Odell and Kenya have been best friends throughout college. As graduation approaches and both their lives are set to change, they evaluate whether they should be more than friends.
You wasn't gon call me before you went to sleep?" Odell asked as I picked up his facetime call.
"I didn't want to bother you and I was tired."
"Bother me? Most of my team out at the club and I'm sitting in the room all by myself like a lame. But I didn't care cause I'm like K gon call in a few and we just gon talk shit all night. But it's damn near midnight. And I wasn't about to go to sleep without talking to you."
"Sorry." My voice cracked and I wiped my eyes.
"You been crying?" He looked concerned.
"No." I lied laying my head on my pillow looking at him.
"You gon lie to me?"
I didn't respond. I just broke down.
"K." O said. "You miss me that much? And I thought I was the needy one." He said trying to lighten the mood.
I got some Kleenex off my nightstand and wiped my eyes.
"K baby, what's wrong?"
I took a minute to gather myself.
"I called mama earlier to tell her I didn't get Rhodes, but that Dr. Thompson whose one of the premier chemist and on the Rhodes committee was going to meet with me. But before I could get it out, she said she had something important to tell me. And it was that she had ovarian cancer. And she had it since August. I started getting hysterical ya know. Like why you didn't tell me. And she was like I didn't want to hinder your studies. And she said she'd be okay. My Uncle was taking her back and forth to the hospital. And all she wants from me is to just get achieve what she never did and be great. She said even more than her healing she wanted that. And I just couldn't tell her. I didn't want to disappoint her." I broke down again.
This was all too much. Me finding out my mother has been living with cancer, on top of her telling me more than she healing she wanted me to succeed.
The pressure was too much at this point. I was just going to cancel the interview and go home to see her. I wasn't even emotionally able at this point to even correctly do an interview.
"What time is your interview tomorrow? " Odell asked leaving the phone on the bed.
"9am."
Odell POV -
"Get a flight out to Fayetville immediately after and I'll meet you there." I got up and got my laptop off the hotel desk and opened it. "I'mma get a flight out tomorrow morning."
"What?" She looked at me hysterical.
I started looking up flights from Auburn to Fayetteville, North Carolina. "They got one at 11 am. I'm about to buy this ticket."
"Odell you can't miss your game."
"It's already done." I clicked buy on my laptop and started putting in my credit card info.
"Their going to suspend you if you just leave like that. You won't be able to play next Saturday." She said yelling at me trying to convince me to stop.
"Already got my confirmation number. Need me to buy your ticket?"
"Odell." She said like are you crazy.
"I'mma get you this 11:30 flight. Have Brandon take you to your meeting, so he can drop you off at the airport right after." I bought her ticket from Baton Rouge to Fayetteville.
"Once we get up there we can decide, when we want to come home. Be it Sunday or later in the week. I'll just have to make sure Juice or somebody get my work for classes. Coach gon be mad me missing practice, but oh well."
"Odell!" She yelled.
"Why are you yelling?" I asked calmly.
"Because this game is important. It's one of the two televised games you get. Those teams need to see you, so they can at least have some idea of you before the combine. This is your chance to prove you are a top ten draft pick. I'm okay."
"It's not a matter of you being okay. I'm not. Knowing that you dealing with this alone, I'm not. So you're gon go to that interview. Hop your ass on the damn plane. I'm sending you this flight information now. And I'mma stay in the Fayetteville airport until you come and we gon go see your mother together. End of story." I hung up. Not to be mean, but I made a decision and wasn't going to allow her to talk me out of it.
I sighed, thinking about how upset my coach and my team was going to be. I was integral part of the offense yeah, but these niggas was just gon have to step up. We don't get wins just cause of me. We are a team.
Yes I was thinking about how I was possibly missing my chance to shine on the field on a big stage, against a supposed "great" team in Auburn.
But K was my heart. She had been ever since we were friends, and even if we were just friends I would still do this. I knew how important her mother was to her. I knew how important Rhodes was to her. And as a man, specifically her man, you have to step up to the plate and make executive decisions.
Some things are just more important than football. K was that for me.
I quickly got up and ran down the hall to Juice room. I knocked on the door. He was one of the few that stayed behind.
"Who is it?" He asked.
"O."
He opened the door.
"I need you to cover for me. Tomorrow morning, I'm on a flight out of here."
"Are you crazy?" He said hysterical.
"It's an emergency man."
"Odell. This is one of our biggest games of the season."
"I understand that. But I have to do this. And since I'm not playing, maybe you can really show people who number two, to Odell Beckham Jr."
He looked at me serious for a minute, then cracked a smile.
"You mean, who the real best receiver in college football."
"Whatever makes you feel better." I looked at him.
We had a moment, then smirked.
"It's about K ain't it?" He asked.
I blushed and shook my head.
"You simp." He said.
I laughed.
"I got you. It's gon be hard to win this game without the second best receiver in college football, but we'll make due." He held out his hand for me to dap.
This moment reminded me why we were brothers to begin with, despite our differences. He was ignorant and immature at times, but ultimately he was a good dude. And he was always there when I needed him. I truly believe whatever was tearing us apart, this would bring us back together.
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