“Hmmmm…” I thought for a moment. “I’ve done lots of stupid shit in my day, kiddo. I think the stupidest was back during the summer when Alton and I got drafted.” I put my sandwich down on the plate and took a sip of the milk she insisted I drink with it. “We were at a country club in Mullica Hill doing off-season training—back then we trained in random places. One morning, Al and I woke up and made a pact that we were getting off the property to have some fun before we checked in for official training. I told him I was craving White Castle, and he said he’d never had it before. So, I made it my mission to take him to experience his first double with cheese. We bummed a ride up to Newark with a trainer who had a hoopty and we barely made it to the one on South Orange Ave. The trainer left for a car repair shop we passed on the way up, saying he’d be right back once he got his joint fixed.
“Well, after we ordered our food, we walked a few blocks to a park that I knew we could chill at until our ride came back through. But when we got there, dudes from the Westside was there and knew who we were. They wanted a challenge. Now as employees of the NBA, we’re not allowed to play street ball, but two kids from Newark and Bridgeton would never be played like fucking suckas. So, we dropped our shit and balled the hell out. People always slept on Al because of his height, but was blown away by his speed and rebounds. We burned their asses on that court. It was so bad that dudes wanted to fight. Again, the two of us being from these cities, weren’t new to street fighting, so we were ‘bout it. That was until more of their Westside clique showed up flexing because they knew we’d just gotten signed.
“I’ve never shied away from a fight. When you grow up in the hood, you know you gotta do what you gotta do, but when I thought of the bright future I’d just signed up for, it wasn’t that simple. Shit, there was no way I was going to punk out. Well, just as it was about to go down, the trainer pulled up, beeping the horn like a fucking maniac. It somehow got our attention and Al and I locked eyes, quickly agreeing to our next move. We hauled ass out of that little park so fast and barely made it into the car before it spun off. Dudes was chasing us for blocks. Throwing bottles, rocks, sticks…anything they could find, but we made it.”
I turned to look at Zoey. She was totally engrossed in the story by the way her face appeared frozen. I’d hoped I didn’t scare her with a story that happened years ago.
I chuckled then waved my hand in her face. “Earth to Zoey,” I teased.
She blinked and finally said, “I guess poor Alton never got to taste those doubles with cheese. Such a sad story.”
I fell back, laughing hard as hell, holding my stomach. There was never a dull moment with this girl. Leave it to her to make light of Al and me damn near losing our careers and lives over a stupid challenge.
After she calmed from her laughing spell, she said, “Let’s play a game.” There again was that devilish twinkle in her eye.
“Ah…shit,” I grunted. “What type of game? You already have me here eating s’mores at the fireplace like a damn suburban camper.”
She giggled, and then started cleaning our mess from the hearth. As she began stacking the crackers, chocolate and bag of marshmallows, she explained, “Okay, the game is called, “Play the Game You Want to Play”.”
As childish as the name and request for this game was, this girl could get whatever the hell she wanted from me. I was intrigued.
“What the fuck?” I barked as I followed her to the kitchen after grabbing what she couldn’t fit in her arms. “I’ve never heard of said game.”
She waited until we arrived at the kitchen to start explaining. “It’s simple. You just tell me what fun thing…or play you want to engage in and we’ll do it. Then before we turn in for the night, I’ll pick the game I want us to play.”
“I don’t know, Zo. This seems fishy.” I balled up my mouth.
“It’s simple.” She pushed off as she moved to stand in front of me, wrapping her arms around my waist. Zoey loved to touch. “Name one thing you want to do together right now.” Her little head was at my chest with her chin in the air so she could see my face. I’d hope she didn’t feel my dick inflating.
My eyes scanned out the window, straight ahead and saw the snow had come down pretty quickly since we’d returned from the grocery store. I wanted to ruffle her feathers, so to speak.
“I want to go outside in the snow.” I squinted my eyes, seeing if she’d bail out of her own proposal.