Chapter Thirty Five.
Monday.
"Aight Tez, what about Cailyn? You smashing or passing?" Malachi asked his teammate as they stood in the boys locker room. The school day ended at 3:00 and it was now 3:30, which meant the basketball team had practice. As they were changing into their practice attire, they decided to play smash or pass to keep themselves entertained.
"Which Cailyn, the one with the lazy eye or the one that's bald headed?" Tez questioned.
"Nigga, the bald headed one."
He thought about it for a second, before giving his answer. "Nigga, I'm smashing fasho! She might be bald but I'll hold on to her wig while I'm tearing up that cat!"
The locker room erupted into laughter as all the boys clowned Tez for the answer he chose. He laughed along with them and shrugged as he put on tennis shoes. "Aye, y'all laughing and I'm deadass."
"It's your turn Chi." Another boy by the name of Tyler said to Malachi.
"Aight, shoot." He said, pulling his shirt over his head.
"That fine ass girl Hailey, you smashing or passing?"Tyler asked.
All the boys let out an "oooh" sound and began talking about how attractive Hailey was.
"Don't she go out with that nigga Tanzania?" Somebody questioned.
"I think his name New Zealand." Another boy said.
"Mannn, I'll get her ass pregnant on some real shit. I'm smashing the fuck out her!" Malachi exclaimed.
Once again, the boys got rowdy and began agreeing with him.
"Correct me if I'm wrong but, don't you date somebody?" Tez questioned.
"Me and Arnecia ain't nothing serious." He waved him off.
"So if I tell her what you just said, she won't have a problem with it?"
Malachi's face then got serious, "Chill out." He said, causing Tez to laugh. "I'm just fucking wit' you."
Their coach, Coach Dennis, came in and it got silent. "I hear y'all having a good ole time in here. Have that same energy when it's time for the game on Friday. Now, get out there so we can start practice." He told them.
They all responded with yes sir, then finished getting dressed and exited the locker room one by one. As they did, Malachi noticed the cheerleaders were also in the gym. He saw Hailey sitting in the bleachers with a blank expression on her face. Even though she was suspended from the team at the moment, Coach P still allowed her to come and watch practice so that she wouldn't be behind when it came to learning new routines and tricks.
Hailey felt eyes on her, so she looked over and to her surprise, it was Malachi staring her down. Hailey didn't know him too well, she just knew he dated Niecey. She took in his appearance, noticing he had a wife beater and basketball shorts on. His tattoos stood out since they traveled down his toned, right arm.
Malachi licked his lips before shooting her a quick smile, showcasing his braces. Hailey raised a brow, before a small grin made its way onto her face. She then quickly removed it, and the blank expression that was there once before came back.
Coach P blew her whistle, catching Hailey's attention. "Ladies, we're going to move practice outside and let the guys practice in here since we took over the gym last time. Lets go."
All the girls began walking towards the side exit door of the gym, then left the building with Coach P right behind them.
Coach Dennis then blew his whistle. "Come on y'all, let's get a move on."
Malachi grabbed a ball from the ball rack, and tossed to one of the guys so that he could start them off with drills.
As practice began, Malachi couldn't help but to think about Hailey.
••
Xavia stood behind Arnecia as she sewed tracks in her head. She wanted a sew in, so of course she hit up her cousin to do it.
"Zealand and that bitch ended up at the same restaurant as you and Rashon? Fuck no, that's some stalker shit. Ain't no way in hell they just so happened to decide to eat there." Arnecia commented, shaking her head.
"Well, I don't know they would've known that. I didn't post anything about me being at Longhorn." Xavia said.
"Don't you and Zealand have each other's locations shared?"
Xavi thought about it, and a lightbulb seemed to go off. "Damn, you're actually right."
"Mhm. Hailey probably went in his phone and saw that's where you were and decided to pop up over there."
"There's something psychologically wrong with that girl. No regular person acts like that."
"Exactly. Zealand must be whipped forreal. The boy is blind." Niecey said, taking a bite from her slice of meat lovers pizza.
"So, do you like Rashon so far?"
Xavia smiled and nodded, then realized Niecey couldn't see her. "I really do. He's a really nice dude. I feel like I can be myself around him and he makes me feel comfortable."
"That's good. See, me and Nana told you the right boy would come along soon!"
"Yeah, but remember not everybody is perfect. He might seem all good but I'm sure he has some flaws. I'm still trying to fill him out before I deem him as the 'right boy'." Xavia told her cousin. She was definitely feeling Rashon, but everybody had another side to them. She was just waiting to see that other side come out.
"That's true, I totally understand that." Arnecia agreed.
"What's been up with you and Malachi? I haven't heard you mention him in a while." Xavi asked, seeing in the last 30 inch bundle.
"Things have actually been good between us. This is the happiest I've been in our relationship." She said, wiping the pizza grease off of her fingers and onto a paper towel.
"I'm glad to hear things are better for y'all." Xavia simply said. She didn't doubt that Malachi would end up fucking up again. He didn't know when to chill out.
••
Once practice was over, everybody gathered up their things and got ready to leave. The gym was cleared out within ten minutes, leaving nothing or anybody in sight.
Hailey left her cheer bag in Coach P's office, so she went in there to grab it before exiting the gym. As she was walking towards the double doors, she heard the door to the boys locker room open.
Averting her eyes over, she saw Malachi standing in the doorway. He was now shirtless and had sweat dripping down his body.
"Where you going?" He asked her. Hailey looked at him like he was crazy.
"Home, where else?" She told him smartly.
Malachi chuckled, "You gotta be there any time soon?"
"I mean..not really. What's up with all the questions?" Hailey folded her arms over her chest, now becoming impatient and annoyed. She had never spoken to this young man in all her time of being at this school, which was why she was so confused as to why he was suddenly talking to her.
"Alright then, stop acting like that. Come here, let me talk to you right quick." He curled his index finger up in the 'come here' motion.
Hailey stood there for a while, before slowly walking over to where Malachi was. He grabbed her arm softly, leading her into the locker room with him.
"Wassup?" He asked, eyeing her from head to toe.
"Why am I in here? I don't know you like that." Hailey said to him, shifting her weight from foot to foot.
"I'm Malachi, nice to meet you. Now you know me." He said smartly. "I was wondering if you could do me a lil favor."
"What might that be?" She said, skeptically eyeballing him.
He began undoing the strings on his basketball shorts, and let them fall to his ankles. His dick was on hard, which could be seen through his boxers.
"Nothing too major." Malachi nonchalantly said, rubbing on himself.
Hailey stood there stuck, staring at his print.
"Come on, put them pretty lips to use. I'll return the favor." He said, smirking.
She felt heat between her legs as she slowly got down on her knees. Hailey pulled his boxers down, almost getting hit in the face by his dick as it sprung out like a Jack in the box.
Hailey put her hair in a ponytail quickly, before going to work on Malachi. He threw his head back, and closed his eyes. Her mouth was much more fulfilling than Arnecia's. He felt like he was in heaven.
••
Zealand sat in the living room of Draya's condo, doing his homework on the couch. Harmony was sitting next to him, quietly reading a Junie B. Jones book. She loved to read, and often did it when she was bored or didn't feel like playing on her IPad.
Zee tapped his pencil on the metal rings of his binder as he stared at the paper full of pre-calculus problems. A sigh left his mouth as he felt himself getting frustrated.
Math had never been his strong point. He thought about calling Xavia since she knew pre-calc pretty well, but he had to remind himself that she wanted nothing to do with him. Ms.Cross's class was very awkward, considering they sat next to one another.
As much as Zee attempted to make small talk and start a conversation, she wasn't having it. You would've thought Zealand didn't even exist.
"I'm hungry." Harmony announced, looking over at her big brother.
"You got two legs, go in the kitchen and find something. I'll cook later."
The nine year old rolled her eyes, before getting off of the couch. She went in the kitchen and walked over to the pantry. Standing on her tip toes, Harmony opened the pantry door and scanned over the array of snacks. After a while, she decided on a bag of Cheeto puffs, a chewy granola bar, and a juicy juice. Grabbing all of her snacks, she came back to the couch and sat down.
"Don't waste nothing on this couch. It's white and it'll stain easily," Zee told her. Harmony nodded, then opened her bag of chips. She began eating them and went back to reading her book.
Zealand heard his phone ring, and he snatched it up quickly thinking that it was Xavia. To his disappointment, it was Draya.
He sighed, before answering the phone. "Hello?" He mumbled.
"Hey baby, how's everything going?" Draya asked, talking over the honking cars in the background.
"Hey auntie, everything is good."
"That's good! Listen, I was just calling to tell you that I've gotten started on the custody and adoption process since I've been here in New York. I've spoken with a lawyer and began doing some paperwork."
"Really? That's great. How long do you think this whole thing will take?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure. Maybe a few months months up to a year." Draya told him truthfully.
"Oh, okay.." Zealand trailed off.
"Hey, I don't want you to worry about anything okay? I have everything under control and things will work out. I love you, nephew."
"Love you too, auntie." He responded.
"Tell Harmony I'll call her before she goes to bed later to tell her goodnight. Talk to you soon."
"Alright, I will. Bye."
"Bye-bye." With that, they both hung up the phone.
"TiTi said she'll call you before bedtime." Zealand told Harmony, who was too busy chowing down on her chips. He chuckled as he watched her lick the orange dust off of her small fingers.
Since he couldn't seem to get any work done, he closed his binder and decided he'd come back to it later. When Zee's brain decided that it would shut down, that was a wrap. He wouldn't be able to get anything done until he had a break.
Zealand went to his recent calls, and clicked on 'Hailey😻🎀', attempting to FaceTime her. He knew that she had been suspended from the team, so she was most likely at home.
The phone rung and rung, but she never picked up. Zealand frowned up his face in confusion. Hailey usually answered right away, so it was odd the she wasn't answering.
"Let me try again." He mumbled to himself, clicking on her name again. Just like the last time, Hailey didn't answer. Zee was slightly concerned, then brushed it off as her maybe being busy or something.
He figured she'd call him when she was finished doing whatever she was doing.
Until then, he'd just watch tv to occupy his time.
TBC...
_______________________
*Quietly sips tea*
Malachi is..quite the person, isn't he?
Thoughts?
Excuse any mistakes.