Jones sat back in his chair, regard tossed to the window as he thumbed his chin. “You’re going to resume the tutoring. We need McNabb in top academic shape.” He rocked back and forth, thinking. “And workouts. Buddy up with her.”
I shot up in my seat. “What!”
Jones nodded. “Making amends goes beyond words of apology. Befriend the girl. You may catch a friend out of her.”
“Never!”
“That decision ain’t up to you right now.” He sat up in his seat. “Right now, the Panthers’ rep is in question. It ain’t about you. If we can’t treat our own with dignity and respect, what the hell are we?”
“What I’m not is an assailant of any kind. I’ve done nothing wrong.” I sat back in my seat to appear relaxed, though in reality, I was all but. The sacrifices I had to make for this shit. I tossed my palms in the air. “But it’s whatever you want to do, sir.”
I wasted the next fifteen minutes listening to Byron Jones’ plan of action. It was completely painful, but I didn’t part my lips to object. My limbs loosened when the conversation transitioned to my schedule for the next month. I had games, press tours, practices, photo shoots—so much happening this semester that I was unable to oversee the pledgees this year for my frat.
When he closed the meeting, I stood to my feet, armed with a cool veneer. “Thanks for your time, sir.”
When Jones gave me the dismissive chin dip, I didn’t hesitate to make it for the door.
“Spence…” I glanced back his way. “What’s on your underwhelmed schedule tonight?” He was referencing my “lackluster” statement earlier.
With definitive mind, I answered. “Something that doesn’t involve this campus, sir.”
Slowly, he gave his second, yet hesitant gesture of dismal by way a nod, and I made my exit.
5
-Then-
“You’ve been on a plane for three days straight, huhn, Vic?” Trisha pointed out to her friend as she forked through her nasty ass Applebee’s salad.
I could say that and be factual because I ordered the same one. Who can’t get a salad right? Applebee’s! It was the same with the one by my house. Their food sucked. I’d much rather be scarfing down a B-Way all the way right now—or even a salad from them. Even B-Way Burger made better food than Applebee’s. But I didn’t complain. I swallowed the whole plate without a word.
“Yeah. So, I flew out of Cincinnati two days ago for Atlanta. The CDC has a position in Disease for a women’s program. They just got like three million for a huge marketing push.”
“So what would you do?” Karen, Trisha’s other friend, asked.
Why does she care?
Vic scratched the top of her low-cut fade. “I’d be on the team to help create the language for the promotional materials.” She shrugged. “I stayed down there last night with my old Spelman Jaguar crew.” She stuck out her tongue and shot an air ball above her head. “Then my girl, Ryan, dropped me off at the airport crazy early this morning. I flew into New York for the interview at J.G., Wizer, and Hunter.”
My eyes scanned the restaurant, bored, as they caught up.
“That’s the big firm out in New York, right?” Trisha asked Vic.
“Yeah. One of the partners, Quincy Hunter, is who I was trying to engage while in there this morning,” Vic shared. “They’re doing some dope shit with corporations.”
“Who are they?”
Keep up or shut up!
Not that I had a clue as to who or what the hell Trisha’s tall friend in a two-piece suit with a handkerchief hanging from the breast pocket was yapping about. I honestly didn’t care. Trisha was insistent on me coming out with her tonight to get off campus. I didn’t want to be rude, so I agreed to it. Now, I regretted not being able to come up with an excuse.
“They’re a public relations firm. Right?” Trisha answered, pushing her plate up, finally done. Vic nodded, confirming. “A friend of my father’s worked there for a few years. He said they’ve been snatching up accounts left and right and the older, more mainstream PR companies hate it.”
Vic sighed, sitting back. “I need in. The problem is, Hunter is such a fucking playboy, and my pussy ain’t a bargaining tool. If it was and my damn tits were hanging out, I wouldn’t have had to work so hard to engage him.”
Trisha tossed her napkin in the plate, clearly annoyed. “This is such a patriarchal society, and I hate it.” She gestured over to me. “Got one of the most talented boxers in the country here and the Panthers QB wants to make her his target for harassment.” I wished she wouldn’t have said that. I told Trisha I was good. Those clowns couldn’t beat me. I’d seen tougher ones than these preppy snobs. “So, I go to my A.D. and request a meeting with the little fucker—”
“That QB ain’t little!” Karen pointed out.
“Yeah. But his brain still isn’t fully developed. Little fucker. Well, the two of us go at it, and I eventually won. The kid knew it, and so did my boss. But instead of him disciplining the kid in my presence, he dismissed me so they could ‘further discuss it.’ I was two minutes away from sending him an uncomfortable email when I got one from him saying he’ll be meeting with me tomorrow alone to follow up.” Trisha sucked her teeth. “If that ain’t the all-boys club move, I don’t know what it is. I wish I could give you some employment leads in the Athletic Department here at BSU, but this shit has me so vexed.”
It was obvious that it did. Trisha couldn’t stop rolling her eyes and shaking her head.
“Wish his father was still around to possibly teach him sensitivity,” Karen hummed, bringing her glass to her mouth with lifted brows.
“Settling in here at BSU sounds like a beautiful possibility,” Vic murmured and when I glanced her way, I found her eyes on me. Her smile was small, but definitely noticeable.
Quickly, I turned my head to the other side of the restaurant. My mind began to wander and I remembered my conversation with my mother earlier when I called her from Trisha’s office. She couldn’t send the money again today. I was now starting to believe she didn’t have it. I didn’t want to, though, because believing she used my money again on something other than me when I needed it would piss me off. I was tired of being pissed off. My mother swore she didn’t have time to find a MoneyGram or Western Union. She asked could she just mail it because wiring it would eat up the money I could be using on other things. So, I was still all the way out in the middle of nowhere with no money. I needed deodorant and a bigger sports bra—sneakers, too!
Maybe I can get a loan from Uppercut…
“I gotta go,” Karen announced, pushing back from the table.
She was a round woman with short hair and big teeth. Tonight was my second time seeing her. She worked somewhere on campus.
“Already?” Trisha asked, looking to be upset. She then stood to her feet, too. “I’ll walk you out. Then go to the restroom.”
“Nice meeting you, Vic.” Karen offered her hand and Vic reached across the table to meet it in a shake. “See you around, Tori.”