"You look beautiful, Destiny." Dontae looked across the table at me. "Thanks." I managed to slip him a small smile while opening my menu, scanning all the different food options. After talking to Dontae through Instagram for almost a month; we exchanged numbers. He asked me out a few times, but I always made excuses. Today, I vowed to finally take him up on his offer.
We sat in the packed restaurant of South City Kitchen. I'm not surprised about the amount of folks here this evening. This is one of the best soul food spots in the A. "What you been up to?" Dontae questioned, licking his lips. "Um. I've been working a lot. Nothing new." I sighed. "What have you been up to?" My manicured fingers tapped lightly on the wooden table.
He cleared his throat, "Getting ready to finish my senior year in college then head off to Los Angeles." I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "What's in Los Angeles?" My brows raised in suspicion. He chuckled. Dontae is a fairly handsome guy. His light brown eyes remind me of the sweetest chocolate. Standing at a surprising six foot five; Dontae is what I like to describe as personable.
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He's attractive and behaving; in a good way. Sort of like the good guy that cares so deeply for you but you end up friend zoning him for the ain't shit niggas. "I'm being drafted in the NBA." He shared. My mouth gasped in shock, "Oh my god! That's amazing! Congratulations!" If shocked but not surprised was a person right not it'd be me. Dontae is the required height— he's tall, handsome, and athletic.
"Thanks." He smiled bright, showing his nice teeth that I didn't take notice to before. "What about you, what do you plan on doing career wise?" He asked. "Well, I planned on going to a four year college to get my bachelors degree in finance. But, I-I don't know where I see myself career wise, as of now. I never thought about what I want to be. Only thing I thought about is giving myself more than what poverty has to offer." I kept it all the way real with him. He nodded.
"What about online college?" He fixed his posture in his seat, taking a bite of his cornbread. I sipped some of my cherry coke, "I have too much going on to even be able to keep up with online classes." I stressed. He looked up at me. "I don't mean to seem nosey, but why? I mean you seem like a well educated girl Destiny. I'm sure you'd get the work done." He sounded exceptionally motivational. I sighed heavily. "It's more complicated than it seems." Was the response I found best to give. Dontae gave me a faint, but warm smile seeing my mood shift.
"Can I tell you a story?" He questioned. "Sure. Go ahead." I put a forkful of mash potatoes into my mouth right before giving Dontae my undivided attention. "There was this boy. He didn't come from much. His daddy walked out on him and his mom days before the boys first birthday. His mom had to work three jobs just to pay the bills and rent."
"Nonetheless, his mom made ends meet. The boy went off to school everyday; being teased and bullied because he wore clothes that were in terrible condition. The boy knew his mom couldn't afford to buy him the things he saw other kids with, so he didn't tell her he was being bullied at school." Dontae spoke. I'm tried so hard not to like this man— however, his words flowed right off his tongue.
I wasn't sure if it was only me, but the story sounded awful realistic; almost as of Dontae personally lived what he talked about. I continued listening as he went on. "The boy finally made it to middle and the bullying stopped. He thought, "wow I've finally got peace"." Dontae paused to laugh, flicking his tongue across his perfectly white teeth. "One day, the gym teacher encouraged him to try out for the basketball team."
"The gym teacher saw how shy he was but he also saw his potential when he shot a ball straight into the hoop from across the other side of gym. The boy finally built up enough courage to tryout. When he did, he made the team. By time he got to the eight grade he was playing on the varsity team, leading the school's team to a victory which brought them their first championship." Dontae looked over at me to make sure I was still listening. God, look at those lips.
Our remained in contact. My hand placed under my chin, holding my head up in support. "After the boy graduated he went on to high school. The bullying started again by ninth grade. The seniors picked on him for being too tall. The only thing that got him through the school day was knowing he had basketball practice after school."
"The kids at his high school finally stopped the bullying when they realized he was a beast on the court. The boy played at every away game. He had cheerleaders from different high schools cheering him on. As his junior year rolled in, he applied for colleges all around the state. He continued playing his ass off on the court because he knew scouts would be looking to recruit. A full ride scholarship is what he wanted. He knew he had to work for it." Dontae's honeyed voice spoke.
"Long behold; senior year comes. The boy finds out he was granted a full scholarship at A.S.U, which was one of his top picks for college. His mom cried the entire day hearing her baby got accepted to the one of the schools of his dreams. Unfortunately, two months before going away to college, the boy and his mom lost everything in a house fire." Dontae informed. I grew sad— a sullen expression now printed across my face.
"The boy knew he couldn't leave for college knowing his mom didn't have anywhere to sleep. So, for the next two months, the boy worked for his neighbors in the neighborhood. He washed cars, mowed lawns, tutored a few kids in math. Shit, he even babysat a couple times. He did all of that just to save up enough money to help his mom out. The end." Dontae ended his story where I least expected, laughing humorously.
"Wait, what? That's it?" My face scrunched up a bit. "Yep. Good story, right?" He looked over at me with a grin on his face. "Yeah, good story, but shitty ending. Why was that so important to share?" I asked, looking back over at him confused as hell. He chuckled, shaking his head, "The moral of the story is: never let a set back keep you from making a stronger come back." His words stuck. I twisted my mouth to the side, nodding. True spoken words.
"Can I ask you a question... a serious question?" I toyed with my fingers waiting for his response, locking my eyes with his. "Yeah. Go for it." He licked his lips while putting them to the plastic straw in his cup. "Was that boy in the story... was that you?" He grew smirked in an innocent way. "You see a person and hear about they're success, but you never know the struggle." He simply replied. Yup. Definitely personable.
