by Kizzie Hayes
Weeks later she had come back pleading, but it was too late already. He made up his mind about them, two nights before she had come back to ask for forgiveness. They were done and over.
Two minutes later, the telephone in Johnson’s hospital room rang and interrupted the tranquility in the room.
Nelson looked at toward the device and then at Johnson who pretended not to hear it ring.
“You not going to answer that?”
“Not expecting any call,” Johnson replied nonchalantly.
But the phone rang again, and Nelson got up to pick it up.
“Hello? Sorry, who?" Nelson asked the caller and turned to give Johnson a questioning stare. "He doesn't have a girlfriend. I don…look ma'am…" Nelson hung up the call with an expression of frustration on his face.
He heaved a sigh loudly and turned to face Johnson who was already staring at him. “Speak of the devil,” he said with a quick laugh.
“Anastasia?”
“You bet. I wonder how she got to know,” Nelson said with a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Junior maybe,” Johnson referred to his younger irresponsible brother, who was always very eager to feed the media with piecemeal.
“Or not…,” Nelson suggested looking at his phone as he searched for something online. He found what he hoped not to find and frowned.
“What?” Johnson asked curiously seeing the sudden change in his facial expression.
Nelson extended the phone to Johnson, who collected it and stared at the screen.
Someone had leaked the accident to a blog site. The angle to the story wasn’t going to do the team any good.
“This is not good,” Johnson shook his head and before Nelson could reply the door opened. The doctor, their coach and the team's physician walked in.
They gazed up to see their coach all smiles following right behind the doctor, but his smile faded when he noticed the rather unpleasant expressions on their faces.
“Something wrong?” he asked the both of them, looking from Johnson to Nelson curiously.
The friends relaxed their facial expression like it was automated.
“Obviously, but we’re hoping the doc has some good news to change that right?” Nelson replied cleverly and dodged the skeptical stare of the coach to look at the doctor instead.
Within minutes, the doctor gave them the news they had anticipated. Johnson wasn't injured as they feared, but he advised he should be given a day off to rest before he joined the rest of the team to train again ahead of their next playoff game in four days.
*****
Two days after the disappointing interviews she had, Carren picked up the pieces of her dashed hopes and carried on with her odd, inconsistent jobs. She shuffled between babysitting, cleaning and looking after very senior citizens.
Carren joined Minaj and Sammy at the park after she returned from babysitting the kids of two white families. There was supposed to be a third, but her French customer canceled just when she had turned onto the street that led to the apartment.
After the unexpected change of plans, she had walked for a while to clear her mind before boarding the bus and heading back to Brooklyn.
Sitting there in the park that afternoon, her mind wandered off while Minaj tried her best to engage her in a chatty dialogue.
In the distance, not too far from where they were sitting, Sammy was having fun with other kids he had quickly made friends with. She smiled every time he looked up and waved at them. But it seemed he was connecting more with Minaj who kept responding with animated gestures that amused him. Sammy was so likable and endearing. It was almost impossible to watch him smile widely with his incomplete white set of teeth and not be compelled by their contagious nature to smile back. But she deeply worried and scared to lose him to social services and their visit to check up on him was nearing.
“Carren?” Minaj interrupted her thoughts and prodded her at the elbow. "Girl, you okay?"
Carren turned from staring off into the sky and looked her friend’s face. “Of course. Why?”
Minaj scanned her face for a while like she was looking for more answers before she replied. “You seem to be so far from here. Want to talk about it?” she asked and sipped her soda.
Carren shook her head and looked away from the intense stare of her friend. "I’m probably just tired and still disappointed with the canceled job. I needed the pay."
“I know right. You will be fine girl. Stop dragging yourself through a mud of worries.” Minaj encouraged her and squeezed her hand on the wooden bench.
Carren looked at her friend and smiled weakly. Minaj always tried to support her every way she could.
"Thanks, Mi," Carren said calling her by her pet name, and Minaj smiled heartily and leaned her head against Carren’s shoulder.
Carren feigned a frown. "Did you miss the memo when I said I was tired?" she asked, and Minaj hissed.
“You know how to ruin a good moment,” she snapped playfully and they both laughed.
“Why didn’t you never ask me about my party night?” Minaj asked all of a sudden.
Carren turned from watching Sammy who she noticed had been chatting interestingly with the same girl for some minutes now.
“Besides hearing you getting laid, what else is there to know?" Carren asked before she bit into her doughnut.
Minaj rolled her eyes. “Don’t get sassy now.” She warned Carren playfully. “I met a new crush,” she announced with delight in her eyes and started to swing her legs beneath the bench.
Carren gave her a long stare before she chuckled deep in her throat. “Another crush huh? I have lost count girl,” Carren quipped before she turned away to keep an eye on Sammy who was still with the same girl.
Her friend didn’t look offended. "He’s special," Minaj countered in defense.
"Yeah, how so?" Carren replied indifferently.
Minaj closed her eyes momentarily and moaned like she was relishing a good moment. “I mean, no guy has made me feel s-so…I don’t.” she fumbled with words to explain her feelings.
“Hmmm. He must have been so amazing,” Carren said sarcastically.
“Yes! I couldn’t even take my mind off him all night. I can still feel his electrifying touch.” She closed eyes fleetingly and moaned before opening them again. “And guess what? He’s a hockey player…playing for the New York Islanders. And I wouldn’t even have known if not for your boy.” She grinned and pointed at Sammy.
Carren followed her finger and raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m sorry…what do you mean by ‘if not for your boy’?” Carren asked her.
“He loves ice hockey and is a big fan."
“Of your sudden crush?” Carren asked sharply with a glare radiating in her eyes.
"No…some other guy. One hunky looking African-American who also plays for the Islanders," she wavered her fingers through the air.
"The Islanders?"
“The New York Islanders is his favorite team. You don’t know?” Minaj asked surprised and Carren was speechless. The expression said it all. It was news to her.
“No shit. What a mom you are,” Minaj laughed jestingly and went ahead to tell Carren more about Sammy’s love for ice hockey and how he knew nearly everything about the game by looking it up on Google and watching the New York Islanders game on YouTube and her TV. She also told her that Sammy looked up to one of the players as a role model and his name was Johnson while her crush’s name was Kyle.
During the drive home in Minaj’s Blue BMW, she looked up the New York Islanders and Johnson Brown. Reading up his Wikipedia page, she was impressed with the comeback he staged in his career after he had been nearly written off due to injury. When she saw he was earning a whopping sum of over seven million dollars a year, she chuckled discreetly and spied at Sammy who was engrossed with chatting with Minaj. He picked a rich role model all right, she thought, and hoped he would become rich like Johnson someday.
Minaj and Sammy were chatting over the
forthcoming game between the New York Islander and the Montreal Canadiens. If the New York Islanders won, they would have the opportunity to defend the cup title for the first since after 1983, and if they went on to win it, it would be the sixth time for them after already winning the previous year.
They debated which player would win the season’s Hart Memorial Trophy that was awarded annually to the most valuable player in a season. Sammy was rooting for Johnson, but Minaj differed.
Carren interrupted them some moments laterer. “Johnson was hospitalized for a concussion yesterday, are you guys aware?” Carren asked looking over to Sammy at the back seat.
Minaj and Sammy stopped debating. Minaj stared at her momentarily with a surprised facial expression and looked back on the road. Sammy, on the other hand, just smiled like he was proud of what she had just said. She smiled back at him, proud of herself, too. She needed to pay more attention to what he loved doing than worrying all the time about how to earn money for him.
"Nice catch-up," Minaj praised her. “Welcome to the fan club.”
“So…you guys know already?”
“Yea, but there were no injuries though. Just fell unconscious accidentally," Sammy said and cast an accusing stare at Minaj at the rear mirror. “No thanks to Kyle,” he added accusatory.
“Common...Sammy. Are we going to do this again? It was an accident. You said it yourself.” Minaj defended Kyle before she turned to her right as the traffic light turned green.
“He should have been more careful during their practice session,” Sammy insisted and turned his head back to Carren who had been watching him interestingly all the while.
“So, how long have you been doing this?” she asked him curiously.
“Doing what Mom?” he asked back in an innocent tone.
“Keeping up with the Islanders.”
“Or the Kardashians,” Minaj snickered because she knew how Carren would respond to that.
“Wait…what!” she exclaimed glancing sharply from Sammy to Minaj. “You let him watch that show?”
Sammy giggled. “No Mom, Aunty Mi is just kidding.”
"You sure?" she asked him skeptically while still keeping a questioning glare at Minaj who whistled playfully to irritate her the more.
“Yup and I have been following the Islanders for like three months now."
“I didn’t know.”
“Yeah, you’ve never seen a game with me and you never asked my favorite sports,” Sammy said forthrightly but not intending to make his mom feel guilty. Still she did.
They fell silent for a while, while the subtle music from the car stereo filled the space between each of them.
Carren brooded for a while and then asked Sammy a request without looking back. “Sweetheart…tell me more about this Johnson.”
“Hmm mmm. Someone is beginning to like him, too,” Minaj teased. “I see that look in your eye girl.”
“Just shut up,” Carren instructed her playfully before she turned to catch Sammy smiling, too. A curious expression wind down her face. “Why you smiling like that for?”
"Nothing Mom," Sammy replied quickly and went ahead to tell her a lot more about Johnson. His whole career. His ambassadorship. His sponsorship. His philanthropy and his coolness. Just about everything that came out of the media about Johnson he knew.
Carren smiled when he was done and stared at the picture on the tab she held. He looked handsome. She realized she had smiled without a worry restraining her for the first time in days.
“Baby…you’re so smart.”
"Thank you, Mom," he replied calmly.
Minaj cleared her throat. “You forgot something though,” she said making another turn. “He’s single.”
Carren rolled her eyes at her.
"That's not important," Sammy replied her.
“Good point.” Carren praised him.
“So…you want to become a hockey player or what?” she asked him intrigued.
“Are you kidding? Yes!” Sammy and Minaj exclaimed at the same time.
When they arrived at Carren’s apartment, Minaj handed Carren a plastic silver-colored business card and instructed her to call the number on it that night. She wouldn’t tell her why until she called. Carren intrigued by her instruction, scanned her face quizzically before retrieving the card from her hand. She was always mindful of her friend’s ploy, but Minaj looked dead serious about what she was asking her to do.
“Thank me later,” her friend had said firmly before driving away.
Later that night, Carren got a job at a top restaurant in Brooklyn and she was to start her first shift the next day. Carren was excited and called to thank Minaj who diplomatically played down her assistance.
It wasn’t exactly the well-paying job Carren hoped for, but it wasn't a bad start either to earn a regular income. Hopefully, she would save up a little and pick up a nursing school application and then apply for government assistance to study.
The following morning, Carren beat her alarm to wake up. There was no gainsaying, she was nervous, so much that Sammy noticed and advised her to take a deep breath. It sounded funny, the way he said it while she prepared homemade pancakes for his breakfast. She chuckled, but he was right. She heeded his advice, and it helped her stay composed through her first shift at the restaurant.
The restaurant was nearly in the heart of Brooklyn and was popular for its variety of delicious dishes and drinks. It was hard to miss for any visitor who had researched the borough before coming down. The reputation of the restaurant preceded it by the savory smell that journeyed far and made the food venture among the top five restaurants to enjoy a great meal while in New York.
Before she started working there, she had been there just three times with Minaj. She enjoyed her food, but she always thought it was overpriced. Working there now, Carren thought that wasn’t that bad after all.
Her first day at work wasn’t bad. A few instructions and rehearsals and she were taking orders already, and with Minaj's little touch of magic on her appearance, she got a lot of stares, and tips followed that.
Before she had left her apartment that morning, Minaj had come over to pick up Sammy, but by the time her friend realized what she was dressed in for work, she insisted on refashioning her. Changing into a pair of tight black jeans, cropped up long sleeved white and purple top and simple matching makeup to go with it. Minaj had insisted on applying more, but she wasn't a big fan of heavy makeup. When she was done with her, Minaj had teased that her future looked bright from behind. Sure enough many men and some female customers seemed to agree with the long stares she caught them pouring onto her behind.
***
Johnson skated around freely on the ice as he tried to calm his nervousness down. It was a day before the next round of the Stanley Cup playoff.
“One more and we are into the finals,” he whispered to himself, and he could feel the pressure of high expectations from all around him. His fans, his teammates, his coach and the board. It hadn't been easy getting to the stage he was, but he had paid the price, and now he had to do well to shut his critics up further and not disappointment his young fan base that looked up to him as a role model. Although they would understand that he was human, he still needed to do this for them and the club, a little token for the faith invested in him.
He closed his eyes momentarily, held his hockey stick lazily and took a deep breath. He opened his eye when he thought he had heard his name and looked up. Some African-American kid was waving and smiling at him. The kid couldn’t be more than seven, but his smile was so pure and contagious. Johnson smiled and waved back. He restrained himself from going over to meet the kid because his mom was having a conversation with Kyle. She seemed to be into him. Johnson scoffed to the idea of a mother being a fan of Kyle while her son was a fan of his arch rival.
"Johnson!" he heard his name being called again, this time more clearly. It was his coach. He shared the last stare with the kid who waved again, and he waved back smi
ling. The boy's smile glowed in his eyes, and they looked like they were full of hope and belief. That was all he heard to remember going into the match. Those smiling eyes, full of faith and belief in him.
Johnson turned around on his ice skates toward his coach. “Back to business,” he mumbled.
That evening, Minaj and Sammy were both too excited and anxious to tell Carrren their experience at the Barclays Center. Carren kept smiling tiredly at them during their narration, while she rearranged the food items she had gotten with food stamps. She had never seen Sammy so chatty and crazy about anything or anyone like the Johnson he talked about. She wondered what was so special about him that made Sammy love him so much as a role model. Although she had to admit that he looked handsome and attractive with his well-built physique, neatly shaved coal black beards and peanut-brown skin color.
The next day was the big game, and Minaj had gotten tickets for herself and Sammy. But deeply, Carren perceived she cared more about seeing Kyle than watching the game. For Sammy, it was the ecstasy of watching Johnson play live in a hockey game.
The next day was a big day for her, too. She was working a double shift and she needed to rest.
The game lived up to its hype. It was a thrill that had nearly every spectator gaping at the missed chances and the equalizers by the Montreal Canadiens. After sixty minutes of exhausting play, it continued into sudden death overtime. And it wasn’t until two minutes after the twenty minute regular overtime play that Johnson fired the puck into the visitors net to bring the game to a deserved end. The response of the home fans as the puck kissed the net was indescribable. Everyone was crazy with excitement.
After the game and a few words from their coach, Johnson, Nelson, his agent and two other of his teammates decided to have a low-key celebration on their victory that coincided with Nelson’s birthday. Johnson had tried to persuade them to defer the celebration so they could plan something bigger for Nelson, but Nelson had insisted he wanted something quick and in-circle.