Page 56 of Krash & Bern

She poked out her bottom lip and turned me to face her. Several kisses later, we were entangled in another round of sex. She had some stamina on her.

Once we’d cleaned up a second time, we got dressed in separate parts of the home. Then we went to the kitchen and made breakfast together. I made the protein smoothies while she scrambled some eggs, fried some shredded hash browns, and fried crispy pieces of bacon. We ate and drank together before I had Javon pick me up. I promised to call her during lunch as she climbed into her car to head to the office.

On the drive to the location where the photo shoot would be held, my mind focused on Bern. It was natural to be in her space. Even after eight years apart, we fell into a smooth routine almost instantly. We found our new normal and had only been dating officially for about a month. I wanted to propose to her. Too much time had passed between us, and I didn’t want to enter a new year without her as my fiancée.

“We’ve got a lot to discuss, Krash,” Gary stated as I walked into the building.

The room was packed. There were men and women everywhere doing something. It was “organized chaos” as some would say. Dre Bricks was being photographed as I moved through the room to the dressing room assigned to me.

“What’s up?” I asked as I tossed my bag onto the table and put on the gear assigned for the first look.

“We have a long day ahead. I need to go over the promo schedule with you,” he explained.

I nodded. “Okay.”

“This is your final fight, so we’re going to put tickets on sale starting in October,” he explained.

I nodded. “Right. The pictures will drop at the end of September, right?”

“Right.”

“I want to also throw a huge party for my thirtieth. I want to have like a block party with performances and shit like that.”

Gary nodded. “We can see what the weather is like. I doubt you’re going to want to be cold as hell outside in potential snow and shit.”

“Maybe not a block party then. Maybe get an event venue and have like bounce houses and shit. I want to emphasize that turning thirty isn’t the end of life. A lot of young folks think thirty is old as hell, but it’s really when life starts to turn for the better.”

“Growing up in the neighborhoods we lived in, seeing eighteen was hard. To know we beat the odds and are about to celebrate your big three-oh says a lot about the drive you have. You ain’t let life break you down.”

“Man!” I stared at myself in the mirror.

As I studied my reflection, I experienced a moment of clarity at Gary’s words. I’d gone through so much shit. My mother’s death, my grandmother’s death, and my father’s suicide could have had a negative effect on my life. I could have used that pain to get involved in the streets. Instead, I found Coach Larry to put my pain into something positive. I could have been a ward of the state, but instead, Bernice’s parents took me in and kept me out of the system. Bernice was my angel in human form. She was the constant in my life I needed to keep me from turning down the wrong path.

“Krash!” a voice from outside the dressing room called out.

“We’re coming,” I replied as I put on my gloves.

Gary led us out of the room to where the black backdrop waited.

“Good morning, Krash. My name is Jules. I’ll be capturing some pictures for the promo. Once we’re done here, you’ll do an interview with Leslie who will ask you some questions.”

“Sounds good.”

“Have fun. You can lead and I’ll follow.” Jules lifted the camera as I began to toss out poses. I’d done many media days, so I knew the basic poses most designers liked to put on their flyers. Then, I did some fun ones.

“Ken! Can you come spray him down?”

Ken appeared from thin air with a bottle of water. He sprayed my forehead, chest, and abdomen. He made sure to make it look like natural sweat before he moved out of the way. Jules did some close ups and smiled once we’d gotten enough images for the designers to play with.

“Thanks, Jules.”

“No problem. It was an honor to capture the moment.”

I gave her a hug before I moved to the room where the interview would be held. I gave my gloves to Gary who held them while the interview began. Leslie was a bright-skinned woman with long, curly hair. She wore a pink and white skirt suit. She greeted me with her dazzling white smile, before she got into her professional bag.

“Hey, y’all! We’re here with the legend himself, Krash Williams.”

I waved at the camera. “It’s a pleasure to be here. It’s almost a bittersweet moment.”

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