An hour later both men had stripped off their shirts and ran up and down the court dripping sweat. Even people from the reunion had gone over to watch the game.
Tyson gave as good as he got. The men used cheap shots and underhanded blows. They’d both been knocked to the ground and were bleeding from superficial wounds. Eventually, Tyson dunked on George for the last time and won the game. He nodded and offered his hand to George, but the other man took a swing at him.
Anticipating the move, Tyson instinctively reacted and George went stumbling past him and Tyson twisted George’s arm behind his back, putting just enough pressure on it so George couldn’t move. “I don’t like men trying to hit me,” he growled in George’s ear.
“Get off me, man!” George hissed. “I’m gonna—”
“You ain’t ‘gonna’ do nothin’, man, except stay the hell away from Jayde.” Tyson wrenched up on the arm he held.
“Jayde? What the hell does that bitch have to do with this? Do you know her?” George asked.
Tightening his grip on the arm he held, Tyson advised in a low growl, “Don’t use Jayde and bitch in the same sentence. Yes, I know her.”
“What is she to you? Or are you someone she met in Seattle? Forget it man, you will never have her!” George spat.
Tyson gripped even harder, causing George to wince in pain. “Our relationship is none of your business. But know this: if you hurt her, scare her, or even try to intimidate her, I promise you, there is nowhere in the world that you will be able to hide from me. I will find you and I will—listen to me, now—I will do you such bodily harm you will wish you were dead.”
George swallowed audibly.
“Do you understand me? You are a man who likes to intimidate women, but if you cause her one ounce of pain I will come for you. Now, tell me you understand.” There was not one shred of kindness in Tyson’s tone.
“I understand,” George muttered.
“Good,” the deadly rumble came. Tyson let go of George as quickly as he’d immobilized him. “Thanks for the game man,” Tyson said as he picked up his shirt and glanced across the park to look at Jayde one more time. He still wanted to run over to her and announce to all of them they were married. But he re-spected her decision to tell them first. He headed for his Jeep, feeling her gaze on him the whole way.
Then, his pager went off.
“It’s pretty uncommon for a white man to play basketball one-on-one in this area. Especially a man we don’t know.”
Jayde turned towards the voice. “Hello, Father.” She wanted to run after Tyson and yell for him to wait for her. But she didn’t.
“It’s been a while.” Jonas Porter’s impassive face looked her over. “How are you?”
Most fathers gave their daughters a hug when they saw them after a long period of time. Not hers. “Fi-ne. I am doing well in Seattle.”
For a mere second she would have sworn she saw emotion in his gaze, but then her mother yelled and it was gone. “That man could have hurt George,” she exclaimed as she came up on them. “Don’t you care your fiancée almost got hurt?”
Jayde looked at her mother. “George is not my fiancée. Nor will he ever be.”
George came over and said, “Jayde, I need a word with you.”
She didn’t want to, but she also knew this discussion needed to happen away from her family. They walked off a bit before she stopped and leveled a stare at him. “What?”
“Who is that man to you?” he demanded.
Jayde knew exactly who he was talking about but still asked, “What man, George?”
“That Kincade guy. He said he knew you.” He started to approach her, but then looked around and stayed put as if he thought he were being observed.
“Leave me alone, George. Just leave me alone,” Jayde said.
“Oh, so you went to Washington and now got too good for the rest of us?” This time he did take a menacing step towards her. “Is that it? Did you sleep with him?”
“I owe you no explanations.” Jayde walked off.
For the rest of the night, Jayde stayed by her grandparents. It might have been a coward’s way out, but it was all she could do. As she headed to her car, she noticed George following her, so she increased her speed and drove off before he reached her.
At the hotel, she hurried inside and found Tyson’s stuff was gone. Her heart fell to her feet. “Where are you, Tyson?” There was a note folded in half with her named scrawled on the top for her on the mirror.
Jayde:
I wish I could have told you in person, but I think it would have violated not telling your family about us. I will come back to you as soon as we return. I love you.
~Tyson
He was gone. Again. What in the hell was going on in the world that required him to leave all the time? An ugly thought filled her head: what if he was going to see Carrie?
Tired and sad Jayde fell into bed. Her dreams were filled with spiders and Tyson telling her he wanted Carrie. Thankfully, a pounding on the door awakened her around seven.
Exhausted she opened the door and came face to face with her mother. Oh, dear God, it was too early for this! The woman shoved her way into the room. I should have realized she would have someone follow me just so she could be a pain in my ass; she always has before.
“Well, I see you went and ruined things with George. Thankfully, I smoothed them over, so he’s willing to take you back. All you have to do is apologize,” Jayde’s mother said as she looked through the entire room.
“Are you looking for something in particular?” Jayde wondered.
“We just thought you might have met that white man later.” The scornful voice came.
“Who is ‘we’?” Jayde wanted to go back to sleep, not deal with her mother.
“Why, George and I, of course. Don’t worry; we know that fake ring you’re wearing is just for show,” she gloated as if she had discovered a huge secret.
“First, there is no man in this room with me. Second, I don’t want things smoothed over with George. I want nothing to do with him. I will not marry him; in fact I don’t even want to talk to him! So the very notion he wants me to apologize to him is not going to happen,” Jayde said as she slid on her bathrobe and sat down on the edge of the bed. This ring is not just for show, and I can’t wait until you realize that.
“Don’t get sassy with me,” her mother snapped.
“Listen to me. George and I aren’t an item.” Jayde stood and walked to the door, opening it. “Now, if there is nothing else…” She pinned her mother with a look that said “get out!”
“We are all ashamed of you for not coming down to care for your sister. But I guess that is to be ex-pected.” The woman just wouldn’t take a hint.
Jayde felt dread grow in the pit of her stomach. “Meaning?”
“Meaning you aren’t my child.”
Why the hell is she doing this to me? For a moment, Jayde could only stand there and stare. “What are you saying?”
“You aren’t one of us; you don’t belong with us. The only reason you were here is because my stupid husband made a promise to his sister-in-law. If it weren’t for who he was in the city, I would’ve made him get rid of you from the very beginning.”
“Get out!” At her mother’s hesitation she shouted again. “Get out! Damn you, just get out!”
The second Porscha was through the door, Jayde slammed it in her face, cutting off whatever she was going to say next. Then Jayde succumbed to tears.
For the rest of the day, Jayde tried to be upbeat, first spending the day at the beach with her cousins, then having dinner with Cole and his wife. However, thoughts of Tyson and her mother’s words weren’t far from her mind.