"You okay Kari?" I heard Dee ask him as I stood beside Tinaye after the game had ended.
"What you think? We lost cause of me." He straight faced her, sitting down on the bleachers and leaning back with a mug on his face.
It was the second game and already the first loss of the season so you could imagine the type of mood everyone was in.
I wanted to speak up, tell him that it wasn't all his fault but decided against it. Feeling like it would be rude to just put myself in their conversation.
"Don't put allat on you. Y'all win as a team and lose as one too. Stop putting all the blame on yourself. You the captain so forget bout everything else and help encourage your team." She told him, patting his shoulder before walking over to some of the girl players.
I decided to actually look at him then, our eyes meeting as he shook his head slightly and turned his attention back to his phone causing me to frown.
"Come on Khan, we bout to go."
Tinaye's hand on my shoulder snapped me out of my trance as I looked away, grabbing my purse and getting up from where I had seated myself in the bleachers.
I decided to text De'Kari when I got in the car, having more courage to speak over text than I did in person.
𝟵:𝟱𝟴 ▂ ▃ ▅ ▆ 𝙻𝚃𝙴 𝟲𝟰%
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y'all played good tonight kari. can't win allum but you still did well. y'all got it next game. 💞
Preciate it foo 🤟🏽
↧
I poked the inside of my cheek with my tongue reading the short reply, feeling defeated as I locked my phone and placed it back in my lap.
Now I feel like shit. Should have told him I wasn't mad in the first place but nah, I just had to be difficult...
"Why you looking like that?" I turned to Tinaye who was glancing over at me while she drove, a concerned look on her face.
"I like him..." I admitted out loud which made Tinaye squeal in excitement, happy that I was finally saying it and not just denying my feelings.
"FINALLYYYY!!" Her soft voice filled the car as she kept her focus on driving, speaking again after a second. "You gotta tell him."
"He don't even do relationships fr. I'm not telling him just so I can get laughed at in the long run."
"He ain't do relationships before you. Never know until you try. We can go on double dates best."
"Yeah, ion think so Naye."
"I know so! You'll see soon. I can promise you that."
—
"I'm home momma!" I yelled walking into the house, closing the door and locking it behind me. "Ma?!"
After not getting an answer, I furrowed my brows before looking out the window to make sure I actually saw her car outside.
"Kaprice?" I called out, hearing footsteps and then seeing him pop his head out of the kitchen with a bucket of chicken in his hands. "Where momma at?"
"She in her room." He replied, taking a big bite out of the chicken and nodding his head in the direction of the room.
I began to hear sniffling as I walked towards the room, worry taking over my body as I held the doorknob.
"Ma? What's wrong?" I asked softly when I walked in and saw her kneeling at the side of her bed with tears flowing down her cheeks.
"They did it Khan." She turned to look at me, reaching her hand out for me to grab it and come closer. "The supreme court decided to hear your brother's case."
I felt myself stop in shock, a feeling I couldn't explain washing over my body as I placed my hand into her hand.
I could feel the tears building up as I kneeled beside her, a lump in my throat as I realized what this meant.
He heard me. He heard us.
He answered our prayers.
We would finally get it. After all this time.
Justice for Khalan. Justice for my brother, my inspiration.
The reason that I fought. The reason I lived. The reason I would die. The reason why I stay strong. The reason why I hold up my fist.
I won't stop fighting for his justice because I know he wouldn't stop fighting for mine.
My mom held me beside her as I cried, feeling some of the weight I had been carrying lift from my shoulders.
