From Infinite to Kamikaze: A Novel

DECEMBER 2000 - LEX

"I can't believe you're making me go with you Lex. You know I'm not into sports," my old dorm buddy Brenda complained for the tenth time as she brushed her long auburn hair in my bathroom.

"Come on Bren! Show some love for your city's team. It'll be fun! Besides, I'm not going to the Players' Suite by myself with all those hot, muscular, rich basketball players." I emphasized the end of that sentence to get her attention.

"Cute, muscular basketball players?" she asked with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Some of them are very cute," I giggled.

"Okay fine! I guess you can't let tickets that the one and only Aaliyah gave you go to waste. I still can't believe you just came back from working on her album. I'm SO jealous!"

I chuckled to myself as I laced up my red and white Air Force Ones. I wore jeans and my loosely fitted Pistons basketball jersey under a black zip-up hoodie.

While recording in Melbourne, Aaliyah and I had shared our mutual love for the Detroit Pistons and I told her I hadn't been to a game in awhile. She had season tickets but wouldn't be home from filming Queen of the Damned until after tonight's game, so she gave me her tickets and arranged for me to go to the meet-and-greet in the Players' Suite a few hours before the game for pictures and autographs. I was beyond excited to do something that had nothing to do with work for one night.

A couple hours later, we made our way into the back entrance of The Palace of Auburn Hills with our VIP passes. It was packed with reporters, coaches, players, fans, and arena employees. Tables of snacks and refreshments had been laid out, along with places to purchase memorabilia so that the players could sign items for their fans. The opposing team was the Philadelphia 76ers. They were roaming around also and I was surprised to see how many of them seemed to know some of the Pistons players really well. I guessed some of them had played together in college or on other teams.

"What do I talk about with these guys Lex?" Brenda whispered to me. "Gimme some basketball lingo!"

I laughed. "I don't think you'll be able to fudge it girl. Besides, it'll look bad if they figure out you really have no idea what you're talking about. Just flaunt that gorgeous smile of yours and I'm sure you'll catch someone's attention."

We helped ourselves to two beers and I stopped to get a white Pistons T-shirt so it could be autographed. We stood in line for twenty minutes before getting up to the table where the players were signing.

"What up Big Nasty?!" I dapped up Corliss Williamson, using his nickname. He flashed me a smile. "What up sweetheart? You ready for a live game?"

"Absolutely," I smiled back, handing him the shirt I had just purchased. As he signed for me, Brenda elbowed my side and signaled with her eyes to give her an introduction. "Um, Corliss...this is my friend Brenda. She's new to the amazing game of basketball so I hope you guys put on a good show for her tonight." I saw him check her out and she was cheesin' so hard I had to jump back in. "Brenda, this is Corliss Williamson a.k.a. Big Nasty. University of Arkansas. Scored 52 points in a high school game and puts up big numbers for this team."

"Is 52 points good?" she asked, still cheesing and now twirling her hair. I had to roll my eyes. If there was an award for who can play a ditz the best, she would win it. I left the two of them to their conversation and moved on to the next player. 

"Jerryyyy!" I boosted as I dapped up Jerry Stackhouse, the starting forward and, in my opinion, the best player on the team. 

"Hey beautiful," he smiled as he took my shirt and signed it. He had no idea who I was, he was just trying to be friendly. But I was loving the attention from one of my favorite players.