Page 2 of Beyond The Stars

“I bet they are working your nerves.” Stephanie grunted. She never tried to judge him too hard because she had her own flaws. Like her baby boy, she too was a teen mother. Unlike him, she didn’t have the support system he currently had or access to the wealth he had access to either. Since she had pretty much left him to her oldest to raise, she gave him a lot of leeway and always overlooked a lot of his bad choices.

“You cooked for Daddy?” Qamar ignored Stephanie to ask his daughter.

Esmeray nodded, her big hair flopping in her face. She looked exactly like Qamar but had her mother’s dark skin. Qamar never loved Esmeray’s mother, Malaysia. He liked her a lot but his heart didn’t hurt when they split. Their co-parenting journey hadn’t been an easy road because they were so young. Now, they were on the right side of things. Malaysia lived her own life, never butting into his. Her only concern was her daughter who she knew Qamar would take great care of.

“Yes, me and GG made breakfast but it’s cold because it’s almost lunch. What we eating for lunch?” Esmeray asked. Her tiny self was always hungry.

Qamar chuckled as he made his way down the grand staircase to the kitchen. Luna, his oldest sister was an award-winning singer/songwriter and married to one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks. It took much convincing but eventually, their mother agreed to allow her oldest to buy her a home that was way too big for her, but as luxurious as her heart desired. When Qamar wasn’t there, or at school, he was at another one of his siblings’ homes since he had a room in all their homes. When he rounded the corner, he spotted his mother’s husband, Griff. Griff and Stephanie got married five years ago. He treated his mother right and was a solid role model in their family. Qamar would always love and respect him because of that.

“Good morning,” Griff greeted, plating up some food. His brown eyes gazed at Stephanie and he blew her a kiss. “This why you snuck out the bed?” He walked over to grip her ass and kiss her lips.

“Eww.” Esmeray tooted her nose up.

Qamar tapped her. “What I told you about that? How is that your business?”

Once again, her eyes swelled with faux tears that still didn’t faze her father.

Satisfied with loving on his wife, Griff shifted his attention back to Qamar. “How long you here for?”

Before he sat at the island, Qamar placed Esmeray on her feet where she ran to her Papa. He laughed at how mischievous yet dramatically emotional his daughter was.

“I’m leaving tonight. Got a cool little college party I want to check out before our practice on Monday.”

“And how is school?”

His shoulders went up before dropping. “It’s cool. I could be in the league by now but?—”

“But you gone get that damn degree, Qamar,” Stephanie butted in. “You smart enough to do both… got enough money to do both too.”

There it was. The pressure his family put on him. Being the baby was cool until it wasn’t.

When it came to his soccer career, he’d been offered full ride scholarships to some of the country’s top D1 schools. With all the money flowing in his family, he declined the full rides feeling they were better suited for the less fortunate and allowed his people to foot the bill. He had more than enough of his own money, between his family putting assets in his name and the NIL deals, Qamar was good on money. Everyone expected so much from him because for his most influential teenage years, his family had money. He got the mother none of them got and the privileges all of them contributed to. Qamar’s projection in life was so damn high, it made his head spin.

Griff shook his head at his wife. He understood why they wanted their baby to succeed. At the same time, he knew how much anxiety that pressure caused Qamar. The boy was obviously struggling.

“I know, Ma. I’m going to finish.” Qamar licked his lips while holding his head down. “After I drop Es off, I might head back earlier.”

“Oh, here you go being all sensitive and shit.” Stephanie rolled her eyes. “You ain’t gotta leave early, and I won’t say anything else to you while you here. Lord forbid I have an opinion on something.”

“That’s where Es get that dramatic shit from.” Qamar smirked.

Griff added his two cents. “She gets it from both of y’all. Shit, her mama too.”

Everyone laughed at that, including Esmeray, who was tucked in her Papa’s big arms.

Stephanie hugged her baby boy. “I love you, Qamar.”

“I know, Ma. I love you too.” He kissed her cheek.

It was true. He loved his entire family. They meant the world to him. He only wished they would give him room to figure his own life out—do it his way, but maybe that was too much to ask, coming from a family of excellence.

His long legs stretched out so far, people had to walk around it to get to where they were going. Qamar couldn’t have cared less though. With his back slouched against the back of the leather couch, he kept his eyes trained on the brown skinned beauty who had commanded his and every man’s attention while her and her friends popped their asses to the raunchy music of some up-and-coming female rapper. The beer in his hands dangled between his legs. He was so laid back and chill. People around him thought he was cool beyond any reasonable doubt.

After spending a little more time with his daughter and mama, he dropped Es off and got on his flight back to Lynn Beach where his college was located and from the view in front of him, it was a good decision. Their family jet had him there in an hour and fifteen minutes.

“Bitch bad, huh?” Drake, his friend and teammate bumped his shoulder though his eyes were devouring the girl too.

Qamar clammed up when he called the girl out of her name. It was locker room talk but being raised by a woman, he wasn’t too fond of the term. As if he could read his friend’s mind, Drake put his hands up in surrender.

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