Lion and Deer

Hot Summer Days

I was about to lock the car and follow Asher when I paused. "Wait a minute, why are you calling me 'Boo?" My brother turned to me with a wicked grin on his face.

"It's short for Koreaboo."

I sucked my teeth as the fourteen year old ran away cackling.

By the time I reached the court, most of the team had already arrived, and they were practising ball control. The coach was standing with Asher near the edge of the court, giving him advice on how to misdirect his opponent. I quickly spotted Liz standing at the sidelines and jogged over to her.

The middle aged woman was quite the funny sight, in a bright yellow New York t-shirt with dark purple sweatpants, yelling instructions at her youngest son.

"Eli! Don't fixate on the ball! Keep your eyes on your surroundings!" She shook her salt-and-pepper dreadlocks in annoyance when he lost control of the ball and it rolled off into the grass. I smiled at her antics and called out to get her attention.

"Good afternoon, Auntie!"

Liz's face lit up. "My favourite niece! Oh, yes! Come with me to my car, I have the food for your mom." She began heading towards the parking lot beckoning me to follow her. I happily obliged, only turning back to catch my brother's attention by waving at him.

"I'll come pick you up later, Ash. Play hard!"

He sent me a quick nod as he tried to guard the basketball from a kid that looked more like an ogre than a ninth grader. He towered over Asher by almost a foot. I couldn't help but chuckle when the image of a cross between Shrek and LeBron James came to my mind.

Once I reached Auntie Liz's car, she was already there taking a plastic bag out of the trunk. "Here, hold this carefully so it doesn't tip over." She pointed to another container that was also in the bag. "This one is the salt fish that my sister bought and this is an okra-"

She was interrupted by the sound of shouting coming from across the park.

There was some sort of commotion forming at the basketball court, and everyone had stopped to watch it. I was about to return to our conversation when I heard a familiar voice among the shouts.

"Stop lying, Byron! You tripped me deliberately!"

My eyes widened, and I said a hasty goodbye to Aunt Liz before hurrying towards the basketball court. My fears were confirmed once I saw the scene on the tarmac. Asher and the Shrek-boy from earlier were rolling around on the ground, throwing wild punches and kicks at each other. The boys' coach was standing over them and yelling furiously. His face looked like a puffy red tomato from anger. "Boys. Boys! If you don't get up in the next ten seconds, I will make sure that you two are benched for the rest of the season!"

Asher and Shrek-boy didn't seem to hear him, and instead continued trying to punch each other's brains out while cursing loudly. Coach Burt's eyes narrowed, and he clenched his jaw as he started his countdown.

"Ten... Nine..."

I was freaking out. It would devastate Ash to be benched while all his friends played through the season. Coach continued his countdown, but the fight raged on. I heard my voice before I even recognized it. "Asher! Stop it you idiot!"

But Asher paid me no attention. He was too busy focusing his fury at the boy who had just socked him square in the jaw. Without another moment of hesitation, I rushed over to my brother's side, grabbing him by his flailing legs and physically dragging him away from the seething ogre.

Asher was kicking and spitting like a cat. His face was covered in purple bruises, and his eye was beginning to swell, but he didn't seem to notice.

At the same moment, I was surprised to see a pair of muscular arms appear out of nowhere and restrain Shrek-boy who was still trying to get a few punches in at my brother.

The owner of the arms was the definition of tall, dark and handsome. He must have been about seventeen or eighteen- my age. His dark curls were shaved at the side, and he had skin the colour of the oak tree's trunk that I was so fond of. His dark eyes looked like they were shooting lightning bolts at the kid that he was restraining.

At that moment, he looked up and caught me staring at him with my mouth hanging open. A small amused smirk flashed on his lips before he lifted up a still screaming Shrek-boy with ease and hoisted him onto his shoulder.

"Put me down Zion! I'll kill you!." The boy howled indignantly.

Zion just rolled his eyes. "If I put you down, you'll probably do something stupid. Just keep quiet, Byron." With that, he walked away briskly with his brother hanging over his shoulder like an angry rag doll.

I scoffed at the lack of an apology as I eyed his retreating form before turning back to a guilty looking Asher who was sitting on the tarmac.

"Let's go home," I gritted out.

Asher gulped.

During the car ride home I lectured Asher mercilessly. I was furious with him for being stupid enough to risk his position on the team just for the satisfaction of a few punches. He actually hung his head in shame.

The afternoon sun was dipping and painting the sky in a lazy golden haze by the time the car pulled up in the driveway.

I was about to open the front door when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Asher looked at me nervously. "Phoebe..." He practically whispered. "Are you going to tell Mom about this?"

The pleading look in his eyes filled my heart with compassion. I knew Mama already had enough to deal with, and that it wasn't good for her health to stress her out too much.

 "No," I decided. "But don't you ever pull a stunt like this again."

He nodded solemnly, pulled me into a grateful hug.

Once inside the house, Asher went up to his room while I put the fish and okra in the fridge, careful not to wake up Mama who was sleeping on the couch.

I sighed and leaned against the counter, replaying the court incident in my mind. I felt my face grow warm as I remembered the tall stranger who had whisked away Shrek-boy.

Even though he was rude, he was pretty cute.

What was his name again?

Oh right.

Zion.