Full Court Press

by Sierra Hill

  As a college student athlete, we have our special set of challenges at school. We are held to a higher standard than other students, although some would argue we are given more leniency with consequences to our actions. Touché. Maybe some are.

  If we want to play, we have to take things seriously. That requires studying hard to remain eligible to play; conducting ourselves with the highest level of integrity and sportsmanship - both on and off the court. We have to be mindful of sexual relationships – ensuring consent and being careful to avoid getting trapped by a girl looking for a future payday. As well as ensuring the girl we’re with is respected and not mistreated.

  Regardless of all those expectations, there’s always a fuckwit who abuses their status and takes advantage of vulnerable women. I mean, what the fuck, dude? Like that Vanderbilt football player who was convicted of sexual assault of his own fucking girlfriend when he allowed her unconscious body to be used and gang raped. All while he taped it and handed out condoms?

  Seriously messed up shit.

  I’m sorry, but you’ve got to be sick in the fucking head to ever think that’s okay. Sadly, I’ve seen it all too often at the frat parties I’ve attended. Even as I think back to my own conduct the night I was arrested, I realize I should’ve been more careful with that girl. She was drunk, or at least tipsy, when we went out to my car. Although we didn’t have sex that night, had it gone any further, who knows what she could’ve claimed happened?

  It’s a scary prospect, and gives me discomfort to think about it now. I have to give it to my dad, he did provide me some good advice when I entered puberty. He told me to always manage myself above the fray. Be smart. Don’t act like a fool. And never disrespect a woman.

  I didn’t really understand it at the time. Hindsight always being twenty-twenty, I now see why he was so disappointed over my conduct that night. I didn’t listen to him. His guidance went in one ear and right out the other.

  Had it happened to either of my two younger sisters, I would have gone ape shit and flown into older brother protective mode. It makes me a hypocrite when I discourage any of my buddies from even looking at my sisters. I’ve made it very clear that I will kick any guy’s ass, even my friends, who fuck with either of my sisters.

  Even as we speak, it’s like swatting bees away from the hive with my sister Kylah. She’s home for fall break and I invited her to come meet Ainsley and attend my practice. Both roommates, including Van who came over for pre-practice dinner, have been staring slack jawed at Ky for the last two hours. I’m about to throttle them.

  They’ve been eyeballing her like she’s fresh meat, wearing a pair of short-denim shorts, and a T-shirt that is stretched tight across her chest where it reads Talk Nerdy to Me. Her medium-length bob is pulled back into a ponytail, her wispy bangs hovering just to the top rim of her glasses. Yeah, she’s a geeky, gawky girl…but is still beautiful with assets that a lot of guys enjoy looking at. And right now, they’re all looking at her.

  Motherfuckers. I glare at them all.

  “So, Kylah, what are you studying out there at that fancy school you’re at?” Lance asks, but not before shoving a piece of garlic bread into his pie hole. The guy has no manners.

  I glance over at Ky, who is daintily picking at her spaghetti, a faint blush rising across her already rosy cheeks. Did I mention that Ky is the shy one of the twins? I swear, the girl gets embarrassed any time the spotlight is on her. It’s kind of cute, though.

  “Oh…um…” Ky practically chokes on the words. “Molecular biology.”

  A collective sound of impressed acknowledgements surrounds the table. I pop my head up from my plate and see Carver half listening, his focus on his phone in his lap. Lance is noshing on food, chewing with his mouth open as he shakes his head, and Van…well, his expression baffles me. If I didn’t know better, and know he has a long-time girlfriend, I’d think he was interested in my sister. But thank God he does have a girlfriend, because otherwise I’d have to kick his ass.

  I asked Kylah over for dinner tonight because my mom and John are away on a cruise, and I didn’t want Ky to be sitting home alone with nothing to do. She’d probably be sitting home alone right now reading a book or watching a Game of Thrones episode. When I asked her about seeing her old high school friends, she just shrugged and said “maybe”. The girl has no social life.

  “How’d your big speech go last week?” I ask, knowing she had to take a public speaking elective and it just about killed her to get up in front of people. “What was your topic again?”

  Ky nibbles on her lip, her face splotchy and cheeks pink. As she lifts her head to look at me, her moss-green eyes grow wide. With the exception of Kady, who got my dad’s blue eyes, we share the same eyes as my mom.

  “Well, I wanted to do a speech on a topic I was comfortable with, so I pitched the idea to my professor about organic chemistry and how there’s been a serious decline of honey bee population in the U.S. over the last few years. It’s affected by changing climates and global warming and it poses a real threat to agriculture.” She takes a breath and lets out an exasperated sigh. I chuckle.

  Yep, that’s my nerdy scientific sister.

  “Wow, okay. Well…that sounds interesting.” Not really, but I can’t tell her that. She seems really excited about the topic.

  “Exactly!” she exclaims, like we’re in solidarity over the issue. “But my communications professor said I needed to take a topic that I’m not familiar with. Which is absolutely ridiculous.”

  Van pipes in. “So what did you select?”

  It’s as if Ky had no idea there were other’s at the table because her head whips around to give Van a wide-eyed stare.

  She gulps, blushes and then grins, giving a shy tilt of her head toward the floor.

  “My roommate, Sienna, suggested I give a speech on dating in the technology-driven world and how the impacts of social media are affecting relationships.”

  My fork drops out of my hand, hitting the table with a loud clatter. Ky swings her head over my direction, her eyebrows raise in surprise.

  “So you spoke in front of an audience about how to hook up?”

  My little outburst garners the attention of Lance and Carver again, whose heads pop up with interest.

  “Hells yeah,” Carver hoots. “Do tell. I’m always looking for new methods of meeting the ladies.”

  I swat at him, pushing at his shoulder.

  “Like you need any sort of help.” Lance’s got that right.

  Carver is the king of hook-ups. Girls flock to him in droves. The guy has this player charm that somehow allows him to sweep in, get in a girl’s panties, and sweep right back out before the girl barely registers what the hell just happened. In fact, I’d bet he’s been chatting with at least three chicks on his phone in the last ten minutes alone.

  My eyes dart back to Ky, who I see has the sense to roll her eyes and shake her head at Carver’s response.

  “No, you idiot. My thesis was on the way it negatively affects our generation’s ability to find love in this short-term, quick hook-up society, because all the internet sites only cater to finding sex.”

  Lance snorts. “What’s wrong with that?”

  What a douche. I punch him in the right bicep – hard.

  He pulls back and rubs the spot where I slugged him. “Ouch – dude. Why you be hatin’?”

  Kylah scoffs as if she can’t believe the audacity of his ignorance.

  “Men.”

  Van doesn’t agree with her assessment.

  “Hey, that’s not a fair point. It’s not just men on those sites, you know. Unless it’s a gay site, there has to be interest from the opposite sex. Otherwise, the sites would be of no use. So, in essence, there’s some implied duality in this situation, where women are just as culpable for causing the decline in relationship infractions.”

  Whoa. Go, Van, Go.

  Kylah considers this for a moment and then concedes with a nod of her head.

 
“True. And that’s kind of why my speech failed.”

  “Oh no. I’m sorry to hear that.” Van is showing an awful lot of interest in this conversation. I’m not sure I like it.

  Kylah shrugs and looks down at the fork in her hand.

  “Yeah, it was pretty pathetic. I was so nervous about having to speak up in front of the class, that in my preparation for the speech, I completely spaced considering both sides of the coin. So when I was challenged, I got flustered and couldn’t speak to that point. It was a dumb thing to do.”

  My sister has always been this way. She has a tendency to get down on herself and lacks self-esteem. It’s like Kady sucked it all up from her in the womb.

  I reach over to wrap my arm around her shoulders, tugging her in for a hug.

  “Ky. Don’t do that. It was just one lousy speech. We all have our moments. Even Carver here…Mr. Perfect…”

  Carver’s head jerks up, his eyes glaring at me. “What the fuck, man? What’d I do to you, fuckwad?”

  “Oh yeah…remember basketball camp our junior year in high school? When you stole the ball from me and dribbled down the court like a cocky hotshot, just about to slam dunk the ball, and you tripped over your own feet? Hilarious!”

  Everyone at the table laughs over the absurdity of Carver, the epitome of cool, making a fool of himself. Carver scowls and flips me the bird, mumbling a “Motherfucker” and goes back to looking at his phone.

  “Yeah, Kylah. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Speaking in front of a room full of strangers is the worst thing ever.” Van states with conviction.

  “You guys do it all the time at press conferences. And you make it look easy.”

  I shrug my shoulders. “It doesn’t mean we like it. Sometimes the questions are bullshit and they try to trip you up. It gives reporters a hard on to score us down a notch. Bastards.”

  Kylah shifts in her seat, a regretful expression overtaking her face. “Like they did with you, Cade?”

  I grumble. “Jesus, Ky. You saw that? That is not the shining moment in my career that I want to be remembered for.”

  Van jumps in, saving me from utter humiliation in front of my baby sister. “Yo, Griff. It was a fucking ambush. That asshole…” He suddenly stops, glances over at Kylah and blanches. “Sorry, Ky.”

  She giggles and waves him off.

  “Anyway, we all screw up sometimes. Some of us more than others. It’s how you carry yourself out of the mess that speaks to your character. Right, Griff?”

  Van’s got me there. He’s sticking up for me, giving me the opportunity to save face in front of Kylah. Good man. But I still don’t like the furtive glances he’s giving her out of the corner of his eye whenever she isn’t looking.

  There’s one thing I won’t tolerate, no matter how good the friend. It’s one of my friends hitting on my little sister. Kylah’s as innocent as they come. Unmarred and virginal. There’s no doubt in my mind she’s still a virgin.

  Just then it hits me. Shit…she’s been away in college almost a whole semester now. I wonder…has she? Nah…no way. Not possible. But I make a mental note to text Kady later to see if she knows anything. She and Ky share everything.

  A knock on the door stops any further thoughts on this topic. I practically jump out of my chair and rush to the door. I’ve been waiting for Ainsley to arrive with my gramps. She had to finish with the dinner schedule at the home before she and gramps could leave. They’re early, which makes me happy.

  Swinging the door open, ready to grab her in my arms, I find the one person I’m least expecting to find standing in front of me.

  “Dad.”

  “Son.” He says with a quick nod as he presses forward into the hallway. I’m confused. I didn’t invite him over, and definitely don’t want him here. But from the sound of the happy squeals coming from my sister behind me, it’s safe to assume Kylah did invite him. It’s for that reason I’m not about to turn him away.

  “Daddy!” Kylah shouts, running toward him with open arms. He gathers her in his embrace and places a quick kiss on top of her head. His eyes are closed and his expression is warm and loving. I guess we share that one common trait. We love the twins to pieces.

  “Sweetie, I’m so happy to see you. Come on, let’s go sit down so you can tell me all about school and how everything’s going.”

  I notice a twinge of something pass through Kylah’s eyes, but it quickly disappears as she pastes on a happy smile and turns to walk away, her arm grasped in the crook of my dad’s elbow. I have no time to worry about what was in her expression when the door opens again. This time it’s exactly who I am expecting.

  “Hey there, handsome.” Her voice is utter joy to my ears.

  I give her a welcoming smile, picking her up by her waist and spinning her around. “Hey yourself, beautiful.”

  Because we have an audience, I restrain myself from mauling her right there. She feels so ridiculously perfect in my arms I don’t want to let her go. She squirms and wiggles out of my grasp so I can’t do anything but drop her back to her feet.

  I turn toward my grandfather and give him a hug.

  “Hey, Gramps. I’m so glad you could come tonight. I know it’s getting way past your bedtime, old man. Hopefully you can take a nap in the stands.” I joke, tapping him on back.

  He snorts, giving me a mocking punch.

  He waggles a gnarled finger at me, eyebrows raised. “You’re not too old that I can’t still bend you over my knee and smack the sass right out of you, young man.”

  I’m about to retort when my dad clears his throat and walks forward toward us, holding out his hand to my grandfather. I forgot how awkward things were between my dad and gramps. Not knowing the entire story between my parents and my gramps, I’m at least familiar with the fact that my dad had practically forbidden us from visiting gramps when my parents were together. Apparently they’ve been in opposition since well before I was born.

  “Simon,” my dad says quietly and respectfully.

  “Hello, Allen. Good to see you. How’ve you been?”

  My dad, ever the professional, gives his canned response. “Good, good. Work always keeping me busy.”

  I can’t stop myself when I release a loud snorting sound. Both of them look my way, but I ignore them and move to Ainsley, leaving them to their awkward reunion.

  “Hey, baby. Come meet my little sister.” I direct Ainsley over to the couch where Kylah is sitting, looking both shy and excited. She’s never met any girl I’ve been with, but she knows everything about Ainsley, since I’ve been talking nonstop about her for months. She’s aware of how we met, what happened between us and that we’re back together again.

  Ky gets to her feet and is about to shake hands when Ainsley smiles broadly and pulls her into a hug.

  “Kylah, it’s so good to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you. Your brother is so proud of you and what you’re doing. You’re more beautiful than your pictures. I’m so happy you get a chance to visit. It must be hard to be away from home for such long periods of time.”

  I watch with assessing eyes as Ky steps back a few inches and out of Ainsley’s embrace. The smile on her face seems genuine, but doesn’t quite meet her eyes.

  “Hi Ainsley. I’m so happy to meet you, too. And yes, it’s good to be home for a little while. I have been kind of homesick.” Her smile fades and her bright eyes lose a little of their light. I wonder what that’s all about, but now is not the time to delve into the subject. I’m sure she’ll tell me at some point.

  The guys at the table are cleaning the dinner dishes and they all yell out a ‘hello’ to Ainsley.

  “Hi guys!” She waves and smiles before grabbing my hand and squeezing. “Geez, Cade. You mentioned that Kylah was smart, but you didn’t tell me how absolutely gorgeous she is.”

  Ky does exactly what I expect her to do when she hears Ainsley’s compliment. She blushes and drops her chin, shifting on her feet with embarrassment. Just then, a low voice speaks
up from behind her.

  “My girl is both beautiful and brilliant.”

  My dad places an arm around Kylah’s shoulder giving her a proud squeeze. It’s then that I realize I haven’t introduced my dad to Ainsley. I honestly never thought I’d have to. At least not so soon. My dad has no idea I’m involved with someone. At least, if he does, he didn’t hear it from me.

  He clears his throat and offers his hand in greeting. “Hello. I’m Allen, Cade and Kylah’s father. And you are?”

  “Ainsley Locker,” she says with confidence, shaking his hand. “I’m, uh…” She looks to me for direction.

  “Ainsley’s my girlfriend, Dad. You’ve actually met her once before.” I threw that zinger in just to catch him off guard.

  My dad gives me a confused look, and I kind of enjoy putting him on the spot like this. I know he wouldn’t remember her from the café, since that morning was a blur and he’d been so pissed at me. But getting in this little dig makes me feel like I have the upper hand for some reason. Immature, I know.

  Ainsley swivels her head to me, her eyes full of question.

  “Yeah, the morning of my court appearance. She was our waitress at the café after the hearing.”

  My dad’s head nods, like he remembers her. What bullshit.

  “Ah, of course. I thought you looked familiar. Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you again, Ainsley. So do you go to school with Cade?” I know where he’s going with his question. He wants to know if she is just a waitress. Like it would a crime if that’s all she did as a profession.

  My grandfather joins us by sitting down, as Ainsley moves to his side to help him lower himself to the couch.

  “Actually, Allen…Ainsley is my nurse.” He smiles up at Ainsley with an expression of gratitude and appreciation. “She’s one of the most kind and gentle nurses I’ve ever had. She’s patient and treats me like a human being, not an old person. This girl is nothing but sweetness and light.”

  From behind me I hear Lance mumble, “I bet she gives good sponge baths, too.” I turn around and glare at him hard. He knows better than to say things like that about my girl. Thankfully, when he sees me staring at him, he has the sense to look remorseful.