But considering the current conversation we were having, it was clear my off-the-court situation was occupying a little too much of my headspace as I reasoned, “We were just kicking it, Wes.”
Instead of agreeing, Wes smacked me on the calf with the tip of his towel. “Doesn’t matter. Women see all of that shit the same way. You could’ve been getting your dick sucked and I’m sure Jules would’ve been equally upset.”
“Well damn. Maybe I should’ve been,” I told him as I thought about how many times Layna had offered, one of my top reasons for turning her down being out of respect for the household; out of respect for Jules.
But Wes only shook his head, his face not as readable as I would’ve liked when he said, “Nah, bruh. Keep your dick to yourself. Don’t ask why, just… keep it to yourself.”
“Jules already told me she’s a ho,” I offered, figuring his words had something to do with that same concept.
But this time Wes laughed as he said, “Nah, she’s not a ho. I mean, we’d all be hoes if that was the qualifier. But she’s just... manipulative as hell. Go back in the archives of that blog of hers and you’ll see what I mean.”
“Don’t tell me you got a story on that shit,” I asked, thinking back on Jules’s assumption for Layna’s involvement with me.
And again Wes laughed as he answered, “We all got stories on that shit, bro. I’m talkin’ exposés out the ass. But anyway, back to your continuous fuck ups.”
Even though Jules was obviously upset with me, I still managed to defend, “I didn’t fuck up.”
And while I felt sincere in my stance, Wes was far from convinced as he said, “Nigga… you had her pretty ass spread eagle in the kitchen and couldn’t even come correct. Then you had another chick in the crib the next day? Yeah, you fucked up.”
“Well what about her? Why is all of this on me?” I asked as I took another swig from my water bottle.
“Cause you’re the man. It’s always our fault,” he answered as he stood up from the bleachers, patting me on the shoulder before making his way back down to the court. And I was right behind him, feeling even more lost than when I came in.
“So what should I do? Should I apologize? I mean, I already apologized about the shit with her dad and that didn’t even have anything to do with me.”
“Wait. Jules got daddy issues? Aww man. Now it all makes sense,” he said more to himself than to me.
Though I heard him clear enough to correct, “Jules just has issues, period. And her holier-than-thou daddy just happens to be on the list.”
While I still hadn’t gotten the full background on the situation with her dad, I had enough evidence to recognize he was far from father of the year. And if yesterday’s attitude served as any update to what she had already shared, Jules was just as affected by his actions now as she probably was when it was all still fresh.
“So start there. Get her some flowers or somethin’, on behalf of her shitty ass pops,” Wes advised as he picked up the basketball and started spinning it on his middle finger.
And I was quick to snatch it from him, dribbling it from side to side as I asked, “Flowers? What do flowers have to do with her dad?”
“Flowers work for everything, bruh. You just gotta get a little creative with the name. Like, fuck-your-dad flowers or somethin’.”
Now it was me laughing as I repeated, “Fuck-your-dad flowers? You’re kidding, right?”
“Hell nah I’m not. I mean, you see how it made you laugh? She’ll do the same. Then she’ll be happy. Then you can make some progress with her instead of fuckin’ up your in-house… opportunity.”
While I could pretty much assume what he really meant by opportunity, I shook my head, tossing up a shot as I told him, “Man, you’re crazy.”
“Just listen to me, Levi. Have I ever steered you wrong?” Wes asked as he grabbed the rebound and tossed the ball back to me for another shot.
“Not recently,” I answered as I put up the shot; all net just like the one before it.
And this time he didn’t pass the ball back, instead putting it to his hip to correct, “Not ever. So get the flowers, maybe even a little treat to go with it. You said she likes sea-salted caramels, right?”
“Nigga, why do you even remember that?”
“It’s all in the details, my man. The quicker you learn that, the more prosperous you’ll be. Now get your black ass back on the baseline so we can run these drills again. The league will be calling any day now and I’ll be damned if you’re not ready when they do.”
&
I had my flowers, I had my sea-salted caramels, and now it was showtime as I took a deep breath before using my keys to enter the apartment. At least, that’s what I tried to do, only to find the door locked no matter how hard I pushed and quickly realizing Jules must’ve locked the top lock.
“Why in the hell did she do that?” I thought to myself as I decided on knocking since that was really my only option. And it took a second round of knocks for her to actually come to the door. Though she only pulled the door partially open, sticking her head through the small crack she had created.
“Um… Levi. Hey. You’re home. Early.”
“Jules, what’s the matter with you? Let me in,” I told her as I tried to keep the flowers out of her immediate sight.
But she didn’t budge, instead choosing to whisper back, “I… can’t. You can’t come in right now. It’s not a good time.”
I rolled my eyes, trying not to get annoyed as I reminded her, “This is my apartment too, Jules. I can come in when I want.”
“But…” she trailed just as I gave the door a little push that forced her to move out of the way. And once I stepped inside, I immediately realized why she was acting so weird.
“Julia, who the hell is that?” the random nigga asked as he stood up from the couch.
I looked over to Jules who seemed a little panicky when she answered, “Uh… this is Levi. My roommate. Levi, this is my ex.”
“Not for long, Julia. You and I both know that,” the dude said with an arrogant smirk as he stepped to her side, close enough for me to take a good look at him.
No wonder he’s her ex.
I wasn’t usually one to hate on another dude’s looks, but… Jules could definitely do much better. And just thinking her name reminded me to ask, “Julia? Why does he keep calling you Julia?”
Again, Jules looked panicky, completely out of character as she stammered, “Um… see… well… Julia used to be my name. Before I got it changed. Legally. To Jules. He’s having a hard time with the transition.”
Instead of paying him any mind, I kept my attention on Jules - or Julia - to clarify, “So this is Charlie, right? The one who sent you flowers that day? The flowers you said were for your mom?”
“Your mom? Julia, what is he talking about?”
This time Jules snapped, turning his way to correct, “My name is Jules. Jules. We’ve went over this way too many times for you to still fuck it up, Charlie.”
Ol’ boy had the nerve to shrug, his smug little smirk plastered on once again as he said, “You’ll always be my Julia.”
“No I won’t! I’m not even your Julia right now. Or your Jules. Or anything. I don’t even know why I let you in in the first place,” Jules replied as she headed for the door.
And Charlie Brown was right on her heels as he said, “Aww come on, babe. Don’t be that way. We were perfectly fine before he showed up.”
“Yo, she said she’s cool on you. Now get outta here with that shit,” I reinforced, crossing my arms and daring him to try something. And no matter how much of a tough guy he might’ve thought he was, he took one look at me and knew better than to cut up.
So instead, he focused on Jules to ask, “Julia, you’re just gonna let him talk to me this way? After all we’ve been through?”
Jules rolled her eyes, her face pulled into a smirk of her own as she said, “Charlie… come on now. It was never that deep between us. You just cau
ght me at a very… vulnerable time.”
“So now what? You’re gonna be with this clown?” he asked, tossing a hand my way without making eye contact.
Again, he knew better.
And it was clear Jules was over it as well as she pulled the door open and answered, “No. I’m just not going to be with you. It’s really not that complicated.”
Ol’ boy had the nerve to groan as if that was going to change anyone’s mind before he stepped out, ready to offer some parting words. But before he could say anything, Jules and I took one look at each other and decided on slamming the door in his face.
“Thank you, Levi. For running interference. I really appreciate it,” Jules said, still laughing as she locked both locks, reminding me of where this whole situation had begun.
“Why’d you lock the top lock?”
The question made her a little uncomfortable as she gnawed at her lip and looked down at her feet to answer, “I was… I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want you walking in on anything weird.”
“Anything weird? Like what? The two of ya’ll fuckin’?”
Her usual jolt of energy returned as her face scrunched when she replied, “What? No! I wasn’t gonna fuck him. That’s not even worth the trouble. But anyway, what’s with the flowers?”
“They’re for you,” I told her as I handed them over.
She was already smiling as she sat them on the counter, pulling at the card to read, “Wow. Fuck-your-dad flowers. How fitting. Thank you, Levi.”
“That’s not all,” I added as I dug in my duffle bag and pulled out the overpriced box of sea-salted caramels.
And while the flowers had brought a smile and a laugh, the caramels were the ones to bring full on joy as she shouted, “Oh my God! I swear I just finished off my last box before Charlie showed up! These are right on time.”
Her excitement had me excited, though I tried to remain neutral as I told her, “Just wanted to brighten your day a little bit, I guess.”
Jules was already ripping at the packaging of the box of caramels as she said, “Look, Levi. I know I’ve kind of been a bitch to you lately. And while you deserved the majority of it, I don’t want you to think I’m just some hateful person. I really don’t hate you.”
Her words were definitely believable, but I knew the only way we could make good on them was if we made actual use of them. So instead of taking them at face value, I told her, “Prove it.”
“Prove it? How?” she asked as she popped a caramel into her mouth which was honestly distracting as hell with the way she closed her eyes and moaned the second it melted.
But I swallowed her, trying to be as clear as possible when I answered, “Let’s kick it tonight. Me and you. As friends.”
Even though I knew it was a stretch, I wasn’t expecting her to be so surprised when she asked, “You’re… you’re serious?”
I nodded. “So serious. It’s about time we finally get to know each other, right?”
She smiled, nodding the same way I had as she answered, “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Let’s do it. I’m game. What do you wanna do?”
“Well first things first, we gotta hit the store for some grub. Fridge looking fresh out of BeBe’s apartment,” I joked as I sat my duffle bag down in the living room.
But it was clear Jules didn’t get the joke when her face scrunched with confusion as she stuffed another caramel in her mouth and asked, “BeBe? Who’s BeBe?”
“You’ve never seen BeBe’s Kids?”
She shrugged. “Never even heard of it. Is it a drama? Chick flick?”
I couldn’t help but laugh as I explained, “It’s an animated comedy. Hood classic. Maybe we should watch it tonight.”
She quickly agreed, nodding the same way she had done before. “Cool. Dinner and a movie. Sounds like a…”
“Not a date, Jules. You don’t even like me remember?”
“I said I can’t stand you. Never said I didn’t like you,” she replied with her infamous smirk as she went for another caramel. But this time I stopped her, catching her wrist to steal it and pop it into my own mouth.
Damn, no wonder these are so expensive.
Jules nodded as if she could read my mind before allowing me to reply, “Play semantics all you want to, pretty girl. Now what you tryna eat? Spaghetti is my specialty.”
Again, she looked surprised when she asked, “What? You’re going to cook too? Like… real food?”
I shrugged. “Shit, we gotta eat something, right?”
“You’re right. I’ll help you.”
“Bet. Now go put on some real clothes so we can jet down the street.”
Jules glanced down her petite little frame before peeking back up to say, “Real clothes? These are real clothes.”
While I could definitely appreciate her choice of clothes for selfish reasons, I knew it wasn’t exactly appropriate for public no matter how much she thought otherwise.
Still, I tried to explain it lightly when I asked, “You said you didn’t wanna fuck Charlie, right?” And I watched for her little nod before I added, “Well why do you have on dick appointment shorts?”
Jules burst with laughter as she repeated, “Dick appointment shorts? They aren’t that little!”
“That’s not what your ass cheeks said,” I replied with a laugh of my own.
An appreciative laugh, that is.
But it was clear Jules had finally caught my drift as she shouted, “Fine! Let me grab some pants and we can get out of here.” Offering me the perfect last view on the way to her bedroom.
Jules
“Okay. This is getting more and more weird the longer we stay in here.”
I felt on edge, looking around the store as I held onto the basket while Levi grabbed the pasta from the top shelf.
“What are you talking about, Jules?” he asked as he tossed it in the basket before adjusting the hood on his head. The hood that was supposed to be helping disguise him from the public though it obviously wasn’t doing its job as we still caught glimpses from just about every person we passed.
At first I thought it might’ve been our height difference making us look like a meme-worthy circus act. But the more aisles we walked through, the more I realized Levi was really the star of the show.
“You don’t notice all of these people looking at you? All of these people snapping pictures of you? Pictures of me?”
Instead of being paranoid about it all, Levi had the nerve to joke, “You’re so famous.”
“I’m not. I mean, I want to be. But not right now,” I told him as I caught another person taking a picture, hoping it wouldn’t end up in the wrong hands. The last thing I needed was some trash ass picture of me floating around the internet before I could jumpstart my career; the career I still wasn’t even sure I wanted to pursue.
And while it was still a toss-up on my end, Levi felt sure of it as he said, “Well get used to it, pretty girl. You’re gonna be a star one day.”
“What makes you so sure?” I asked thinking maybe his reasoning would help me be able to figure things out for myself.
But I certainly wasn’t expecting him to answer, “Cause if you can put even an inkling of the energy towards your craft that you put towards having an attitude with me, you’re bound to succeed.”
“Thanks for your vote of confidence, asshole.”
His little smirk in response grinded my gears and made my heart smile all at once, making me wonder was this a bad idea. But it was too late to turn back now as he replied, “Anytime. Now we got everything? Cause I’m not walking back over here. My legs are on their last after my workout today.”
I scanned the contents of the basket, triple-checking to make sure we had all of the ingredients we needed for our meal before I realized, “Wine! We need wine.”
“Wine? I’m not drinking wine, Jules. That’s for chicks,” Levi replied as he took off towards the registers.
And while I followed in his footsteps, I attempted to reason, “Just try
it, Levi. I mean, it gives you all the buzz you need without the nasty hangover in the morning. And its heart healthy.”
Levi still didn’t seem convinced as he said, “Wine and BeBe’s Kids? That’s one hell of a combination.”
“Well we’re one hell of a combination so it’s only right.”
While the words felt… different now that they were already off of my lips, I was glad to see he hadn’t picked up on it, instead replying with a simple, “Good point. Go grab your wine. I’ll wait for you up here.”
I took off towards the wine section like a kid who had just been told they could get a new toy, knowing exactly where my favorite bottle was and grabbing it from the shelf before I returned to the front to find Levi in a squat position with his arm wrapped around a kid.
My heart swooned from afar as the boy gushed, “Thanks for the picture, Mr. Graham.”
And Levi was slow to stand up, his legs obviously exhausted from his training as he told him, “My pleasure, little man.” Before turning to his father to say, “Ya’ll have a good night, alright?”
The man nodded, thanking him again before leaving the store. And I waited until they were out of sight to join him as if it made a difference, setting the basket on the self-checkout stand so I could ring it all up.
“Well that was nice of you,” I told him as I scanned the bottled pasta sauce, way too hungry to make it from scratch.
“Anything for the kids,” he answered as he handed me the box of the pasta to scan.
“Is that why you do so much for your niece and nephews?”
Levi picked up the bottle of wine, taking a closer look at the label before handing it to me and answering, “I actually don’t think I do enough for them. But that’ll all change once I get my shit back on track.”
“You’ve been working hard. I’m sure it’ll happen,” I assured him as I handed my ID over to the attendant for clearance before continuing to ring up the last couple of items.
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