shower. Definitely need to brush your teeth. Hurry so I can drop you off on my way out of town.”
“I’m not going.” Drawing my knees to my chest, my head leaned against the headboard. Derrick got off the floor and sat next to me on the bed.
“Listen, you’ve been asleep for two days straight. I haven’t made you get up to eat, and I’ve kept your worried parents at bay. But if you decide to stay in bed, skip the game and freak out every single person you know, you are on your own.”
“You wouldn’t leave me.”
“Would. Will. You have five minutes to decide. Oh, and Floyd said to tell you Russell is already talking shit. Something about how Michigan can’t lose this year because of this quarterback-receiver team.”
“They don’t have a chance with the speed of our defense.” It hadn’t escaped the two of us that I climbed over Derrick to fish out a t-shirt and sweatshirt. He passed by me and turned on the shower in the bathroom. He returned and leaned against the doorway with his back to me as I undressed.
“I’m sorry you heard what you heard. I’m going to say this, and then I will drop it until you’re ready to talk about it.”
Standing in front of him in my robe, I nodded.
“He deserves a chance to explain. You were eavesdropping, then you disappeared. Can’t imagine how worried he must be. Not knowing if you are safe.”
My eyes narrowed. Derrick shifted from one foot to the other. My head tilted, and I stared at him.
“Hey, you’re wasting water. Get in there.” He pointed and mouthed: ‘go and hurry up.’
An hour later, we were driving through the busy streets of East Lansing. The town felt swollen when the students returned each fall, but it vibrated on game day. Derrick’s dash clock read ten forty-five. From the looks of the lawns, the partying had been going on for several hours already.
“I can’t believe I was going to give this up.” I whispered as I watched the crowds of people as we passed.
“What?” Derrick turned down the music.
“I said it would be impossible to leave all this behind.”
“Jurnee, I understand that moving to New York is scary. Your entire life is wrapped up in this town and this team. But you know what? You can still come home for a game or two. Somewhere along the way, I think you began to think this place and this team were who you are. They aren’t, so don’t use them as an anchor around your neck.”
As I turned to look at him, the Michigan State fight song began over the radio. I turned it up loud. Derrick stopped at the red light and turned the volume down.
“This is too big of an opportunity for you to run away because you got your feelings hurt. Not to mention, you don’t even really know what you heard.”
“I–”
“No.” He interrupted me. “You fled. You didn’t ask him what he meant or why he would say that. You decided to remove yourself from the situation.”
The weight of his stare was too much. Turn green. Please turn green. Finally, the light turned.
“Green.” I pointed to the light for added emphasis.
“I’ll stop for now since it’s game day, but we will finish the conversation when I get back.”
“Hey!”
“What?” Derrick looked in his rearview mirror.
“Someone’s got a tent up in my tailgate spot.”
“It’s probably Floyd. He came and got all your stuff.”
The enormous white tent wasn’t anything I had in my garage. Derrick eased forward but was several cars back from the intersection. “I’m going to cut through the parking lot. Thank you for getting me up this morning.”
“You are welcome, my friend. Give me a hug.”
“Okay.” He grabbed me from the driver’s side and squeezed me extra tight. “Remember, I’m on your side.”
“You mean, Go Green?”
He released me and exhaled in disgust. “Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Go White. Get out of the car before the rest of the crazy Spartans start honking.”
“See you…”
“I’ll be back tomorrow.”
The first horn started to blow as the cars in front of Derrick’s had moved forward with the light change. I leaped out of the car and waved a sorry to the folks in the car behind.
“Go Green!” They shouted out the cracked window.
“Go White.” I returned as I headed to the mysterious tent on my tailgate spot.
Stopping by the couple that usually tailgates near me, they complained about the private party that had paid them to move this morning. Paid them.