Hanging up. I check my messages. James, James, James, my dad, and James again. The one from my dad alarms me and I have to listen to it again.
“Bain, I hate to tell you this while you’re focusing on your workouts, but Anthony pleaded not guilty, this whole thing is going to trial. The prosecutor called me today and said she wants all three of us to testify. Just call me, okay, son?”
I delete his message right away. Fuck that motherfucker, not guilty. The guy fucking took her life; he robbed her from so much. How can he plead not guilty? For the rest of the drive I listen to James’ messages then head straight for my room. Once I’m inside, I call room service for my dinner and boot up my laptop, preparing an email response to James’ messages, like I have been lately. If I keep busy with this shit, it will keep my mind off of the nagging fact that I don’t have Arion and that asshole plead not guilty.
Sitting back, I type away. Then it happens and my heart stops. My whole world comes to a stop as her ring tone comes on my phone. Without even looking at the screen I answer. “Baby?”
She doesn’t respond and I listen for any hint that she’s there. “Arion, are you there?”
I hear her voice. It’s far away, but it’s there. I can tell she’s talking to someone. Waiting, I listen trying to make out what she is saying. Anything at all would help me right now, then she mumbles and the phone sounds muffled. “Arion, please talk to me.”
Finally she does, her voice is timid, almost broken, but it’s her. “Hey.”
“Hi,” I respond. She’s still silent and I ask, “How are you?”
“I’ve been better.”
“I know, baby, me too.”
There’s an awkward silence between us and I say, “I miss you so much.”
Exhaling loudly into the phone, she says, “Listen, Bain, I have a lot going on right now, I don’t think I can do this.”
“Then talk to me, baby, let me help you.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry, I just can’t.”
The line goes silent before I can say anything else. I wonder if she actually meant to call me, as there was truly no point to that conversation. Leaning back in the chair, I exhale and stare at the celling. How did I lose the girl who stole my heart? I need to figure out how to get her back.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I say, shaking hands with the assistant coach of the Grizzlies.
“You too. We can’t thank you enough for coming here.”
“Of course. Thank you for having me.”
“How was your flight?” he asks and I follow him into the huge gym where there are a few guys practicing.
“It was nice. I came in from Phoenix, so it was nice to leave the heat.” After Jim gives me a rundown of the facility, one of the ball guys from the middle of the court passes me the ball. The moment I have it in my hands, I shoot it. I know I’m pretty far behind the three-point line but my range is deep, and draining this in front of all these people would be sweet. As the ball floats through the air, everyone in the room turns and watches it. Bam, nothing but net, baby.
I smirk, thankful that although I’m a mess inside, my game isn’t affected. Over the next hour, I can’t tell you how many balls I sink. I’m definitely in the zone. Then we move on to defense. It’s not my best area, but I’ve been working on it the last few years and it’s improved. Lastly, I get to scrimmage, before meeting with the coaches and the staff.
Quickly, I dry off after my shower and get dressed before sitting down with everyone. Although I never imagined it…I could actually see myself playing here. I know Arion won’t be part of that dream anymore. She’s made that clear and since she’s ignoring me, my gut is telling me to push forward and not look back. I’ve thought about it a lot and wish I knew of a way to make things work with her, but her pain runs very deep and she’s stubborn beyond reason.
Leaving the locker room, I walk down the long, white hall ’til I reach the office where we are meeting. Knocking once, I head inside.
“Mr. Adams,” their head coach says, welcoming me.
“It’s great to meet you in person, sir.” I shake his and then everyone else’s hand. We all sit down. I’m directly across from the head coach, the assistant coach is next to him, and then the general manager.
“You were quite impressive on the court today.”
“Thank you, sir. Your facility is great.”
“We would love to have you on our team, but you’re projected to be drafted pretty high in the first round. We don’t have a pick ’til the thirteenth spot. If you could imagine our dilemma, in order to make this work we’re going to have to figure out some sort of deal. So tell us, why are you the guy to go with?”
I’m a little unsure how to answer the question, so I follow my gut.