by Xyla Turner
His father poured two shots of something expensive and placed one in front of him.
"What's going on?" he asked. "Talk to me."
Just like that. His father was his father; knew his son like he knew those flowers. It was something he could always appreciate about his dad. He let him grow and if he felt he needed to be pruned he did so in a way that he could continue to grow. Randall knew he was blessed to have such a wise man as his father and to even have one in his life. Which was a sad reality.
"I messed up, Dad." He picked up the drink and tossed it back.
It stung as it went down but he placed the glass back in front of his father for a refill.
"How?" he asked before he tossed his back and poured another for them both.
"Fell in love." Randall shook his head. "Let my business get in the way of that. Friends, business, and love just shouldn't have mixed."
He tossed the drink back again and this time it didn't burn as much.
"Ha," his father said. "You got bit?"
"Yeah, Dad."
"I'll assume you haven't fixed it, which is why you've played like a broken man." He said this with a stern tone but also but also with a hint of disappointment.
"Yes, sir." It automatically rolled out when his dad used that tone. "I'm not sure how. She won't even see me."
"The son I raised, looked me in my eye and told me that he would not follow in this family’s footsteps and wanted to play a sport. Basketball of all the sports and stereotypical of a black man in this country. He played that sport, worked his ass off and gained a scholarship to keep playing at the collegiate level. Despite the odds, he worked even harder, finished college, and was drafted into the hardest league to get in outside of the National Football League. Fast-forward, after much hard work, he is the starting small forward for the Washington Wizards." He downed his shot and continued. "The son I raised doesn't let obstacles get in his way when he wants something. Not even people he loves. He finds a way."
Ralph held up the bottle, questioning if Randall wanted more, but he shook his head and watched his father take another shot.
"You're right," he finally acknowledged. "I guess I wasn't sure if I was ready or not but it’s killing me."
"That's how you know you're ready. It doesn’t feel right when they're not there." His father laughed. "I remember your mother told me once she didn't want to talk to me anymore. I was a stubborn something, so I let her leave. Never understood why the hell I did that? She was my best friend. I got a promotion at my job and couldn't call her to share. Those privileges were revoked. My father had a stroke and I couldn't share that with her. Man, I was hurting triple time and the one that I leaned on the most was no longer there. Every man has to face that at some point. Put pride aside, grow a pair, and eat whatever she feeds you. You love her, you love it."
Ralph shook his head as he remembered that time in his life.
"That was one of the worst moments of my life, tell you the truth." He continued, "Everything before and after that, I had my partner to help me through. Without her, everything was worse. She couldn't get rid of me now even if she wanted to."
Randall wasn't sure why he laughed so hard but after choking on his own saliva, he finally calmed down and said, "Yeah, Dad, I think that's my best bet. Drive her crazy until she gives in. I've been trying to be respectful of her wishes but that impeded on my sanity."
"Sane," his dad laughed. "Yeah, there's no sanity when the love is gone."
"Yeah, I'm starting to get that."
"Make it right, son. I'd love to meet her. What's she like?"
Randall leaned back against the leather chair and sighed. "She's the cutest little thing I've ever seen. Mindy's smart, sexy, short as hell and feisty. Lots of sass, when she wants her way. Also, she has a great sense of humor."
"Sounds like your mother." His father laughed. "Can't go wrong with none of that."
"Yeah," Randall noted. "I see that now."
After returning to DC, Randall felt rejuvenated and encouraged by his new plans. His first call might require some convincing but he had nothing to lose.
"Diamond, are you and Shane in town?" Randall asked after he dialed her number.
"Yeah, we're here. What's up with you?" Her voice lowered. "What happened with Mindy?"
"Well, that's what I wanted to discuss with Shane but in short, she's not talking to me and it’s based on a misunderstanding. He around?" Randall asked.
"Yeah, here. You can talk to him."
"No, I'll call him. But, I wanted to talk to you about doing a piece on my camp. I'm trying to spread awareness after something fell through, I need some help though." Randall was not above begging because once it hit the media that he was no longer doing the endorsement for the league deal; it would be a big thing.
"Of course. Sure, when is best for you?" Diamond asked; seemingly picking up the urgency in his voice.
Prior to this, if you asked her about doing a piece, she'd refer you to someone else. That's how the two of them met; Randall was her first celebrity interview. This, of course, caused an issue with Shane because he’d offered on multiple occasions. It was a long story but they worked out their issues and now Randall had to work out his.
"Great, I'll call you with the details tomorrow. Tell Shane, I'm about to call, okay?" Randall said.
"Yeah, sure thing."
They hung up and he quickly dialed.
"What's up man?" Shane greeted. "Everything alright?"
"No, man. Can you meet me at The Pro's in thirty minutes?" Randall asked.
"Yeah, I can do that. Anything I need to bring?" Shane asked.
"Naw, man. Just you."
Forty minutes later, the two men were in the back of the prestigious bar in a huddle.
"Remember, we discussed your sister?" Randall started the conversation off with that reminder.
"Yeah but I assumed you’d moved on after you brought that chick to our party and the fundraiser." Shane raised an eyebrow at his friend, as a warning.
"Man, that was for a business opportunity. She's a part of some cross-league promotional thing and she wanted to go to the different events where other players from other sports would be and get introduced to them. Her company was all about building relationships, so face-to-face introductions was the best way to make contacts or something like that," Randall explained. "I wasn't with her like you’re thinking."
"Uh, man. I'm not sure what the hell you're talking about but that chick wanted to know more about you. After you introduced her to me, she talked about you almost the entire time or just listened to us. She didn't pitch anything to any of us." Shane sat back in their booth.
"Wait, what?"
"Man, we can call Theo and Matthew. She did not say one thing about the leagues. Nothing." Shane shook his head.
Randall pulled out his phone, started to Google the company's name and found a shell of a site that did not say much. Then he Googled her name but came up empty, so he searched for keywords that were used for the initiative and found nothing listed. All sorts of thoughts ran through his head as he tried to figure out what was going on.
"How did you hear about this?" Shane asked.
"My agent," Randall muttered. "He said it was something coach thought would be good and the woman was his business partner. It was supposed to be a multimillion-dollar endorsement for me and the people I introduced. The goal, or so I was told, was to get the various leagues to work on a media collaboration showing support for different initiatives, like the walk for cancer, etc."
"I've never heard of that but it sounds good. I can see why you would want to do something like that." Shane tried to sympathize. "But what does this have to do with Mindy?"
Randall sighed as he thought about the many ways he was being played and how he would kill Miles if he didn't think he'd have to serve time in jail or that it would ruin his career.
"We were talking but only as friends. Well, more than friends even though neither of us would
admit that fact. Anyway, we were spending a lot of time together and..." Randall looked Shane in the eyes and said, "I fell in love, man. She's all I want and I messed it up. My agent put that fundraiser on my calendar at the last minute. Said that lady needed to be there and I had to bring her and introduce her to some of the soccer and hockey players that were in attendance. Mindy saw me there with her and freaked. Said, we weren't friends and hasn't spoken to me since."
Shane leaned forward and said, "Wait, let me get this straight? You were dating my sister, brought another girl to a formal function and now you want my help?"
"No," Randall leaned towards his friend. "We weren't dating yet. I got bamboozled and now I'm screwed."
Shane burst out laughing while hitting the table.
"This is priceless." When he sobered, he looked at Randall and said, "So, you're the reason for Brown University?"
"What?"
"You're Brown University," Shane repeated with a shake of his head. "Mindy's moving to Rhode Island in a few weeks for graduate school. She told the family last week."
Everything stopped in Randall's world. His head felt feverish, his palms were sweaty and eyes felt heavy.
"W-wait, what?" he stuttered.
"Man, you messed up royally. She's leaving and the way she was talking, I doubt she's coming back." Shane clarified, "Said something about being nothing but a shadow in DC but she'd be her own person somewhere else."
"No, no." Randall started shaking his head. "No."
"Man, I'm sorry but I'm not sure what I can do to help you," Shane said.
"I need to talk to her," he almost screamed in a frantic plea. "I have to speak to her."
"Man, that's what I'm trying to tell you. She's not even talking to me." He shook his head. "We had a family meeting and she dropped that bombshell and then stormed out. She won't take my calls or visits for that matter."
Randall was on his feet by that point as thoughts raced through his head about this current state of affairs. He couldn't believe this was happening at this point. The plan in his head did not include any of this. Miles had been doing some shady business, he wasn't sure what Amy was up to and Mindy, the love of his life, was moving out of the state.
"Look, you got to help me. Can you get Diamond to have her come to your house or something and I'll be there? Or plan to meet her somewhere, so she can at least hear me out." Randall was pacing in the corner of the restaurant.
Shane's face communicated everything but hope with his eyebrow close to his hairline and wide eyes.
"Man, I'll try but Mindy's no fool." He stood up to join his friend. "Look, when I thought I lost Diamond, I did what I had to do. Ran through DC to get her and tracked her down to a friend's house. My point is, bro, you got to do what you got to do. She's my sister and I know that look."
Shane pointed to Randall's face. "I know that look, man and Mindy, she's stubborn like my father. You're going to have to make a serious case is all I'm saying."
"Goddammit," Randall roared.
"Man, calm down before they toss us out of here," Shane pleaded but Randall was already headed out the door.
Shane pulled out some cash, dropped it on the table and followed him out the door.
"What are you going to do?" he called after his frantic friend. "Man, calm down."
Randall was halfway across the parking lot near his car by the time Shane caught up with him.
"Man, what are you going to do?" he asked again.
"Getting my girl." Randall turned to face his friend with wild eyes. "I'm going over there and I'm going to make her hear me."
"Yo, man. Proceed with caution. Those are Sinclair women over there. They'll eat you alive," Shane said with all seriousness. "I think I need to go with you."
"Whatever," he hopped in his truck and sped to her house across town.
When Randall arrived, he didn't dare knock on the door. Instead, he saw that her bedroom light was on, so he grabbed a few pebbles and tossed them at the window. Shane remained in his car with the lights off to remain out of sight.
The curtain pulled back and Randall saw a version of Mindy look outside at his truck and then she looked down and saw him. Waving his hand for her to open the window, she didn't comply. Just simply stared until she vacated her spot, letting the cloth material flow back in its place.
Randall thought she might come down to see him, but no one came to the door. For fifteen minutes, he stared between the window and the door waiting for something to happen. Just as he was about to throw another pebble at the window, the curtain moved again but this time Randall raised his hands to show his cell phone. He was trying to think fast so he sent a text and pointed to the phone. Hopefully she would unblock his number.
Please, please. Can we talk. 5 minutes. Please
The curtain moved back into place and the light went off in the bedroom. A few beats later, the front, wooden door clicked; causing Randall to move quickly towards his first mark. Instead of climbing the stairs, he stayed on the first step and stared at her. She looked reserved and closed off; not like his Mindy.
"Five minutes," she said in an even tone.
Randall sighed because he knew any excuse would sound like an excuse.
"Mindy, there are many things that I am but there are definitely things that I'm not. I'm not a liar, not a deceiver and I'm no cheater. I value your friendship too much to ever do that to you. I'd love to explain everything but in my desperate five minutes, these are the things I want you to know." Randall took a step up. "First, since you're moving to Rhode Island, so am I. My house has been put up for sale already. Second, my heart has been aching without you in my life. It just doesn't work. And last, but certainly the most important, I love you, Mindy Sinclair. With all my heart. Not just as a friend but as my partner. My mate. My Minnie Mouse. So..." he paused. "You do what you got to do but I'm telling you now. I'm not giving up on us."
Randall shrugged his shoulders and stepped back down the stairs. Mindy's mouth was slightly open and her eyes were wide. If it wasn't so dark, he could have sworn he saw her eyes shining with unshed tears but he didn't want to assume. His goal was to make her listen to him and that was what he’d accomplished so he turned to leave.
"Randall," her broken voice called, stopping him dead in his tracks.
He didn’t turn around because the devastation of what she was going to say besides running up to him and taking him back; he wouldn't be able to bear. After several minutes, he kept walking to his truck and drove to his next destination.
His agent's house.
Chapter Nine
She wanted to call him back.
She wanted to ask him back.
She wanted to know why but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Pure stubbornness would not allow her to have him explain. Mindy didn't want to be one of those women that just took anything and she also didn't want to be one of those women that made a huge ordeal about everything. They weren't dating so it should have been no loss, no foul. Yet, they both knew it was.
It was more than friendship, more than either of them could define. Except when Randall stood at her steps and declared his love, the definition was clear.
She knew.
To top it off, Mindy knew that Randall knew.
Still she just couldn't call him back or ask him for an explanation. Mindy wouldn’t do it.
Sleep would not come easy or at all that night as her heart broke even more. Randall's usually jovial expression was gone and after a few days of no shaving, drinking and sleepless nights, her friend didn't look like himself. Mindy knew she shouldn't have come down but she owed it to herself to not make this an issue. Well, at least, that's what she thought as the tears poured down her face and soaked her down-feathered pillow.
Randall still couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Man, I'm telling you. They are shady." Oscar kept typing away.
He was a friend of Randall’s and happened to be prone to private investigation work. Randall
tried not to kick himself about not hiring him earlier to look into Miles and some of his dealings. He was his friend so he thought that at some point, he'd get it together. However, the nagging suspicion that something nefarious was happening, kept tugging at him.
"What exactly are they doing?" Randall asked.
"So, from what I could dig up in a week, this company was formed by both of them and there doesn't seem to be a legit backing. Like nothing links them to any other league besides some of the contacts which are mostly old. There is no record of a business by that name. The reputation they claim to have and with which celebrities they've worked with is false. I anonymously called a couple of them and got nothing. Never heard anything like this shit right here."
Enough was enough.
"What are you going to do?" Oscar asked.
"What I got to do. He's trying to extort me for money. My friend of ten years." Randall growled, "I'm going to do what I need to do."
He hung up the phone and within fifteen minutes he was outside of Miles' penthouse in the heart of the district.
Randall pounded on the door three times before he heard, "Who is it?"
There were some muffled voices and then the door unlocked as a familiar voice said, "Yo, we've been waiting, Remy."
Miles answered the door in red boxers that dangerously clashed with his reddish chest hairs. His mouth was wide open because he clearly thought I was Remy, whoever that was.
"Fuck, Randall, what..." He started to close the door but Randall had already pushed it aside. "Man, what are you doing?"
"No, what are you doing?" Randall yelled at him as he scanned the area to see Amy sitting unashamedly with nothing on her body.
Once recognition settled, she quickly jumped up and ran towards the back.
"What the hell is going on?" Randall barked as he pointed towards her. "Tell me what this is?"