More Than Friends

Airport Goodbyes

Kenya POV-

"You hungry?" I asked O.

He was laid out on the airport chairs, with his head in my lap, drifting back and forth out of sleep. It was about 6 am in the morning, his flight didn't leave for an hour or so, but his coach told them to get their two hours early, just to make sure security and ticketing issues didn't get in the way.

Usually they all meet at the school and ride together to the airport, but since I wasn't going to the game, we decided I just drop him off.

"They got a Dunkin and a McDonald's I think?" I rubbed my hand through his hair, massaging his scalp.

His eyes were closed, he was silent for a minute. "I'm good for right now." He finally said.

I heard a loud group of people. I knew it was the team coming. I know Karter's loud ass voice anywhere.

"Odell wake yo soft ass up." Karter yelled.

The bulk of the team members, who still weren't going through security came and sat in the empty seats.

"Ey, wake up nigga. " Karter slapped O's feet out one of the chairs.

"Nigga stop." O kicked him.

"Karter just leave him alone." I said.

"Karter leave him alone." Karter imitated me. "If y'all don't take that caking shit somewhere."  He moved his foot again and sat down. Annoyed O just sat up.

"Yo Duke who you in a room with?" Karter asked Duke.

"Marcus." Duke said sitting down across from us.

"Switch rooms with Odell. Let the two caking niggas be in a room together. I don't got time for no niggas in relationships. Cause I'm telling you right now, if your man in the room with me it's gon be nothing but big booty white bitches. And we fuckin all of em."

I sighed. He was so annoying.

"Ey Kenya I'm annoying you." He looked over at me.

I ignored him playfully.

"Ey Kenya I'm annoying you."

"That's exactly why I'm ignoring you." I playfully snapped.

"O get your girl. Let her know I don't do that back talk. Back talk get you a clean smooth back hand to the black face. You see what I did there? That's called alliteration."

"Karter can you go over there." Odell told him to go over there by Duke.

"Oh my bad. Y'all want a little couple time. Sorry for interrupting." He got up and sat in between us.

O pushed him up.

"Damn nigga calm down." He fixed his clothes. "Messing up my new fit. Just got this from Rainbow. And you messing it up and shit." He got up and went to sit next to Duke. "Ain't that where all the ghetto hoes shop? Rainbow. They be like "Karter I got a new sexy dress for you from the Rainbow down on Trenton. Cheap ass material becoming apart and shit. I be like "Girl you look good."

Oh my God I wish y'all could here Odell, Ben (I based Karter on his friend Ben) and Mr. Hotspot say "Girl you look good." It's hilarious.

"Damn what took you so long going through security Juice?" Duke asked Juice as he came over.

"They mistaked that big ass head for a grenade." Karter busted into laughter like it was the funniest thing in the world. He fell on the floor in laughter.

"You not funny." Juice sat down on the other side of Duke.

"Nope but that head is boy." Karter changed his voice to sound like a police dispatch radio. "Psssh. Uh yes I think I found something. It looks to be an egg on the top of a black niggas head. Yes I identified the perpetrator at Jarvis aka Juice the rocket head  Landry. We're gonna need back up for this huge nugget. Over."

I tried to hold in my laughter but I couldn't. Karter was crazy.

"K I thought we was cool." Juice said salty.

"Sorry." I covered my mouth.

He shook his head, smirking. "Anyway, I got a B-  on that last test."

"Oh wow. Good for you. I knew you could do it." I said.

"Nigga you need tutoring for that elementary ass math class?" Karter said.

"Karter don't act like you don't be in the tutoring center." I put him on blast. He be coming in there all the time.

"Hey, I'm going through a deep depression. I got an excuse. And I'mma report you. That's supposed to be confidential information."

"It's not confidential you coming in there. It would be confidential if I looked in your file and saw you were failing that basic ass natural science class."

The boys except Karter laughed. Who was giving me a playful mean mug. "Aight. I see you K. Putting a nigga on blast and shit. It's cool tho. I bet you I pass."

"I would hope you do." I chuckled.

"What subjects you tutor K?" Duke asked.

"Science and math."

"Any of them?"

"Yeah. If you need to sign up just go to the tutoring center and sign up."

"Flight 325 to Aurburn, Alabama will be boarding in 30 minutes. We will be taking those passengers with an A boarding pass first." The person said over the intercom.

O looked at me. We got up.

"Bring me a sausage biscuit back from McDonalds." Karter yelled at us as we left the waiting area to find a private little corner, at least somewhat private.

We found a corner at the end of the terminal, by a closed deli.

O put his forehead against mine and grabbed my hands. We closed our eyes.

O began to speak. "Dear heavenly father we come to you right now just asking that you give me and my team traveling grace as we travel down to Auburn for this game. You know how important this game is for not just me, but my team. This is the first of our only two televised games of the season. A lot of teams are gonna be looking at us, trying to see what we can do. And I just ask that you help us to just kill it on the field and make our team memorable. God, I also that you be with K as she talks to the lady from the Rhodes committee. You know how important this is not just for her, but for me. When she succeeds I succeed. And there is nobody more brilliant and deserving of the opportunity that I know will come from this, than her. Allow the woman to see in her everything that I see on a daily. We don't have the power to make things happen on our own, but you do. And we just ask that you let us both kill it in our respective field's this weekend. In Jesus name Amen."

"Amen." I wiped my tearing eyes.

"Just go there and be you. Make me proud." He still was holding my hands and looked down at me.

"I will. You go kill it. Let them know why you the best after Cam Newton."

He stale faced me. I laughed.

" I'm going to try after the meeting to catch as much as the game as I can. Tell mama, Jazz, Pop and my Sonny I said hi. Aw I wish I could see Sonny. I love him so much." I smiled thinking about his baby brother, that was just out of this world adorable.

He pulled his gloves out of his pocket and put them on. He held out his hands and closed his eyes.

I took each hand and kissed it.

He opened his eyes, grabbed my waist and kissed me deeply. "Love you my 1."

"Love you my 3."

We hugged and then I walked him back to his terminal and I left the airport.