250+ votes 😯.
𝚃𝚆𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚈 𝙵𝙾𝚄𝚁:
"𝟏𝟐𝟑."
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𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐍𝐀
𝘓𝘈𝘠 🦋
"You probably think I talk about basketball a lot, I got my reasons for it." CJ told me as he pulled into the lot of the Boys and Girls club.
"Wait, why we here?" I asked.
"I coach the little kids up here. I ain't never make it out and become a basketball player, and I know some of these kids might not either but they like doing this and I wanna help them at least try to achieve their dreams."
"That's nice." I smiled, looking out the window as he parked the car.
Once we both got out and made our way to the gym area, he greeted everybody else that worked here and some other kids.
"Hey Coach!" I heard a little girls voice and I looked behind me, seeing a girl no younger than 12 running up to him.
"Wasshannin' Dynasty!" He dapped the girl up and she just cheesed widely, showing her lime green and dark blue braces.
"I been workin' on my free throws like you told me and Ima win this time. All Tory been talkin' about is how he carried me the whole game last week. Nah, I ain't having that no more."
"And he don't live by the court," She rolled her neck before pointing to herself. "I do, therefore I had more time to practice and when he get his ass handed to him ion wanna hear it!"
"Run that back, what you say?" He made a face and her face changed to "😯" that expression.
"Ian mean to say it, it just slipped." She said, covering her mouth. "You know what, Ima go put on my gym clothes."
"Yeah go do that."
"That's what I was going to do!" She said before grabbing an orange tote off of the ground and jogging off towards the bathrooms.
"That's Dynasty." He looked at me. "She wanna be in the WNBA when she grow up, she said she wanna be just like Taleah Dixon, but better."
"Speaking of, she a huge fan of the Loyola Greyhounds too. She swear she a member of their team." He chuckled.
"That's cute."
"Nah, it's cute til she come up to you talkin' bout 'Bri Rozzi ain't got nothin' on me!', then it ain't cute no more." He sighed.
"Shes just determined, that's all." I shrugged.
"Determined my ass, but come on. We going to the gym and you're helping me coach them until 4:30 when practice is over."
I made a face and checked my phone. "It's 10:30."
"I know, that's why I told you to bring snacks, workout clothes and some water bottles." He said with a smile.
⤭
"Tatum, Dynasty, Ronnie, Cashmere and Tory are Team 1, and this lovely lil lady." He nodded at me while I put on my shoes. "Will be your coach."
"Ima be their what?" I scrunched up my face.
"Their coach. I hope you know how to play ball patna'." He smirked and I smacked my lips.
"I know a lil some some bout it." I shrugged before tying my right shoe and making my way towards the five kids and standing behind them.
"Alexis, Josh, Marie, Quason and Marcus. Y'all are on my team." CJ nodded before he looked at me. "You got five minutes to come up with a play Alayna!"
I shook my head chuckling while all of the kids on my team then looked at me. "Okay, I'm Alayna but y'all can call me Lay or Alayna, that's not the point though. I need y'all names before we come up with a play."
"I'm Cashmere but my name is stupid so just call me Cash." The taller girl pointed to herself.
"Fifteen cent." A boy looked at her before chuckling and she shoved him.
"Shut the fuck up Ronald cause nobody was talking to you. Old ass name, Ronald McDonald faced ass."
Oh wow these kids are vulgar.
"She ain't nevaaa!" Dynasty dragged out while laughing. "She called you Ronald McDonald! What you gon say backkkk?"
"He ain't gon do shit but get me a McChicken and some iced tea, thank you very much." Cash rolled her eyes.
"You finna let Cash hoe you like that? Don't go out sad Ronnie!" Some other boy told him while CJ walked over to me with five jerseys.
"Call out the nicknames on the back when you pass em out." He told me before walking back off.
"Ian letting Cash gigantic ass hoe me! She better sit down somewhere." He waved everybody up.
"Y'all are something else." I mumbled. "Can y'all finish introducing yourselves so that we can get the ball rolling?"
"Call out the nicknames and then have us tell you from there because everything else is just extra." Cash told me and I just nodded.
I picked up the first jersey and turned it on the back so I could look at it. "Nu-"
⤭
"Number 14, Cashmere "The Goat" Brookes!" CJ said into the microphone while Cash ran out of the back with a ball, dribbling it and shooting it into the bucket.
"Yessir!" She clicked her tongue before coming over to a bench.
They were doing this like it was a whole actual basketball game and it was cute.
His team wanted to get announced first, so now it was just my team who needed to be called out before they could actually start their little game and whatever.
"Number 27, Ronald "Big Ron" Gates!"
Ronnie came out with a big ass smile before spinning his ball on his pointer finger. He tossed it to me and I caught it while he went and stood next to Cash who was mugging him.
She likes him.
"Number 3, Tory "Walking Bucket" Ferguson!"
He didn't do much when he came out, he just shot a three pointer and walked over to where Cash and Ronnie were, by the bench.
"Numbers 17 and 28, Dynasty "Big Buckets Dy" Ford and Tatum "Pressure Pack" Jackson!" He finally announced the last two as they came out and did a handshake.
"Tory and Dynasty gon kill each other, fuck going against the other team. Those two? They got beef." CJ looked at me. "That's why I have to put them on the same team, so that they don't harm each other foreal."
"That's not gonna help, they're both competitive. They're just gonna see who's better than the other. She was just talking about how his free throws were bad."
"It's better with them on the same team besides on a different team. Last time they were on separate teams, they fought. Like fist fought." He glared at me.
"Oh- how old are they?"
"Dynasty gon be 13 in January and Tory just turned 14 three days ago." He told me.
"They argue more than Ronnie and Cash?" I asked him.
"Aw hell, ion even know. Cash and Ronnie asses argue like a married couple. Ion know what type of unknown feelings them two got against each other but they better solve it."
"I was trying to get everybody's names and Cash was talking about how she didn't like her name and I should just call her Cash, Ronnie talm bout 'fifteen cent' and then they started arguing." I shook my head.
"And whewww!" I dragged out. "Them kids got potty mouths and ion like det."
"They don't got bad mouths like that all the time. Most of the times, I check they asses cause I don't like kids that swear too much. That shit ain't funny, you tryna be grown just to fit in."
"What you mean?"
"Kids that cuss a lot? People let they kids cuss and allat shit to record it, post it and get laughs for the media. Then other kids watch that shit and think it's cute to be grown. I don't like when kids cuss, I don't find that type of stuff funny."
"I-"
"I'm prolly just taking this shit too serious but that's why I asked Dynasty what she said earlier, cause all of them know better than to swear around me. They get passes in games but that's it cause I know games get frustrating and you gotta let that anger out."
"I'd let them say some words, but not aggressive ones cause that's crossing the line." I told him.
"Nah, they ain't my kids or nothing but I care for all of em like they mine. Ion want them to get used to having bad attitudes and as people say, potty mouths cause that's the type of shit that's gon get you fucked up out here."
"So I try to stop them from swearing as much as I can. Ion want them to grow up too fast, they need to stay pure and childlike and that's hard for people to do out here-Ima explain this when I take you home." He chuckled.
⤭
"Foul!" Dynasty yelled before pointing at Tory. "That was a foul!"
"No it wasn't nigga!" Tory yelled back at her. "Stop lyin'! How you gon lie on yo own teammate? You losing points too dummy."
"Watch yo fuckin' mouth Tory!" CJ pointed as he made his way towards them. "Come on."
Right now it was 3:30 and once it hit 3:45 then the kids would be having lunch until 4:00, then after that they'd take a quick shower and put their clothes back on so that they could go home.
I've been here since 10:30, I was tired as hell and ready to go home also. It was fun while I was here though, something I ain't never did before.
If being a neonatal nurse ain't work out in the future? Being a volunteer here doesn't sound too bad.
Not for a full-time job though, part-time will be just fine for me. Ion like kids that much.
"Fuck these points nigga! Ion want em no way!" She stated while everybody just looked at them.
"Here we go again." Tatum mumbled.
From being here, not only did I know the kids on my team but the kids on CJ's team too. They weren't as fun or entertaining as the kids on my team but I mean they're okay.
Personalities a little dry.
Dry like wypipo food.
"Watch yo mouth too!" CJ said sternly, pointing at Dynasty while she rolled her eyes and grabbed the ball off of the floor.
"You think Taleah Dixon had a shitty attitude?" He asked Dynasty before looking over at Tory. "And you think J.R. Smith had a shitty attitude?"
"He sure did and he was an alcoholic and that's exactly what Tory's gonna be. An alcoholic with a bad attitude just like his daddy." Dynasty threw the ball at Tory's chest before taking off her jersey.
Girl wha-
"Aw nah she foul for that." Cash said. "I mean I'm ignorant but he told us that in private, she was foul for airing his business out like that."
"I hate her, I promise you Coach, I hate that girl." Tory snapped.
CJ sighed and rubbed his face. "Just stay in here and calm down. We'a be back, come on Lay."
I followed him out of the gym and into the waiting area where she was sitting on a couch, slouched down and typing away on her phone.
"Dynasty." CJ called out to her and she looked up from her phone for one second before she went back to looking at it.
He sat on the table in front of her while I took a seat on the couch next to her. "Sit up and get off of yo phone." CJ told her and she huffed before sitting up.
She dropped her phone in her lap and just stared at him with a straight face. "What?"
"Lose the attitude, it ain't gon get you nowhere."
"I'm not gon get nowhere anyways. Do you see where we at Coach?" She asked him before pointing at the door.
"What that gotta do with anything? You ain't got no faith in yoself all of a sudden? Earlier you was just talking about how you was working on your free throws and allat."
"That was earlier." She shrugged.
"Nah." He shook his head. "Earlier when I gave y'all a break, you went to the bathroom and just came back with a pissy attitude. What's yo problem?"
Kids, more like preteens actually, don't listen much so I'm surprised that she's actually listening to him speak.
She sighed. "When I went to the bathroom, I called my mom back cause she called me earlier but we were in the middle of the game..."
"Mhm." He nodded.
"When I called her back, she-she told me.." Her eyes started to gloss over before she looked at the door then back at CJ.
"What she tell you?"
"She told me that my daddy died." Her bottom lip started quivering. "My daddy the one that taught me how to play basketball, the one that made me wanna do this. Now he gone!"
"Dy-"
"When I ain't wanna do this no more cause Tory told me a girl wasn't gon make it far, my daddy talked me through it and now he dead! Ion wanna do this no more without my dad Coach. I can't do this without my dad!"
Aww, I can relate to this. Therapist Alayna about to enter the building, hello?
"Your dad helped you wanna do this right?" I asked her and she looked at me before nodding.
"Yeah." She wiped her eyes. "He took me to practices, came to all of my games, he even came to my tryouts with big ass-"
"Language." CJ pointed at her.
"Big ole posters and that would just give me that extra boost of confidence since my mama was always busy with my brothers, it felt good that somebody was there and was giving me that confidence even if it wasn't a lot to everybody else, it was a lot to me." She explained.
"Okay well if your dad is the reason you wanted to do this, just keep doing it."
"Do I look like Nike?" She made a face while pointing to herself.
"Girl, that ain't the point. Anyways, if this is what you want to do then I'm pretty sure your dad wouldn't want you to stop chasing your dreams just because he's not here to witness it."
"Ain't no dream without the dreamer." She stared at me. "He was the real dreamer, did I wanna do it? Duh, but he was more passionate about it than I was. All he wanted was for me to get out of this dusty ole city."
"So all that means is that you gotta do it." I told her.
"I guess." She shrugged, kicking her feet. "And Coach?"
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"My mom can't pick me up today, can you take me home? I got my key I just need a ride."
"Mmcht. Alright." He stood up.
⤭
"Bye Dy!" Cash hugged Dynasty.
"Bye Cash." She waved as she walked towards CJ's car before hearing Ronnie say something.
"Bye green giant!" Ronnie yelled to Cash and I saw Dynasty roll her eyes.
"He so irritating." Dynasty mumbled.
"Rufus stop talking to me!" Cash hollered back as I got into the passengers seat.
Whew chile.
"You ate?" CJ asked Dynasty once she got in the car.
"I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich but that ain't fill me up foreal cause I shared it with Cash." She shrugged her shoulders.
"You wanna go to Chipotle or some?" He looked back at her while I looked at my phone.
Najae
Today 4:35 PM
Najae I'm decorating this nursery, this shit slick coming together. Got me feeling like them HGTV niggas onna slick 😎
Bye asf 😂😂😂
Read 4:35 PM
Najae I'm fr. Them niggas ain't got shit on me NOOOO CAP !
Ik u not doing that shit by yoself. Who helping?
Read 4:35 PM
Najae Message sent with Invisible Ink
I swiped my hand across it to see his message before I started to chuckle lowly.
Najae Chaz, Pooh and Duce 👨🏽🦯
😭😭😭
Read 4:35 PM
Najae When I finish decorating this nursery Ima text u or some
I'll probably be sleep but if I'm not then ok
Read 4:36 PM
"So when we go to Chipotle can I get extra rice and double chicken and steak?" Dynasty asked.
"Hell no."
"Language." She mocked him.
"I'm grown, you ain't."
Eventually, we pulled up to Chipotle and we all got out and made our way to the entrance. After getting all of our orders, we sat down at a table.
"Don't come out after dark, I see she won't leave me 'lone, she slashed the tires on my car, dirty Dynasty, oh!" Dynasty bopped her head while eating her food.
"Girl." I chuckled while she just kept bopping her head.
"Michael Jackson wanna be like Youngboy so bad, he ain't slick. We all know he stole his flow to make that Dirty Diana song." She sighed.
"I know you ain't foreal." CJ looked at her.
"I am so serious."
"You know wha-anyways, why you say that stuff about Tory's dad? You ain't slick, I ain't forget to bring it up. I was just waiting on the time."
"Cause I felt some type of way after finding out about my dad that I just wanted to take my anger out on somebody." She shrugged.
"You can't say stuff like that though. He trusted all of us to tell us that in private and you threw it in his face like he had control over that and he didn't. You can't keep doing stuff like that." CJ told her. "You got his phone number?"
"Ew no, if I ever had Tory's number I would off myself." She said seriously. "I don't even want his Instagram."
"You got Instagram? Girl are you even old enough for Instagram?" He asked her and I chuckled lowly.
"Coach, I hate to be the one to say it but." She rolled her neck. "You're too old for Instagram, I don't know why you have an account."
"Who said I had one?"
"You do, I found it one time. Yo account private, I requested to follow you too but when I went to see if I was accepted or not, you denied my request!"
"Now why you do that?" I chuckled.
"Cause I'm not accepting nobody whose Instagram account is bigbucketsdy371. I'm just not doing it." He shook his head.
"Cause I'm Big Buckets Dy what are you talking about?" She asked.
⤭
"Can you take my picture? Pleaseeee?" Dynasty whined and I grabbed her phone as she posed. "Okay, this is my good side."
"Girlllllll." I dragged out.
"I'm serious." She looked at me before going back to her pose. "Okay, take the picture now please."
"Ion know why you wore that outfit just to go change into gym clothes for the rest of the day. Just a waste of a good outfit." I passed her the phone back.
"I would've looked cute in anything I put on. I just decided to be extra just because today felt like an extra day." She grabbed her keys out of her purse.
"Mhm, bye Dynasty." I got back in the car and she waved back before going into her house.
"She's a character." I told CJ.
"Yeah." He scratched his neck. "They taking a field trip to the Sports Legends Museum next weekend, I think they like you....if you wanna come you can."
"I'll come." I shrugged. "Only if I get to be around the kids that were on my team today. I like them."
"Girl they all gon be in a group." He told me.
"Oh, that's cool too."
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alayna & cj kinda cute idk 😯🙊🥰😍.
anyways, this is a different kinda chapter i never did this before so lmk if i should do it again¿? i prolly won't unless i do it for the lil museum thing.
3250 words or some like that and ian edit that.
yeah if y'all ain't like this then lmk too i guess 🥱.
keep doing long chapters? yes? no? you don't care?
- #GrandmaBaby.