Basketball Jones (13 page)

“I’m sure he’d never admit that he came on to me,” I said.

“I guess trainers are the new models when it comes to seducing the kids and taking all their coins.” Maurice smiled. “A
few of them have turned your sister here out. But not anymore. You can get dick just by having power and clout.”

“I guess so, because he wanted it to be perfectly clear that he was not gay and not sucking my dick.”

“Yeah, right. They all say that. But why didn’t you give it a go since you said he was okay? I know that most likely means he was fine as hell.”

“Maurice, you know I’m in a relationship.”

“You are. Even though I know nothing about this alleged relationship you seem to love hiding from me, your best friend. Have never ever been given the slightest clue as to who he might be or why you’re hiding him. But don’t mind me. I’m only your best friend. How is that mystery man doing? Maybe I should hold your invitation until you tell me who he is.”

“He’s fine. As a matter of fact, he’s expecting his first baby and I don’t know how I feel about that.” Maurice was the only person besides Dray I’d confessed this to. I didn’t expect him to really get where I was coming from, but it felt good to talk about the situation. “I hope this baby doesn’t change things,” I said as I watched a group of gay white bois stroll by the restaurant.

“Well, you can’t give him a baby unless you’re keeping more secrets than I think. I wouldn’t worry about it. Those men are usually preoccupied the first three years and then it’s back to their old tricks.”

“You think so?”

“Child, boo. Just wait until he has to stay home and change dirty diapers.”

“I’m sure his child will have a nanny.”

“That’s right. Your man is rich. Stupid me,” Maurice said, playfully hitting himself upside his head. “It’s the one thing I
do know about him. How could I forget? Maybe I should get a rich man. No, they think they can control everything. Pretty soon I’ll have my own money with all the sponsorships I’m getting for the party.”

“I thought that money was for charity.”

“It is, but there are consulting fees for all my time. Events like this are a lot of work and I need to be compensated,” Maurice said.

We ate our meal in silence while the sun beat down on our faces. After a few minutes, Maurice looked at me thoughtfully. “Listen, all kidding aside. Does this guy really make you happy? I mean happy enough to hide a part of your life from your closest friend?”

I thought about his question for a few moments and then said, “Most times.”

Maurice shook his head disapprovingly, “When you play with fire, sometimes you get burned, baby.”

“He wasn’t married when we met.”

“So why didn’t you leave him when he hooked up with fish?”

“I don’t know. Do you ever think of Cullen?”

“Child, boo. Cullen. Please. What do you think?”

Before I could respond, my cell phone rang. I saw that it was Dray calling and I hit the IGNORE button, which would send the call straight to voice mail. A few seconds later he called again and then again. I didn’t usually take his calls when other people were around, but I thought this might be urgent.

“Excuse me, Mo, I need to get this. Hello?” I said, standing up. I heard Maurice mumble to himself, “I bet you do.”

“Where are you?” Dray yelled.

“What?”

“Damn it, didn’t you hear me? Where are you?”

“I’m having lunch with a friend. What’s going on?”

“Where? Are you in New Orleans?”

“No. I’m in Atlanta.”

“What are you doing in Atlanta?”

“Seeing a friend.”

“I need you to come back to New Orleans now, AJ, and I mean right now.”

“Why?” Images of my aborted trip to Los Angeles flashed in my head and I became angry all over again.

“Don’t ask any questions. I need to see you right away. I need to know who you’ve been talking to about us.”

“What are you talking about?” I walked away from the table and headed toward the entrance of the restaurant. I noticed Maurice’s eyes followed me all the way to the door and kept watching from clear across the restaurant.

“Somebody is trying to blackmail me,” Dray said.

“Blackmail? Are you sure?”

“You heard me. I got a letter in a FedEx package threatening to go to the press and my family about our relationship.”

“Did they mention my name?” I asked as I looked over at Maurice, who was now pointing at his watch to let me know he didn’t have all day.

“Hell, yeah. They didn’t have to say your name. The letter said something about my ‘little boi toy’ who I moved to New Orleans to be with me. Who have you been talking to?”

“Dray, you know me. I would never do anything to jeopardize your career. Damn it, haven’t I proved that to you by now?”

“How else could they find out about us if it’s just our secret? You think I told somebody?”

“I don’t know,” I said, totally flustered. Who could have
found out? Cisco threatened that I’d be sorry. Did he have anything to do with this?

“You need to bring your ass back to New Orleans so we can figure this out before I have to respond to this mutherfucker.”

“Okay, I’ll get the first flight out tomorrow.”

“No, today. It’s still early. Get on the next flight tonight.”

“But …”

“Do it!” Dray yelled, and hung up the phone.

I walked into my house and found Dray pacing like
I
the expectant father that he was, but I knew this didn’t have anything to do with no baby.

“What took you so long? It’s past midnight. I have to get back home. I need to talk to you,” Dray shouted.

“I took the next flight I could get, Dray.” I put my bags near the closet door. “Tell me what’s going on.” I’d given the situation a lot of thought on the flight home and felt more and more frightened for him, than for us. Whatever any blackmailer had in mind was going to hurt Dray far worse than it could ever hurt me. I tried rubbing his arm to reassure him, but it seemed to make him even more agitated.

“Look at this,” Dray said, handing me a white piece of paper.

“What’s this?”

“Read it.”

The words weren’t handwritten or typed out, but spelled with letters someone had cut out from magazine and newspapers and pasted to the page.

What will your fans say if they knew you were on the low

with AJ? What would the owners of the New Orleans Hornets say? What would your father say? And what would your wifey do? If you don’t want to find out, then I would get ready to reduce

your big bank account by one hundred thousand dollars. Will be in contact soon Mr. DL Basketball Superstar.

My heart dropped to the bottom of my toes. Whoever this was knew way too much and wasn’t afraid to use it. But how had they found us out?

“Dray, this can’t be real. It’s most likely somebody being nosy.” As soon as those words were out of my mouth, I didn’t believe them any more than I could see Dray did.

“Easy for you to say, but tell me who you told,” Dray said, grabbing me. “You sure you didn’t tell your little friend Maurice in Atlanta?”

His grip was tight. “Let me go. I didn’t tell anyone. I promise,” I said.

“What about that girl I saw you with in the restaurant?”

“Jade? I haven’t said a word to her.”

“Are you sure? You two looked pretty cozy when I saw you.”

“Dray, I haven’t told Jade anything about us. Now let me the fuck go.”

He continued to hold on. “But you said she knew you were gay.”

“Yes, she knows I’m gay. I’ve never mentioned your name to her or anyone.”

“Then did you send this? Are you trying to get some more money from me? Is that what this is about?”

Now I was the one ready to get tough. “I’m going to act like you didn’t ask me those questions, because I know you know me better than that.” I broke loose from him and felt like walking out on his ass right there.

“Then who sent this letter? Someone knows all about me. Somebody is trying to ruin my career.” Dray nearly broke down in tears. I’d never seen him like this.

“What do you think the owners of the Hornets will say?”

“Fuck the owners. I’m not worried about them. I’m worried about what my father will say or do. This could kill him. And what about Judi? What about the baby? This could destroy me and everybody I love.”

I couldn’t keep Cisco a secret any longer. “How well do you know the trainer you hired for me?”

“Who?”

“The trainer. How well do you know him?”

“I don’t know him at all. I told you my cousin recommended him.” Dray stood up unexpectedly. “Why, do you think it could be him?”

“I don’t know, but maybe he has something to do with it.”

“Did you say something that could have tipped him off?”

“No, I didn’t tell him anything. I was careful as always. But when he told me that you were about to become a dad, well, maybe he read something in my reaction. Hearing the news from anyone but you was like getting hit in the gut with a stack of bricks. I couldn’t help but look devastated. There was no way to hide it.”

I wondered if I should tell Dray how Cisco had tried to seduce me and how I’d turned him down. But this wasn’t the time to get into all that.

“Did he ask you if we were lovers?”

“Not in so many words.”

“What does that mean?”

“Could your cousin have told him about the baby?”

“I haven’t told him,” Dray said.

“Who have you told? Besides, I’m sure it was in the papers.”

“I don’t know how it got in the papers. These reporters feel like they own me. I told my parents, naturally. That’s been it. My wife wants to wait until she’s at least four months into the pregnancy. She had a miscarriage before.”

“So she’s been pregnant with your child before?”

“Yeah, but that’s not the point. The only people I’ve told have been my parents.”

“Maybe your mother told somebody. Who is this guy, your cousin?” Dray was always so tight-lipped about his family and I knew he’d be touchy about my insinuating that they might be behind the blackmail.

“Our mothers are sisters.”

“Are they close?”

“Sure,” he said, massaging his neck.

“Maybe she told her sister and she told your cousin.”

“But Butchie wouldn’t blackmail me,” Dray said, turning and pacing the length of the room. “I give that nigga whatever he asks for. He ain’t got any reason to be trying to hit me up for money.”

I went over to him and looked him dead in his eyes and asked, “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you give him whatever he asks you for? I thought you said your agent and business manager told your family and childhood friends no when they asked you for money.”

“Butchie is my boi and family,” he said defensively. “We grew up together. We learned how to play basketball together. Matter of fact he was a much better player than me.”

“Then why is he not playing now?” I asked.

“Could never get a good score on the SAT, so he just sort of lost interest.”

“Then I think you should double-check with him and ask him more about Cisco. I bet there’s a whole lot more going on here, Dray.”

“Can’t you ask this Cisco dude if he knows anything about it?”

“No, he quit,” I lied. “Said something about going back to Atlanta.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“I haven’t had a chance, Dray,” I almost shouted. I tried calming myself before I said something I’d regret. “And it wasn’t that important. I was either going to work out by myself or get another trainer.”

Dray collapsed into a chair. “I don’t know what the fuck to do.”

“I think you’re overreacting. You’ve only gotten one letter from this person. Why don’t we wait and see if anything else comes?”

“Let someone threaten to go to your father and see how you would feel. I told you about my father. He doesn’t understand gay people.” I’d remembered Dray telling me about something that happened when he was in seventh grade. His father found out his cousin was gay and forbade Dray to ever spend the night with him. But Dray didn’t need to remind me about his dad. I’ve been his boyfriend for years and he’s bent over backward
to keep me apart from his family. For a moment I wondered about what would happen if someone exposed Dray and ended this lie once and for all. At least then we could finally live our lives openly and honestly for the first time. But I knew that as closeted as Dray was, even if the truth came out, I was kidding myself by thinking we could live our lives freely.

“Go home and get some sleep and let’s see what happens tomorrow,” I said.

Dray looked so defeated but picked himself up. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Maybe it is a prank,” Dray said.

“Now you’re talking. Let’s wait and see,” I said, rubbing his arms again. This time it seemed to calm him down a bit.

He embraced me tightly. “I’m sorry for thinking you had something to do with this, AJ. I know how much you care about me,” Dray said.

I hadn’t felt this needed by Dray since the news broke about the baby. I was determined not to let him down. I prayed that he wasn’t being blackmailed because of something I’d done. I knew this was impossible since I’d never breathed a word to anyone. I had written about our affair in my journals, but I kept those safely hidden in a sealed box.