The Original Lamelo Ball Imagines 2

Traditions

Amina tapped the wine glass filled with water nervously awaiting her parents arrival. Tonight will be the first time that they are meeting her boyfriend.

"Mina, chill babe." Melo rubbed her thigh, underneath the table, trying to soothe the nervousness away. He wasn't use to seeing her like this, usually she was so upbeat and energetic.

She looked over at her boyfriend, pouting with puppy dog eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm just so nervous."

"If anybody should be nervous it should be me." Melo laughed, but he was usually good with meeting parents so he wasn't nervous. "Everything is going to be alright." He reassured.

She hoped what he was saying would be true and that everything would turn out fine, but she knew how her parents could be. They were Sudanese, and were very traditional. They always had a dream of her being a doctor or engineer and marrying a fellow Sudanese man with similar status. When she told them she dropped out of college to become a model they nearly disowned her, until they found out how much she made and insisted she made a monthly donation to the aunties back home. So when they find out that she's dating a mixed basketball player, they were for sure going to give her hell about it.

"Mom, Dad!" Amina and LaMelo stood from their seats to greet her parents.

"Hello darling!" Her mother smiled, placing a kiss on her cheek, followed by her father who placed one on her forehead.

"This is LaMelo." She smiled over at her boyfriend.

"Nice to meet you." LaMelo shook his with her father.

"So LaMelo, where are your parents from?" Amin's mother made conversation getting to know the boy. He was a handsome young man she'd give him that, but she was curious of what tribe he belonged to.

"California."

"Are they American only?"

"Yes, my moms white and my dad is black." Melo nodded while taking a sip of water, he knew he was going to be asked about that so he wasn't quite caught off guard. Hopefully they wouldn't find him any less worth of dating their daughter just because he was American and mixed.

"Oh." Amina's mother now seemed uninterested in what else he had to say.

"What do you do?" Her father asked.

LaMelo was taken by surprise, he expected the Amina would have mentioned a little bit about him to her parents. I mean his whole family knew her life story, nevertheless he responded. "I play point guard for the Charlotte Hornets." He nodded his head, expecting to be rained on with praises, but instead was met with the cold stare of her father.

"A basketball player?" Amina's father repeated, dissatisfied with the answer he was provided. His daughter was a gorgeous, smart, woman. She could do way better than some American boy that played basketball.

"Yes, father. He plays basketball professionally."

"What is with you younger generations not being things like doctors, huh? Don't you think a career like that would be better suit for family?"

"Well, that's not for everyone sir. Basketball is my passion, and something I really enjoy doing. I honestly couldn't see myself doing anything else."

Good answer, Amina thought while shoving a bite of her summer salad in her mouth.

"Plus, it will do more than support the baby when it comes." LaMelo added, there was no way they could be upset by that answer he thought.

FUCK Amina cursed in her head, why did he bring up the baby?

"Baby?!" Amina's mother screeched making others within the restaurant turn their heads to see what all the noise was about. Melo turned his head towards Amina with a sorrowful expression on his face, wondering if he said something he wasn't supposed to.

"It's bad enough, you live with the man before marriage, but but!" She stuttered frantically trying to find her words. "You become pregnant too by this man?! I did not raise you like this Amina. You are a Sudanese woman, you need to act as such."

"It's not that big of a deal, Mom." Amina pleaded watching as her mother scrambled for her purse.

"Yes, it is Amina. You are an embarrassment to your father and I, as well as your culture!"

"Hold up, hold up." Melo frowned, disgusted by the way her parents were acting. "Embarrassment? So what, she's not doing things the traditional way? She still out here on her shit making more money than probably both of you combined. You wanna shit on her about her career and who she loves, but at the end of the day she's doing what makes her happy and she's successful while doing it so why does that even matter? If anything y'all should be happy you raised an amazing woman, who finna be an amazing mother, and future wife. But if y'all wanna walk out her life then do it and don't look back once you see the come up, respectfully."

Choosing not to speak, Amina's parents looked between the two of them before turning their backs and heading out the restaurant.

"Thank you for standing up for me." Amina wiped a lone tear that escaped her eye. Melo grabbed onto her face, wiping it away with his thumb before placing his lips on hers.

"Don't thank me Amina. I always got your back baby. And don't worry bout them, they'll be back. Just give them a chance to adjust and accept everything."