Page 31 of Legend's Legacy
“A what?”
“I wanted to be a princess, a ballerina, and a gymnast. I was already taking ballet and gymnastics classes, and I was prettygood at both. My daddy always called me princess, so it was natural that I was going to be that too.”
He laughed. “What made you change your mind?”
“A week later, Nobi crushed my dreams. She said, ‘Nobody can be all those things, stupid.’ So I had to settle for one or the other.”
“Aww. I’m sorry, baby. You could’ve been anything you put your mind to.”
We looked at each other, and I wore a serious expression while his bottom lip trembled as he tried to hold back his laughter. It didn’t last for long because once I laughed, he fell out laughing too.
“Did you have an imaginary friend?” he asked.
“No. I was too busy trying to be all those wonderful things. There wasn’t enough room in my life for anyone except me. What about you?”
“Uh . . . I uhm, well.” He scratched the back of his neck and lifted another taco to his mouth.
“You did, didn’t you?” When he didn’t respond but kept chewing, I commented. “It’s okay that you had an imaginary friend, baby. I think it takes a creative brain to have one. What was his name? Mr. Snickerdoodle? Mr. Wallopoppy? Mr. Jiggerooni?”
“Where the hell did you get that crazy shit from?” He laughed so hard that he choked on his taco.
I jumped up and ran to the kitchen for a water bottle and handed it to him. Patting him on the back, I declared, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you choke. I’m just used to hearing kids coming up with crazy names.”
“Not mine,” he declared as he cleared his throat and set the water bottle aside.
“Okay. Let’s hear it then.”
Legend chewed his bottom lip as he stared at me. “Promise not to laugh?”
“How can I? After all, I didn’t have one,” I declared before I took a sip of my cocktail.
“He was made of wood, and he was a rock. His name was Timber the Rock.”
I exploded with laughter, spitting my cocktail all over the place.
“You promised not to laugh.”
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “I never promised. I only said, ‘How can I?’”
“Yeah, I’m wondering the same thing. After all, you weren’t creative enough to come up with one.”
I pointed at him and replied, “That’s enough on me. What’s your all-time favorite article of clothing?”
“My CSU basketball hoodie. Man, you should’ve seen me when I first made the varsity team and got that hoodie with my name on it. Nobody could tell me shit. And I wore it all the time until my girlfriend told me that it needed to be in the washer. I washed it and wore it until it became frayed at the sleeves. I stopped wearing it and put it away. I take it out every now and then to reminisce.”
“About the girl or the team?”
“Man, about them games. That girl didn’t last the entire season.”
“I bet she didn’t with your mannish tail.”
“Whatever. What about you?”
“These right here.” I held my foot up and wiggled my favorite pair of cozy socks. They were scrunchy and purple, yellow, green, and pink.
“Please don’t tell me that you wear them all the time like I did that sweatshirt.” He wrinkled his nose.
“I don’t. I actually love them and don’t wear them often because my mama crocheted them for me.”
