Bet on It

Chapter 3: Richy

August

"Come on Richy, I need to be at practice in..." I check my watch, "I don't feel like counting but you get the point."

I get down the steps after knocking on the door. When I reach my car, he comes rushing out of the house as he throws his backpack on.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

He gets in the passenger's seat as I turn the car on. "My bad man, ma was yelling at me."

"All good."

I start the car as he looks through his bag for something. It became a normal thing for Richy to arrive at school late.

Richy's, real name was Richard Jefferson. He took after his dad's name. Richard, the first, was one of my best friends. I was nine when I first met him. He was like the father I never had. When he had Richy, he and Richy's mom began having problems. They would fight non-stop and on top of that, he had lost family members, financial problems and more. One day, he couldn't take it and ended his life.

I was only sixteen at the time, but I made a promise to myself to look after Richy the same way his father looked after me. Richy is now fifteen, and he doesn't remember his dad.

"How'd the test go?" I ask

He shrugs, "Got a c."

"Richy."

"Look I tried alright? That shit is hard."

I glance over at him for a second before bringing my attention back to the road. "All you have to do is pay attention to the teacher. If she says write something down, write that shit down."

"It's not that easy. I've been distracted lately."

I grin, "Someone distracting you, Richy? You got yourself a little crush, huh?"

He rolls his eyes, "Don't say it like that."

I speak in a mock girl voice, "Someone's got a crush." I drag the last word and pucker my lips as we arrive at the school.

He shakes his head as he grabs his backpack and gets out of the car. "I'll see you after school, bro."

"Nah, wait. Your ma's picking you up after school. I got practice."

He nods and runs off to a group of boys. I was glad school had changed from the way it was when I was in highschool.

In highschool, everyone always assumed I was caucasian because of how light my skin was. Most of the time I had to show pictures to prove what race I was to people. I didn't understand why it mattered so much.

My ma was fully caucasian and my dad was brown skin. I guess I inherited her skin color, but I got my dad's curls and other things. I didn't know a lot about my dad as I only saw a few pictures ma had shown me. He left a little while after I was born.

I already had my morning coffee, so I was ready for basketball practice today. It was my second week as a professional basketball player.

Soon I arrived at the court. Sometimes we practiced inside and sometimes outside. Today was inside. I grab my bag out of the trunk and lock the car before going inside. The first person I see is Damien.

"Hey." He says, and the first thing I notice is a scrunchie on his wrist. I nearly gag at the sight.

"What the fuck is that?"

He touches the scrunchie and smiles. "Marie's scrunchie. She gave it to me the other day."

"Fucking gross." I grumble, walking past him.

"Aye, maybe you should go for her friend. Robin, I think, is her name. You two would make a great m-"

I turn around quickly, "Finish that sentence, see what happens. Robin and I are not a great match whatsoever. I would go for Samantha the water girl before I went out with Robin."

Just the mention of her name had me wincing. I hated her and was slightly afraid of her. It's like every time she walks in the room instantly turns negative. When I first met her at the gym, it was my first time going to that one, so I tried to fit in by getting on the treadmill. Then she just comes strolling over and demanding me to get off of it.

I also didn't like how much she hated me. How could someone hate somebody as sexy as me? She was the first person not drooling over me or asking for my number, and that immediately got to my head. In the beginning, I tried flirting to see if she at least was attracted to me, but nothing. It baffled me.

The rest of our teammates walk in ready to practice. The coach strides in shortly after.

He tosses the ball to me and I catch it, "Foreman, make a shot."

I face the rim and fix my hands before shooting the ball. It rolls in the net with a swish and falls to the ground.

Coach picked it back up and tossed it to me again, "I need you to be quicker at the game."

I nod, "Will d-"

"Which is in two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Most of us ask.

"Yes, the season starts in two weeks. " With that said, Coach Washington walks away as we stand there in confusion.

I had just been drafted and already had a game in two weeks. Which meant I had a lot to prove. I needed to prove I was worthy of this.

We begin practicing, starting off with one game. Splitting the team up evenly before beginning.

~~~

"Good game." Chris says, patting my back as I wipe the sweat from my forehead.

"Yeah, you two." I reply and begin making my way to the locker room.

Fuck, I need a shower.

We had played two games back to back and my legs were exhausted.

"Foreman!" Coach shouts as I open my locker.

I turned around in irritation, "Yeah?"

"Someone with the name Robin Davis is here to see you."