onika
"Amir! You're about to be late, come on!"
"Ma please let me stay home. Our new coach is the worst." He got down on her knees and put his hands together like he was begging.
"I'm not paying all that money for you to skip practice. You have five minutes."
I didn't say anything else and walked to the car. I got in the passenger seat of my black Range Rover and started a stopwatch.
Amir came running outside a couple seconds after the stopwatch hit five minutes.
"Whew!" He said after he got in the drivers seat.
"You were 2.32 seconds past five minutes. Don't let it happen again." Being late is a terrible trait to have.
"Yes ma'am. You're letting me drive?"
"You're have your license, don't you? Don't crash my car."
Most kids don't get the privilege of learning how to drive in a Rolls Royce.
"If you say so." He shrugged and connected his phone to the car. He started driving and I sat up to make sure he didn't make any mistakes.
The academy was a 45 minute drive away but we were used to it, we make this drive every day.
We got there and there were parents dropping off their kids in the parking lot. After Amir parked I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out too.
"You coming inside?"
"Yes, I want to meet your new coach. What's his name again?"
It's unusual for them to get a new coach in the middle of the season, head coach at that.
In the words of Amir, she's "satan disguised as a basketball coach to roam earth." I doubt she's that bad, she just made them do suicides.
"He is a her and her name is Coach Knowles."
We walked inside the gym and there was already some boys practicing.
Robyn noticed us first and jogged in our direction with a clipboard in her hand.
She gave me a hug and squeezed me by my shoulders. "Hey Nika, you haven't stopped by in a while what's up?" She let me go and took a step back.
Robyn was assistant coach and her and I have became friends over the past years. She's the least stuck up person in this entire town.
"I wanted to meet the new coach. Amir hates her so I want to see if she's really that bad or he's just exaggerating."
"She's... interesting. Very intense but she'll be good for them."
I know she was only saying that because Amir was still standing here. The only reason he was even still here was to avoid having to practice.
"There's nothing wrong with working them hard, she sounds better than the last coach." The lady coach wasn't bad but he let them play around entirely too much.
"Mhm. Are you coming to the Vegas game?"
The school was an academy for basketball so while they do have great academic scores, they're also one of the best schools for basketball.
They have a girls and boys team and junior varsity, varsity, and all star.
"Hell no. Imani is going to be at a sleepover and for the first time in years I'll have an empty house. I need to take that opportunity to enjoy the silence and relax." I winked so she knew exactly what I meant by relax.
Imani is my youngest, she's only 5 and Amir is 17. She has a very big personality, my big diva.
"Maraj! You're late.." Some woman busted in the gym but trailed off when she got closer. "Who's this?"
"This is Amir's mom, Onika. She's president of the PTA and the best basketball mom ever so you should get used to seeing her." Robyn lightly pushed me closer to the new coach.
She was pretty, she had long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and no makeup on. I could only look in her eyes for a second, they were so intimidating.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Onika." I put my hand out for her to shake.
Dumbass. Robyn already introduced you.
She shook my hand but kept a serious expression on her face.
"Coach Knowles. Your son is talented." She had a good grip on my hands but for a basketball coach her hands were pretty soft.
"I know."
I had to look up at her to talk and I noticed her eyes wandering over my body.
"Since you're the best basketball mom ever, are you coming to the Vegas game?" She was staring at me right in my eyes and I could feel my palms start to sweat.
"Oh- Yeah of course I'm coming, are you going?" I stumbled on my words at first but I got it together.
"Well I'm the coach so.. yeah."
"Oh right." I looked back at Robyn and she was trying to not laugh.
"Well I have to start practice, I'll see you then." She turned around and jogged off to the boys.
"What the fuck was that?" Robyn busted out laughing from behind me.
"What was what?" I spun around and crossed my arms over my chest.
"That was the weirdest interaction I've ever witnessed. Did you have a stroke mid conversation?" She thought this was the funniest thing in world.
"That seemed pretty normal to me, maybe you're seeing things." It wasn't THAT weird.
"Oh yeah? I thought you weren't coming to the Vegas game, what changed your mind?" She was smirking super hard.
"I just- I thought about it and what type of mother would I be to miss one of my sons basketball games?" Why else would I have decided to go?
"Fenty!" Coach Knowles yelled from across the court.
"I'll see you at the game Nika."
"Bye Robby." She gave me another hug and jogged to the other side of court.
I left and went home. I had to pick Imani up from her father so I changed into something more comfortable and got back in the car.
Augusts house was a 20 minute drive so I just listened to the radio on my way there.
After I got there I got out and rand the doorbell. August answered the door in a white tank top and basketball shorts. He knew I was coming.
"Hey Nic." He was standing in the doorway very obviously trying to flex his muscles.
"My daughter please."
August cheated on me while I was pregnant with Imani so I had no desire to engage in any type of conversation with him that wasn't about our children.
"Imani! Your moms here!"
Imani yelled 'coming' from her room so I was going to wait in my car but August stopped me by putting his hand on my arm.
"Wait. How's Amir?"
"You would know if you ever came to any of his games.. or anything important to him." I pulled my arm away from him and got in my car.
I won't say August is a bad father but I'll definitely think it. He's so unreliable and wishy washy. I want better for my kids than him.
A couple minutes later Imani came running out the house with her backpack on.
I got out the car just in time and she jumped into my arms. "Mommy! I missed you so much!"
It's only been the weekend but she's really my little baby.
"I missed you too baby. Did you have fun with your dad?"
I opened the door and helped her into her car seat. Imani was smaller than most kids her age, just like me so I still make her use a car seat.
"Can we get McDonalds?" Imani asked from the backseat swinging her feet.
"You got McDonalds money?" I've waited my whole life to say that, even though we actually do have McDonalds money.
"Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeee?" Her please went on for the entire car ride and even when I was helping her out of her car seat.
As soon as I opened the door she ran upstairs. Okay.
I started making dinner and I left it in the oven to keep it warm. Then I got Imani back in the car to pick Amir up from basketball.
Amir and all his teammates along with his coach were all waiting outside already, some of them were sitting on their basketballs and others were standing.
Amir noticed my car and started walking to the car but his coach was right behind him.
He in the back and his coach came to my side of the car so I rolled the window down.
"Since you said you were coming to the game, I got the school to set you up with a hotel room and all that because we're gonna be there overnight, is that good with you?" She was talking with one hand in the window.
"That's perfect, thank you. You really didn't have to do that." The other coach never did.
"Oh it's really no problem. I'll see you then. See you Maraj." She waved at Amir and jogged back to the other boys.
"How was practice?" I turned my around so I could back out of the parking lot and Amir was on his phone and Imani was sleeping.
He groaned, "The worst practice ever, I can't feel my body. We need a new coach asap."
"Isn't it good that she's working you guys so hard?" That's what practice is for.
"What she makes us do isn't just hard it's like military training. She's torturing us."
"Watch and see how you guys win this game. Practice isn't for nothing."
"I thought you said you weren't coming to the game?"
"I just changed my mind." I wanted to tell him to stay in a child place but I didn't need to bs rude about it.
He ended up falling asleep on the way home and after we got home they ate and worked on Imani's math homework together then went to sleep after taking showers.
--
How do y'all like it so far?
Bey?
Nicki?
Robyn?
Amir?
August?
(i'll have better questions when stuff is actually happening but vote & comment)