excuse any mistakes...
JAMEL
As I walked into the gym for practice, I couldn't help but feel a pit in my stomach. This wasn't just any practice; it was practice leading up to the playoffs and my mind was occupied with thoughts that were anything but basketball-related. Semaijah was just on my mind.
My teammates were scattered around, stretching, shooting baskets, and talking. I took a deep breath, trying to shake off my personal problems and focus on the task at hand. As I joined my teammates for warm-up drills.
"You good?" Dillon Brooks called out, slapping me on the back.
"Yeah. I'm just tryna get started." Ja replied.
The team huddled up, and Coach Jenkins outlined our strategy for the day. As we split into groups, I found myself paired up with Jaren. We were going to work on pick-and-roll defense, with Jaren playing the role of the offensive player.
"Aight let's get it." Jaren said, clapping his hands together as we took our positions on the court.
Jaren dribbled the ball towards me, and I readied myself for his next move. I knew he was going to try and throw me off with a fake, so I tried to stay focused and anticipate his next move. He faked to the right, and I moved to block his path, but he quickly switched to the left and drove towards the basket.
"Nice one." Jaren said with a grin. "But you not gon get me that easily."
I chuckled. "We gon see bout that."
As Jaren dribbled towards me again, I tried to stay low and keep my feet moving. I knew he was going to try and use his height advantage to his advantage, so I focused on staying in front of him and not letting him get past me. He faked left again, but this time I didn't fall for it. Instead, I held my ground and forced him to make a move.
Jaren hesitated for a split second, and I saw my opportunity. I lunged forward and swiped at the ball, knocking it out of his hands.
"Good defense, Ja!" Coach Jenkins shouted.
The next hours passed in a blur of drills, sprints, and sweat before we finished up and Coach Jenkins called us all together.
"Great work today, team," Coach Jenkins said, looking around at each of us. "I know playoffs are coming up, but we can't lose sight of the fundamentals. Defense wins championships, and that's what we're going to focus on. Remember, it's not just about the physical aspect of the game." Coach Jenkins continued. "It's also about mental toughness. We all have things going on in our personal lives, but when we step onto this court, we leave that behind. We focus on the game, we focus on each other, and winning."
Coach Jenkins continued looking at each of us in turn. "Keep working hard, stay focused, and bring home that championship." He stated before we all filed out of the gym, sweaty and exhausted and I made my way towards the parking lot. As I drove home, I couldn't help but think of Semaijah and what she could be doing right now. Maybe she was out enjoying her day, or maybe she was at home, feeling the same way that I was feeling.
I pulled into my driveway and sat in my car for a few minutes, trying to clear my head before I went inside. I stepped out of my car and walked towards my front door. I walked into my empty house, the silence ringing in my ears. It was weird to be alone here, Ever since I started fucking with Semaijah she would be here waiting for me after every practice so walking in and not hearing her voice filling the space weird as hell.
I headed to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water, taking a long drink as I leaned against the counter. I closed my eyes, trying to take a deep breath and push away the negativity that was clouding my mind. "Nah I ain't gon go check what she doing." I told myself "Fuck that." I took my phone out of my pocket and went to her page.
"She look good." I mumbled.
I exited out of Instagram and went inside my room taking a shower before changing into fresh clothes. After I finished changing I grabbed my keys and went outside going to my parents house who was next to mine. "Baby what's wrong?" My mama asked as I walked inside of the house.
"Nun. Where Niya at?" I replied.
"Practice and stop lying." She said before she patted the seat next to her on the couch. "Come sit down and tell me what's been going on."
I sat down next to her "Me and Semaijah ain't together no more."
"What happened?"
I told her everything that had happened, from the moment Semaijah had confronted me about the girl she saw me with, to the argument we had in the car. My mama listened patiently, her expression growing more concerned with every word. When I finished, she let out a sigh and spoke up. "I understand why she's upset. Trust is everything in a relationship and when that's broken, it takes a lot to rebuild it. It's good that you're taking responsibility for your actions and want to fix things, but you also have to give her space and time to process her feelings. You also need to apologize to her and mean it and if it's meant to be, it will work out. Just keep communication open and honest."
"How ima do that and she won't talk to me? I think she got me blocked too ion know."
"You better find a way. Text her through Instagram, Twitter, FaceBook shit TextNow? Let her know how sorry you are for lying and breaking her trust. Be sincere and genuine, Ja."
"Aight Ma. I hear you. Ima try to reach out."
"That's all you can do, baby. Just remember, trust is a delicate thing. Once it's broken, it takes time and effort to rebuild. But it's not impossible."
I nodded, taking in her words. "Aight ma."
______
SEMAIJAH
I sat nervously in the car, tapping my foot on the floorboard as I waited for her Ahmahdi to be released from jail. I had been counting down the days, hours, and minutes, eagerly waiting for the moment I could see my best friend again.
"There he go." Raylan stated and I looked and saw Ahmahdi being escorted out of the jail by a guard.
"Ahmahdi!" I yelled getting out of the car. I ran over to him and gave him a tight hug. "Boy I missed you so much. You not going back in there."
Ahmahdi hugged me back, "I missed you too, dummy and I'm not. Wassup pops."
"Glad to have you back, nigga." Raylan said, patting Ahmahdi on the back before hugging him.
Ahmahdi nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I hear you. We gotta get out of here, I'm hungry as fuck."
I chuckled, "Always thinking with your stomach, We got so much shit to do today like shopping and getting you a haircut, You look a mess."
He kissed his teeth, "I'm fresh outta jail, Whatchu expect? What we doing after allat?"
"Whatever you wanna do. Yo mama don't know you coming home today so whatever you wanna do probably won't get done until she go to sleep."
"I already see her right now calling everybody over so they could come see me, Ian even spend years."
"That do sound like Maniah. Maybe y'all can go to the club or something later."
"Why yeen coming?" Raylan asked.
"Remember? I leave for Bali tomorrow and I have to wake up extremely early and get to the airport so I'm tryna get as much sleep as I can."
Ahmahdi nodded, "Oh yeah, I forgot. You gon have fun out there, though."
"I hope so but enough about me, what do you want to do now? Food first or haircut first?"
Ahmahdi rubbed his stomach, "Food definitely. I need some real food after allat shit they had us eating in there. That shit was good though."
"Alright, let's go get you some real food then. Where do you want to go?"
Ahmahdi shrugged, "Mcdonald's:"
"Okay, Let's go. I'm laying in the back." I told them as we started walking to the car. Raylan unlocked the car and I climbed in the back laying down.
My phone dinged and I took it out of my jacket pocket seeing it was a message from Ja and I quickly unlocked my phone to see what he had to say.
Today 4:43 PM
Can we talk? I understand you mad at me but I wanna make things right between us. I know how you are and you gon completely ignore your feelings bc I texted ts but take the time you need to process yo feelings. Ian goin nowhere. Ima be here whenever you feel like you ready to talk
Yeah we could meet up and talk. Tuesday is fine
delivered
•••
yes or no.