"a powerful measure of desire for aggression had to be reckoned as part of their instinctual endowment."

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔

"Morgan," I groan, plopping back onto the mattress. "can you come on already?"

"What if I wear this?" She models a seventh outfit choice.

"It's just a basketball game."

"But I don't wanna be all slutty, you know, people are probably going to stare."

"I doubt anyone will care."

"You're just saying that." She sucks her teeth and disappears into the walk-in closet again.

"ARGH!" I throw a temper-tantrum seeing as though we're going to be late if it's up to her.

"Okay," she rings, presenting herself again. "this?"

"Yes, it's fine, let's go."

She slouches and starts to frown. "Okay, just go without me."

"Fine-"

She stomps her foot. "You're not supposed to agree."

I slap my forehead and start to laugh. "I don't know what you're going through, but let's speed it up."

She flips me off and goes back into the closet.

"I don't want to be seen." She whines, stomping her foot in the closet.

Finally, though, she walks back out with the first outfit on: the t-shirt made me for me and the team with my last name on it, black bike shorts, scrunched white socks, and a pair of chunky sneakers. She still looks beautiful, hair worn curly for a change and I love it, her jewelry is blinging, fresh set of nails and eyelashes - just overall more understated than usual.

"See how easy that was?" I ask, handing her the Prada bag.

She puts her dark sunglasses on and playfully pushes me out of the way so she can go downstairs first.

~~~

Edison's Challenge is a much bigger event than we were told. I expected a lot of spectators and a few cameras but this is a fucking production.

There's sponsors everywhere, multiple food options across several concession stands, an arcade, indoor shops go purchase merch for the event, and a claustrophobic amount of basketball courts hosting different games all at once. It's, like, a step up from the tournament I played last year. What a fucking nightmare that was.

"Sup, bro?" Jabari sneaks up on me.

I dap him up.

"Redemption." He says to me, shaking my shoulders.

I know what that means, he doesn't have to remind me.

"Hey, Chris." Jasmine says to me quietly. She just hugs my body from the side and then goes over to the bleachers to get comfortable beside Morgan.

Jabari gives me a look and I start to laugh. "What, I didn't say anything?"

He shakes his head. "She still ain't apologize?"

"Nope."

"I'll make her."

"Don't worry about it."

"For real?"

I put my hand up. "It's forgiven."

Besides, I know she probably just feels dumb at this point and isn't mature enough to address me correctly to fix things and take accountability. It's okay, really. As long as their marriage is better and she's friend with Morgan, I'm fine.

"Heyyyy." Izzy speaks to JB and I.

We both give her a big hug and she starts to laugh.

"You guys have never hugged me like that before." She says suspiciously.

"It's the baby." I admit, stepping over to slap hands with Lee.

"Of course." Izzy rolls her eyes.

"Wassup guys?" Lee speaks up.

A kid walks by and loses control of the ball, it bounces against Izzy's stomach and we all lose our shit, just giving the poor kid a hard time.

"Hey!" Jabari yells at him in this funny ass projected proper white guy voice. "get control of that thing, you rascal!"

"Ah, come on, you see this pregnant lady here. The hell's the matta' with you, kid?" Lee shouts at the boy in an old Italian-New Jesery accent.

We all laugh at him as he stands there, waiting for the ball back.

"Here." I hand it the ball over and he daps me up.

His friends run over to tease him for the poor ball handling and then they all stop and stare at me.

"Hey, I saw you on TikTok!" One kid says.

"Yeah," the first boy snaps his fingers to remember. "my sister said you her boyfriend."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I tell them.

"Ain't this you?" The tallest one pulls up a censored version of the leaked clip on TikTok and shows it to me.

"Oh my God." Izzy starts to laugh with her hand over her mouth.

"Alright, get the fuck out of here." I rush them away and walk over to the bleachers to see how Morgan's doing. I know she's feeling anxious and unlike her usual self since all of this.

"You okay?" I ask, dropping my bag in front of her feet.

She just nods. "Yeah. Are you ready?"

I hear a Future song start to play as the same little boys are shooting around while they're waiting for the next team to come on, and I get distracted, starting to dance to it.

"I'll take that as a yes." Morgan giggles.

"What time do y'all play?" Jasmine asks me.

I'm taken aback by her speaking to me but I quickly notice Morgan's threatening look that says to be nice so I adjust my attitude.

"At ten, then two. If we win that game, we play at seven, and the championship is at nine." I go over the schedule but could be wrong.

"Good luck." Jasmine wishes me and I just fist-pound her, still dancing to the song 'Lay Up.' I normally can't deal with super loud music, but I can suck it up when the songs are actually good.

I kind of laugh at the three women in their (our) matching shirts. They're black on black with each of our number's on them; I'm number two, of course. We don't have a team name necessarily so the jerseys just say Pyro because Russ agreed to sponsor us.

"There's so many people here." Morgan frets, looking all around.

"Bunch of groupies." Jasmine snarls, seeing the groups of girls dressed like they're going to the club.

I take off my long-sleeve shirt to change into my jersey and hear a sensual "mm-Mm-mm" and some giggles from the stands to my right.

"Oh nah." Jasmine rolls her neck and looks around Morgan to see where that sound came from.

I take a seat to pull off my sweatpants and fix my uniform shorts, rapping along to the J.Cole song now playing.

I feel Morgan's knee in my back shaking and turn around to see her face is kind of red.

The girls surround her, as well as her parents.

"Are you okay, are you going to have an anxiety attack?" Asks Izzy.

"Get out of her face." I tell them all and push them away so she can breathe.

"I'm fine, it's just— I have to go to the bathroom." Morgan announces, sliding off of the bench.

I start to follow her and before I get to far, hear "is she pregnant?"

Gulp.

"Morgan!" I shout her name over the increasing volume of music.

"Excuse me, sir, you can't be in here." A woman says on her way out of the ladies room.

"Are you misgendering me?" I gaslight her.

She put her hand over her heart and then just scurries out.

I open the stall and find Morgan in there, fanning herself as if she was crying.

"Chris, you have to warm up. Go." Morgan tries shooing me away.

I ignore the smell of the public bathroom and pick up Morgan's chin so she can look me in the eyes.

"Can you tell me what's wrong with you?"

"No, I just feel stupid." She whines, wiping the moisture off her face.

I fold my arms and look down at her. "Are you pregnant?"

"What, no?" She objects. I can see she's telling the truth.

"Last time we were here things got messy," she exhales. "I don't want you getting hurt, or is fighting or anything."

She sniffles. "I'm just stressed. I don't know who leaked the tape, still. And on top of that, there's all these girls here and it's just like, I don't know who's seen the tape or not, but I feel like they all have, that's why they're all staring at you."

I look her in the eyes. With a kiss to her forehead, I make sure she knows I'm here for her and on her side.

I remind her to take a deep breath in, and let it out, then repeat as needed. We both benefited from that, now I have less pre-game nerves.

Morgan nods and starts to smile. "Okay, sorry. Thanks for cheering me up. Why are you in such a good mood, anyway?" She asks me, accepting the paper towels I hand over.

"'Cause," I answer, flashing a smile. "this is the first time I don't have to worry about bullshit, I can just go out there and play."

~

"Good luck." One black girl says to me as she walks by with this butt-length orange hair.

"Keep walking, hoe." Izzy snickers at the girl before I can even say anything.

"And fix your lace." Jasmine reads her.

Izzy just laughs and the girls feel triumphant for defending Morgan while she was at the concession stand, and high-fiving each other.

The championship game. This is it. I was robbed of the trophy last year, not this time.
Albeit, if I could have just controlled my temper maybe we would've went all the way.

Although this is just a game for street cred/bragging rights, a trophy, and a donation to a charity or local business of our choice, my team has played their asses off today, and this means something to me. I've rediscovered my love for the sport.

"You ready?" Jabari asks me once the free throw contest we're watching ends.

"Let's go!" Lee hypes himself up.

I pull off my long sleeve shirt and throw it into my bag then trade my slides for my Nike basketball shoes.

"Hit a 'three' for me." The same girl with the orange wig from earlier says to me as she and her friends fill the neighboring stands.

Morgan just missed her, having returned from the concession stand with an orange Gatorade for me.

"They get bolder and bolder." Jasmine gibes, popping some Skittles into her mouth.

"Don't worry about them, Morgie." Izzy tries to keep the peace.

I'm not one for the drama but I want Morgan to feel comfortable and like I have her back so I ask if she wants me to say something to that girl.

Morgan shakes her head and lands her eyes on me. "It's just a fan wishing you good luck."

God, I love this woman.

"Come on, Chris!" I hear JB call my name.

I run onto the court and then dash back to the bleachers to kiss Morgan so everyone — including the lace front girl— can see, and it's all the luck I need. Or, more like the motivation I need to show off.

~

We won! Damn it, I can't believe it. Edison's Challenge is just a tournament JB and I agreed to without thinking much of it, but winning a championship, for some reason, feels like such a huge accomplishment. Redemption, like we said.

"Here." I say to Rob, giving him the trophy. It clearly means more to him than to me. I won and got MVP, the trophy is just an item.

"Excuse me, number two, can I have a few words?" asks an unfamiliar face. He is wearing sneakers that I don't think have even dropped yet, a long Gucci shirt, and Cuban links.

"I'm Rich O from 'He Got Game' - sports channel on YouTube." His introduction is enough for me to agree to talk. He daps me up and congratulates me on the chip (championship.)

"That's all them." I say humbly, pointing to my celebratory teammates joking around still on the court.

"We live? You already know what it is, it's ya boy Rich O and today I'm at the Edison's Challenge in New York. With me now is the MVP of the tournament-" his high energy dies down once it's time for me to introduce myself.

"Chris Vaughn." I say into the mic he's holding.

"Chris dropped thirty-eight points in the championship game, six rebounds, four steals, three blocks, and twelve assists. Wow. How do you do it,  my guy?"

I vibrate my lips, trying to think up an answer. "I just go out there and play, I love the game; I couldn't have done it without the guys."

"That's what's up. Who get to take home the trophy, y'all got a schedule?" He makes me laugh.

"Uh, I think I'll let them fight over it."

"C.V., you're a beast, what makes you want to get out there and go after it like that?"

My initial thought is the diplomatic response, but I wet my lips and rethink it, remembering who my actual motivation is.

"Actually," I say with a toothy grin, lifting my head from the mic, "she's right over— goddamn it."

"JJ, you gettin' this?!" Rich makes sure his cameraman is recording the fight that's broke out in the bleachers. It's just an argument. A heated argument, rather, and involving Morgan at that.

I lunge over to the stands and watch Jasmine arguing down the girl with the orange wig's throat. Izzy's rolling her neck and pointing at the girl's friends, and The Bennett's are trying to diffuse everything but solving nothing.

Morgan just wears an angry-confused look as she watches the orange-haired girl clap her hands and draw more of a crowd.

"—Okay, and I can cheer for whoever I want, the fuck?!" Wig girl pops her tongue.

"No, you're not going to cheer for my man like that." Morgan remains calm as she sends the girl a scowling look. I notice her hands are by her sides but her fists are balled and then I look at the other girl who's waving her arms and doing the absolute most, and I'm hoping this doesn't go any further than a few more words exchanged.

The loud girl goes on to put her hair up and I have no fucking clue where security is so I just try directing Morgan to walk away but she won't.

More and more people start to crowd around, hoping to see a fight which only gets the other girl more hype.

The little boy from before (who showed me the TikTok) stands next to the girl and she gives him her purse.

"Whoop her ass, big sis." He starts to yell as he holds up his phone to record.

Big sis? Didn't he say his sister thinks I'm her boy— Christ. I see what this is about, the tape.

"Okay, no." Kelsey puts her foot down. She's standing behind Morgan, tugging her arm.

"Morgan, come on!" Owen growls at his daughter, finally getting a reaction from her.

"Stop pulling me-" she slightly turns to get her parents grasp off of her body but when she snatches away from them, the girl sneaks a swing.
She misses but Morgan reacts with a swing too and it lands, each knuckle connecting to the girl's nose.

"OOH!" Spectators started to get rowdy.

Security runs over but not before I finally grab Morgan and walk her towards the exit, the other girl still loud and rowdy, claiming that punch was a "cheap shot" somehow. It was lucky, if anything, I didn't know Morgan could fight.

A couple of officers escort us to our cars and Morgan just remains quiet, shaking her hand.

She doesn't say anything to anyone, just gets in the car with Jasmine and Izzy and they speed off, leading the rest of us to Chubby's - the sports bar where I chose for us to go to celebrate the win.

~

"I'm tellin' you, she only tried Morgan 'cause she thought she couldn't fight. She picked the right one." Jasmine continues rambling about the fight as we sit in the party room of the restaurant.

Jas filled us in: the girl apparently saw a clip of Morgan and I online and was excited to see me in person. Well, she was a little too excited because she started cheering loudly in the crowd like she knew me personally so Jasmine told the girl that Morgan's my girlfriend and the girl claimed she didn't care which then turned into her sending Morgan dirty looks the rest of the game and saying that she was going to fight her in the parking lot after the game but Morgan confronted her once we won instead and said they didn't need to wait to go to the parking lot.

The whole thing seems out of character for Morgan, the girl must've really worked her last nerve because I never thought I'd see the day Little Miss "I don't like violence" got in a fist fight. She made me proud, though.

I come down from laughing with Jabari who's hilariously, yet accurately, demonstrating the punch when I notice Morgan staring out the window, unamused.

"It was like 'boom' right to the nose!" Izzy remarks, having a laugh.

"I swear," Lee agrees. "she didn't even know what to do. Did she even hit you back, Morgan?"

All eyes shift to Morgan and she doesn't even look back at anyone, just stares down at her menu as she grabs her hair at her temples.

"Morgan?" Jasmine repeats, nudging her for a reaction.

"I'll be right back." Says Morgan, getting up from the table.

I feel bad and get up to follow her out.

"Uh-oh." Jabari sounds.

"They're my favorite UFC couple." Lee tries joking as I past his chair and I slap his head for it.

"Shut up." I grumble, walking out.

I find Morgan around the building, looking up at the blue-black sky.

"What's wrong?" I ask her, taking her hand in mine.

Her knuckles aren't bruised, just red. I kiss them and she takes her hand back, looking at me like I'm the crazy one.

"This isn't okay," she yells. "I hit someone!"

"You defended yourself," I emphasize. "it's fine."

She's just upset she got out of character, but I'm not mad at her. In fact, I'm proud that she stuck up for herself, and proud she finally let some of that pent up anger out. That punch was a warning and lesson for any other girl who thinks they can try her.

"You know what, you don't get to be mad," I argue, putting my hands on my hips. "I'm mad."

Morgan stops pacing and tilts her head at me, face straight as a line. "You're mad?"

"Yeah. You managed to make this all about you. I was getting interviewed and you just wanna be Ronda Rousey. Honestly, I don't think I can be with someone so violent."

Morgan drops her jaw when she realizes I'm just mocking her from last year.

I pretend to be mad a second longer and turn my back to her, my arms folded.

"Okay," she starts to laugh. "ha-ha. I get it now."

"No, I don't think you do. I'm leaving you, you need to be alone for a while with all of that anger and aggression."

Morgan jumps into my back and slightly pushes me off the sidewalk and I drop the act, laughing with her.

"Stop," she says with a pout. "that's not funny. I'm still sorry."

"It's okay." I reply sincerely, holding her hands. I give her a kiss on the head and she pulls away, smiling small.

"I feel better now, thank you." She squeaks cutely, scrunching her nose.

We start to walk back inside, arms linked as she puts her head on my arm and sighs deeply.

"That was a hell of a punch, though." I have to tell her. Again, I'm proud.

Morgan sucks her teeth. "Not gonna let some girl think she can take my man."

I chuckle, holding the door so she can walk inside first and she does.
"That's my girl." I boast, slapping her ass as she walks under my arm.