Slender Bridge

by Katrina Clemons

  "You're free to go." The officer told me with a nudge. I looked at him. I wanted to say something mean to him, just to blow off some steam, but that would be dumb. The last thing I needed to do was to get into more trouble.

  "I know that," I replied slowly. "I'm just trying to buy some time before I go out there." I looked towards my coach.

  "But he should be happy. There are no charges being pressed against you. The footage clearly shows who started the fight."

  "Yeah but he's not going to care. I know the University is not going to care either. They have a zero tolerance for physical violence. I can either be suspended from the team or expelled from the school. It doesn't look good either way."

  "Even if it shows that it was self-defense?"

  "I'm not sure," I confessed. "But I guess there is only one way to find out."

  "I don't think it’ll be that bad." He shrugged his shoulders. "As soon as everyone sees that not only have the charges have been dropped but you were held and not arrested, this will all blow over.

  I hoped that he was right, but when I opened the door, the cruel look from my coach said it all. It wasn't going to blow over. If anything, this whole thing was over. I could kiss basketball goodbye, forget about the University, and give up my dreams of being in the NBA. I might as well start packing for home.

  "So how long are you suspended from the team?" Aaron asked as he saw me gather my things out of my locker.

  " Coach said he will let me know."

  "I don't get it. You're not being charged by the police and the University said it's not a problem, what's up?"

  "I think Coach is pissed at me because he told us time and time again to not get into trouble."

  "But those guys were asking to get hit. They started the whole thing."

  "I know but you know how Coach is."

  "But...." Aaron drifted off.

  "What is it?"

  "The playoffs."

  My team had finally made it to playoffs. And we all know what that meant: scouts. We were finally at a place where any one of us could be scouted into the NBA, and I wasn't playing. My heart sank even more. I didn't even answer Aaron. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, no words would come out, just sobs. He got the hint and walked back to the gym. The rest of the team was practicing and I was packing up, not knowing when I would be allowed to get back into the game.

  "Hey, All-Star." Simone's sweet voice melted all my stress. She was the one good thing that kept me going. Her curves, her smile, and her optimism was what I really needed right now. As much as I wanted to get back into the game, at least for now I had Simone.

  "I'm not that."

  "Not yet." She perked me up. "It's only going to be a matter of time before they realize what a mistake they made by letting you go."

  "It's only for a little while. They are not letting me go."

  "I don't care if it's for two minutes, they are being so stupid." She grabbed my chin. "You are the best player out there, you got it?"

  That's when I kissed her. I just grabbed her by the back of the head and locked lips with her. She was stunned at first, but I could feel her body ease up and warm up to me. I wanted her so badly, but this wasn't the right place for that. I wanted her to myself.

  "What are you doing right now?" I asked her as I started to kiss on her neck. I inhaled that sweet, exotic perfume she had on. It caused me to be even more into her.

  "I have to get started on my website." She barely whispered. "If I want to really launch this clothing line, I got to get started."

  "But does it have to be right now?" I kissed her again, and I could feel her tremble. It was nice to know that she was weak for me too.

  "I got to stick to a schedule babe." She kissed my forehead. "But I promise, we will pick up where we left off." She turned away.

  I watched her hips move side-to-side until I couldn't see them anymore. Now that she was gone, what was I going to do? All my free time was usually tied up in basketball. I guess this was a good time to start focusing on my studies. Maybe if I started bringing in even higher grades, Coach would let up on this punishment and let me back on the team. At least, I had some sort of plan.

  Watching the first basketball game from the stands felt weird. I kept trying to jump in the game. I had to literally force myself to sit still. With Simone next to me, I had to just clap and cheer, when all I wanted to do was to be out there with my brothers.

  "It's going to be okay," Simone smiled as she squeezed my knee. I assume she could feel my tension. I was sitting there leaning in. I was trying to absorb as much as the action that I could, but it wasn't the same. I needed to be out there. Although the team was playing okay, they were missing a lot of the shots that I used to make easily. I was hoping that when the Coach saw them miss another shot that he would just scream for me to join the game, but that wasn't happening. It looked as if he would rather lose a game than to let me back in there.

  The opposing team was taking advantage of the fact that I wasn't there. They kept trying to foul out Aaron, but he was making sure to sink every shot. He wanted to keep the small lead that the team had. So when they fouled him, he would go to the foul point line, look for my face in the crowd, and then nod. He was making me proud out there, but it still made me upset not to be out there.

  At the end of the game, my team won. I watched as everyone cheered and screamed. We only won by a last minute throw by Aaron. The team carried him out and people ran down to the court to celebrate. I clapped and cheered, but I really wasn't into it.

  "Are you okay?" Simone questioned. I didn't bother to answer. All she had to do was look at my face and know what was going on. "You want to get out of here?" I nodded. "Come on." She took my hand and led me out of the gym. We walked past the screaming fans. Some of them looked like they were going to approach me but at the last second, they backed away.

  She led me all the way off campus.

  "I'm starving." She said out of nowhere. "Although, maybe I shouldn't eat, so I can lose some weight."

  "Why would you say that?"

  "Well, look at my size."

  "I am and you're beautiful. So, what are you trying to get at?"

  "You don't think that I am too big?"

  "Where is this coming from?" I shook my head. "When I look at you, I see you, this gorgeous woman. I told you when I met you, it was your confidence and beauty that got me. I don't know what's been going on, but you've been pretty distant lately and now this? Why are you talking like this? You are the same woman that says that to other girls that they are only skinnier than you and not prettier than you. Where is this coming from?"

  It became very quiet as I waited for her answer. She kept sighing and running her hand through her hair. She put her head down and finally reached into her pocket. She took out her cell phone and started swiping through it.

  "Do you go on the school's message board?" She asked me. I thought about it. I didn't even know the school had one.

  "No. I don't really keep up with that stuff. All I do is go to classes and play ball." I stopped. "Or at least I used to play ball."

  "Look at this." She handed me her phone. "This is a website and chat forum that a lot of the students that go to this school.

  I read the topic and it said "Chubby Chasing Basketball Star."

  "What is B-Wood thinking by dating that big whale? He is a good looking, great playing basketball star. He can have any woman that he wants. A guy like him should be chasing around cheerleaders or something like that, not her." One person wrote.

  "Yeah I agree! I mean don't get me wrong, she is kind of cute. If she was skinny, she would be gorgeous, but he can do so much better than that."

  The thread went on and on. Someone even had a picture of us together. I didn't think that I was already being watched. Here I was worrying about scouts when I apparently already had a following. I was about to disregard the whole thing until something caught my eye.

  "I heard that he even got into a fight o
ver that fat bitch. What a loser."

  "I don't care about these people or what they think, and you shouldn't either."

  "I know I shouldn't, but damn, this is everywhere." She took her phone back from me. I felt sorry for her. Here I was wrapped up in myself that I didn't bother to think about what she was going through.

  "Come on, I got an idea."

  I brought her to a local restaurant that was always packed with students. As we got closer to the restaurant, I felt her pulling away.

  "I don't think we should be here." She whispered to me looking around.

  “Why not?” I asked but I had a feeling why she was pulling away.

  “I’m thinking about you, babe. What about you? What about the fact that you don't like being near campus during and after games?"

  "I don't. I hate being on campus during and after the games. It’s nothing but people coming up to me. I don’t like that.”

  "Then why are we here?" She quizzed while walking even slower.

  "Because you are important to me and we gonna sit here and eat until you feel okay with us being seen together. I know that you don't like this situation because of the students, but fuck them. I’m not dating them, I’m not into them. I’m into you. We are going to eat a full meal and let them stare until you are good with it."

  "I don't care about that." But I wasn't buying it. She was walking slowly and she seemed so nervous.

  "No, you do." I walked up to the hostess and asked for a table for two.

  Now that I knew that people were watching us, I actually saw people look over at us. Some were typing away their phones and others were just trying not to stare. Simone shifted in her seat. She was uncomfortable and it showed. As we sat down, I pulled out her chair and pushed it in. Then when I sat from across from her, I leaned over the table and kissed her. I heard some whispers and gasps but I didn’t care. I held her face tightly and kissed her. When I pulled away, she was smiling so wide and bright.

  “How’s that?” I asked while I sat down.

  “Not bad.” She chuckled. She then looked around looking for the waitress. “I’m starving.” She told me.

  “I bet you are,” someone said, but we didn’t see where it was coming from.

  “Anyway,” I tried to get her attention away from it. “I’m thinking I might order a huge steak.”

  “You might as well, you're already eating with a cow.” The voice said again. Then we heard some people sitting behind us burst out laughing.

  One of the girls then said, “You need to be quiet.” But then someone replied, “Girl bye, I could have had him.” That’s when Simone whipped around in her chair.

  “Wait a minute.” I tried to stop her but she shook her head. She was going to say something and there was nothing I could do to stop her.

  “Excuse me.” She called out to their attention. They stopped laughing and turned to her. It looked like they were nervous. Maybe they thought that she would never say anything to them. They thought wrong.

  “Listen, if I wasn’t around, you wouldn’t be here. If I was skinnier, you wouldn’t be here, and if you gain the weight, you wouldn’t be here. To make a long story short, he would have never been into you. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”

  She turned back to me. “Now, I’m ready to order.”

  Chapter 12

  “Okay, are you ready?” I asked her. I was covering her eyes. I didn’t want her to see her surprise. With basketball season not a concern for me, I was concentrating on Simone. Every other day, we hung out and did something fun. One day we went to the movies and the other we went to an amusement park. We just loved to do something fun and today, I was excited to show her the surprise.

  "Don't peek," I told her as I held my hands over her face. I couldn't wait for Simone to see what I had in store for her. This surprise was the least I could do because she'd been so supportive of me through this time. Basketball was my life and without it, I don't know what to do, but luckily for me, I had her to keep my mind occupied.

  "Fine, but I swear if you walk me into a wall, a pole, or I fall down and hurt myself, I'm going to have to beat you up." She joked smiling.

  "Alright." I shook my head with a smirk. "I was going to walk you into a pole, but you were going to be dancing on it." She elbowed me in the ribs and I laughed. "I was joking." I chuckled.

  "I thought so."

  "But if you wanted to...." She elbowed me again.

  "I was joking!” I laughed some more.

  I finally got her to where her surprise was. I was so happy that it was happening. I was kind of more excited than her and was just anxious to see her reaction. I sighed and finally took my hands off of her face.

  "Okay now," I told her. I stepped back and watched her. She opened her eyes slowly so that she could adjust to the light. She looked around and was confused at first, but then she realized where she was.

  "Oh my God."

  I brought her to a sewing class. The teacher was watching us smiling. There were sewing machines everywhere as well as fabrics. She started to gasp and then laugh.

  "Wow. I can't believe I'm here." She seemed shocked.

  "Are you surprised?"

  "Yes." She admitted. "I thought you were bringing me to the movies."

  "Again with the movies." I sighed. "How many movies could we see? But I know how much you love fashion and wish that you could sew better. I thought that this could help you with that."

  "So, this is really happening?" She looked around. "How can you afford this?"

  "Don't worry about that. I've always saved my money and besides I got a deal for this."

  "But..." She drifted off.

  "But what?"

  "You got so much going on."

  Now that I was temporarily suspended from my team, my scholarship status was up in the air. I may or may not lose my scholarship, which meant I would have to either get a loan to pay for school or see if I qualified for financial aid. I tried talking to the coach, but he still wasn't moved. He still was disappointed in the fight, especially now that a video has surfaced online. Someone in that restaurant was recording us on their phone. They got the full fight where you see that the other man made the first move. It proved once again that it wasn't my fault, but I guess Coach was embarrassed. I couldn't do anything about it. At this point, it is what it is.

  "Don't worry about that," I assured her. "This is not the time or place for that. Right now, it's about you and this whole sewing thing."

  "I can't believe you did this for me."

  "Why not? You're my girlfriend, right?"

  That's when she kissed me. She grabbed me by the back of my neck and kissed me. She bit the bottom of my lips and I felt myself get excited. I backed away.

  "Let's not." I laughed. "I already paid for this class and I'll be pissed if you missed out because I want to take you out of here and into my bed." I kissed her forehead. "Let's keep it rated G here please."

  The class started and Simone took to it quickly. She seemed to really get the class. It's probably something she's been waiting to do for a long time. She's always said that she wanted to be more into sewing, but she could never find the time. I thought this little class would help her get into it more. The thing that she didn’t know is that the class was just a portion of her surprise; there was more coming.

  After the class the teacher and Simone exchanged numbers. The teacher wanted to keep in touch with Simone because she saw a lot of promise in her. During the break, Simone shared some of her sketches with the teacher as well as showing her that the shirt that she was wearing, was one of her designs.

  "Please don't hesitate to call me for anything. I know some places that are willing to give away free fashion design tools because they just get so much."

  "Oh my gosh, that would mean so much!" Simone gushed. "I really want to get some pieces made so that I could sell them online. Just to see what kind of reaction I would get."

  "Do it and when you, let me know."

>   They said their goodbyes and Simone came running to me laughing and smiling.

  "You." She kissed me on my lips quickly. "You are pretty great, you know that?"

  "Well, that's pretty obvious." I winked.

  "No, but for real." She grabbed my shirt and pulled me close. "You don't know how much this means to me." She kissed me deeply and I wrapped one of my arms around her waist. I pulled her closer so that I could smell that wonderful perfume she always had on. Once the scent filled my nostrils, I was overtaken with her. I couldn't allow myself to get carried away because I remembered that I had one more surprise for her.

  "Stop." I pretended to not want any more kisses. "Too much affection."

  "You're so silly. But I guess I shouldn't let you have your way with me right here."

  "I guess not."

  "How about I let you take me back to my dorm?"

  "What about your dorm director? I thought guys weren't allowed in the rooms."

  "She's being super lazy now that her own boyfriend is in town. She's not bothering us."

  "What about your roommate?"

  "I told you already, remember? My roommate left to go back home. She got homesick. So as of right now, I don't have a roommate. I'm all by myself."

  "That's right." I gave her a look. "Yeah, take me back there."

  We made our way back to campus. We were walking hand in hand and people still looked at me. I thought it had to do with me and Simone. Maybe some people couldn't believe that we were dating, but it had been long enough that they knew that we were serious.

  "Hey, I don't mean to disturb you but I just think that it sucks that you're not being allowed to play." One of them came up to me. "I saw the clip and you were just defending yourself." He told me shaking his head. "Keep your head up man." He reached out and we shook hands. "I think it's real messed up."

  "It is what it is. You have to talk to the coach about that one." I told him. "But thank you for that, I really needed to hear it."

  We walked through the halls where people came up to me saying the same thing. They all thought that I should be playing and were upset that I wasn't. It was nice to hear that they were on my side, but it just kept reminding me that I wasn’t playing anymore. It started to bring me down. By the time we go to her dorm room, I felt a little different.