By halftime, however, Malakai had no choice. He walked toward the locker room, lagging behind, waiting for the coaches to catch up.
“You’re going to tell them, aren’t you?” David asked, falling in step with him as Wes passed by and glared at them.
As he passed by the band, Malakai’s eyes landed on Lily, who gave him a small smile, but he couldn’t find it in himself to smile back at her.
“I don’t really have a choice, now do I?” Malakai said, shaking his head. “He’s ruining everybody’s morale.”
Malakai wanted to be far, far away from the field. He knew Lily had asked them not to say anything, but he had no choice now. He glanced her way again.
“I think she’ll understand,” David said. “And I’ll do it with you. You’re doing the right thing, you know.”
“I do it for the team, not for me.”
“That’s what being captain is all about, I heard.”
“Thanks for the pep talk,” Malakai said sarcastically.
“No problem.”
They got to the locker room door and waited for Coach to catch up.
“You have something to say to me?” the man barked.
“Yes, sir,” Malakai said, taking a page from David’s book and looking at Coach straight in the eye. “And you won’t like it.”
“Will it explain what the hell’s going on?”
“Yes, sir,” David said with a firm nod.
Coach looked at each of them in turn, then took a few steps away from the door, motioning for them to follow. He called over the assistant coach, then turned to them.
“Talk,” he said, crossing his arms.
The last four players walked by, glancing their way. Malakai saw one of them nod in approval.
“Last week, Wes went after one of the band girls,” Malakai began.
Coach frowned, his eyebrows disappearing under his baseball cap. Malakai then told him the rest of the story, and David helped with what he had witnessed at Lily’s house. They also explained how the team had found out and their reaction to the news.
“This is some serious shit,” the assistant coach said, shaking his head.
Malakai knew the assistant coach was disturbed when he used the word shit. It was simply not his style to curse.
“Indeed,” Coach agreed. “I suspected something was bad when the band didn’t cheer, but I never suspected something that major. I wish you had come to me yesterday with this. Heck, I wish you had come to me the minute it happened,” he continued, shaking his head.
“We wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt,” David said. “We’re a team after all.”
“Yes, you are, but this is so incredibly serious we could lose the chance to play for the rest of the season,” Coach said, removing his hat, scratching his head, then putting it back on. “You realize if this had gotten out, the league would have suspended the entire team for not acting on it, right?”
Malakai hadn’t known but now that he did, he was glad he told.
Coach paced back and forth a few times before stopping in front of them again.
“Okay, guys, let’s go fix this mess.”
The moment they walked inside, Coach waved to the other coaches to follow him, and they left for one of the meeting rooms. Malakai and David made their way to the bench and sat. Malakai leaned forward and took his head in his hands, his elbows on his legs. The team was deadly silent, and everybody was waiting. In the distance, they heard the band play.
“You told them,” Wes suddenly spat, standing up and stalking over to Malakai and David.
Malakai looked up and slowly got to his feet, followed by David and the rest of the team. Wes was shaking, his fists clenched at his side. He would have bumped his chest into Malakai had David not extended his arm to stop him.
“Yes, we did,” David said, looking straight at the enraged player. “We gave you the chance to play as part of the team, but you keep on having your head up your ass. We can’t afford it when we play.”
“You ruined me.”
“No, you did that to yourself,” Coach said, walking in. “You’re lucky your teammates were nice enough to give you a chance you didn’t deserve. Now sit down!”
All the players resumed their seats, but Wes stood his ground until Coach threw him a look that would have scared a man twice Wes’s size. By the time Wes was seated, the other coaches had trickled in except for the assistant coach. Their faces were long and sober.
“I sent for your parents,” Coach continued, a finger pointed at Wes.
Wes opened his mouth to protest.
“Don’t. Say. Anything,” Coach growled.
Malakai had rarely seen him so angry.
“You lost that right when you went after that girl.”
Wes didn’t even look down under Coach’s glare.
“Samson, you’re quarterback for the rest of the game,” Coach finally said, looking at Tristan. “Gonzales, you’re alternate quarterback for the rest of the game,” he added, looking at Luis.
Malakai glanced at the wide receiver, who nodded once. Luis didn’t frequently practice as quarterback, but he would do all right for one game if need be.
“Thomas, I think the team has rallied behind you for a while now. You’re captain from now on,” he added, looking at Malakai. “Now the rules of the game haven’t changed. You get there, and you do what you do best: you play and win.”
The players remained quiet, and Malakai looked at them, worried. He wondered if they could salvage the game. As Coach disappeared out of the door with Wes, the other coaches took over, giving them directions and pep talks. Five minutes later, they made their way to the field for the second half, still unusually quiet.
“I’m nervous,” Tristan said to Malakai, once they reached the sideline.
“Why?”
“What if I don’t get it right?”
“Tristan, you practiced your arse off, and you’ve done it before,” he said, grabbing Tristan by his helmet guard. “You know what to do, and you do it right. Stop doubting yourself,” he said, shaking the quarterback’s head. “Now all you have to do is do what you do best and pass those balls.”
“Okay,” Tristan said hesitantly.
“What?!”
“Okay!” Tristan screamed.
“That’s my man!” Malakai encouraged, slapping him on the back.
It took a good five minutes for the guys to get back in the game, but Tristan’s flawless performance coupled with Malakai’s scoring their first touchdown in the first three minutes of the third quarter got the team going. By the end of the game, they had scored twenty-eight points and won. Happy, the team made their way to face the stands for the school song.
“We did it,” David said.
“Yeah, we did.”
As he looked up at Lily in the stands, Malakai smiled.
Chapter Fifty
LILY
That Thursday night, Sandra and Lily joined some of their bandmates for dinner after practice. During the last week, the practice time had doubled due to the upcoming regional competition the next Saturday, and looking around the table and seeing the tired faces, Lily wondered how the band would manage the game the next day, let alone the competition.
“Earth to Lily,” Sandra said.
“Oh, sorry,” Lily said.
Her tired mind had drifted back to the visit she had received the previous Sunday. She had just woken up when a cop showed up at her door, asking her questions about what happened with Wes. Lily knew Malakai had told the coach after he called to apologize for it, but she hadn’t expected the police’s visit. Thankfully, Beatrice wasn’t home to throw venom at Lily for bringing the cops to their doorstep. A few hours after the officer left, Lily found out they had visited the Joneses and Malakai also.
“I’m not even going to ask you what you were thinking about,” Sandra said, rolling her eyes.
Lily didn’t answer.
They were sitting one next to the other, Lily’s leg tou
ching Sandra’s despite the small crowd, a sure sign she was too tired to deal with anything complicated.
“Malakai,” Sandra said.
“Yeah. I miss him.”
“No, I mean, he’s right there,” Sandra said, pointing toward the entrance.
Lily looked up; Malakai was walking toward her, a big goofy smile on his beautiful face. He was followed by some people, but Lily had eyes only for him.
“I missed you,” he said, walking to her as she stood up.
He hugged her, and Lily put her head against his chest, closing her eyes in pure contentment, feeling a warm glow that was all Malakai surrounding her. If she had been a cat, she would have purred.
“I missed you, too.”
The stress of the last few days was replaced by calm and love.
“Baby, are you with me?” Malakai asked after a few seconds, caressing her hair.
“Can I fall asleep?”
Malakai chuckled. “After food, if you want, I can take you home and you can sleep,” he offered.
At the mention of home, Lily became rigid. She was too tired to face Beatrice’s wrath, and now that she refused to attend her parties, things had gone from bad to worse. Beatrice’s mind had become so irrational Lily had vertigo every time she was in the same room with her.
“You don’t want to go,” he whispered in her ear.
Lily felt like someone was holding her heart in her hand and squeezing it. No, she didn’t want to go home, but she couldn’t tell Malakai without making him worry.
“I’ll make you a deal,” he offered. “After I grab dinner, I’ll go home, get a change of clothes, and come spend the night at your house.”
A night spent with Malakai, in her bed, warmed and loved, with very few clothes on…
Lily loved the thought.
But she wasn’t ready.
She wanted the comfort it would afford her to have him there, but she wasn’t ready for what being in a bed together could mean. They had been dating for what, three weeks, four days, and twenty-two hours? Not that she was counting…
“Just sleeping,” he added seriously when she hesitated. “I promise.”
Lily telling him about Beatrice during homecoming definitely had him worried, and it had become worse since the incident with Wes.
She was worried too, and she wanted to say yes so badly. “I’ll be okay,” she heard herself say instead, looking up at him.
And she could have cried.
That was a lie.
She was not okay.
She was in pain.
She was drained.
She was exhausted.
“Are you sure?” he asked, caressing her cheek with his warm thumb. “Are you absolutely sure?”
“Yeah,” she lied again.
She felt his doubt, but he didn’t say anything to contradict her.
How she wished he had.
“Why is the director working you so hard?” Tristan asked from behind her.
She turned around; Tristan, David, and Luis had joined their group at the table. Next to her, a seat had been kept for Malakai, and Sandra was now sitting on the other side of the table, next to Naomi. Lily sent a grateful smile to her best friend.
She sat and Malakai took the seat on her right. He grabbed her hand and held it tightly, looking at her with a reassuring smile.
“We have a competition this coming Saturday,” Ron answered with a yawn.
“Competition?” Tristan asked.
“Yeah, regional stuff, big competition,” Ron said. “If we win, we go to state in Austin in a couple of weeks.”
“You didn’t tell me,” Malakai said, looking at Lily in surprise. “That’s a big deal.”
“Yeah, for us it is.”
“What time are you playing? And where?”
“At eight a.m. on Saturday at Berry Center,” Naomi said, yawning also.
“That’s insane!” Tristan exclaimed. “We have a game the previous night, and you guys won’t be home before what? Midnight?”
“We know,” Ron said.
“I’m sorry,” Malakai said to Lily. “I didn’t know you had such a schedule this week.”
“It’s okay,” she said with a tired smile. “I’m just glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” he said, smiling at her. “Me too.”
Chapter Fifty-One
LILY
The minute she walked into her house later that night, Lily regretted telling Malakai she was all right. Beatrice was in the foyer, her hands on her hips, waiting for her. For the first time since Lily could remember, the woman appeared disheveled, her hair out of place, her makeup smudged, and Lily wondered what was going on. In the next moment, she was hit by a wave of hatred so strong it took everything she had for her to stay upright.
“Saturday, I have some guests coming over, and you will be in attendance. This man was gracious enough for you to meet his son, after the stunt you pulled at homecoming. And this is not up for discussion.”
“Mother, I won’t attend,” Lily said, bringing her hand to her temple and pressing hard. “Not only won’t I attend, I won’t be married against my will. If you think I will, you’re completely deluded.”
The throbbing in her head increased tenfold, and all Lily wanted to do was close her eyes. But she couldn’t, not in front of Beatrice.
“No discussion.”
“No, Beatrice, no discussion. I will not be there. Besides, I have a competition that day.”
“You selfish little brat. You’re just like your father. That’s all he ever did, think of himself.”
“My dad was not selfish. He was a great man.”
“Of course he was,” she said flippantly, crossing her arms over her chest.
The brightness of the entryway belied the dark loathing Lily felt from Beatrice.
“Why do you hate me so much? What have I ever done to you for you to hate me so?” she asked quietly.
Lily had never dared to ask before.
“What have you done? You’re here, aren’t you?”
Lily shook her head, not quite understanding what Beatrice was getting at. Beatrice was glaring at her, nostrils flaring.
“Your father was a selfish bastard. He wanted a child, so, of course, he had to have one. I did not want children. I was happy with him, the two of us, by ourselves. But one day, your father had to have a child. We fought over it, and I thought I had won but shortly after, he came home and said he would have a child with or without me. I had the choice to accept it or leave.
“I loved your father at the time. I wanted to be with him. But I was dead set on not having children. I thought he couldn’t make me. After all, he couldn’t stop me from taking my contraceptive shots. So he found another way. He went to a fertilization clinic and got a surrogate mother. The bastard.”
Lily knew about the surrogate mother, but she hadn’t known about the ultimatum her father had given Beatrice. And everything her mother was saying was the truth for once; Lily could feel it.
“I never signed those papers he wanted me to sign to make it happen, but he got it done anyway. He went behind my back and went to another state to make it happen, believe it or not. That’s why my name is not on your birth certificate and why you were born in Arkansas.
“He was never there during those months, you know, then he told me what he had done. I was so furious. How could he have done this to me?” she said, pointing at her chest. “When you came along, everything changed. Oh, he let me choose your name, but the moment he could, he found that ridiculous nickname for you. Of course it was all about you! You! You! Your father pretended to love me for a while, but when he saw I would have nothing to do with you, he became distant.
“Don’t get me wrong; you would have nothing to do with me either. Every time I tried to take you, you would cry until I put you down. Marcus kept on saying it was because you felt how nervous I was, but I wasn’t nervous; I just didn’t want to have anything to do with you. I didn’t want to be a moth
er, and you were stealing everything I had ever worked for.”
Lily understood what must have happened. She was an empath, and as a baby, she must have already known how much Beatrice despised her. No wonder she would cry.
“Then came a time when he decided we had to move so you could go to better schools. I didn’t want to move. I loved living downtown. I loved our condo. But no, we had to move because that place wasn’t good enough for you. It was again all about you. He even let you choose the house. I hated this house, but you loved it, so your father got it.”
Lily remembered her father showing her model homes and asking her which one she preferred. She remembered picking one from the models, and a few months later, they moved into one just like it. Lily must have been six or seven at the time.
“Of course, after we moved, he had me sign those adoption papers. I should never have signed them. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been stuck with you when he died. I never wanted you,” she said with a hysterical laugh. “I’m stuck with you, but I never, ever wanted you.
“And now all you can do is make my life a living hell. My friends think you’re so great and wonderful for dating the captain of the football team, but if only they knew who you really are. You’re a nobody who plays clarinet with a bunch of losers in a marching band. At least there’s still hope if you marry right,” she finished with a firm nod.
Lily was nauseated. She had known in her heart that hope was dead but to hear it was making her heart break all over again.
How she wished Malakai were with her…
“Well, Beatrice, while you may think I’m a nobody, I happen to think I’m worth a lot more than you. At least I don’t carry around all that hatred in me. And I will marry whom I want and not someone to make you look good.”
Lily had heard and said enough.
She made her way to the stairs slowly and went up to her bedroom where it was safe, if not peaceful. Once locked inside, she let the tears fall from her eyes. All she had heard was nothing but the truth as Beatrice saw it. Nothing Lily did would ever change that. Nothing she did would ever change Beatrice’s feelings toward her.
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