Read Online First Round Lottery Pick by Franklin White - Free Book Online
Authors: Franklin White
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serious about marrying her. Of course my mother was all for it when I told her, and she made me promise I would treat Tori right and remember what she had gone through alone while raising me.
Then there was the party.
âWhat you mean, you donât wanna go, L ?â Jalenâs eyes were extended, his head moving from side to side.
âI donât know, man, I just donât.â
âLook, B , this is your farewell party, your Iâm-going-to-the-league bash.â He lowered his voice and rose it as he spoke. âOur graduation party, boy!â
âI know all that, man, but this pressure is getting on me.â
âYou need to drop all of that. Just dump it in the trash. Do you know how many people would like your problems?â
I guess I did. He didnât have to remind me I was just looking at everything I needed to do and things I would need to get done before it was time to go. I knew it was pretty much a done deal that I was going to get taken by Barcelona, but I wanted to know the type of contract they were offering and make sure they knew I wanted to play no more than two years before I went to the NBA.
Jalen was on his job though. He had already been looking on the Internet for places to stay once we went overseas. Added to that, he called his cousin, a tailor who had a store down on Mt. Vernon Avenue, and gave him our sizes to make suits for graduation and when we finally met with Barcelona.
Â
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I woke up around nine. I wanted my mom to go to the party with me, but she wasnât having it. Said she wasnât trying to listen to any music about pumping and grinding with a bunch of young bucks who didnât know the difference between a cassette deck and an album cover.
I have to give props, the party was off the chain. Jalen did his thing, and everybody up in that piece was feeling the party. I donât know how Jalen did it, but he set the party up on the courts in The Vil, straight-up gansta-like. He had a banner with my picture on it, along with his name and Toriâs, along with my momâs with C ONGRATSANDGOODLUCK writteninboldletters.
All the love I was getting was genuine, and it felt good. It was like, with each handshake and hug, I was being given strength from others, like a ray of hope to fulfill dreams that other people had wished they would one day live. At first it was cool. But it started to mess with my head, because so many people were telling me how blessed I was and how I better make them all proud. I definitely didnât want to let anyone down, including myself, so I started to think about everything I needed to do again while looking out at everyone enjoying the party.
I did notice Tori change a bit though. Most of the time when females came up to me to talk, she would either turn her head in the opposite direction, or just talk to one of her girls, like the situation didnât faze her.
I have to admit, what made me want to kick it with Tori was, she wasnât jealous or worried about any other female around because she knew she had the total package and I wasnât going anywhere. Tori would always tell me how she and a few of her girls always tripped off on the females at school who wanted to play like they were married then get upset when they found out that their men were messing around. Tori was truthful with hers and knew it was virtually impossible for a high school guy to be faithful to another girl, and if he was, she thought he was being very naïve.
But that night she had changed her game up and didnât care who knew about it because we were going to get married. Every single female who came up to talk to me, she made sure she either spoke to them or they recognized she was there holding my hand. It was funny, because most of them never knew Tori to act like that; she acted like she didnât care. The days of her turning her head away while other females flirted with me were over. My girl was checking any
Then there was the party.
âWhat you mean, you donât wanna go, L ?â Jalenâs eyes were extended, his head moving from side to side.
âI donât know, man, I just donât.â
âLook, B , this is your farewell party, your Iâm-going-to-the-league bash.â He lowered his voice and rose it as he spoke. âOur graduation party, boy!â
âI know all that, man, but this pressure is getting on me.â
âYou need to drop all of that. Just dump it in the trash. Do you know how many people would like your problems?â
I guess I did. He didnât have to remind me I was just looking at everything I needed to do and things I would need to get done before it was time to go. I knew it was pretty much a done deal that I was going to get taken by Barcelona, but I wanted to know the type of contract they were offering and make sure they knew I wanted to play no more than two years before I went to the NBA.
Jalen was on his job though. He had already been looking on the Internet for places to stay once we went overseas. Added to that, he called his cousin, a tailor who had a store down on Mt. Vernon Avenue, and gave him our sizes to make suits for graduation and when we finally met with Barcelona.
Â
Â
I woke up around nine. I wanted my mom to go to the party with me, but she wasnât having it. Said she wasnât trying to listen to any music about pumping and grinding with a bunch of young bucks who didnât know the difference between a cassette deck and an album cover.
I have to give props, the party was off the chain. Jalen did his thing, and everybody up in that piece was feeling the party. I donât know how Jalen did it, but he set the party up on the courts in The Vil, straight-up gansta-like. He had a banner with my picture on it, along with his name and Toriâs, along with my momâs with C ONGRATSANDGOODLUCK writteninboldletters.
All the love I was getting was genuine, and it felt good. It was like, with each handshake and hug, I was being given strength from others, like a ray of hope to fulfill dreams that other people had wished they would one day live. At first it was cool. But it started to mess with my head, because so many people were telling me how blessed I was and how I better make them all proud. I definitely didnât want to let anyone down, including myself, so I started to think about everything I needed to do again while looking out at everyone enjoying the party.
I did notice Tori change a bit though. Most of the time when females came up to me to talk, she would either turn her head in the opposite direction, or just talk to one of her girls, like the situation didnât faze her.
I have to admit, what made me want to kick it with Tori was, she wasnât jealous or worried about any other female around because she knew she had the total package and I wasnât going anywhere. Tori would always tell me how she and a few of her girls always tripped off on the females at school who wanted to play like they were married then get upset when they found out that their men were messing around. Tori was truthful with hers and knew it was virtually impossible for a high school guy to be faithful to another girl, and if he was, she thought he was being very naïve.
But that night she had changed her game up and didnât care who knew about it because we were going to get married. Every single female who came up to talk to me, she made sure she either spoke to them or they recognized she was there holding my hand. It was funny, because most of them never knew Tori to act like that; she acted like she didnât care. The days of her turning her head away while other females flirted with me were over. My girl was checking any
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