook her head. We were spending our time together during the summer before we headed to our separate colleges. Slim was nervous, but I kept telling her that she’d make friends. College was way different than high school.
I laughed as Jalen went on his tangent. Vani would’ve been pissed. I remember the day he walked me out of the projects and made sure I got in my Ride Share. He said You can be cool wit’ Slim, but that’s it. Don’t get on no weird shit.
Slim was smiling, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
I could see the nerves swirling in there, even as she tried to play it cool.
She was leaning against the chain-link fence, her water bottle in hand, watching us.
College was looming over us like a storm cloud, and we were both trying to pretend it wasn’t there.
“Aight, last game, winner’s ball,” Jalen called out, grabbing the ball and checking it to me.
We played hard, like we always did, but there was a new energy to it.
Every time I scored, I’d look over at Slim, and she’d give me this little smirk that made my chest feel tight.
Every time she made a good play, I’d be the first one to hype her up.
We were a team on and off the court now, and it felt right. It felt like how it was supposed to be.
We won, of course. I hit the game-winning shot, a fadeaway jumper that was all net. Slim ran over and jumped into my arms, her legs wrapping around my waist. I spun her around, her laughter mixing with the sound of Jalen’s fake gagging noises.
“Aight, aight, y’all nasty,” Jalen groaned, grabbing his stuff. “I’m out. Y’all got that new couple energy, it’s making my stomach hurt. I’ll see y’all later.”
We said our goodbyes, and then it was just me and Slim, alone on the court as the sun started to set, casting long shadows across the asphalt.
“You still nervous?” I asked, my voice soft as I laced my fingers through hers.
She just nodded, her eyes fixed on the ground. “What if I’m not good enough, Kane? What if Law Grove is too much for me? What if we… what if we grow apart?”
I stopped walking and turned to face her, my hands gently cupping her face, forcing her to look at me. “Hey. Look at me. You are the best player I know. You’re gonna go to Law Grove and you’re gonna own that shit. And I’m gonna be at LSU, doing the same thing. We’re gonna be fine.”
“But what about us?” she whispered. “Ain’t long distance relationships hard?”
“It may be for some,” I admitted. “But it won’t be for us. We can handle a few hundred miles. I’ll call you every day. We can FaceTime. We’ll make it work. I promise.”
I leaned down and kissed Slim. One that was meant to reassure her, to show her that I meant every word. Her lips were soft, and she tasted like the watermelon lip balm she wore. I could feel the tension slowly leaving her body as she melted against me.
We stood there for a long time, just holding each other, watching the sun dip below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink.
The future was still scary, and the path ahead was still uncertain.
But as I stood there, with my girl in my arms, I knew that we could handle anything.
As long as we had each other, we were invincible.
Fall semester before Thanksgiving break
“I hate exams,” Slim groaned on FaceTime
I chuckled as I laid back in the bed, tossing a ball up. “Don’t we all.”
“When are you heading home?” she asked, biting the end of her pencil.
“My last exam is Monday morning, so probably that evening. I can’t wait to see you,” I said, wiggling my brows. “And it’s your birthday.”
Slim would turn eighteen the day after Thanksgiving.
I bought so much shit for her that I knew she would whine about it.
My love for her went beyond materialistic shit.
I went to sleep thinking about her. I woke up with her on my mind.
Being with Slim was way different than the situationship I had with Kayla in high school.
Kayla talked so much shit about other students, while Slim always not only talked about her accomplishments, but she’d tell me about her new friend, Janelle’s accomplishments too.
Janelle was Slim’s roommate and she played ball, so that’s how they became friends.
The friendship made Slim’s college life easier.
She even went to a few college parties, just to get out, but would be on FaceTime with me still.
Even when I was at one, she’d be in my Air Pod.
It wasn’t a trust issue either, we just did the shit.
I really wanted to make sure she was good since I couldn’t be there in the flesh.
“I don’t want to do anything for my birthday,” she whined.
“You’re finna be eighteen.” My brows bunched.
“So.”
“Slim…”
“What, Kane?” Slim picked her HP laptop back up onto her lap.
“We gotta celebrate man. Stop playin’.” I put the ball down. “What do you want to do? Where do you want to go?”
“To sleep,” she laughed.
I narrowed my eyes, but an idea hit me and I picked up my phone that was propped up against my backpack.
Slim was ranting about exams again while I was on my phone doing my big one for her.
I didn’t care about her not wanting to do anything, because I was still going out for her.
What I had in mind…Slim was going to freak out.
“Are you listening to me?” she asked.
“Mhhhm,” I mumbled with a smile. She was gonna kill me, but she was gonna love me at the same time.