Free Society Girls: Neveah by Crystal Perkins

have to pass.”
    “Can’t fault a guy for trying.”
    “Or a girl for refusing.”
    “Will you pick me up from the airport?”
    “Do I get to actually meet you inside?” I
ask, already knowing the answer.
    He closes his eyes. “There might be press. I
should just meet you here.”
    “Sure. Just text me when you get in,” I say,
moving away and jumping off the counter, trying and failing to hide
my disappointment.
    “Soon. We’ll go public soon, I promise.”
    “Okay.”
    It’s not okay, though. I can’t help but feel
hurt that he won’t be seen with me. At the same time, I know I
should feel relieved. I’m not supposed to be splashed all over the
news and tabloids. I had to go and fall for a basketball player,
and not just a bench riding rookie. Oh no, I fell for the current
league MVP, the bad boy of the NBA. Now I just have to figure out
how to make this work.
     
    * * *
     
    Dylan
     
    “Why was she here all weekend?” I get asked
the moment I step into the pool house.
    Nev left a few minutes ago, and I’m feeling
grumpy, so I choose to bait my keeper instead of just giving a
simple answer. “Why do you think?”
    “You slept with her? She is not yours!”
    “Actually, yeah, she is mine. All mine.”
    “Until you give her to me. Once she and I
are on the plane, you will never see her again.”
    “There has to be another way.”
    “We’ve been over this.”
    “That was before we fell in love. I can’t
let you take her.”
    “Let me? You vowed to do this for me.”
    “I was a teenager. I didn’t know what it
would be like. I didn’t know what she’d be like.”
    “So you’re breaking your vow?”
    “I’ll bring her to you. I’ll let you plead
your case. But I’ll do everything I can to convince her to stay
with me. I’m sorry, but I can’t force her, or tell her going is
right.”
    “You’re choosing her over me.”
    It’s not a question, but it deserves an
answer. “I am. I never thought I would choose anyone over you, and
I am truly sorry, but she’s my priority now.”
    “You wish for me to leave?”
    “No. Not at all. I meant what I said. I will
bring her to you. You are still the best friend I have ever
had.”
    “And you Dylan, are mine. This disagreement
will not change that. No matter what my daughter decides, you will
always be my friend.”
    Sadiq Ayoub reaches out to embrace me, and I
hug him back. As a teenager, he was the mysterious neighbor who
defended me and taught me how to fight my tormentors on both the
physical and mental playing fields. As a man, he has been my
confidant, and yes, my best friend.
    Now, though, he is also the father of the
woman I love. The woman I swore to bring to him so he could
convince her to run away and hide with the father she thinks is
dead. The woman who may never forgive me once all is revealed. The
woman I cannot live without.
    I bid him goodbye and walk back to the main
house so I can pack. Now more than ever, I really wish this trip
could be canceled. Nev and I are on borrowed time, and I feel like
missing even a second with her is a mistake. I can hope and pray
that she’ll understand, but in my heart, I know she won’t.
    Her father’s death has shaped the woman she
is, and also nearly destroyed her good friend, Matt Corrigan, who
thinks he killed Sadiq. Not to mention what it’s done to her mother
and brother. We’ve had talks about them, and how her mother never
moved on. I tried to convince Sadiq to reach out to Aqeelah or
Sully instead of Nev, but he thinks his daughter is better equipped
to handle life on the run.
    He may be right about that, and about the
fact that revealing himself publicly will put them all in danger,
but I’ve always thought the way he wanted to go about everything
was wrong. I’ve gone along with it because I owe him, but I can’t
say I’ve agreed with the choices he made for both of us, including
the part where I’d probably be arrested if his convoluted plan had
worked.
    And now that