Chapter 20
Lena opened the door to her dorm. She hoped Denise would be there, but she wasn’t. She took a seat on her bed. She missed her crew when they left her house. She was at home alone for the rest of the week and wished she had taken them up on their offer to ride back to school with them. She had to make sure the house was completely proper for when her family got home. She hired a service to clean the entire house and double-checked the whole house to make sure nothing was left behind.
She held her wrist up and looked at her Tiffany charm bracelet. Lena owned many Tiffany items, but this one had quickly become her favorite. The charms dangled down. She thought about Denise every time she looked at it.
She heard a knock at the door, and she opened it to find Brandon standing with a bunch of bags in his hands.
“Hey, baby,” Brandon said as he hugged her. “God, I have missed you so much.” He picked her up and kissed her.
“I have missed you too, asshole,” Lena said as she caught a quick attitude with him.
“I’m sorry. What was that for?” Brandon said, confused by the attitude Lena was showing.
“How was your little romp in sin city?” Lena said as she pouted her lips and crossed her arms.
Brandon laughed. “It was fine, and how was your gay pride holiday?” he said catching an attitude right back with her.
She quickly lost the attitude. “It was fine-ass, and it wasn’t a gay pride event. We’re going to that in June.” She smiled at Brandon, who didn’t find the comment funny. She got up and sat in his lap. “I did miss you, baby.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Take these damn presents before you really make me mad.”
She opened present after present. She was very excited about the gifts she received. “Baby, they’re all wonderful!” She squealed with excitement as she kissed him.
“Wait, there is one more, you know,” Brandon said as he stood up. “Baby, there were so many agents all trying to get me. Once we won the tournament, it was all over. They rode my dick, catering to my every need for the rest of the weekend. They kept telling me about all the millions I’m going to make in the NBA. I had to admit, I was feeling what they were saying, especially this one dude. He was for real, the way he came to me.”
“That’s wonderful. I am so happy for you.” Lena was very excited about the news.
“No, be happy for us, because wherever I end up, I am taking you with me.”
Lena blushed at Brandon’s statement. She realized that he really loved her a lot. She realized that she was feeling a little guilty, but she didn’t know why. She hadn’t done anything.
Brandon pulled a bag out of his gym bag and handed it to Lena.
She pulled out a blue box with a white ribbon. It was Tiffany. She began to smile when she saw the box, but when she opened it, her smile faded. It was a Return to Tiffany’s toggle bracelet with a heart, a bracelet that she already had.
“Brandon, baby, I love it, but you know I already have this one, right?” she said to him. Brandon laughed and got on his knees in front of her. “Baby, look at it closely.”
Lena turned it over to see the initials L.M.R. engraved on the back of it.
“It has the last name that you are going to have soon.”
Lena’s eyes started to tear up as Brandon began to explain.
“I think that you should start getting used to saying, “Lena Redding” because whenever I go pro, the first thing that I am going to do is marry you.” He grabbed her to put the bracelet on it, revealing the charm bracelet that Denise gave her. “Damn, that’s nice. Expensive, too. Your dad always gotta upstage me.” He laughed as he removed the charm bracelet.
“Actually, Daddy didn’t give me that. Um, Denise did.” Brandon stopped what he was doing when she made that comment. Lena knew he was upset.
“Hold up, you mean your roommate gave you a four-hundred-dollar bracelet? What the fuck is she doing buying you a damn Tiffany bracelet?” Brandon stood up. Anger was all over his face.
“Baby, calm down. It was a gift to thank me for all I did for her grandmother’s funeral. It’s not that serious.” Brandon quickly cut her off.
“No, Lena, a gift certificate, or a card would show appreciation. This is not something you give to a friend!”
“Why? I bought Carmen a Tiffany bracelet for Christmas.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“Carmen doesn’t want you!” Brandon yelled.
Lena suddenly felt uneasy. She hadn’t seen Brandon that upset in a very long time. The room got silent. Lena stared at Brandon, who was turning red with anger.
“Baby, please calm down,” Lena pleaded with Brandon. She walked up to him and put her arms around him. “It was just a gift. Denise has never tried anything with me. Believe me, it’s nothing between us.”
“I want you to prove it. I want you to get a new room-mate,” Brandon said.
Lena quickly became upset. “You’re not serious,” Lena said as she let go of Brandon.
“I am very serious. Now, you go to your R.A. and ask her to move Denise to a new room.”
“Brandon Taylor Redding, you must have left your brain in Miami, ’cause it certainly is not here.”
“Baby, do this for me. I don’t want my girl staying with some dyke! Now Steve’s girl’s roommate left. You can let her move in here, and Denise can take her room.”
“No, I do not like Steve’s stuck up-ass girlfriend.”
“Baby, she’s going to be your sorority sister. You need to get to know her.”
“Fuck that. I am not moving, and I am not making Denise move either. You just need to get over this bullshit insecurity you have.”
“So, you telling me you are picking her over me.”
“I’m not picking anyone over anyone else, but you are not going to tell me what I better do. Brandon, I am your woman, the woman you just said you want to marry. If you don’t trust me, then I don’t need a bracelet with your last name on it, do I?” Lena held the bracelet out toward Brandon.
His angry look quickly became sad. “Baby, you are not serious, are you? You’re breaking up with me?” He sounded like a little boy who lost his dog.
“No. I’m not breaking up with you. I love you, Brandon, but if you can’t trust me, there is no relationship.” Lena looked at Brandon. She had tears in her eyes, and she could tell that he was minutes away from crying as well.
“I trust you, Lena. I don’t trust her.”
“She can’t do anything to me that I don’t let her do. I am strictly dickly and don’t want nothing from her like that. She, Carmen and Cooley are my only friends on this campus, and I am not going to give them up because you have a crazy male insecurity.”
The room became silent again. Brandon slowly calmed down.
“Look, Bae, I apologize. I don’t know what I was thinking. I know you are my girl completely.” Brandon grabbed Lena and hugged her tight.
“Good. Now kiss me.”
Brandon gave Lena a long passionate kiss.
They got in her bed and began to make passionate love.
Afterward, Brandon held her in his arms and fell asleep.
Lena turned over. She didn’t want him to see her face. She was not satisfied by their lovemaking. It felt like something was missing.