Aiight lil nigga… don’t make me come out of character on you…

That was the problem with some of these younger guys – they took a face value inventory of a person and applied their opinion as if it were fact – not that I’d never been guilty of the same thing, but still.

I grew the fuck up.

I learned better.

And if this dude didn’t back off me… I was about to teach some lessons too.

“Ay,” he jeered, following me off the basketball court instead of taking his ass in the other direction to cool off. It was just a game – a pickup game at that, not even some shit that meant anything. And yet… “What happened to you nigga, you got that shit Big Mama had or something, losing legs and shit? Wack ass old head, balling in a damn wheelchair, what the fuck is this shit, bruh?” he kept on, following me all the way to the locker room.

I didn’t say shit the whole way.

He kept running his mouth.

And once I reached my destination, out of sight of anybody who might feel the need to run up and help his punk ass, I locked the wheels of the chair, unclipped the belt, and pushed myself up onto one leg – my prosthetic was still locked away, but fuck it.

You choked motherfuckers with your hands, not your legs.

Anyway, ol’ boy’s mouth dropped open when he saw me stand, getting the full effect of the several inches of height and many pounds of weight I had on him. I put my back against the lockers, and before he could further react, I snatched him up by the front of his tee shirt, soaked with sweat from all the running around he’d had to do to keep up.

“Listen ya lil colorful ass up,” I growled, dragging him right up to my face. His eyes were wide and scared, partially obscured by his hair, braided into six purple plaits. “It was a pickup game. You lost. Get the fuck over it and get the fuck outta my face before I –”

“Whoa, whoa, what the hell is this?”

That familiar voice took my attention long enough for the little punk to try to snatch away, but I quickly tightened my grip, enough to make his shirt pull tight around his neck. Instead of leaving me to what I was doing, Kadan – my partner from the two-on-two game we’d just played – peeled my fingers from around the kid’s shirt, shoving him on his way.

“Man I thought you’d left already,” I grumbled, annoyed, as I dropped onto the bench in front of the locker I’d chosen for the day. “That lil’ motherfucker was out of line.”

Kadan chuckled, keying in the temporary combination of a locker nearby. “He was out of line the whole damn game, so that doesn’t surprise me. He probably thinks the chair gave you an unfair advantage.” The furthest shit from the truth… “And nah, I hadn’t left, I just… saw something I needed to address real quick.”

“More like saw some ass you needed to chase,” I chuckled, removing my prosthetic from the confines of the locker to strap it on. My body was already fatigued, and screaming from the exertion of physical therapy and then an hour of basketball, even though I’d been in the chair for it. I couldn’t let that hinder me though.

I pulled myself into a standing position again, putting some of my weight on the prosthetic this time. My hip complained, but it would be fine. I had to hit the shower, and then I’d be off my feet for the day.

Kadan grinned over my assessment of his actions, not bothering to deny it. “We can’t all be married to a fine ass professor like you, Sergeant Wright.”

I shook my head. Like me, Kadan Davenport was a veteran, but he’d managed to get out before he lost any limbs in service.

“How is she, by the way? You know… with… everything.”

Yeah.

Of course I knew.

I thought about the first few months, how she’d barely said a word – just utter silence, or sobs that cut to the bone, no real in between. But then the job offer from the university had arrived – one of her long-time dreams fulfilled. That had brought some of the life back into her. From there, she’d been slowly, steadily coming back to the Reese I knew.

Or at least… pretending to.

She put on a brave face, keeping her pain to herself, which was definitely in line with the girl I knew. Especially after my accident a few months back, the hellish hip strain that wouldn’t let me go. She’d been Little Miss Perky, always helpful and ready to cheer me up, as if I weren’t concerned as hell about her.

Now that she was done with school until the new year… it was time to have the conversation we’d been avoiding.

“She’s good,” I told Kadan, hoping that speaking the words aloud would make them true. “Just… taking it a day at a time, you know?”

He nodded, his expression sober. “And you? I mean, not to get all sappy and shit, but I know that’s a tough—”

“I’m good, bruh,” I chuckled. “Thanks for asking.”

“Never a problem. Hey – you still thinking about that gift you mentioned, for your old lady?”

“The puppy?” I asked, and he nodded. “Eh… still feeling it out. I think it could maybe be good for her, but on the other hand… I don’t know. I’ll run it by her mother today, see what she says. Imara might send me to the jewelry store though.”

Kadan grinned. “I mean… you can’t really go wrong with diamonds, but if you need me to get some paperwork started for you, say the word. The shelter has a constantly revolving door, so there’s always something available.”

“Appreciate you man.” I told him, extending my fist in his direction. He tapped it with his, and we parted ways, with me heading to the showers to get cleaned up before I made my way to my father’s house to look in on him and Imara.

Not that they needed it.

I called and texted before I left the community center and when I arrived at the house, quadruple checking to make sure I didn’t walk in on any X-rated shit, since they were good for it. Today they were too occupied for any of that, with Bri – Justin’s daughter – at their house, helping decorate yet another Christmas tree, and Jaden – Joey’s son – trying his best to eat the glittery garland he’d gotten himself tangled in while Imara attempted to snap a good picture.

It was cute.

And… painful.

“Jay!” Imara called, when she looked up to see me standing in the doorway to the living room. “Come here baby, hold him still for me, would you?”

I laughed at that shit, but did as she asked, lumbering to the floor to grab Jaden’s little busy ass by the torso. He immediately went wild, ready to play and “wrestle”, exactly as expected. Instead of fighting it, I laid out on the floor, letting him crawl over my chest with his signature growls.

“I win!” he declared – his very favorite words – as he smacked me across the face.

Laughing, I caught his hands and shook my head. “Nah, man, you can’t be smacking up on people just cause you won – I like your energy though,” I told him, earning a confused head tilt, then a grin.

He smacked me again as soon as I let his hands go.

“I got a perfect shot,” Imara declared, laughing. “You can free yourself from Jaden’s assault tactics now.”

I sat up, playfully dumping Jaden upside down on his head as Imara brought the camera screen to me, showing a picture of me on my back with him on my chest, his attention rapt on my face. Pops and Bri were in the background, testing Christmas lights, which gave the whole thing a warm glow.

“Niiice,” I told her, dodging another blow from Jaden. “You’re getting good with that camera.”

“Thanks baby,” she told me, planting kisses on Jaden and me before she got up from the floor to go show my father the picture she’d taken.

“Ewwww, guys!” Bri exclaimed, when my father pulled Imara into his lap. I didn’t want to see that shit either, but I was old enough – married enough – to appreciate their playfulness and attraction as the good thing it was. As rough as this year had been for Reese and me, we’d still managed to find moments of light just like this, and I couldn’t be anything but grateful.

My inner-musings were interrupted by another haymaker from Jaden, and the subsequent arrival of his father, fresh off a plane from a medical conference he’d tried his best to get out of attending. Devyn was still a month out from her due date, but he’d been adamant about not wanting to be so far away from her.

He’d had to go anyway.

He was back now though, and she was still pregnant, so it seemed to have worked out in their favor.

“Jay – how’s that hip?” was the first thing out of his mouth, his eyes concerned when he spotted me on the floor. I gave him a look that must have said it all, cause he raised his hands, indicating that he was letting it go, then reached for Jaden.

While he was occupied with Jaden, and then Bri, who wanted to talk to him about some Medical Mystery Teens books she was reading, I got myself up from the floor to convince Pops and Imara to come up for air.

“Do you need something?” Pops asked, his voice stern and his expression annoyed, probably because I’d interrupted his public grab-ass with his wife.

“Yes, actually,” I chuckled. “Just… real quick, and then I’m heading out. It’s about Reese.”

Immediately, Imara’s eyes went wide. “Is she okay? What happened? I had a dream about her last night, but I—”

“She’s good,” I assured. “I talked to her a couple of hours ago, she was finishing up her office hours. She’s probably at home, cuddled up with the remote.”

Imara put a hand to her chest. “Oh, good. My poor girl. My poor kids,” she corrected herself, reaching to squeeze my hand. “You’ve been so strong.”

“Uh… thank you,” I replied, honestly not really knowing what else to say to that. “But uh… this is about Christmas. Specifically, Reese’s Christmas gift. I was kinda thinking about a dog… you know, bring some energy to the house, give us…”

“Something to take care of,” Imara finished for me, after I hesitated over those words. She was exactly right, but it sounded so… inadequate.

A dog wouldn’t replace what we’d lost.

“I think Reesie would find it very, very sweet, and she’d love it,” Imara answered, wearing a wistful smile. “But… I think it would hurt some too. It might be too soon for it not to. She’d love you for it, though.”

“So… you think the good would outweigh the bad?”

“I do. Something fluffy, with a big gorgeous bow,” she suggested, and I nodded.

“Got it. Thank you,” I told Imara, reaching to give her a hug once I’d stood up. I patted my old man on the shoulder, then gave my goodbyes to everyone as I headed out.

I needed to find a bow.