The Point Guardian

by Liza Brown

  I found an empty director’s chair in the corner of the room to watch Elsu answer questions. He knew how to work a camera. I watched as he smiled that gorgeous smile at the invisible reporter. He moved his entire body to explain how the team depended on Brent’s passing ability. He mentioned other teammates I hadn’t officially met yet. He smiled and frowned and glared and, quite simply, mesmerized me. I was snapped out of my gawking when a woman with a clipboard offered me a pair of wireless headphones. “If you’d like to hear what he’s hearing, you can listen in these.” I thanked the woman and smiled as I placed them on my head. I listened to questions about the previous night’s game, that night’s game, next week’s games, and his prophecy for the rest of the season. They were boring questions if you asked me. But the answers! Oh the answers were doing something to me. I closed my eyes and let his voice wind its way through my body. Yes, looking at him was wonderful but there was something about having my whole body filled with the sound of his voice that made me nearly mad with pleasure. His voice echoed through me in a beautiful baritone sound that strummed me at my core. I crossed my legs and leaned my head back, completely forgetting there were other people in the room. I stuffed my hands into the front pocket of the hoodie and doubled forward, squeezing my legs together tighter as I listened to him talk about defense and offense and passing. I found myself grinding into myself as discretely as possible as I began to lose all inhibitions. I had managed to nearly drown out the sound of the interviewer.

  I almost missed the interviewer thanking him for his time and a third voice that informed him he had five minutes before the next interview. “Mae.” I heard his voice in my head. I looked up and he was standing in front of me, with the earbuds and mic still on.

  “Say that again,” I whispered.

  “Mae. Mae. Mae.” He got closer with each word.

  “Again.” I breathed as I closed my eyes.

  “Mae.” His voice reverberated through my entire body. From my head to my feet and back straight between my legs. His body was so close I could smell him, his scent woven through the fabric of the shirt I wore, my legs crossed so tight I had wrapped my foot around my calf. My leg bones were near to break I was squeezing so hard. “What are you doing?”

  “Can I ask you a question?” I begged.

  He shook his head slightly.

  “Will you kiss me?”

  He smiled ever-so-slightly, leaned forward, and kissed me without pause. His tongue on mine, his hands at the back of my neck and weaving into my hair. I continued to grind into the chair. He broke the kiss and leaned down to kiss my chin, my jaw, my neck, and then back to my lips again. “I need you,” he said into the microphone. That was all it took and I grabbed onto his shoulders and pulled him to me as a tremor overtook my body. A tremor like I’d never felt before. I buried my head into his neck and took the biggest whiff of his scent before I stopped trembling.

  I froze when I realized what had just happened. I couldn’t look up, I was too embarrassed. My grip on him was death-like. “I can’t believe I just did that,” I panted into him.

  “I’m not totally sure what it was, but I do know I’m so damn turned on right now it hurts.” His words echoed in me again and I shot up thinking I must not be the only one with headphones on and then I realized the room was empty.

  “Where is everyone?”

  “They heard five minutes and all ran to take a quick break,” he smiled as he kissed my nose gently.

  “I’m sorry, Elsu. I didn’t…” I was so embarrassed. “You probably think I’m some sort of whore now.”

  “No, I think you’re sexy as hell and if I can do that to you again, I will.”

  “I don’t even know what that was.”

  “Mae, we need to talk about something,” he said as the door to the room opened and a few members of the crew walked in. Damn.

  “Ok,” I said. “Later?”

  “Yes, but not too much later. After the next interview. I think it’s the last one. We’ll get lunch and talk.” He kissed me on the forehead and left the room. He came back after a few minutes and smiled at me as he headed toward his chair. I needed to take a walk so I got up and made my way to the bathroom.

  When I came out of the stall Tonesha, one of the five players’ wives I had gotten to know the week before, walked in and smiled at me. “Hi, girl! I was looking for you! Millard said you were around here somewhere.”

  I smiled and washed my hands. “You were?”

  “Yes, I was going to take you shopping, we have a few hours before the game, no sense in sitting around here all day. How fun can it be watching them talk to reporters or shoot basketballs?” she asked. If she only knew.

  “Let me see what Elsu says, he had mentioned us getting lunch.”

  We walked back to the media room and I heard Elsu thanking the invisible interviewer as he took off his headphones. He walked to me and kissed me deeply. I blushed. “You ready?” he asked.

  “I’m here to steal Mae from you,” said Tonesha before I had a chance to say anything. “We’re going shopping. We’ll be back in time for the game.”

  Elsu’s grip tightened on my waist. “OK, take Millard with you,” he said to me.

  “But you had something to talk to me about. I don’t want you to think I’m brushing you off.”

  “I know you’re not, you deserve some fun. Go, we’ll talk later. Here, take this,” he said. He pulled his wallet from inside his warmup jacket and handed me his credit card. “Keep this. This is the card for buying plane tickets when you come to see me play. Keep it and use it.”

  “I’m not buying plane tickets with this. I have my own money.”

  “Just use it, buy lots of stuff with it. I’ll see you later.”

  “Come on, chick!” Tonesha said. “We’re going to get you some player’s wife clothes. You don’t have to look like a fan girl at every game.”

  “But I am a fan girl,” I said as I tucked my hands into the front pocket. “And I’m not a player’s wife.”

  “Semantics. Grab Millard and let’s go!”

  Millard was standing nearby and had heard everything. I knew shopping was probably not on his list of things to do, but I also knew he felt the need to keep me safe for his employer so he stepped forward.

  I gave Elsu another kiss, said goodbye, and followed Tonesha and Millard out of the media room.

  CHAPTER 3

  Tonesha and the other wives had lived in Massillon only a few months. This didn’t stop her from claiming to know all of the good places to shop. I’d lived in the same town all my life and I knew where Walmart and Target were. I didn’t even know Massillon had the stores Tonesha took me to. They were all located in the new shopping complex at the edge of town. We went from store to store and Tonesha had me trying on things I couldn’t name in colors I’d never heard of. Thank goodness the dressing rooms weren’t too small or I would never have made it through the trip. She decided I should stick to the cool colors so the blues, greens and purples could bring out the blue in my eyes. I didn’t dare tell her my t-shirt drawer at home looked like a rainbow and 99% of them said “Grandpa’s Chop Shop” on them.

  Every time I pulled out my own credit card to pay she’d click her tongue at me. “He said to use his credit card!”

  “And I can afford this myself, I’m not Elsu rich, but I have money.” I hated digging into my settlement money, but I hated the idea of spending Elsu’s money even more. “I’m not with him for the money, Tonesha.”

  “I never said you were, Mae. But if a man wants to spoil you, you let him spoil you! I’m not saying max it out, just buy an outfit or two and wear it for him. Get a nice nighty and surprise him in the bedroom!”

  I blushed every shade of crimson we had passed in the stores. “Yeah, that’s not happening,” I said as we walked toward the next store.

  She smacked my arm hard. “Ouch! What was that for?” I yelled.

  She grabbed my elbow and pulled me out of the flow of foot traffic
and looked into my eyes. “Everything said between the wives is confidential, right?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, is it?”

  “It is! There’s a rumor about Elsu that Saraya tried to start but we thought she was just being a bitch. Is it true?”

  “I have no clue what you’re talking about!” I said.

  “Is Elsu a virgin?” she whispered.

  “I have no idea,” I said honestly. “We just haven’t had sex. We’ve only been seeing each other for a few days. I’m not jumping into bed with him this soon, virgin or not.”

  She eyed me strangely and then literally walked around me eyeing my body. “Stand up tall, Mae.” I did and looked at her with confusion etched across my face.

  She gasped and covered her mouth. “Oh my God!” She said.

  “What?” her behavior had me worried.

  “You’re a virgin, too!” she whispered.

  I stared at her in disbelief. How the heck do you know that from looking at someone? I apparently didn’t answer fast enough and she grabbed my arms and shook me. “You are!” She began jumping up and down like she had just won tickets to her favorite band on the radio.

  “So what if I am? It’s not a bad thing,” I said.

  “No! It’s the best thing! You two couldn’t be more perfect for each other if you tried!” She smiled so big I thought her jaw was going to come unhinged. “I think I’m going to cry!” She waved her hand in front of her face dramatically.

  “I am so confused. I thought you’d think I was a loser.”

  “I don’t care if you are or not, but I know how much I love my husband, and how much I enjoy being with him. If I could go back in time and get it back and save it for him, I would do it in a heartbeat, Mae. To get to learn what each other wants and needs together? That’s about the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard of!” She put her hands over her chest and sighed.

  I hadn’t thought of it that way, maybe she was right. But, if he truly was a virgin, would he even want to lose it to me? Did I want to lose mine to him? I knew after our ‘moment’ in the media room that I probably did. We really needed to talk before I put too much more thought into it.

  I looked around and saw Millard standing with our purchases hanging off his arms and smiled at him. He was a trooper, if nothing else. “Are we done?” I asked Tonesha.

  “For now, we’ll come back when you loosen up on that card of his!” We took the bags from Millard and walked back to the car.

  Millard placed my purchases in the back and I started to open the car door.

  “Wait!” said Millard before we got in. He got down on the ground and looked underneath, then looked at who-knows-what across the top of the car. He opened the doors and looked inside. “Ok, get in.” His behavior was a reality check for me. I needed to be more vigilant about paying attention to my surroundings.

  “What was that about?” asked Tonesha.

  “I’ve got a stalker. My ex is out of prison and apparently his brother is out to get me. I think he destroyed my truck. Plus, someone probably rigged the elevator to fall when I was in it,” I said as I watched Millard guide us out of the parking lot.

  “Ma’am, not to interrupt but there was no ‘probably’ in that elevator. That thing was rigged. That was no accident.”

  “I know, Milly,” I said as I caught his eye in the rear view mirror.

  “Damn! I did it again, didn’t I?” I saw him force down a smile and I was glad he wasn’t mad.

  Tonesha looked confused. “I told him for every time he calls me ‘ma’am’ I’m going to call him ‘Milly’. There’s apparently a learning curve.” We all laughed.

  The quick ride back was packed with Tonesha filling me in on the other wives, their spouses, and their children. She showed me pictures of her beautiful daughter, Evelyn. She gushed about the upcoming first birthday party they were planning. I was officially invited since Elsu had already received his invitation before we met.

  Back at the arena, it was nearing six and the doors for the fans would be opening soon. Elsu wasn’t on the court, the press room was empty, and I didn’t even bother looking in the lounge. I stood by the locker room and texted him.

  I’M OUTSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM. JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW I WAS BACK. I’LL STAY HERE FOR A FEW, THEN HEAD BACK TO MY SEAT.

  I leaned against the wall for a few minutes before my phone rang, it was Max.

  “Hey big brother,” I smiled.

  “Hey Mae, I just wanted to give you some information about last night. They took Jeremy in for questioning a few hours ago but the dumbasses at the station don’t have enough evidence to say he did the damage to Little José.”

  “But, Detective Graven showed me that picture this morning. I identified him.”

  “Yeah, all they had was him walking out of the garage during the power outage. There is no video of him actually doing the damage. They had nothing to hold him on so they set him free.”

  “Then who, Max?”

  “I don’t know, Mae.”

  “What about Bart?”

  “It’s not Bart, Mae. He was at the newspaper office last night. He went to complain about not getting paid after Elsu had him kicked out and wanted to see if they had any other jobs he could do. He sat and watched the game with a bunch of guys there at the office. Plus, they have video evidence.”

  “Now what?”

  “The detective has officers at the apartment right now looking for evidence. I’ll let you know what I know as soon as they tell me. And Mae, we’re not discounting Jeremy, we just have no proof.”

  “Thank you for being my lawyer, Max. I couldn’t do this without you!”

  “You’re welcome, Mae.”

  “I hate this, I hate being afraid everywhere I go. I hate that Millard has to babysit me. I hate that I’m going to have a babysitter because of this! I want to live my life without fear. I seriously took the last five years for granted. I thought I had at least fifteen more!”

  “You should have, Mae. Why they would ever let someone like Bart out that early is beyond me. Someone didn’t read. Apparently he passed the counseling sessions with flying colors and of course, the prisons are full. Anyway, the elevator company will start working on repairs as soon as the detective and his men are done. As of Tuesday, everyone will be using a keypad to get in the building and the goal is to install buzzer systems and a monitor in all twenty-eight units for tenants to let visitors in from their apartment.”

  “Thank you Max.”

  “Thank your boyfriend, Mae. He’s paying for it.”

  “WHAT?” I nearly yelled.

  “Yeah, every red cent and he doesn’t want any of it back. I offered to do it in lieu of rent but he insisted on paying for it all.”

  I sighed, I didn’t like owing anyone anything, especially not Elsu.

  “How much does it all cost, Max?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. Millard made sure the bill went directly to Elsu. I’m not even allowed to see it.”

  “Ugh!” I stammered as I turned and kicked the brick wall. “Ouch!” I yelled.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I just hurt my foot kicking a brick wall.”

  “Dumbass!”

  “Doodiehead!”

  “Really? That’s the best you could come up with?” The fact that my childhood retort rolled off my tongue so quickly shocked even me.

  “Hey, if the name fits.” I smiled as I tried to walk off my newest injury.

  “So who’s sitting with you for the game?”

  I froze. In all the hubbub I hadn’t even thought about who to put in my other seat. “I don’t know. I could bring Mitchell down in the elevator.” I said.

  “Yeah, he’s not coming today. He’s staying with Gina’s mom. I think season tickets for the whole family might not have been the best decision in hindsight. He got really antsy yesterday.”

  “Yeah, he is a little young.”

  “I don’t think he’ll be at all of the games, but B
randon, Gina, and I will.”

  “Ok, then who’s sitting in your spare seat since you and Brandon will be in the handicap section until he’s out of the wheelchair?”

  “Gina’s sister.”

  “Then I haven’t a clue. Someday I’d like to bring Arnold. But obviously that won’t be today.”

  “Arnold? Don’t you think your ninety-five year old neighbor is a little old for a basketball game?”

  “Nah, I think he’d have a blast.”

  “I love how you have taken over caring for him. He’s lucky to have you living across the hall.”

  “He’s kind of become like a grandfather figure to me.”

  My phone beeped indicating another call, I looked to see who it was. “Speak of the devil, Arnold’s on the other line. I’m sure he’s got opinions about what’s going on at home.”

  “I can only imagine. I’ll talk to you later, Mae.”

  “See ya, big bro.” I clicked over to Arnold. “What’s up Arnold?”

  “Mae-Belle, I love you. I like your brother. But in case you didn’t notice, we’re on the third floor here and I can barely walk from my apartment to yours without using my cane. Now I have to go up and down the steps? When is the elevator getting fixed? I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.”

  “Did you try calling Jack?”

  “I called but there wasn’t an answer.”

  “Arnold, what time is your appointment? I’m sure we can get someone to help you down the stairs and back up.”

  “I don’t want help. I’ll do them by myself. But I just want you all to be prepared to find me lying face down at the landing.”

  “I will not find you lying face down on the landing, Arnold. We’ll get you down. What time is your appointment?” I repeated.

  “I have to leave here by nine, Mae. I’ll have to start going down the stairs at seven.”

  “Arnold, stop it, I’ll find someone to take you down. I’ll even take you if I have to. I have to work, but I’ll take you. You know how I feel about you driving.” My phone was lifted from my hand.

  “Arnold, it’s Elsu. Tell me when you need someone and where. There are four fully capable players there who will be more than happy to help you down the stairs and drive you to the appointment.” I crossed my arms and feigned a look of insolence over having my phone taken away.