The Ex Project by Nia Arthurs

Chapter Twenty-Two

“The sign was a bit much,”she said, handing over plastic cups of shaved iced topped with colorful syrup to her mother, sister and friends. “Was that your idea?”

“Good heavens, no.” Jada turned her head slightly. Though she’d arrived long before the crowds and sat in the Belizean heat for hours, her mother still looked as fresh as a rose.

“She hired the Garifuna drummers,” Janice said, pointing to the team of dark-skinned Punta Gorda natives.

They sat at the foot of the bleachers, their legs open wide enough to grip giant animal-skin drums. They wore the traditional Garifuna garb made of soft yellow fabric and African prints.

Yolanda’s jaw dropped. “Those drummers are from you? I thought the Cayo team brought them.”

“No, dear. I paid for three hours of their time plus transport.” Jada primly wiped a corner of her lips.

Yolanda shook her head, amazed. “I told you guys not to over do.”

“Yes, you did,” Giselle said. “But this is Theo’s first official game against an out-district team. This is the big leagues. We had to show off.”

“But this is—”

“Enough. Spoiling Theo is what we live for,” Jada added.

“He’s an awesome little dude.” Latoya lifted her hand to the sign. “That’s from me and Cole. He was sorry he couldn’t make it.”

“Did he and his family have a safe flight?”

“Yeah.” Latoya pushed out her bottom lip. “He’s been gone for twelve hours. I miss him so much.”

“They call and text each other every minute.” Giselle rolled her eyes. “It’s so excessive.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who video-called her man for so long her phone caught fire.”

“That charger was old and defective!”

Yolanda snorted.

“Did your phone really catch fire, Giselle?” Jada asked, her eyes wide.

“It did.” Giselle ducked her head sheepishly. “I knew it was a bad wire, but I didn’t want to stop talking to him.”

Jada made a tutting sound.

“I hate when West goes on business trips. It sucks not being able to see him.”

“Girl, I feel you. A text is not the same thing as curling up next to Cole at night.”

“There, there.” Yolanda patted Latoya’s shoulder and then gave Giselle the same love.

“Ugh. People in relationships are so obnoxious.”

Everyone turned and gave Janice the stink eye.

“When is the game supposed to start, Yolanda?” Jada asked, smoothing over ruffled feathers with a new topic.

She checked her watch. “In about a minute.”

Thankfully, she’d gotten all the problems ironed out in time. It had taken a lot of running around, but Duane had been so well-prepared for the event that most of the emergencies were small ones.

Giselle brightened. “Hey, you didn’t ask what I brought for Theo.”

“I don’t really want to know…”

“The smoothie truck!” Giselle threw her hands wide.

“Oh gosh.”

“But he’s not old enough to drive,” Jada pointed out.

Latoya burst out laughing.

“I didn’t mean…” Giselle’s brown skin flushed slightly, “I brought smoothies.”

“Oh.”

“Marcy’s in there now. We’re going to hand out free smoothies to Theo’s teammates after the game. We got his favorite flavor and my mom baked powder buns. She put them in these cute little plastic bags too.”

“You guys are awful.” Yolanda hugged her friends gratefully.

“Hey, what about me? I ordered drummers.”

Yolanda gave her mom a hug. “Thank you too.”

Janice lifted her nose. “I didn’t prepare anything, so I’ll just give him cash.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I will not be outdone by anyone.” Janice’s eyes flashed as she rose regally.

Yolanda gave her sister’s outfit a scan. She was wearing a designer silk jumpsuit and high wedge sandals. Several men turned their heads to observe her as she started walking away.

“Where are you going?” Yolanda called.

“The ATM,” Janice mumbled.

Yolanda chuckled and grabbed her sister’s arm. Tugging her back to her seat, she settled in beside her. “The game’s about to start. Sit down.”

Janice sat stiffly.

Yolanda smiled. She and her sister had never been close growing up and that coldness extended into their adult years too. But ever since Theo got older, Janice made an effort to come around more. Yolanda would never admit it, but she liked that her relationship with her sister was thawing.

“Oh, look! They’re heading to the field now!” Yolanda pointed.

Hopping to her feet, Jada yelled at the Garifuna drummers. “Let’s go!”

On cue, the drummers played a fast-paced Garifuna beat. The crowd danced. Even those who didn’t want to could not resist the music.

The excitement in the air shot to dangerous levels.

Shouts exploded as the players huddled in with their coaches.

The drums pounded.

Her hips swayed.

It was going to be a great game.

Yolanda smiled when she saw Tay-Tay getting into position. He looked absolutely adorable in his football jersey.

Hauling out her phone, she took a ton of pictures.

“Are you getting this?” Yolanda yelled at Giselle when Tay-Tay scored his first goal.

“Girl, I brought my tripod. I’m recording all of it,” Giselle screeched.

“Go, Tay-Tay!” Latoya yelled.

Jada blew her whistle in celebration.

Someone in the crowd gave them a stink eye, but Yolanda ignored it.

On the field, Tay-Tay was playing aggressively.

“Theo, slow down!” Duane yelled from the sidelines. “Focus!”

Tay-Tay tried to do a fancy maneuver but got caught on the ball and stumbled. A player from Cayo stole the ball from him and sent it flying into the net.

The ref called the point.

Yolanda booed.

On the field, Tay-Tay’s jaw worked and his fingers balled into fists. Her mother’s intuition started tingling. Something was wrong.

“Is he okay?” Latoya asked hesitantly.

“Kid looks pissed.”

Yolanda shook her head at her sister. “He’s okay. He’s just nervous. This is the biggest crowd he’s ever played in front of.”

Her mother glanced over and caught Yolanda’s eye. An unspoken message seemed to pass between them. Is this because of Devon?

Guilt crashed into her ribs and made her heart tight. Purposefully glancing away from her mother, she kept her composure.

It didn’t matter if Devon wasn’t here. All her friends were here. His grandmother and aunt were here. They’d brought Garifuna drummers and giant signs and smoothie trucks.

It was enough.

She wasn’t letting her son down.

She had to be enough.

The second quarter of the game saw Tay-Tay making more sloppy mistakes. Duane took him out, a decision that caused everyone in her section to boo him.

She kept her mouth shut. Even if—as Tay-Tay’s mother—she wanted to see him play, he wasn’t at his best and it was costing the team.

In the final quarter, Duane put her son back in the game. Everyone in her row shot to their feet and cheered her son on.

The Garifuna drummers, who had been silent during Tay-Tay’s benching, pounded the drums again. The music swept new life into the crowd who chanted out their team’s name and cheered the boys on.

The score was two to one.

Tension rattled like the rusted metal planks beneath her feet. The drumming swelled. She shouted along with the rest of the crowd as her son expertly drove the ball down the middle.

“Pass it, Theo!” Duane yelled.

Yolanda saw her son pull his foot back. Saw the way he angled his torso to kick to his teammate. And then, a blur from nowhere crashed into Tay-Tay, knocking him to the ground.

Her heart sprinted out of her chest.

The crowd made a collective ‘ooh’ sound.

Tay-Tay remained still in the grass.

“Tay-Tay!” Yolanda screamed, the rest of the world blurring outside her.

Duane shot to the field and knelt beside her son. His teammates abandoned the game and flocked in too. Yolanda felt herself running and, by the time she’d come back to reality, she was flying down the bleachers and heading to the field.

When she got to him, Tay-Tay was sitting up. He looked dazed but otherwise unharmed. There were no tears in his eyes and no pain on his face.

Still, she dropped to her knees beside him and frantically checked his tiny body. His jersey was stained with grass and mud. Sweat beaded on his forehead and dripped down his neck.

She touched his ankle. “Baby, does that hurt?”

“I’m okay, mom.” He swatted her away.

She came right back, even more frazzled. “How’s your head? Is anywhere bleeding?”

“I said I’m okay!” Tay-Tay snapped.

She blinked, taken aback.

Duane shot her a concerned look, but she was too stunned to do anything but stare at her son.

“I think he was just dazed,” Duane said softly to her. “But I can take him out of the game and escort him to the medic bay. I’ll let the assistant coach oversee the rest of the game.”

“No,” Tay-Tay cried.

Duane’s voice cracked like a whip through the air. “Theo, this is your mom’s decision and you will respect whatever she says.”

He hung his head.

Duane gently took her hand. “It’s your call.”

“I…” She sucked in a breath and glanced over Tay-Tay again. “Can you walk?”

He stood and did a few jumps. His jersey flapped and dirt fell off him like rain. The crowd clapped and cheered when they saw him moving around.

“I can do it, mom,” he said, giving her a determined look.

Wow. My son is growing up.

She released her worry and nodded. “Okay.”

“Here.” Duane offered his hand and helped her up. “Are you sure?”

“I trust him. And you.”

His eyes softened. “I’ll take care of him.”

She knew he would. The way he charged after Tay-Tay when he went down might have been as a coach, but the offer to abandon the game and take her son to the med-bay was beyond his responsibility.

Yolanda stepped back.

“I can do it, mom,” Tay-Tay said, giving her a meaningful look.

Tears stung her eyes. He was growing up too fast. She wanted to capture him as he was and force him to remain as her little baby forever. Why did he have to toughen up? Why did he have to face an even crueler world?

“You can stay up front if you’d like,” Duane said, gesturing to where he and the assistant coach had been sitting.

She accepted the offer and watched her son like a hawk until the winning goal. Though Tay-Tay had not been the one to kick the ball into the net, the Garifuna drummers surged the field, playing loudly and dancing with the kids.

Latoya, Giselle, and Jada ran past her, flying into the throng and surrounding Tay-Tay in a group hug. She saw her son smiling from ear to ear. Saw his black eyes shining like jewels. Saw the way the sun kissed his brown skin and his sweat-stained jersey.

Pride welled in her chest, choking her until she couldn’t breathe. Her knees went weak and she stumbled.

But Duane was there.

Rather than celebrating with his team, he stood with her. His arms came around her waist and he pulled her into his chest.

She let the tears fall because it was safe and warm in his arms. Burying her face in the crook of his neck, she hid away and let it all out.

He stayed with her, a pillar in the storm of emotions she couldn’t even name. Duane rubbed her back and her shoulder, murmured comforting words in her ear and stayed still until she was spent.

After the tears stopped, he leaned back and smiled at her. “You’re good now?”

“I’m good.” She squeezed his hand.

Tay-Tay ran up to them. “Coach, I did it.”

“Congratulations.” Duane leaned down and hugged Tay-Tay. Her son had the same look of comfort and peace that she had when she was in Duane’s arms.

Her heart shifted even more in Duane’s direction. She had to be careful. If she fell any harder for Duane Marden, well… he’d have all the power to ruin her and her son.