Page 5

Story: Hood Legacy

I sat at my desk, watching security cameras from last night. Legacy saying she was getting random flowers on her car wasn’t sitting right with me. The arena was locked down, especially the player's garage. To have somebody freely moving through their area wasn’t a good look. The last thing we needed was for some random to be able to walk up on them. Fans or not, shit wasn’t safe.

“You ain’t seeing shit?” I asked as I clicked to the next view.

“Nah,” the head of security, Yeti, answered.

I looked at the phone and kissed my teeth. “She said it wasn’t the first time,” I said, then returned to the screen.

“You ain’t give me a damn date, Hood,” he replied. “You know how often she is here? Even in the off-season, she’s here working out. I legit got thousands of hours to go through from the last six months alone.”

“So, you saying you can't do it?”

“Stop fuckin’ with me, my nigga,” he said. “The last thing I’m ever about to do is play with any of their safety. Why the fuck she ain’t report this shit?”

“No clue,” I answered. “Shit pissing me off, though.”

“Look, let me work. When I find something, I’ll holla at you.” He didn’t wait for me to reply before he hung up. Yeti was new to the team and was only brought on to handle the women’s security because Pyrite thought having a separate security team for them would be better. There were thirty players between the two teams, and each female player was offered a personal security guard as a part of their contract. The male players usually had too much pride to accept one, but a few did. There were nineteen security guards, and they all answered to Yeti.

I continued watching the video from last night; Yeti wasn’t lying when he said Legacy was always here. She came in around seven in the morning and didn’t leave until close to nine at night. She was dedicated to being a better player, and it showed.

“The point guard is here,” August said from my doorway. I nodded, shut off the computer, and turned to the door as Legacy approached. Today, she was dressed in leggings, a tank top, and a pair of slides. Her hair was in two French braids, and the only makeup she wore was a thin coat of lip gloss. Legacy was the finest woman I’d ever seen. Her brown skin always looked like it was kissed by the sun, oval face, full lips, round nose, and slanted eyes. She was tall, standing a little under six feet, and curvy. On her left shoulder was a tattoo of a basketball court encased into the WNBA logo.

“Hey,” she said, waving at me from the door frame. She looked tired; her eyes were low as if she hadn’t gotten enough sleep. I waved her in, and she lifted her brow in surprise. Typically, the players met me in the medical room, but I wanted to check in with her before we went there. “You sure?”

“Point guard,” I laughed humorlessly after I said her name. “Bring your ass.”

“I feel like I was called into the principal’s office and am in trouble,” she laughed as she came into my office. She sat in the chair across from me and set her workout bag near her feet. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “I just wanted to discuss the flowers on your car thing more.” Immediately, she shook her head and waved me off. “Nah, we need to talk.”

“I’ve done all I could,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I reported it to the police.”

“Why didn’t you report it to Pyrite and Yeti?” I questioned. “If the shit was happening here, too, then they need to know. I don't understand why you are playing with your safety.”

“Because it’s probably nothing,” she shrugged and bit into her bottom lip. She wouldn’t keep eye contact with me; instead, she looked at everything else in the office. I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest. She was hiding something, and I was going to find out what. “More than likely, it’s a kid that’s excited. We have been doing a lot of press, and people stop me on the street all the time for autographs.”

“An autograph and flowers at random locations aren’t the same thing,” I said, shaking my head. “Point Guard, forgive me for how this is about to come out, but I want you to understand it's nothing that is intended to be disrespectful, but you are acting like a dumb ass right now.”

“What?” she laughed and reared back. “If anyone has some sense, it's me, and you know it, so how did you come to that conclusion?”

“Because, you’re possibly playing with your life,” I replied, and she shook her head in denial. “Flowers are cute when you know the person, but this ain’t it, and the fact that it’s been happening for a while, and you haven’t said shit is wild.”

“I reported it to the police.” She was being defensive, which told me it was more than what she told me. I wiped my hand over my face and continued to watch her.

“Yet not the head of security or the owners of the team you play for?” I lifted my brow and shook my head. “We are sending you out here with one nigga stepping behind you when you got an army?” I let out a humorless chuckle. “That ain’t how Pyrite nor I move, and you know it.”

“So, what do you want me to do, Hood?”

My face twisted at the sound of my nickname coming out of her mouth. I didn’t like how that shit sounded at all. I thought back and tried to remember any time I’d heard her say it over the last year, but I came up empty.

“First off, my name is Aceyn,” I said as I stood. “And until we can figure out who the fuck is watching you move, I’m stepping with you every time you step.”

“No, you’re not,” she denied and shook her head. “It’s a few damn flowers, nothing major, and definitely not something you or anyone needs to rearrange your schedule for. I’ll be fine; I’ve been taking care of myself for a long damn time.”

I rounded my desk, stepped in front of her, put my hands on the arms of her chair, and lowered my face until we were eye to eye. “It wasn’t a request, Point Guard; it’s how it’s going to be. If you have a problem with it, tell Mercy about it, but I bet she won’t disagree.”

Her dark eyes ignited with anger; all I could do was smile. She was so fucking pretty; it was crazy.

“I’m a grown-ass woman.”

I licked my lips and looked her up and down. “Yeah, I know that shit. I don’t need a reminder.” I raised and crossed my arms over my chest.

A knock at my door made me look up from Legacy and see Yeti on the other side with a mug on his face. I lifted my brow, and his eyes went to Legacy and back to me.

“We need to talk,” Yeti said, and I nodded. The way his shoulders were tense told me that whatever he wanted to talk about was going to piss me off.

“Let me handle this shit with Yeti,” I said, turning back to see Legacy still grilling me.

“Nah, she needs to stay,” Yeti said, shaking his head. I waved him in, and he handed us a picture of the back of someone wearing a hoodie. We couldn’t see shit, let alone make out any features, but I knew that whoever this was had to be the person leaving the flowers. “I had Cross and Nine run a program to help me out, but whoever the fuck this is has come by damn near every day.”

I looked at Legacy to see if she had any reaction, but her face was blank.

“For how long?” I asked, handing him back the picture.

“From what Nine could tell, it’s been going on since she’s been signed,” Yeti answered. I wiped my hand down my face and nodded. I knew I wasn’t trippin’ when I said I was stepping behind her from here on out. That flower shit wasn’t sitting right in my soul for a reason. “I’m on my way to talk to Pyrite now.”

“He ain't here,” I denied as I shook my head. He was handling his payment from Javien and would be busy for a while. “I’ll put him on to what’s about to happen, though. I know he ain’t gonna have a problem with it.”

“I already upped her security; she’s getting a second guard.” He looked at his watch and then back at me. “They should be here in a few hours. Until she’s here, I’m going to be posted.”

“You trust who this is?” I asked, and Yeti nodded. “With your life? Because if something happens to her, I’m coming after you.”

“Understandable,” Yeti let out a humorless laugh. “But yeah, Ra is legit a beast, and that’s why I called her in. She’s Xoey level.”

“Ah nah,” Legacy objected. Even though I was engrossed in the conversation with Yeti, I was still aware of her and what she was doing. The calm demeanor that she presented was a front, and from the way she was wringing her hands together, she was nervous as fuck.

“What do you mean, ‘ah nah’?” I questioned with an attitude. I held up the picture and tapped it. “Who the fuck ever this is has been around for almost a year, following you around.”

“I’m not saying no to that,” she said, waving me off. “I’m talking about the Xoey reference. I’m all for having extra security, but she’s Xoey crazy?” She vigorously shook her head. “I can’t handle that level of crazy and have a possible stalker. That’s too much.”

“Ra is calmer than Xoey,” Yeti laughed. “And she doesn’t have the plus twelve.”

“What is Ra short for?” she narrowed her eyes at Yeit and crossed her arms over her chest. Yeti looked over at me for help. “Nope, don’t look at Aceyn, look at me.” She snapped her fingers to get our attention, then recrossed her arms. “What is Ra short for?”

“Rage,” Infinite Brown said, standing in my doorframe with a mug on his face. “You said she was out this shit.”

“She’s back,” Yeti replied with a shrug. The tension between them was thick; whoever Ra was, meant something to Infinite.

“Send her back, Yeti,” Infinite demanded. His voice was low and calm, but we could hear the finality in his request. “Do not bring Ra here.”

“It’s already in the works, young buck,” Yeti said. “She’s on the plane.”

“Turn it the fuck around,” Infinite said, shaking his head. Yeti crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “Alright, then this shit is on you.” He turned to leave, knocking on the door frame twice before disappearing.

“They got history?” I asked, and Yeti nodded. “Is it going to be a problem?”

“I didn’t think it would be, but it might,” he answered, then ran his hands over his face. “I’ll handle it, though.” He turned his attention to Legacy. “I’ll be your second.”

“Nah, I got it,” I said, shaking my head. Yeti looked at me in surprise, and I chuckled. “It’s handled.”

“You got enough going on with your–”

“I got it,” I interrupted him.

“Do I get a say so?” Legacy asked with a slight attitude.

I turned my attention to her, allowing my eyes to take her in freely. When our eyes met, I gave her a smile that I knew didn’t reach my eyes.

“No.”

* * *

“You know she called Mercy going off, right?” Givens asked me as he sat in the empty seat next to me. I shrugged as I continued to work from my laptop. I’d been sitting in the gym for the last two hours while Legacy practiced with one of the guard coaches. Every so often, she’d tried to dismiss me, saying that she was good, but I didn’t give a fuck. I meant what I said, she didn’t have a say so in shit.

“She’ll be alright.” I looked over a blood panel and kissed my teeth. I didn’t give a fuck about a player smoking weed, but the panel I was looking at showed some other shit, and I was getting annoyed as fuck. I expected the male players to be stupid, but this was a woman player. I shot the panel to Pyrite and waited for him to reply, but I knew he was going to put her ass off the team.

“Mercy offered to have her security moved from her to Legacy,” Givens said. I cut my eyes at Givens and ran my tongue over my teeth. I’d never disrespect my boy’s future wife, but she had me fucked up. He laughed and shook his head. “I already told her no, but I wanted you to know in case they tried to hit you with a surprise.”

“Legacy knows better,” I said absently as I watched her.

“Nah.” Givens stretched his long legs out in front of him and shook his head. “She legit doesn’t. Legacy is going to test the fuck out of you.”

“Why the fuck do you think that?”

“Because she’s Mercy’s best friend,” he answered with a laugh. I wiped my hand over my fade and continued to watch her.

“She’s being stalked,” I said.

“She told Mercy about the flowers on her car occasionally,” he replied.

“Nah, it’s a little bit more than that,” I said, shaking my head.

“How you know?” he sat forward on full alert now.

“Her reaction to all this,” I answered. “This shit ain’t just a flower from time to time. Yeti pulled the footage, and whoever it is has been chilling in her car, nigga even took a nap a few times like he wasn’t worried about being caught.”

“He knows her schedule,” Givens said, more so to himself than me, like he was trying to process everything and not get pissed. He ran his hand over his fade, then shook his head. “Mercy, don’t know that shit.”

“And she doesn’t need to,” I replied. “I got it under control.”

“You sure?” he questioned, and I nodded.

“Yeah, Legacy mine, I got it.”

“All you gotta do is say the word, and we can move,” Givens offered, and I nodded. “Legit.”

“I appreciate it, Givens,” I said as I went back to working. “I got it, though; when I move, that shit gonna be so quiet ain’t a nigga gonna know.”

My phone vibrated simultaneously as an email came through on my computer. I ignored my phone and went to the email to see if Pyrite had sent me three possible players to replace the one I’d known he would drop. I chuckled and looked over the list.

“Pyrite wants to build a dynasty,” I told Givens as I showed him the list of names. Givens looked at the list and then whistled. “He only has one spot open, though.”

“Nah, look here,” Givens said, tapping the bottom of the screen. Pyrite listed the three players he wanted to replace the one I knew, but I wasn’t surprised to see the other two. They were good players but didn’t do the work required to be on this team. “He already set up meetings with them.”

“How much you wanna bet they’ll be Queens by the end of the week?” I questioned with a laugh. I sat back and shook my head. Pyrite was trying to build a super team, and he would if he locked in these three players. Mercy would have help in the post, and the wing players were sharpshooters. Legacy would be able to control the ball and direct them without problems.

“Let’s hope,” Givens said as he stood. “But let me get out of here and head home.” I stood, and we dapped each other up.

Once Givens was gone, I returned to work, checking over the players Pyrite wanted health reports on. My phone rang again, and I quickly answered it when I realized it was my pop.

“What’s good, pop?” I greeted him.

“Shit, just checking in with you, young buck,” he answered. I could hear a money counter in the background, which meant he was at his bank. “You good?”

“I’m making it,” I answered as I watched Legacy. “You good?”

“I’m still breathing, so I can’t complain,” he replied, and I nodded. “How is your Mama? I called her, but she’s ignoring my ass again.” He let out a low chuckle, and I took a deep breath. “What’s the problem, Hood?”

“You gotta talk to mama,” I answered. I was trying hard as hell to respect Mama's wishes, plus I knew he wouldn’t want to hear that she ended her treatments over the phone.

“I’m on my way,” he declared, then hung up. I stared at the screen, trying to decide if I wanted to give Mama a heads-up, but I decided she needed this. I didn’t expect Mama to change her mind, but I wanted her to have somebody else to lean on right now, and Pop was the perfect person. Their history was solid, even though they were divorced. It didn’t stop the love that they had for each other.