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“Naw.” I lifted my Solo cup. “I helped myself out front when I first got here.” Taking in the keg five feet away, I had to ask, “Just how many of those things do you have tonight?”
“Five,” he answered with a laugh. “All placed strategically around the property. Two out front, two inside, and one out by the pool.”
Eyebrows lifted over the pure volume of alcohol flowing through this place, I nodded and said, “Wow.”
“I know! Genius, right?” Throwing his arm around my shoulders, he motioned toward the professional-looking cameraman he had following him around. “So I swore to my fans that I’d shave off all my dreadlocks if we won the national championships, and we won the damn championships.” Pulling up a pair of scissors from I-don’t-know-where, he clipped them at me teasingly and announced, “I want you to make the first cut, Fos, since we wouldn’t be here without you, man.”
“Oh…” I pulled away, waving a hand in refusal. “No, I—I couldn’t. I let my cosmetology license expire.”
Javonte burst out laughing. “Dude. You are too funny. But for real…” He thrust the scissors at me. “This would be the biggest honor.”
From there, people started to egg me on, the camera light blared at me, and Javonte shook my arm until I lifted my hand and relented, “Alright, alright.”
A roar of applause went up, and that’s how I found myself with a pair of scissors in hand, trying to saw through a braid of my teammate’s hair. “Damn, that’s really on there.”
While my audience laughed, Javonte lifted his fisted hand, encouraging, “Just give ’er hell, Eighteen. You’ve got this.”
Not wanting to scalp the poor guy, I shook my head and kept working the scissors until the hair came away in my hand.
A chorus of clapping and cheering ensued, so I held up the dreadlock in victory while Javonte popped to his feet to hug me.
We had to take a handful of pictures together afterward with that first detached lock, but then others swarmed in, wanting to take a turn, and I was finally able to pass the scissors on to someone else and back my way out of the limelight, where I could escape and get myself some fresh air.
Just as I found the door to the back patio, my phone rang from my pocket. I pulled it free to check the screen, and when I saw that the caller was Parker, I started to move away from the crowds gathered around the pool and DJ station, where a dance floor had been set up, so I could hear him.
“Hey,” I answered, relieved to finally talk to someone who actually liked me for me and not just to take a picture or video of me or congratulate me for my football skills.
“Yo, man. Where the fuck are you?” he demanded in his usual Parker way that was refreshing as hell.
“I’m at Javonte Witt’s place,” I said, spotting a door in the tall, brick fence that led out of Witt’s backyard area. “He’s the team’s running back.”
Setting my drink down on a nearby table, I unlatched the gate and pushed my way straight onto the beach, where a sudden sense of muted solitude almost immediately overwhelmed me.
“Why the hell are you there?” Parker demanded, almost sounding offended that I would dare attend another party since I knewhehad to be at Archer House with the others. “You’re supposed to be here.”
I would’ve much rather blown off every other place tonight and just gone straight there, but… “I promised him I’d make an appearance,” I explained as I checked my watch. “So I figure I’ll be here for at least another hour or two before I bounce.”
“In that case, drop me a pin,” he commanded. “I’m going to send a present your way.”
“A present?” I asked with lifted eyebrows as I started down the beach toward the water. “Like a bottle of whiskey?”
When Ididdrink, I usually went for a Crown and Coke, and Parker was quite the alcohol connoisseur, so whiskey was the first thing that came to mind.
But he only laughed. “No. It’s not a bottle of whiskey.” His voice sounded amused as if I’d made a joke. “You’re gonna like this so much more, bro. Trust me.”
“Okay, then,” I said, intrigued by his elusiveness. Parker might be even richer than Javonte, so there was no telling what he’d bought me. “I’ll get you my location.”
“Alright, man,” he told me in gratitude. “Take care.”
“You too. See ya.”
After he hung up, I dropped my pin and then tucked my phone away, hoping maybe he and the crew were simply heading here themselves, so I could fulfill my obligations to Javonte but also be surrounded by mybestfriends.
Whatever the gift was, it was going to take at least a couple of minutes to arrive so I kept strolling down toward the edge of the tide. Stopping just out of the range of the surf, I shoved my hands into my pockets and inhaled the fresh, breezy scent of the Gulf.
This right here used to be my absolute favorite place on Earth. I mean, not this exact beach per se, but any sandy areas where water met land. I could’ve lived on a beach and been perfectly content.
Unable to help myself, I plopped down onto the sand and rested my forearms on my bent knees so I could enjoy the sound of the dark water surging back and forth in front of me. Each wave came closer, striving to reach me before it fell away again, unsuccessful.
