Serenity

Twenty

"If this ain't some straight bullshit," I muttered as I slid down in my desk.

I was totally thrown off at what had just happened, but Trey couldn't seem to stop laughing.

"Nigga, shut yo ass up. Ain't shit funny," I said smartly.

"Bro, if you think about it, it kinda is. I mean you was chasing the girl non stop when she first got here. Now you're supposed to play her star-crossed lover. Why you hate her all of a sudden? Cause she won't let you hit?" He bursted into another fit of laughter.

"I don't hate her, I just don't want nothing to do with her. She's too judgemental. I don't fuck with those types of females."

I stole a look at Diamanté across the classroom. She had her face buried in her hands. Seemed like she was just as disenchanted about this situation as me.

"Maybe I can persuade Mrs. Anderson to excuse me from participating."

"Dude are you serious? Mrs. Anderson barely even likes you, so if you let off to her that you're uncomfortable about doing this, that's gonna make it even better for her. You ain't getting out of this."

"Diamanté, can you please pass out the books? Maybe that will wake you up since you seem to have a lack of interest in what's going on."

I heard Diamanté sigh as she got up and made her way to the front of the class where Mrs. Anderson pulled out a box of small, paperback books.

"You are able to take these books home, but please do not lose them as I don't have many extras to replace them. I suggest you start working on memorizing your lines early. It wouldn't be a bad idea if some of you practiced in groups after school. Especially Malik and Diamanté, as y'all have two important roles."

I wasn't bouta practice shit after school, and I definitely wasn't about to get up in front of the school to perform this sissy ass play.

When Diamanté made it to my desk, I avoided eye contact as she tossed the book on my desk and kept walking.

"Dang, you ain't have to throw my shit," I said just loud enough for her to hear but not the whole class. She didn't throw no one else's book like she had mine.

I heard her footsteps stop, maybe as if she had turned around, but I didn't even look behind me to see.

"Whatever," I heard her say.

"Man, if looks could kill, you'd definitely be dead," Trey said laughing.

***

"Alright everyone, line up," Coach said interrupting practice.

Drenched in sweat, I followed the rest of the team as we formed a long line on the home side of the court.

"I just got notified that we have to take a mandatory drug test today. For those of you who are used to this, you know that this is routine for anyone involved in extracurricular activities."

"Shit," I whispered to myself thinking about what Kelvin had said days and days ago. I wasn't trying to listen to him, but he ended up being right.

The only reason I cared is because I knew once my mom found out, she would flip her shit and I would never hear the end of it. I had to think of a way to get outta here.

As if he was able to read my mind, Coach made his way over to where I was standing at the very end of the line while the people who would be collecting our samples brought in their supplies and set up.

"Malik, you good?" He had a concerned look on his face.

I shook my head as a response, and he let out a sigh and rubbed his hand across his face as if I had just stressed him out.

"Are you doing this on purpose because you want to get kicked off the team, or did you not know about the random drug tests y'all are required to take?"

"I didn't know, Coach. I promise. I wouldn't jeopardize anything, especially know how my mom would react." He stood there in silence for a couple seconds, I guess contemplating what the next move would be.

"I'll take care of it," he finally said before walking off.

I watched as he discreetly took one of the urine sample cups and left out of the gym.

A feeling of relief swept over me once I realized what he was about to do, but it was too soon to relax because we hadn't gotten away with this yet.

The drug testing had started, and one by one, each player was presented with a cup and instructed to go to the bathroom.

"Please try to urinate a decent amount of you can. If you feel like you can't go right at this second, there are bottles of water here on the table. And please remember, don't flush the toilet," One of the men instructed.

To stall some time, I went and grabbed a bottle of water from the table and sat down in a cushioned metal chair on the sideline.

I was shocked that I was the only one who seemed worried about the drug test coming back negative. I guess the other guys on the team followed the rules, but that was something I had trouble doing.

My feelings of nervousness were eased when Coach Davis returned and slipped me the cup.

"Promise me you won't make a habit out of this, Malik. I won't be able to save you every time," he said with disappointment in his voice.

"I got you. It won't happen again," I said, not knowing if that was actually true or not.