“Simone,” Matthias said, knowing he needed to stay focused on the coupon so he didn’t turn. “I suggest you find a new profession. Something in the fast food industry, because unlike Silly or you, I really can destroy someone.”
“Matthias you don’t know what that girl has gone and done.”
“Stop while you still have the ability to walk,” Sharee warned in a low tone as she came up behind Matthias and stroked the inside of his right wrist with her thumb.
“Fine, you only have a year left max before you’re nothing. That championship you won, was your swan song. Everyone knows it, I’m glad to be off your sinking ship because you can’t do anything but dribble a damn ball.”
* * * *
Sylvia had been dreading this game. It was just preseason and she knew that the Emperors would play the Timberwolves at least four times this year. Convincing her boss she should stay stationed in the locker room wasn’t hard. Her stomach was already becoming a major obstacle.
The team had gone out for warm-ups, but she had one straggler. Cory Bostan had determined that Sylvia was the only one who could wrap his ankles. He was picking with her as he always did stretched out on the padded blue leather training table.
His skinny legs always made Sylvia laugh.
“All right Chicken Legs what’s on order for today?”
“Well Two Tons of fun and I’ll take a three piece.”
“Right first? I know your superstitious ass.”
Cory flexed his right foot so it was at a ninety-degree angle. Sylvia pulled out the beige pre-wrap and pushed up the compression tights Cory wore. With them almost to his knee, she started at the base of his calf and spun it around his leg.
“If you’d eat you might not need to wear leg warmers to keep you from getting a cold.”
“Please, I do that to keep the ladies from running on the floor to tackle my sexy ass.”
“You do know it’s impossible to tell your ankle from your leg. Cankles aren’t the right word for them.”
“Keep up with the jokes.”
Wrapping around his foot then back again she checked to make sure she’d successfully covered his skin. The white athletic tape tore away as she started at the top of her pre-wrap and worked her way around checking with Cory that it wasn’t too tight, and then pressing in on the bottom of his foot. While she hyper-extended his foot to make sure he had full movement before she did her last pass with the tape, a door behind her opened.
“Hey man. Wrong locker room.” Cory smiled at whoever was standing behind her. “How you been?”
“Not bad. Not bad at all.” A large hand reached over her shoulder to pound and shake Cory’s. “See you’re still broken as usual.” Matthias’ strong voice sounded behind her and she thought she’d burst. All she wanted to do was turn around and fall into his arms. But that wouldn’t be right. Sylvia knew that. The Wolves’ staff and players hadn’t put the two of them together and that was a Godsend. She didn’t want to do more damage than she had already done.
“Yea my favorite trainer thinks I need to bulk up a bit. Don’t you Two Tons?”
Sylvia just looked up at Cory who seemed to always be a little kid and smiled not saying a word.
“Oh smart ass doesn’t have a comeback for that one huh?”
“If you can’t say somethin’ nice,” Sylvia replied, keeping her voice low.
“When did that start?” Cory picked as Sylvia tapped the top of his foot to let him know she was done. His left leg that had been bent at the knee extended, and he flexed his foot up for her. She pushed up his tights then reached for the pre-wrap again. “So really what are you doing here?”
“Heard you got the best trainer in the league. Thought maybe she could wrap my ankles.”
“No way. She’s all mine.”
“All yours?” Matthias’ tone was dark and Sylvia feared what he was thinking. She heard his weight shift like he was walking and she froze thinking he’d come over to where she was. Sure from the back he might not notice the baby, but from the front there was no way of hiding his son.
“Plus, I’d hate to give you any advantage.”
“Well here’s the deal. She used to be my trainer.”
“Did she now?”
Cory looked down at Sylvia who was completely fixated on his foot at the moment. The final pre-wrap was on and her hand shook as she reached for the tape.
“That’s right, you did your sports medicine training in KC didn’t you?”
Sylvia nodded, still keeping her eyes down. Matthias must be leaning against the prep table Sylvia determined, because he’d stopped moving. She still was so connected to him she seemed to know his every movement.
“Hey Cory, I ever tell you the story of this tattoo?”
“No.” Cory seemed to be looking more at Sylvia than Matthias. He was putting it all together. She knew it.
“See when I was twelve there was this kid, Henry Dobbson. He was fourteen and the meanest son of a bitch you’d ever seen. One day Henry and his crew came to the courts right? I was there with a few of my friends. It took a lot for me to stop playin’ basketball. You know how it is.”
“Yeah,” Cory said without any of the conviction Matthias had. Cory seemed to be monitoring Sylvia more than listening to Matthias’ story. Sylvia knew his story was for her, not Cory, and she believed Cory had caught the vibe too.
“Well me and my friends grabbed our stuff and started back home. Correction. They started home. I had a pass to the rec center, which was where I should have been playing in the first place. So I started walking north on Cherry Street while my friends took off east on Baker.”
Sylvia remembered Cherry Street from when Matthias took her home. He’d said that it changed his life. Part of her wanted to run thinking she couldn’t know more about him. The ache in her heart from not being with him was too great as it was.
“Okay.”
“So big old Henry Dobbson, who I think must be Shaq’s big brother, decided he wanted my basketball. He followed me, snatched it from my hands while saying thanks, his crew needed a ball. Now this ball was one I saved up all summer for, mowing lawns and bullshit because my old one was done and I didn’t want to settle for some cheap ass rubber one. I knew if I didn’t get it back, it’d take me a year before I had my own ball and I’d die in that time.”
“What’cha do?”
“Went back to this guy that had to be a foot and a half taller than me because I didn’t start growing until ninth grade. I told him to give me my damn ball back and tried to pretend I’d been in a fight before and he didn’t scare me knowing full well I was about two seconds away from needing new drawers.”
Cory laughed and Sylvia looked at him to see if his tape was too tight. He shook his head no and Matthias continued with his story as Sylvia checked Cory’s range of motion.
“Here I am, geekin’ up knowin’ full well I can’t do shit to this guy. He tells me to fuck off and keeps walking. I snatch my ball and take off. I made it about a half a block before he tackles me from behind and we get into it. Mind you, I didn’t know I had this violent streak in me. I knew I had a passion for the game, but the thought this asshole was about to steal it from me was too much. I snapped and went at it. He was kicking my ass. But I couldn’t give up. If I did it meant no basketball for me and that was tantamount to removing my oxygen supply.
“Out of nowhere a rush of adrenaline must have hit me and I wrapped him up and shoved him into a wall. Only, it was a wall to me. To him being so tall it was more of a retaining wall. His back hit right here.”
Matthias’ hand touched Sylvia’s mid-thoracic region, making her stiffen. As if on cue knowing his daddy was there her son punched or kicked her right side and her hand went to that. Cory watched the whole thing and she could see the adding machine going off in his head. He might as well be Times Square with a scroll going across his forehead.
“What happened?”
“I got my ball back and Henry’s been paraly
zed from about his chest down since he was fourteen.”
“No shit.”
“No shit. When I made it to the league I started breakin’ him off some cash each year, but a few years ago he started returning the checks saying it was his fault and he should have known better. Everyone in the neighborhood knew about basketball and me. So this date.” Matthias took his hand off of Sylvia’s back and she crisscrossed her last round of tape on Cory’s foot. “Is the day someone tried to steal something of mine. I keep it to remind me how far I’ve gone to keep what is mine.”
“To stop you?” Cory asked.
“I don’t know. Up until recently I’d never lost anything as important.”
Matthias paused and Sylvia could feel the heat from his body evaporate as he moved back.
“So when I say Sylvia used to be my trainer and I’d like a little sportsmanly conduct and be allowed to borrow her to wrap my ankles. What’s your response?”
Cory looked at Sylvia who was bracing herself on either side of the table. Partially because the first kick from her son was obviously a kickoff that started a game, but mostly because she was afraid to even look at Matthias, let alone touch him.
“I think it’s up to the lady, not me.” Cory looked Sylvia in the eye to get a read off of her. A lone tear had escaped her right eye, slid down her cheek, and landed on the blue of the training table. “Is he …” He started to ask and Sylvia responded with a nod. “Does he…” She shook her head. “Were you planning…” Another shake of no. “That’s fucked up.”
“I know,” she said under her breath as a second tear escaped her left eye. Now she had a steady stream going down each cheek like a river. “It was for him,” she explained, looking dead in Cory’s eyes.
“You weren’t even going for…” She cut him off again by shaking her head no. Her lips hurt from her pulling them in and biting them so hard. “You sure you didn’t misjudge the situation?”
“I pray every night I did what was right by all parties involved.”
“She’ll wrap your ankles,” Cory ordered, hopping off the bench and grabbing his shoes. “We only have about five minutes before we’re all back in here.”
“Got it,” Matthias said as Sylvia went to the rolling drawer filled with wrap and tape. Anything to keep her back to Matthias. When the door closed Cory was gone and Sylvia caught a chill.
* * * *
“You can’t even look me in my eye?” Matthias asked.
Silly’s hair was longer and seemed to have a shine to it that made him think maybe she was doing good without him. If that were the case he’d need to let her go even if it would kill him to do it.
“How’s Sharee and Langston?” She asked as her hands wiped her cheeks.
“They’re fine. Sharee has resumed her duties as my PR rep.”
“Really?” Sylvia’s voice lightened. “What happened?”
“A fatal error in judgment, on the part of Ms. Harris.”
“What was that?”
“She took my basketball.”
“Can she still walk?”
“With a limp.”
Silly was hiding something. Maybe it was the fact that she couldn’t look him in the eye. He didn’t know, but she was holding back something.
“You can’t wrap my foot from over there.”
“I’ve gotten really good,” she was joking, but he could hear she was having a problem with it.
“Look at me,” he ordered. His patience was worn thin. All he wanted to do is see her. Ask her what he did wrong. She couldn’t have believed Simone. Who knows, maybe Simone was right.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
“It’s my job, why are you here?”
“I tried the Vikings and the Wild, but they weren’t hiring and after spring training, I never wanted to go back to baseball.”
“What about private practice? You chose the Wolves because you knew you’d see me, which doesn’t make sense after your vanishing act.”
“Guess I shoulda taken more psych classes.”
“I don’t wanna push…but I deserve a reason.”
“I gave you one.”
Their eyes met. He could see her gripping hard to the cart in front of her, but he knew if he kept their eyes locked she’d break. When it happened his heart stopped. She turned around and moved her hands to her belly.
Her very, pregnant belly. Fear ripped through him that she was carrying another man’s child. That’s what Simone meant when she said that Sylvia was going to destroy him. He was glad he was sitting on a table or he’d fall down. She’d completely knocked him off his square. How could she do this to him?
“How far…”
“Six, almost seven months.”
“Whose?”
Sylvia’s face scrunched up with rage and he knew he fucked up bad. The roll of athletic tape that hit his eye told him he’d really fucked up. Seven months. The condom. Million to one shots were his specialty.
Right now he was wishing Silly hadn’t gone to spring training with the Royals because he was having to duck and dodge a dozen rolls of tape before Silly finally slid to the floor and covered her eyes with her arms. Her sobs cut through him as he saw the love of his life, carrying his child, totally destroyed on the floor.
“I…I didn’t mean to…” He slid off the table and crossed to her, but she held her hands up to stop him.
Struggling, Silly used a chair to pull herself up and walked toward the door to leave. As her hand curled around the doorknob Matthias couldn’t let her leave again.
“Northwestern finals. The condom broke,” Matthias spat and Silly turned around. “I…I…”
“Didn’t think you should tell me. Do you know what I was accused of?” Silly’s hand landed between her chest and Matthias could feel a huge kick to his gut. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t know how the hell it happened. That’s why you asked me about the pill, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Matthias replied softly with shame.
“Why would you think it was someone else’s?”
“Why would you leave?”
“For you. Everything has always been for you,” she cried. Tears rolled down her cheeks like the fountain he’d first seen her under. “I don’t know your world well enough, but I know knocking up some girl …” Her voice caught as she pounded her fist into another training table.
“Simone told you that.” She didn’t answer. “She did, didn’t she?”
Her head stayed down. “I was so happy for about ten minutes, then she came home. When she saw me holding the stupid white stick in my hand…” He could see the pain in her face from the memory. “If that ain’t the last straw.” Her voice mocked Simone’s. “And we wonder why Farakkhan calls you the blue-eyed, white devils. The lengths you’ll go to, to take down a black man.”
Matthias reached for Silly, but she held up her hands to shake him off.
“She was right though. Your image was perfect when you’d married your high school sweetheart. Everyone wanted you on their board or to give them your endorsement. She told me about Jet…how I cost you the cover.”
“Jet bumped my cover two months because of the guy in Texas that saved ten kids from a Boys and Girls club fire. The media wasn’t saying anything about him even though they spent a week on some white kid that sacrificed himself for his brother. I approved it because I didn’t want to lock myself into a cover about my playoff win when I hadn’t won yet.”
Silly’s head shot up. “I thought it was …” She shook her head. “She knew you bumped it, didn’t she?”
“Yes. And she used your loyalty for me to break us up.”
“Love Matthias. Not loyalty. Can’t you tell the difference?”
The team filed in and Matthias knew it was now or never. Grabbing Silly’s hand he pulled her out the door. They kept passing the players who all looked confused until Cory tapped a few players and followed them out on the court. They stood at the edge of the tunnel as Matthias bee-lined it for ce
nter court pulling Sylvia who luckily seemed to still be shocked and shaken enough not to fight him. He looked at the guy and girl commentators pumping up the crowd and prayed Sharee had done what she promised.
“Matthias Jessup, ladies and gentlemen.” There was a mixture of cheers and jeers as he expected from an away crowd. The man was completely caught off guard by Matthias’ sudden appearance. The woman placed her hand on the man’s shoulder while pressing in on an earpiece she was wearing.
“Matthias is here with one of the Wolves trainers…Sylvia Kinder. He’s asked that the lights be lowered for a few moments because he wants to ask the crowd something.”
She passed the mic to him. Silly came out of her daze and she turned around to look at the darkened stadium with only its running board lit up and a spot light.
“Wolves fans and the few Emperors who made the trip…” He started and heard a few we love you Matthias from the stands. “I love you too.” He beamed. “I won’t take up much of your time, but a few months ago people were worried about me.” Above him was the large four-sided scoreboard. He knew that there were screens on there and when the overhead speaker system started replaying that night he knew Sharee had his back.
“I’m not sure Marv, but it seems that Matthias Jessup is looking for something or someone. He doesn’t seem to be focused on the fact that he just won the World Championship.”
“I know Jimmy it appears he’s…yes…he’s leaving the floor and won’t be accepting his trophy or MVP award. I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m sure Susan will be tracking him down to see what is going on.”
“Messed up, huh? I missed my own trophy presentation all because of a nasty, evil, conniving person was in my life.” The crowd booed and Silly tried to pull away, but Matthias gripped harder.
Silly leaned over begging him.
“Please don’t do this to me.”
He could feel her shaking.
“She told the woman I love she would destroy my career.” Another round of boos. Silly stopped pulling away. In fact, she was staring up at Matthias like he shot her. It was then he realized he never said it out loud to her. In his head a thousand times he thought it, he told everyone around him, but her eyes told him he’d kept that in.
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