NINETEEN

Chapter 4 - Luther Park

Despite the immense heat Yoshi sat with his arm thrown over my shoulder as he chewed on a straw and leaned across me to talk shit with Luke. He was so close I could smell the strawberry cold cup he'd just eaten on his breath. The coolness of it fanning my face as he spoke.

"So you saying Trenton can out ball Mykell?" Yoshi said as he removed the straw from his mouth and leaned in a little more.

"Man, that's exactly what I'm saying." Luke said causing Yoshi to suck his teeth.

"That's why your ass was sorry back in high school. Don't know shit." Yoshi sounded genuinely pissed, but we all knew he wasn't.

Yoshi sat back up, but kept his arm still hanging over my shoulder.

We were sitting on the bottom row of bleachers at Luther Park. There were people crowding every inch of the courts because it was the first intramural basketball game of the summer and probably one of Troy's biggest summer events. The guys came for the genuine love of the game and the girls came to put on a fashion show.

"It's too hot to be hanging all on people" I squirmed trying to throw Yoshi's arm from off me. I was starting to sweat and I didn't want to look tore up before the first game had even started.

"It's too hot?" Yoshi said, playfully squinting his eyes. "It's too hot?" He asked again, this time pulling me to him and wrapping both arms around me. I let out a childish scream and tried to fight my way out of his grip.

"Stop it, Yo!" I laughed as he began tickling my sides.

"Aye, aye!" Luke whispered, the serious tone of his voice making Yoshi and I break apart and look at him. He nodded his head straight ahead where his eyes were trained on the court entrance.

Eric was standing there with his usual two, Zo and Solomon. He was staring straight at me with not a single readable emotion on his face. A tiny girl wearing an all white, skin tight maxi dress walked up on him, lightly grabbing his arm, stealing his attention away from me. I knew her, everybody knew her. Nina was about as well known as Eric for the simple fact she was the mother of his only child and the only woman he'd ever publicly claimed. Watching her touch him and smile in his face had my stomach in knots.

"I'm chillin today." Yoshi said, bringing me back to reality.

"I'm glad to hear it." Luke said with a light chuckle as he seemed to relax from his on guard stance.

"I'm proud of you, Crazy." Shelly leaned over to look at Yoshi with a teasing smile on her face.

Yoshi didn't respond, instead he gave a tight lipped smile and looked back over at Eric and his crew who were still standing at the entrance talking to Nina. Even though Yoshi had never said it, I knew Shelly's opinion of him bothered him. Her jokes about his mental stability hit closer to home than he'd ever admit and I wasn't sure how to tell her to stop without exposing his truth, so I never said anything.

We'd all been friends since the 9th grade. It was weird at first, letting people invade the duo that Yoshi and I had formed, but some things just happen, and some people just fit. Luke was the first to come. He fit between us like the perfect slice of bologna on a sandwich. He was the quiet, but funny type who loved animé more than Yoshi, which I thought was impossible. Luke was Dominican and back then he kept his hair long and braided back into two french braids. The girls flocked like flies to him, but he'd only ever wanted Shelly.

Shelly was the prettiest girl in 9th grade and everyone wanted her. It took Luke until the last day of school to make his move and in an unexpected turn of events, Shelly turned him down cold. To save face, Luke settled for being her friend, but never gave up trying to be more. The two of them went on like that up until senior year with Shelly trying desperately to friend zone Luke and Luke trying desperately to wife her. Eventually she caved, and while their history isn't as clean cut as that, that's a story for another time.