Raymond felt awkward. If he hadn't intervened and attacked the guy, the situation might not have ended up that badly. And he put his NBA career in jeopardy. If they went to the police and said that he had attacked them without reason, he would have no defense. The only other witness would be a known gang member
"I'm protecting him. Just worry about here." With that, Khione hung up, reaching up to play with her locket as she finished locking the door, before turning to Raymond. "Don't. This ain't your fault. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they've been lookin' for a fight for a while now."
He scrunched his nose up, the face he pulled when he didn't agree with what someone said. It made him look 16 again, standing around with her on the broken street with a basketball in hand.
"Maybe we should just go to my house," Raymond said slowly, "It doesn't seem very safe here right now and it's closer to the training facility."
(bump >:) )
The nostalgia struck Khione suddenly, the face Raymond made taking her back to when they were kids faster than she could blink. I missed you. I missed us.
"It's up t' you in the long run. I've gotta grab some shit either way back at the apartment." She said, shrugging a shoulder as she played with her locket.
"Do you have a car?" he asked, looking around at the parking lot. "You probably need to put that back at your apartment, too. And yes, I'd like you to come to my house."
She blinked, tilting her head. "A car? Why would I-no, I don't." She said, shaking her head. The parking lot was empty except for his car. "Car costs too much money when I can just walk."
"I'll buy you one," he said simply, pointing his keys to the sleek black sedan and unlocking the door. "But let's go get your stuff first."
Raymond made it seem like buying a car was just like buying groceries.
"What the fuck Ray." She said, shaking her head as she followed him to the sedan. "You're not-I ain't gonna just let ya buy me a car. Why the fuck would you even buy me a car."
"In case you need to go somewhere that's too far away to walk," he said, opening up the driverside door and ducking his head inside. "If I can't buy you one then you can have my grocery-getter."
"Please don't tell me you got a car just for gettin' groceries." She said, arching a pierced eyebrow at him in what might have been surprise or disappointment. "'Sides, tha's what buses are for. When ya can't walk."
"You are taking the car," he said, putting the key in the ignition and turning the engine on. "And that's final."
It was a tone she'd never heard before. When they were in high school, he listened to her every word without questioning it, and if she said no he never disagreed with it. But now he was telling her what to do for once.
She looked over at him as she climbed in, forgoing the seat belt. Her face hardened slightly for a moment, before her icy eyes sparked with what was definitely amusement. "When the hell did you get a backbone?" She still wouldn't take the car, but avoiding the subject worked just fine for now.
"I got hit in the face by a 7 foot guy," he said, shifting the car into reverse and looking over his shoulder as he backed out of the parking spot. "You don't look as intimidating after that. Where is your apartment, anyways?"
"Tha's 'cause you ain't ever actually seen me in a fight." She wasn't exactly wrong about that. Throughout their years of friendship, she'd been very particular when it came to keeping him away from fights and fights away from him. She got into them plenty, just not around him. "I bite. We're up by the ol' library building. Right across the street from it."
"Oh. Isn't that the spot where the old McDonald's got burnt down?" he asked, shifting the car up to drive and pulling out of the parking lot.
(She treats him like such a mother. She needs to get in a fight with one of his teammates)
((Oh, she absolutely will. If they're worth fighting. It takes a bit to get to her, but the change will already have her readjusting, so it'll be easier than normal.))
"You bet. They took the old foundations o' the buildin' and built apartments. Added a few more buildin's and boom. Capitalism." She said, gesturing with her hands, a funny picture when paired with the complete lack of emotion on her face.
Any other person would have laughed at the behavioral contradiction. Raymond just stared straight ahead as he pulled into the empty street. For such a busy city during the day, it didn't make a peep at night.
"How bad is the apartment?" he asked, stopping at a red light despite the fact that there were no other cars around.
"Not bad, considering the rats and asbestos." Khione said with a shrug, moving to let down her hair, literally, something she only really tended to do around Raymond. Even back in high school, she had almost always kept it up in that same ponytail. "Rico and I named 'em all. Heidi is my favorite, 'cause she's the quiet one that chews up his shoes."
"I've been gone for a while…" he said, frowning. He remembered the nights Khione would stay over at his house when the foster home got too much for her. He would sleep of the floor because him mom insisted she used the bed, but as soon as she left Khoine would force him to get into the bed and let her sleep on the ground. All she ever needed was a pillow. I need to repay her. Some way or another, I will.
"What…..what do you think about living with me?" Raymond asked, glancing over at her as the light turned green. He didn't move forward. "The house is so….big. And empty. I know that it's been a while since I've talked to you, but….I miss having you around every day. Hell, Rico could live with us, too, if you don't want to leave him behind. I just….I can't let you live in these types of conditions when I'm making so much money. It isn't fair for you. You always pushed me ahead of you so I could improve and then I just…left you in the dust with nothing."
Khione blinked in surprise, glancing over at him. The furrow between her brows got deeper and deeper as he continued to talk, and once he was done, the vehemence with which she shook her head was startling. "Imma level with you, Ray." She said, looking up at the roof of the car. "I didn' think I'd make it past sixteen. Honest-to-God, if my foster parents didn't kill me, a Panther woulda. But you…ya made life worth fightin' for. Gave me somethin' t' fight for, for God's sakes. I didn't have a chance o' gettin' outta here. That just wasn't on the table for me. My grades were so bad and my discipline list so long, no college was gonna take me on scholarship. But you had a chance. You were so good at basketball, and you loved it. I wanted one o' us to get the fuck outta here, and you were the one I knew could do it. Ya didn' leave me behind. I chose t' stay, because I had things t' do here, and you had a world to take on."
His brain took a second to process everything. When presented with a lot of words spoken at once, he always had to take a moment to understand what they said.
"So…..is that a no?" he asked, his voice almost as quiet as the hum of the engine. There were a lot of thinks he could've said in defense of her, but he figured the conversation would just go around in circles.
She turned to look out the window, thinking on it for a few moments. "It's not a no. Maybe a yes. I just gotta find a way t' convince myself ya ain't handin' me a solution, just offerin' me help. It's a hard one."
"You….you say I have the world to take on. Well….that world is kicking my ass." The curse word was shocking. Even being around her his whole life hadn't tarnished his almost squeaky clean vocabulary. His breathing became ragged again as he held back….something building in his chest. It was kinda confusing. "I'm not offering you help. I'm trying to get some for myself. It had been three years since I had a panic attack. The first time I play a game in the NBA, I break down so hard that I don't think I can put the pieces back without help. I'm literally three seconds from bursting into tears, Khione. I need you. Badly."
(Just 'cause Kayla called me impatient)