Page 71 of Out of Bounds
Hand in hand, Lamar and I walked into the sunroom where everyone else was. Upon entering the room, all chatter ceased, and we now had the eyes of everyone.
“Guys… this is Lamar. Lamar, I’m sure you know the guys, but this is Koya, and that one right there is Jream.”
Sitting back down in my spot, I waited for Kreed to scoot over so Lamar could sit next to me. When his ass didn’t look like he was going to move, I hissed lowly, “Scoot over.”
“That nigga got plenty of room to sit down.” He frowned as he inched over just a little.
“Stupid,” I mumbled.
“Lamar, are you hungry? I’ll fix you a plate,” Koya offered.
“I’m sorry, Lam. Would you like something to eat?”
“No, baby. I ate before I came. Thanks for the offer, Koya.”
“Oh, no problem,” she replied cheerfully.
Things in the sunroom were eerily quiet. My ex was sitting to the left of me, and my current was sitting to the right. Kreed was sitting there like he was cool as a cucumber, but I could feel the anger radiating off of his body. All it would take was one wrong thing to be said, and he was going to act a fool. I should’ve stuck with my first mind andnotinvited Lamar over. It was too much too soon.
“Awkward…” Jrue sang, making me giggle.
“So, Lamar… What is it that you do again?” Kreed asked.
Eyeing him suspiciously, I licked the corner of my mouth. “He work?—”
Kreed cut me off. “Let the man talk, Sai. He got a mouth.”
Lamar chuckled and swiped the tip of his nose with his thumb. “I’m a sports analyst with ESPN. I’m sure you knew that already.”
“Analyst… Now that you mention it, I do remember Sai saying something like that. It pay pretty good?”
“Do not start.” I gritted my teeth.
“Substantial, and if that isn’t enough, then what I make from retirement handles the rest.”
“That’s what’s up. I ain’t tryna pry in your business or no shit like that. But Masai comes with five kids. That’s a lot to take on financially. You know…”
“I’m sure it is. But we don’t check bank accounts before we swipe cards over this way. I’m good.”
Tell him, baby.
Kreed was trying to be funny, but Lamar did extremely well financially. Basketball money was a lot different than football money. And even though Lamar only got to play for two seasons, his contract was paid out in its entirety, plus he received his retirement check monthly. The man lived in a two-million-dollar mansionalone,plus he took care of his kids. The last thing he was hurting for was some money.
Kreed shrugged. “Just trying to make sure.”
“Masai and her kids will be well taken care of, I can assure you that.”
“You mean,my.” Kreed retorted.
“Come again?”
“You said, ‘her.’ What you meant to say was my, as in mine. Those are my kids.”
The back and forth would’ve been laughable if Kreed wasn’t trying to pull Lamar’s card. That man argued for a living, so there was no way Kreed thought he was going to back down. This shit was embarrassing the hell out of me, but for everyone else, it was pure entertainment.
“Actually… They’re half you and half Masai, so what I should’ve said was thaty’allkids will be taken care of.”
“That’s what I like to hear. Clear it up then.”
