The Pledge (10 page)

Allen
was true to his word. He went out of his way to be a great boyfriend. When we competed during regionals, he was sitting right there with Momma, Cory, Aunt Dani and the members of Worth the Wait, cheering me on. He even ran out onto the mat when we took first place and swung me around.

Daddy muttered something about public displays of affection when he saw that little scene played out on the news, but that was his problem.

Basketball season was in full swing, so Allen and I really only saw each other during school and sometimes Saturday nights or Sunday afternoons if he didn't have to play. He came to my church a couple of times, and the members started to joke that he should join.

He even let me meet his father, after I asked, then afterward we stopped by his mom and stepdad's house. They were actually very cool. They spoiled Allen rotten since he was the only child. I thought his mother might try and act funny with me since I had heard that women can be protective of their only sons, but she acted like she really liked me.

Allen's mom and stepdad seemed to really enjoy being together. All through dinner they held hands and joked with each other. I had never seen anything like it in my life. My parents couldn't spend ten minutes in the same room without tension.

On the drive home, I was kind of quiet. Allen finally glanced at me and said, “Are you okay?”

I smiled at him. “Yeah, I'm cool,” I said. “I was just thinking about your mom and stepdad. Are they always that affectionate?”

Allen shrugged. “I guess. If you ask me, they're too old for that.”

I laughed. “I think it's sweet. How long have they been married?”

“About twelve years. They were high school sweethearts, but they broke up for a couple of years during college and my mom married my dad. After my parents divorced, she ran into my stepdad and they realized they couldn't live without each other, so they got married,” he said. “What about your parents? How long have they been married?”

“Actually they never did get married,” I admitted. I rarely told anyone that since most people just assumed they were.

“Why not?” Allen asked, looking at me in surprise.

“Momma said Daddy doesn't believe in marriage. They've been living together since before I was born, so Momma said in the eyes of the law they are married.”

“But she wears a wedding band,” Allen said.

“Because she's really committed to my dad,” I said, shrugging. It occurred to me for the first time that my dad didn't wear a ring, so did that mean he wasn't committed to Momma?

“How do you feel about them not being married?” he asked.

I thought about his question. “Most of the time it doesn't bother me. I feel bad for Momma though. When we talk about when I get married one day, there's this look in her eyes, like she really wishes she could experience that.”

“Well, when we get married, we'll make sure to include her in the planning,” he said, taking his hand off the steering wheel to hold mine.

I tried not to grin, but I couldn't help it. “You want to marry me?” I asked.

Allen didn't speak until we came to a traffic light, then he turned to look at me. “Of course I do,” he said. He stared deep into my eyes. “Courtland, do you know how much I love you? I still can't believe that you love me, too,” he said in wonder. “I want to spend my life with you.”

The light changed, and Allen continued driving. When he pulled up at my house, he shut off the engine and looked at me.

“I want to spend my life with you, too,” I admitted, then hesitated.

“What?” he asked, grabbing my hand.

“It's just that this time next year you'll be playing for the NBA, and who knows where you'll be. I still have another year of high school—”

“Girl, don't worry. By then, I'll be making so much money I'll be able to fly you to come see me every weekend.”

“You'd do that?”

“No doubt,” he said, nodding. “I want you wherever I am. You haven't realized that yet?” He leaned over to kiss me, and everything else seemed to disappear. “I love you, Courtland,” he whispered when we broke apart.

“I love you, Allen,” I said.

My
focus was totally off at cheerleading practice a few days later, and as I was doing a backflip, I landed awkwardly and ended up spraining my ankle. The doctor made me use crutches and miss practice for a couple of weeks, which was not cool at all because we were training for the national competition in Orlando in January.

After a few days, my ankle started feeling better, so I went back to practice. Although my coach refused to let me do any stunts, I did work on my hand movements and making sure our routine was on point.

Candy had offered to drop me off after practice, but I had told her no. Every since she told me that stuff about Allen and his ex, I had become kind of distant. How could I really be cool with a girl who was hating on my man?

I had just changed for practice one afternoon and was trying to decide if I had time to toss a few baskets when a voice stopped me.

“Dang, girl, you looking good these days,” he said. “What happened to that fat little girl I went to elementary school with?”

I turned around, already knowing it was Nathaniel Dixon. We had known each other since kindergarten.

“What's going on?” I said, going to give him a hug.

“Apparently you,” he said. He looked me up and down, taking in my sports bra and biking shorts, which showed off my shape and my six-pack.

“You are so silly,” I said, shoving him and laughing. Nathaniel really was a cutie. When we were in elementary school, I had a serious crush on him, but he never seemed to be interested. “So what have you been up to? I hardly ever see you.” I smiled and nodded at a couple of Allen's teammates who were walking past before I refocused on Nathaniel.

“Yeah, I got a job after school, so that's been keeping me busy.”

I nodded and glanced up at the clock on the wall. Practice wasn't scheduled to begin for about ten minutes. “Where are you working?”

“At the Publix in Homewood,” he said. “They have me bagging groceries, but the money is good, so that's cool.”

We stood in silence for a few seconds before he looked at me. “I have a favor to ask,” he said.

“What's up?” I asked.

“I'm not doing too well in math this semester, and I need your help. Can we get together during study hall?”

“I can't,” I said. “I tutor my boyfriend then.”

Nathaniel nodded. “So what's up with you and Mr. NBA? I hear things are pretty heavy between you.”

“We're good,” I said, smiling.

“He's treating you right?”

I looked at him and laughed. “Do you have to ask?” I said as the image of Allen grabbing me entered my mind. As always when it did, I pushed it away.

“Cool,” Nathaniel said. “I just wanted to make sure. Do you think we can get together on Sunday afternoons, then? I would say after school, but like I said, I got this job, and I don't have the time.”

I thought about all I had going on. Between school, cheerleading, helping Bree with dance class, Allen and Worth the Wait, I didn't have a lot of free time, but I really wanted to help my friend. “Okay,” I said.

Nathaniel nodded. “That's cool. My parents won't let me work on Sundays, anyway. Is your home number still the same?”

“Yeah, but let me give you my cell number.” I realized I didn't have anything to write it on, but Nathaniel had his phone, so he stored it in there.

“If I don't see you at school on Friday, I'll give you a call Saturday to confirm,” he said.

“All right.”

He gave me a hug, and I went to practice. Nationals was about six weeks away, so we had our routine together. We just had to make sure we were in sync.

By the time practice ended two hours later, I was tired and sweaty. I rushed to take a shower so that I could meet Allen, who had started taking me home after practice.

Allen was standing by his car talking to his teammates I'd seen earlier. He looked mad about something, but I ignored it.

“Hey, baby,” I said, kissing him on the lips.

He nodded to his boys. “I'll get up with y'all later. Thanks for the info,” he said before climbing into the driver's seat.

I smiled at his friends, then quickly looked at the ground. Allen hated when I talked to them, but I didn't want to be rude, so I compromised by at least acknowledging them.

“You hungry?” I asked as we were pulling out of the parking lot.

He didn't bother to respond, but I knew he heard me because a few minutes later he drove to Milo's, a local hamburger place that has these really good hamburgers and seasoned fries. Come to think of it, they have good ice, too. It's kind of a mix between crushed and shaved. I can just eat a cup of it by itself.

Allen parked and we walked in to place our orders. Once we had our food and were seated, I dug in, but Allen was just sitting staring into space, clenching his jaw.

“What's wrong with you?” I asked, adding ketchup and mustard to my burger.

He finally looked at me, and he was so angry that I stopped what I was doing to focus on him. I touched his hand. “Baby, what's wrong?” I asked.

He snatched his hand away from me, and I frowned.

“You want to tell me what's going on?” I asked.

Allen flexed his jaw, took a deep breath like he was trying to calm down, then said, “Why am I hearing from my boys that my girl was outside the locker room half-naked and all hugged up with some dude?”

I looked at Allen and laughed. “Boy, what are you talking about?” I said.

“Did I say something funny?” he asked.

I picked up my burger and took a bite. “You're serious?” I said. “Why would I be hugged up with some dude in a place where I know your friends can see me?”

Allen got even madder. “So does that mean you're with someone in places where you can't be seen?”

I put down my burger, trying not to get mad. “What are you saying, Allen?”

“Don't try and flip this, Courtland. Were you or were you not hugged up with some dude outside the locker room?”

It really did take me a second to figure out what he was talking about. “Do you mean Nathaniel?” I asked, chewing thoughtfully on a fry.

“Don't play dumb with me, Courtland. Have you been with so many men that you can't remember them all?”

I snorted under my breath. “Allen,” I said as quietly as I could, “you got one more time to come out your face accusing me of something. Nathaniel and I have known each other since kindergarten, and if your idiot friends had stuck around long enough, they would have realized that there was nothing going on between us.”

“So why did you give him your number?” Allen asked.

I really thought seriously about whether I was going to answer him. I couldn't believe he was tripping over something so innocent. “Because,” I said slowly, like I was talking to a four-year-old, “he wants me to tutor him in math. We're going to get together on Sunday afternoons, not that it's any of your business.”

“You are my business,” he said. He picked up a fry then threw it back down. “You know what? You've messed up my appetite. I need to get up out of here.”

I couldn't agree with him more. I placed my half-eaten food back on the tray and threw it all in the trash, but I kept my cup of ice. I hoped that by the time he dropped me off, it wouldn't have melted all the way so I could at least enjoy that.

We rode home in silence. Although part of me was confused about why Allen was so upset, another part of me thought it was cute that he was jealous. When we made it to my house, I was actually kind of relieved to see my parents weren't home. Allen just sat there looking out the front window while I gathered all my stuff. Somehow my gym bag got caught on the emergency brake, and as I yanked it free, half of my stuff fell on the floor of Allen's car. I bent down to pick it up, but my hands were full between my cup of ice, my backpack, my purse and my gym bag.

“Aren't you going to help me?” I finally asked in annoyance.

Allen took off his seat belt and looked at me like I had asked him to donate his last kidney, then he bent over and started grabbing my stuff and putting it back in the bag. We both reached for the final piece, which happened to be my sports bra, which I had practiced in that day.

“Is this what you had on?” Allen asked, holding it around one finger.

“Yeah,” I said, reaching for it.

He drew back so I couldn't touch it while he examined it, then he started pulling stuff out of my bag, throwing it back on the floor of the car.

“What are you doing?” I yelled, picking the stuff back up.

He pulled out my biking shorts and looked at them like they were covered in mold.

“You had these on today, too?” he asked.

I nodded, wondering why he was suddenly fascinated with my practice clothes.

Finally he said, “Don't wear it again.”

I looked at him like he had lost his mind. “What?” I said, sure I had heard him wrong.

“I said don't wear it again. No wonder that guy was hitting on you. You were running around half-naked.”

I started laughing. “Why are you tripping? You've seen me in outfits like this plenty of times.”

He stared back at me, and I couldn't read his expression. “You're right, I've seen you in it. That doesn't mean I want all my boys staring at you, and I definitely don't want some ‘friend' checking you out.” He spit out the word
friend
like it was a glob of spit.

I just shook my head. “Whatever, Allen.” I snatched my clothes from him and stuffed them back into my bag, then managed to grab everything and get to the front door. I had to set a lot of stuff down to get my key, and by the time I was opening the door, Allen was on the porch.

I didn't even say anything as I walked in. When I turned around, Allen was standing in the doorway, looking like he had something to say.

“I'm sorry,” he finally said. He walked over to me and planted a kiss on my lips. “When my boys came over and told me you were talking to some other dude, I couldn't take the thought of you leaving me.”

“I'm not going to leave you,” I said quietly. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, baby,” he said, holding me close. “I didn't mean to sound so jealous. I just don't want any other man looking at you. Promise me you won't wear an outfit like that again.”

I thought of all the bike shorts and sports bras I had upstairs in my room to work out in and started to shake my head.

Allen noticed and quickly said, “It's cool to wear it if I'm with you—that way I can protect you—but if not, I would prefer you wear something else.” He looked at me with pleading eyes.

I thought about what he was saying. If it made my man feel more comfortable for me not to show my body when he wasn't around, what was the big deal? I finally nodded.

“Thank you,” he said, giving me a kiss. “You know I love you, right?”

“I know,” I said. I looked at the clock and realized my mother was supposed to be home any minute. “You'd better go,” I said.

“Can't I stay for a few more minutes?” he asked.

I sighed. I was still a little mad at him, but I didn't want him to go. “Okay,” I gave in.

He followed me into the kitchen, and I began fixing us a snack. While the pizza bites were in the microwave, I sat crunching on my ice, glad that it hadn't all melted.

“What do you have planned for the weekend?” I asked after I had swallowed a mouthful. Now that basketball season was in full swing, Allen was practicing all the time. Sometimes Coach Patterson had the team at school as early as six in the morning, then at afternoon practice he'd keep them sometimes until ten or eleven o'clock at night. Recruiters were often in town trying to convince Allen to sign with their schools, even though he had already made it pretty clear he was going to go pro. I guess colleges were hoping he was going to change his mind.

He smiled. “That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I actually have Sunday afternoon free. Maybe we can go to a movie or something.”

I was just about to say yes when I remembered my promise to Nathaniel. “Can we get together later that day?”

“I guess,” he said. “What's so important that you can't spend time with your man?”

“I told Nathaniel I would tutor him in math, and we're getting together on Sunday,” I reminded him.

“Nathaniel? Is that that clown my boys saw you with?” he asked, like we hadn't had the conversation earlier.

I nodded before I got up to pour Allen something to drink. “Yeah.”

“So you want to see him more than you do me?”

I started laughing. “Boy, you are so silly. Of course I want to see you more, but I promised Nathaniel I would help him. He wanted to get together during study hall, but I can't do that because I'm helping you, and since he works most evenings, Sunday is the only time he has free.”