Page 24 of Loyalty, Lust, Love
“Nichole?”
“Yes, Nichole. The one who seems to be obsessed with you.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
“Boys are so oblivious.” She rolled her eyes. “You haven’t noticed how all the girls in your little fan club don’t like me?”
“I guess not.”
“Well, Nichole is one of many. I’ve been keeping my head low and staying out of trouble, but if they keep it up, it’s a wrap.”
“Then you’ll get kicked off the basketball team.”
She shrugged. “I don’t care. I’m only on the team to keep in shape for track. This shit ain’t even worth it.”
“Those girls are jealous and would love it if you quit. Don’t give them the satisfaction.”
She released a deep breath and focused her attention out of the window. Every day this week, three of her teammates were unnecessarily rough. Fateema knew basketball was an aggressive sport and expected certain things to happen. However, those girls took turns trying to fuck her up. The coach turned a blind eye, and Fateema stood her ground, but she was on the verge of snapping if they continued to treat her as if they didn’t want her on the team.
“That’s easier said than done. I haven’t been suspended since sixth grade when we beat up Mitchell and Terry, but that might change before the end of this week.”
Lynx thought about Fateema’s situation for a bit before responding again.
“Maybe standing up to them is what you need to do. Show them they can’t push you around. Coach Ayers might be staying out of it to see how you handle it.”
“If so, they’ll all find out tomorrow that I ain’t no scary bitch.”
When Fateema arrived home, she had the same conversation with her father about her teammates and coach, minus the curse words. He did his best to calm her down and gave her some advice about how to handle it.
“Bunny, you’re an underclassman who is outplaying all the juniors and seniors on the team. It’s not right, but jealousy seems to be getting the best of them.”
“That’s what Lynx said.”
“I would suggest you have a private conversation with your coach about your teammates before you do anything drastic. She may not even realize what’s going on.”
“She’d have to be blind as a bat to miss it, but okay.”
The next day before basketball practice, Fateema hesitantly knocked on her coach’s office door.
“Hey, Fateema. Is everything good?”
Hell no, everything ain’t good, Fateema thought.
“Do you have a minute?” Fateema asked, ignoring her question.
Coach Ayers looked at her watch before saying, “All we have is a minute before you need to be on the court. What’s up?”
“Have you noticed how Lori, Tavita, and Nichole have been acting toward me at practice?”
She shook her head, and Fateema had to fight not to roll her eyes.
“Well, it seems like they have a vendetta against me. They’ve been overly aggressive, making rude comments under their breath, and not passing me the ball when I’m wide open.”
“Really? I haven’t seen or heard any of that. Even if I had, this is basketball, sweetie. It gets aggressive sometimes.”
Fateema took a deep breath and tried not to react angrily.
“Okay. Thank you for your time.”
