Alton clapped his hands together. “She’s the mother of my kids. I treat her like the queen she deserves to be treated as. That’s how I let them other jokers know what she’s built for, know what I mean?”
That was such a weak answer. Unless you were living under a rock, everyone knew Alton and Tynisha had an on-again-off-again relationship. He was likely the reason she got her show. Apparently, she was a fashion stylist. I didn’t know who Alton was initially: I’d seen a few pictures, but wasn’t that familiar with him. And from being off the court at the country club, I couldn’t exactly see the faces of those on the floor. He’d come over a couple of times for beverages, but it never clicked until last night when I was online and came across a picture of them coming out of a fancy restaurant in Edgewater. When I Google’d him, I quickly gathered his reputation as a habitual cheater.
“So, Stent has a girlfriend?” Angela practically sang. “Is it serious?” She held her fork to her mouth sensually.
Stenton glanced up from his plate and smiled sardonically as he chewed.
Ang! Stop it…he’s not interested!
“This man is damn near married,” Alton scoffed. “That’s who he was on the phone with earlier. He just don’t want the world in their business. He keeps his shit on the low.”
So why are you sharing it with strangers?
“But everybody needs a friend, right Stent?” Angela forged ahead, ignoring Alton. “My parents have been married for twenty-three years; I know how…tight things can get.” She was twirling her hair again.
“If I were a boy…” Stenton remarked.
The table went up in a roar. In my typical hyperactive mind, I sensed a double entendre at the reference to the Beyoncé track that had been released this year. If he were a boy, he’d cheat on his girlfriend…or he wouldn’t cheat because he’d be hurt if his girlfriend did it to him? I didn’t know. One thing was for sure and that was he was playing Angela and I couldn’t stomach much more of it.
I pulled out a twenty dollar bill, placed it in the center of the table and nudged Angela. “I have to go to the bathroom and then I have a call to make. I’ll be outside when you’re ready.”
“Damn! You got the shits, girl?” Alton yelped. “That burger gave you the runs?”
“If it did, you gave me a double portion with the way you were dragging on the courts today,” I hissed and left the booth.
Twenty five minutes later, as I sat in the small waiting area, they all came out of the diner, loud and boisterous as I’d left them. Goodbyes were made—or should I say, Angela gave her goodbyes to a disinterested Stenton, and Alton answered for him. I got told off the entire ride back to Princeton. Angela accused me of being standoffish.
“You didn’t have to pay for your own food, Zo. You looked like such an amateur. Everybody knows that when you go out with ballers—pun intended—you don’t pay for anything.”
“It was my food. It was only a burger and fries,” I argued.
“Ughhhh! That’s not the point, Zo! You didn’t have to pay. Then they expected me to follow suit!”
I was sure they didn’t. Angela’s conscience did.
“I could’ve covered you if you didn’t have it, Ang.”
She banged her head against the steering wheel, exasperated. “Tomorrow—if we’re lucky enough to get to hang out with them—you don’t give Alton any shit, and you don’t pay.”
“Okay, Ang, but do you think your chances are better with Alton than Stenton? I mean, he seemed pretty adamant about being faithful to his girlfriend. And Alton practically begged for your attention. If you’re going to have a willing adulterer, Alton seems to be your man.”
Ang let out a hard laugh. “You can be so dense. Please, Zo! They all cheat! There is not one faithful man in the NBA, NFL, MLB or any other sport. They all fuck around!”