Page 61 of Beyond The Stars

“I gotcha.” He reached out to slap hands with his coach before trekking out the room with renewed motivation.

His family wasn’t going to agree with his moves but at the same time, like Siasia told him, it was his life to live however he saw fit.

Siasia.

He missed her so much. And if everything went the way he wanted it to go, he’d only have her to thank for seeing him deeper than anyone else ever had. He’d thank her for being vulnerable with him even when she thought her shit was just too dark for him to witness.

In a Siasia induced daze, he walked into the gym where his teammates were.

“King Qamar,” Drake called out, rushing him with a dap that ended in a brotherly hug. “New baby almost took you out, didn’t it?” he joked.

“Man, life almost took me out of it.” Qamar looked around, nodding to the others who spoke to him.

The gym used to give him a sense of peace but now, it was just a reminder that he wasn’t doing what he felt was right. Of course, he had to keep his body in check but the school gym was no longer the sanctuary it once was.

Drake looked around before pulling Qamar off to the side. “Aye, you heard what happened with your friend?”

“What friend?” Qamar asked perplexed. Drake was always clowning so he didn’t know if this was one of his jokes or what.

“Uh, ol’ girl from the party.”

“Nigga, what girl from the party? Look, Drake you my boy and all but I really ain’t in the mood for this shit right now.” Qamar stared him in the face, warning him to get to the point or move the fuck around. It was no hard feelings but like he’d stated he just wasn’t in the mood.

Drake cocked his head to the side. “Nigga, ol’ girl form the party that night. The pretty, thick, chick who Brenden was all over until you went and swoop her up.”

As if a light bulb went off in his head, Qamar knew exactly who Drake was talking about. He’d been so wrapped up in Siasia that he never disclosed her name to his friend—which was probably a good thing. Drake was cool but he gossiped a little too much for Qamar’s liking.

“Nah, what happened?” he asked.

Drake whistled for dramatic effects. “I don’t know all the details but I heard Brenden told his pops some shit so now she can’t even enroll here—like never,” Drake put emphasis on the word never.

“Nigga, what?” Qamar’s face bunched. He was confused and no understanding what his friend was telling him. “How the hell Brenden stop somebody from enrolling?”

“That boy pops is the dean, Qamar… bruh you really need to stay in school.”

Dean Bolden being Brenden’s father must’ve slipped through his orientation packet because he didn’t know that. Maybe because before now, the details didn’t matter to him. But when it came to Siasia, everything mattered. He dug in his shorts for his phone to dial her number. The phone trilled but there wasn’t an answer. Next, he went to his Find My app to locate her. Ever since the night of Noodle not being able to get in touch with her, he activated the location since they were still on his phone plan.

“Damn, she’s here,” he blurted, taking off to her location but before he could get out of the athletic center fast enough, he heard her voice.

18

“You nasty cracker!” Siasia yelled, spittle flying out of her mouth as she charged at Brenden, ready to knock the smug smirk off his face.

Dodging her like the athlete he was, Brenden laughed to his friends. “What’s wrong, baby?” he taunted.

One of the players held Siasia back. “Move!” She tried to get around him. “Brenden you little dick bastard!” she hollered, only seeing red as she started swinging on whoever was trying their best to keep her from knocking Brenden’s head off his shoulder.

Brenden was a pitcher for the baseball team that was comprised mostly of white boys which didn’t make the situation better. As the guy held her all she could see was a million different versions of the white-faced boy taunting her—dangling her future in her face.

Brenden continued to laugh and mock her by calling her baby and grabbing himself. “Oh its little?” He humped the air, gaining more laughter.

Siasia’s blood boiled like the hot water her mama always told her boil before mopping the floor. One time she even burned her finger by testing its temperature. Now she wished she had some to throw on him and all the minion versions of him.

With blonde hair and blue eyes, Brenden wasn’t a slouch in the looks department but he carried an air of entitlement around as if it were a personality trait. In hindsight, Siasia now knew it very much was all his personality was based off.

“Let her go, Zack, so I can shove this little dick down her throat for old times’ sake,” Brenden laughed, pulling a deep dark vile taste from her belly to her throat.

“What did I do to you! Why would you tell your daddy to deny my admission indefinitely?” Siasia had gone to the financial building to use Qamar’s card to pay for her tuition for the next three years. The way she saw it, he had broken her heart and was galivanting around with his new baby and her mama the least he could do was pay for her schooling. But just like before, God snatched away her happiness. She had no idea what she did to piss him off. Or maybe it was the ancestors she’d made mad when she laid down with a wet dog like Brenden.

---