“You just get ready to whup up on this team,” I replied.
We did not have our starting quarterback. Coach Strong felt that since the team we were playing was not supposed to be that good, he wanted to keep Blake out the game to make sure he rested from the concussion from his car accident. As we got ready to play, I could tell Blake was down.
I went over and said, “Blake, no worries on this game, man. You should rest up. That knot is not gone.”
“I’m fine, Leo. My dad should let me play. He’s just punishing me because I wasn’t truthful and have made some dumb choices. He hates me.”
“Blake, be serious, dude. That man is passionate, but that passion stems from love. He’s on you hard because he wants you to be dominant. When I stayed in his office, I saw so many pictures on his desk of you playing ball from the last ten years. He had notes about how Blake made him proud here, and Blake did awesome with that. He loves himself some Blake.”
“Really?” Blake questioned.
“Really,” I said.
“Leo, thanks, man. And I am sorry about giving you problems. Jackie told me how worried you were about me. That was before you even knew I cared for you as well.”
“Teammates, right?”
“Brothers, man,” Blake said, giving me dap. “Now cream this team.”
Blake got his wish. The game went our way from the start. We kicked the ball off to them, and their kickoff returner fumbled the ball. Brenton scooped it up and ran it in for a touchdown. On their next possession, they got the ball on their ten yard line. I got three sacks in a row. On my last sack, I found the quarterback in the end zone. We got a safety.
Much of the first half went just like that. We were not playing a pee-wee team, but it felt like it. Ella’s little brother, Evan, could have given more effort than they were.
At the end of the game, the score was 35–7. We killed them.
Ella startled me when she came out of nowhere and blocked my path to the locker room.
“You’re the man. Don’t punk out. Talk to me.”
“Thanks, but I gotta go,” I said, trying to run around her.
“I heard something about the Axes has you tripping. Why does that have anything to do with me? Why does that have anything to do with you?”
“Shameek is telling everybody it ain’t over between me and him. He doesn’t make idle threats. I don’t want anybody around me, including the girl I really care about,” I said. I put my hand on her soft chin. “I don’t want them to think I’m close to you. They know there’s more than one way to hurt me. Ella, if anything happened to you … you know what? Just stay away.”
I hated to jog to the field house and leave her upset. However, I meant what I said. She had to stay away. She knew I still cared, and that had to be enough for now. Her safety depended on it.
“Leo,” Ella screamed. “Leo!” But I ignored her and kept heading toward the locker room.
I passed Amir and Brenton. They both heard my girl sounding desperate. The Axes were crazy, and if she didn’t know how serious this was, I did.
Turning to my boys I said, “Y’all help me out. Please talk to her. That gang is crazy. Brenton, you know that.”
Brenton said, “Got your back. We’ll get her to understand.”
I so wished my mom was there. I wanted to talk to her and let her know I was frightened. Here I was grown in society’s eyes, yet I was as fearful as a child was of the bogeyman.
I didn’t see Coach heading my way. “Leo, what’s wrong?” he asked.
I wanted to tell him nothing. I wanted to say life was all good. I wanted to tell him to send me home now so that I could not get in trouble. However, I stayed calm and realized I needed to tell the truth.
“Coach, I’ve been threatened by the Axes. I’m worried for myself, for Blake, and for my girl.”
Coach put his hand on his head and then looked at me. “Okay, you need to talk to the police and report this right away. Also, what’s Blake got to do with this? And when did you get a girl?”
“It just sort of happened and the Axes know. They want to come after her to get at me. I tried to break it off with her for her safety, but …”
Coach Strong shook his head. “I can only imagine she wasn’t letting you go.”
“No, she wasn’t, and I like her, a lot. I don’t know what else to do,” I said, looking to him for guidance.
“Well, the police working security in the stands can take your statement, and then I want you home right after you speak to them. We let this cool down. We add no fuel to this fire. You get me?” he asked. I nodded. “And Blake?”
“Oh yeah, well, that’s how all this got started, Coach. Blake stood up to a guy who beat up a girl. When the guy pulled a gun on Blake, I stepped in.”
“What? You boys, dang! Tell me you weren’t packing?” he asked. I looked the other way. “Boy, you better not have a piece in my home.”
“I don’t, sir. My mom’s boyfriend pawned it.”
“Good. You and Blake have too much going right for you now. Some of these thugs have nothing. Stay out of their way and tell the cops all you know,” Coach demanded.
Amir and Brenton came into the locker room. I motioned my hand for them to come over to me. Brenton shook his head.
I said, “What? You couldn’t talk to her?”
Amir replied, “Yeah, we talked to her, and we pulled no punches, but she is strong-willed and doesn’t think this is as serious as we think it is.”
“That’s foolish. She saw those jokers bashing my head in the other day. Dang it! She better go home right now,” I declared.
Brenton said, “I doubt it. But if you go home, she probably will.”
“I just told Leo to talk to the cops about Shameek and the Axes,” Coach said. “I think you both need to do the same,” he said, nodding toward Blake and Landon. They both agreed to go with me to talk to the police.
Coach then told Blake and me to head home without him. He was going to stay and watch film of next week’s opponent. Waxton, our star running back, announced he was having an after party. The guys wanted to go. I hoped the cheerleaders were not planning to go.
When Blake and I drove to his place, Amir called me. “Hey, just wanted you to know the girls are going to Wax’s gig. Not sure about Ella, but I know Hallie went.”
“Thanks, Amir. Hopefully, she heard us and went home. I’ll check,” I said.
“If she went, what you gonna do?” Amir asked.
“Go drag her home, I guess. Hope I get there before the Axes do,” I responded.
When I hung up, Blake said, “Maybe all this is much to do about nothing. The Axes like to have us worried. We’re too high-profile, winning and all, for them to step to us.”
Blake had a point. However, the Axes were not rational. Whether it was puff or real stuff, I had to take care of mine.
“You say the word, and we head to the party,” Blake said, having my back.
“Let me see what’s up,” I said. I began to push letters on my cell.
I texted, “Please tell me that you are not out at Wax’s place.”
Ella responded, “Yes, but if you tell me where you are, I can get Hallie to drop me off.”
I texted back, “Go home.”
She texted back, “Soon.”
Seeing that message, I gave Blake the signal to loop the rental around. Blake called Landon and I phoned Amir. If there was drama, we did not want to be alone. I wished I had my gun, but it was what it was.
About fifteen minutes later, we pulled up to a crowded house full of teens. Most were getting their party on, but I panicked when I saw the Axes’s cars. I had to find Ella. My gut told me she was in trouble.
Sprinting to the house was still not fast enough for me. If something happened to her, I could not forgive myself. When I was stopped by two Axes, who looked at me like I was too late, I freaked. I pushed my way past them quickly.
“Where is she?” I screamed.
“We�
�ll find her,” Blake assured. “Look, there’s Charli and everybody.”
I was so happy to see Ella’s crew. I looked at all the girls, but I did not see Ella. Then I did a double take when I thought I saw her. However, it was her identical twin sister. I stepped to Hallie.
“Where’s Ella?” I asked, knowing that she knew I cared.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen her,” Hallie said.
I went around and called out for her, “Ella? Ella?”
When I didn’t see her upstairs, a group of us headed to the back deck. Charli started crying, as my demeanor was making her nervous. Blake comforted her.
“She hasn’t left because I’m driving,” Hallie declared.
“Down—” I heard Ella scream before her voice was abruptly cut off.
I jetted down the stairs. Shameek was on top of Ella. My heart was racing.
“I wondered where you were. I was about to have fun and do what you haven’t. You come to watch?” Shameek tormented. “You should not have interfered. You wanna be the hero with Blake Strong; well, now I got the last word.”
“Shameek, let her go. Your problem is with me, not my girl,” I said.
“Ahh, you told me you didn’t have a girl. I got eyes and ears everywhere. Thought I couldn’t find who the trick was that ratted us out when we were bashing your head in? Well, I did. Now I want to finish it,” Shameek promised. Just then, Bruno tossed him over a gun.
Amir came down the stairs and yelled, “Leo, watch out!”
“No!” Ella shrieked. Then she ran in front of me.
My eyes popped when I saw the bullet head her way. I pushed her. However, she got hit.
“No!” I wailed. She fell, and I caught her and broke her fall.
Chaos went on around us. Amir and Landon grabbed Shameek. Ella was trembling and I felt sick. I held her close and tears fell.
“Stay with me,” I begged. “Ella, stay with me. I love you, girl. Please, don’t leave me. Call the ambulance! Somebody!”
Ella tried to speak, “I … I …”
She was with me, but she needed her strength. I tried to get her to stay calm. However, I was struggling with keeping myself together.
She tried to talk again. “Love … love …”
I said, “Shhh, don’t speak … don’t talk now.”
“Love you,” she whispered out. “Where … Eva?”
Knowing she wanted her sister, I responded, “Shhh, we’ll find her.”
Eva, wailing loudly, came through the crowd.
Why did she run in front of the bullet? Ella was lying helpless because she wanted to protect me. But it was my job to protect her. Not since my dad made sure he protected me in the car crash had anyone ever made sure I was taken care of first. When I saw her eyes shut, I could only hope she was not gone from my life like my father was.
I had given my heart to her, and I needed her to stay around to receive my love. She needed to hold on, and she needed to be okay. She needed to live, to be exact.
CHAPTER 7
Completely Satisfied
It felt like my heart had been torn out of my body. All I wanted was for Ella to survive. However, all I could do was pace across the hospital waiting room.
I now had a deeper appreciation for how Ella must have felt waiting in the hospital when I was brutally beaten. She needed to make it so I could argue that my waiting was way worse. We weren’t even, but now we were more connected. She felt like a part of me. It was making me crazy that I was not in her place. It should have been me.
Landon came to me and said, “Quit pacing, dude. The paramedics said thanks to you pushing her out of the way, it was just a graze. She’s probably only getting stitches—if she even needs that. She ain’t dead.”
My eyes could not roll at him any harder. He needed to find love, and then he’d get this new feeling. I was worried beyond what I could explain. I breathed deeper and tried to collect myself.
Hallie came up behind me and said, “Leo, I am so thankful Ella has you in her life. When I first found out she liked you, I tripped. You have always been a playa and too cool to show any care about any one girl. But she’s changed you. She is crazy about you, and clearly there is no denying you are into her as well.”
I couldn’t look at Ella’s best buddy. I had a rep and now it was changing. It did not bother me that I was wearing my feelings on my sleeve, but I was slightly embarrassed that the tough defensive end who I was known to be was transforming into a teddy bear.
“I just want to see her and know she’s okay,” I muttered.
Hallie took my hand, pulled me close, and whispered, “This is déjà vu for me. When you were in here a few weeks back, Ella slipped back there. We can distract folks. Go now.”
I was not as tiny and cute as Ella. I could imagine her avoiding the doctors, nurses, and hospital workers. A very tall black male was not as inconspicuous. However, where there was a will, there was a way.
After going into two wrong rooms, I landed in the right one. Ella was resting peacefully. I was happy to see she was not in pain.
While I avoided the staff, I forgot to factor in Ella’s mom. She stepped up to me and went off. I just let her pound me in the chest. This was my fault.
She screamed, “You did this to her. What have you done to my baby?”
I replied, “Forgive me, please. I’m sorry.”
Ms. Blount was not accepting my apology. “Get out. Ella doesn’t need to be around you ever. You put my child in danger. She might not make it.”
What in the world was she saying? I thought Ella did not have a serious injury. I knew I needed to see for myself. Oh no, this was horrible. Turning to get out of there, a nurse was at the door. I could not move.
The nurse stepped around me and said, “Ma’am, your daughter is not going to die from getting grazed by a bullet. Let’s not exaggerate.”
“Then she is going to be okay?” I asked the nurse with hope in my voice.
The nurse smiled and said, “Yes, she’s going to be just fine. She’s a lucky girl.”
Ella must have heard the commotion. She tried sitting up. Her mom went over to comfort her.
“Ella, baby. Oh, honey,” Ms. Blount said, stroking Ella’s forehead and fixing her hair, which I thought was perfect.
Ella mumbled something to her mom. I knew they needed their time. She didn’t want me in there.
I said, “I’ll let you talk.”
Ella sat up and lobbied for me to stay. She told her mom she loved me. My heart started beating again.
“What?!” Ms. Blount said with her nose flared in disbelief.
I said, “It is fine, Ella. Your mom is right. You shouldn’t have been involved.”
Ella fought to speak. “Mom, Leo asked me to hang low. This is the guy we made the baskets for. The stupid gang members did this, not Leo.”
Her mom grilled, “Then how and why did you get a bullet to graze your arm?”
“This guy was trying to shoot me, ma’am,” I acknowledged.
“My point. Please, keep your distance from Ella,” Ms. Blount verbalized.
Ella admitted, “Mom, I ran in front of Leo so he would not get shot. However, Leo was the real hero. He pushed me so the bullet wouldn’t hit me. We were trying to protect each other.”
My blood was boiling hotter than a pot does turned up high on the stove. Shameek had taken things too far. He needed to be stopped for good.
Trying to get Ms. Blount to understand this was a big deal to me and I’d handle it, I said, “Ms. Blount, I did not want any of this. However, please know I will take care of it.”
“Listen, son, the police need to get involved and handle this,” her mom preached.
Ella uttered, “Mom, no, because they will come after us.”
“Too late for that. We are going to get the whole community to stand up against this meaningless violence,” Ms. Blount cried passionately. “Leo, I’m sorry I was so harsh. Hitting you was uncalled for. Thank you for pr
otecting my baby.”
“No thanks needed,” I said.
“Well, promise me you will stay away from that gang,” she stressed. “Promise me, please. If you keep the feud going, you are no better than the thugs. Promise me.”
“I promise,” I finally agreed. She left to call some folks and check with the nurse. “Dang, Ella, I want to hug you. I don’t want to hurt your arm though.”
“Hold me,” Ella said, her voice quivering a little. “My mom is right. You can’t go after those guys, baby.”
Hearing her call me baby made me grin. “I don’t know what I would have done if they would have killed you.”
She squeezed me, “I could not let them shoot you.”
“You should have stayed back.”
“No, I could not bear the thought of you being in the hospital again.”
I stroked her cheek and said, “And you think this is a picnic for me seeing you in here?”
“Well, we are a match for each other. We can’t keep trouble away,” Ella teased. “I love you, Leo.”
I kissed her forehead and said, “I love you too. You do my work. You get me food. You call the police. You step in the way of a bullet intended for me.”
“Yeah, but you pushed me out of the way, and you’re here to make sure I’m okay.”
“I guess you’re stuck with me.”
The door opened, and I got up off the bed when her mom entered with two policemen. We were asked questions about the shooting and the assault. We were also informed that all our friends explained what the Axes had been doing. The idea that we could disband their group was reassuring.
“For now I have all I need. Miss, you are very lucky,” the officer told Ella.
The officers vowed to get the Axes off the street. Ms. Blount said she was holding them to do just that. I could see her at the police station every day following up too. Ella was blessed to have a mom who cared so much. It actually made me a little melancholy missing my own mother.
As Ella’s mom showed the cops out, I bent down to Ella’s cheek and said, “Rest up. I’ll see you tomorrow for sure.”
I kissed her forehead and went out into the lobby. Our friends were still waiting. Hallie, Amir, and Blake rushed up to me. They were happy to know she was truly all right.
Yell Out / Do You Page 17
