Malia&Khari

chapter sixteen | khari

"Welcome to Madison Square Garden, boys!" Coach exclaimed.

I glanced around the arena in awe. We'd landed in New York about an hour ago before eating lunch. Coach decided to give us a tour of the Garden before our game tomorrow against Duke. I just soaked the moment in because I was truly grateful for it. I wasn't supposed to be here. A kid from New Orleans surviving Katrina, my mom's death, and abuse from my father.. It was surreal.

"Wow.." Tyrese gasped. "This shit here is wassup!"

"Language.." Coach glared at him.

"My bad coach." He snickered. He turned to me with a smile on his face. "We gotta cut up tomorrow against Duke! Legends made their marks here."

I nodded my head, agreeing with every word he was saying. Legends did make their marks here. This was the gym that Carmelo Anthony played at. All of the all time NBA greats scored 50 points or more right here in this arena. "You right.. The W is most important though."

"That's what I like to hear." Coach interrupted as he rubbed his hands together. "Take a look around and head to the team bus in about thirty minutes. I'm going to go call my wife." He mumbled at the end before leaving out of the gym.

"Coach so pussywhipped." Tyrese snickered.

"Chill. That's his wife, Ty. Of course he's going to be whipped." Bumpy looked at him. Ty just shrugged his shoulders as he looked up at the banners above.

"Take our pic Mack." He looked at our teammate, giving his phone to him. Ty walked behind flailing his arms around our necks. "Look up Khari, say cheese!" I put up two fingers, posing for the picture. "How my hair look?" Ty asked as he ran his hands through his dreads. Mack chuckled as he walked over to show us the picture. "Aw shit! We curte!"

Bumpy looked at him. "No. We handsome."

"Yes!" Ty snapped his fingers. "We handsome!"

"Y'all crazy." Mack said as he sat down. I took the seat beside him playing with the gold chain that my mother had given me. It was the last thing I'd ever received from her, material wise. I slept with it. I never took it off because it always gave me good luck.

"Why you always acting black? Be white for a change." I heard Ty tell Bumpy. I realized that I had drifted off and didn't hear the conversation. Bumpy only laughed at him.

"What's acting black?" Mack asked.

Ty shrugged his shoulders. "Idk, it sounded right. Bumpy defying all the odds though. I mean white men not supposed to know how to jump, but this nigga got hops." Ty shook his head as he placed his hand on Bumpy's shoulders. "I feel like a proud papa."

"How'd you learn how to jump that high?" I looked over at Bumpy.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, most white boys are known for shooting. I can't shoot for shit so I just worked on jumping and dunking." We all erupted in laughter because we knew it was true. He really couldn't shoot to save his life. He had an ugly jumpshot that made him look utterly retarded.

"Man, that's the realest shit you ever said." Ty added.

Bumpy playfully pushed him. "Forget you man."