Prologue #4
“He’s not a good option in my opinion, but we will see what they have to say about it next week. The boy needs a bit more experience. Throwing a ball isn’t always enough,” my father told his boys while shaking his head from one side to the other.
“But it’s what we’re missing. We need somebody who can throw because Dotty can’t throw to save his life since that hand injury. He should remain benched or give his spot up on the team so that someone else can have it. He’s done for,” Laike responded.
Luca’s silent nod was followed by, “All he needs is a good arm. We can handle the rest. We just need someone to throw. We can get the touchdown, but we’ve got to get the ball in Crawford’s hands to make that happen. Dotty ain’t the answer anymore.”
Although they hardly mentioned anything other than sports at the dinner table, it was always great having my three men in the same space. With everyone’s schedule, it wasn’t often that we could make it happen.
“Alright. Alright. Enough about tossing a ball,” my mother interrupted.
“I second that,” I chimed in.
“Oh hell, what do y’all want us to talk about? The latest bullshit bags y’all want from the store or your last trip to the spa?” My father chuckled, relaxing his shoulders and slightly reclining in his seat.
“Not exactly,” as a matter of fact, I replied.
“Babe, maybe now is a great time to tell them.”
Ever, with all her gentleness, changed the subject without making temporary enemies amongst the men. It was her specialty. She possessed a softness that commanded everyone’s attention when she entered a room, spoke even a few words, or shared her light.
“Tell us what?” my mother asked, stuffing Elle’s mouth with a chunk of crab meat from the Dungeness stack she had in front of her.
“That we’ve decided on a name for our son,” with a smile, Luca answered.
“Oh, have you?” I could feel the ridges of my cheek harden as my lips curved upward.
“Yes. We have.” Ever looked up and toward Luca.
The love that rested in them as she waited for his response was so obvious that even a blind man could see it.
To love someone as much as Luca and Ever loved each other had to be painful.
Not in a negative way, either, but in the most beautiful one.
I knew it had to because watching from a mere two feet away caused a sharp pain in my chest.
“Lucas Elijah Eisenberg,” my brother proudly stated.
“A very strong name,” my father added, nodding in the process.
“Y’all must didn’t consider Laike as an option?” Laike followed up.
“Please, Laike,” annoyed, my mother chastised him.
“Put that on the list for your seeds,” Luca calmly stated.
A verbal response wasn’t in Laike’s best interest, so he settled for a middle finger in Luca’s direction.
“I love it.” I put my two cents in the pot.
“So do I. A little of you both in there,” Mom agreed with me.
“Just like Elle,” Ever reminded us.
“Right, like Elle.” I caught on instantly, always loving how well her name conveyed their unity.
Bzzzz.
Bzzzz.
Eyes wandered around the room trying to find the source of the betrayal. Cells weren’t allowed at the dinner table on Sunday. It was the only two to three hours we were able to spend with each other monthly and wanted it to be uninterrupted.
“Babe,” Ever tried whispering after she realized he was the culprit.
“Tonight is an exception, love,” Luca assured her as he slid a finger down her cheek.
“Tonight’s an exception,” she repeated with a smile after Luca lifted the phone for her to see who was calling.
He slid his hand across the screen and then placed the call on speaker.
When the operator’s voice sounded on the line, my heart’s beating halted.
It was far too loud to hear anything beyond it.
I needed silence to comprehend and digest every word that was spoken from this point moving forward.
She continued speaking as I listened intently, hanging on to every syllable.
“You have a prepaid call from,” there was a slight pause.
“Keanu,” his voice, like molasses, slowly graced the line.
“To accept, press three. To decl—"
Before she was able to get anything else out, Luca pressed the number that would connect us to the awaiting caller. There was static on the line before it cleared. I waited with hiked breaths and curious eyes until he finally spoke, bringing peace to the chaos that had quickly swarmed me.
“What’s up, nigga?” Ken greeted Luca.
“Shit,” he responded, “I got to send messages through niggas to get you on the line. What part of the game is that?”
“The same part you played when you were down.”
“Fair enough,” Luca chuckled, “but it’s been three weeks since I sent the message.”
“I’m still waiting for your point, big dog.”
“Why you calling now, nigga? I needed to holler at you three weeks ago.”
Luca smiled, knowing that he was going to get under Ken’s skin if he kept at it. He knew exactly why Ken was calling. We all knew. It was the only reason he’d brought his phone to the table and it was the only exception.
“I’m calling so you niggas can tell me happy birthday,” Ken admitted. “Call Laike ass. I need him on the line, too.”
“He already here.”
“Happy birthday, black ass nigga!”
“LAIKE!” my mother yelled.
Because everyone was an adult, she and my father didn’t trip much about the profanity that they used.
As long as they kept it to a minimum. Words like damn, ass, and shit were among the few they were allowed to say.
Otherwise, my mother and father found it disrespectful.
Any hardcore profanity was not permitted.
They didn’t care whose home they were at, they’d cut into the guys swiftly.
I hardly exercised the privilege they’d given us.
In so many ways, I still felt like I was the baby of the bunch and wasn’t allowed to do everything my older brothers were.
“What happened?” my father turned to ask her.
“Happy birthday, Keanu,” my mother said, ignoring both my father and Laike.
“Happy birthday, nigga,” Luca followed up.
“Happy birthday, Ken. We love and miss you.”
“Happy birthday, son,” my father told him.
“Appreciate that,” he replied, his smile obvious on the other line.
Before I could gather my thoughts and wish him a happy birthday as well, he began again.
“Where’s Lyric?” His concern was as genuine as he was.
I felt Ever’s fingers clasp my knee and squeeze. A golf ball-sized lump of air formed in my throat, trapping my words behind it. But even if they weren’t stuck back there, I could hardly form a complete thought to even begin to speak coherently.
“Right here stuffing her face,” Luca informed him.
With a second nudge from Ever, my heart pumped again and my brain began to function properly. A sip of water helped me remove the lump from my throat and speaking came easy.
“Happy birthday, Ken!” I shouted loud enough for him to hear me.
“Appreciate that so much, baby girl.”
He didn’t mean anything by them, but those last two words stuck with me. They clung to me, blurring my vision and drowning everything out around me. I couldn’t hear anything and neither could I see.
Minutes passed before I was coherent again. The fuzziness of my ears subsided, and the smiling faces around me became clear again. Ever’s gentle rubs against my leg slowly brought me back to life, back to reality.
“Aight. I’m going to holler at you. Three months down.”
“Three to go.”
“Love you, bro,” Ken said before the line died.
The energy of the room immediately shifted.
Everyone knew and understood Ken’s situation, and we all hated it for him.
His loyalty was never to be questioned. Just like Luca had, he was spending his time behind bars due to the unwavering love of a sibling.
Kale, his younger brother, got himself into some trouble that would’ve ended his future in the NBA before it even started.
Instead of allowing one mistake to determine his brother’s future, Ken took it upon himself to take the charge that was meant for Kale.
For it, he’d been sentenced as a first offender and given a year in prison.
He would only have to serve six months of it if he kept on the straight and narrow.
So far, he’d done well. But with each day that passed that he was still behind bars, I felt the pain of losing a loved one to the system a little more.
Tonight wasn’t much different. It felt like forever since I’d seen his handsome face or heard his voice.
As relieved as I was to hear from him, the moment was bittersweet. He deserved freedom, not confinement.
“Well, we’re going to head out, Luca. Tonight was such a pleasure, per usual.” My father broke the uncomfortable silence that coated the air.
“I enjoyed seeing you all so much,” Ever responded, recovering while Luca was still attempting to.
“Luca!” Laike yelled from the other end of the table before nodding his head toward the gazebo. Everyone amongst us knew what he was hinting at except the three small faces that were seated between the adults.
“I’ll be back in a few,” Luca explained to Ever as he stood.
“It’s fine, baby. I’m going to get the kids ready for bed. I understand. Take your time.”
“Do you need help getting this cleaned up?”
“No ma’am,” Ever expressed to my mother, “that’s why we wrapped the table with plastic. Everything is going straight to the trash bins except the glasses we drank from.”
“Good. That was smart.”
“Trying to work smarter and not harder.” She chuckled.
“Well, I’m going to kiss my babies and then get out of y’all’s way. Those two will be a minute back there. They’re missing their third musketeer and it’s eating them up… just like when Luca was away.”
I simply listened, choosing to remain quiet because I was unsure of what to say. The brain fog had reappeared. So, in silence, I sat.
“Are you okay?” Ever asked, pulling Elle’s pants from her chunky legs.
“Yeah. Why’d you ask?”
“Because you haven’t said anything since we ended the call with Ken.”
“Yeah. I’m fine,” I lied.