Page 26 of Loyalty, Lust, Love
“Are you serious? She hit me first!”
“I don’t care who hit who first. Your mouth is reckless, and you don’t respect your elders.”
“That’s not true. I respect my elders. I just don’t respect you.”
Fateema got up and calmly walked out of Coach Ayers’s office. She stripped out her practice uniform on her way to the locker room and dropped the jersey and shorts on the gym floor as the assistant coach and her former teammates watched.
In the locker room, she angrily shoved all her belongings in her gym bag and called Lynx.
“You should still be in practice. What did you do?” he answered.
“Are you still at the school?”
Although Lynx wasn’t an athlete, he was involved in several clubs and stayed after school for something, more days than not.
“Yes, I’m in a meeting. Are you okay?”
“Can you take me home?”
“You know where I’m parked.”
He’d drop almost anything he was doing to come to Fateema’s aid. A few minutes later, Lynx approached her as she leaned against the passenger side door of his car. He pulled her into a hug and allowed her to release her frustrated tears on his shoulder. Even though she claimed not to care about the basketball team, Lynx knew that wasn’t true.
Once she’d gotten her tears out, he took her gym bag and backpack, put it in the trunk, and helped her into the car.
“She hit me first,” she blurted out once they were both inside. “And she said you were gay.”
He sighed as he shook his head. “You know I don’t care what anyone says about me. If I was gay, I sure wouldn’t be embarrassed or hiding it.”
“I know, but it still pissed me off. I won’t let anyone say things about you that aren’t true.”
“I appreciate you defending me, Bunny. I’d do the same for you. Tell me what happened.”
The following day, the truth about what happened was revealed because Fateema’s father went to the school and forced them to view the video footage from the gym. When it was proven that Fateema was defending herself, Nichole was kicked off the team, and Fateema was suspended for two games.
However, she had no interest in playing for a woman like Coach Ayers, so she didn’t return to the team that season. Her father and Lynx tried to convince her to reconsider, but her mind was made up. Much to Fateema’s delight, the basketball team lost every game after her exit from the team, and Coach Ayers was fired.
The bond between Fateema and Lynx grew with every obstacle they faced. Although they had other friends, their comfort zone remained with each other.
Chapter 10
Flashback – Summer Before Twelfth Grade
“C’mon, guys. You never want to go out,” Meaghan said, pleading with Lynx and Fateema. “Our last year of high school is starting in two weeks. Let’s go have some fun.”
One of their classmates was throwing their annual back-to-school party, and Meaghan was trying to convince Lynx and Fateema to go.
“The four of us went last year, and it was cool,” Joaquin reasoned.
Fateema sighed. Although her social circle had grown a bit since middle school, it still seemed as if she was the most disliked girl in her school.
“If Lynx goes, I’ll go,” Fateema announced.
“I guess you aren’t going,” Lynx said nonchalantly. “Y’all know that’s not my kinda crowd.”
“Ha.” Octavia laughed. “You don’t know what kind of crowd it is, but you’re right. No crowd is your kinda crowd. You barely like people.”
“Whatever, Tay. I’ve been doing my best to stay out of trouble. One of the ways I do that is by avoiding situations that could be trouble.”
