EPILOGUE

“He is soooooo fine,” the blonde said as she watched Rowe dribble the basketball upcourt with all eyes centered on him. She had the look of a piranha set to eat him alive.

“Uhmmmm. Tell me about it,” her friend purred. “I hear he’ll be this year’s first-round draft pick.”

The two girls sat watching the game like two talent scouts. It wasn’t the statistics on the court that they noted, but the numbers that were soon to come.

“Yeah, which means a very big contract.” Though it was the dead of winter, they both wore tops that were skimpy enough to be considered bikini halves.

“So, how are we going to meet him?” Neither one of them took her eyes off of Rowe during their entire conversation with each other.

“A friend of mine promised he could get us into the team party later tonight.”

“Cool.” The blonde tossed her hair, getting in practice for tonight.

“May the best girl win,” the brunette challenged.

Some things never changed, Reese thought, as she sat behind the two scheming hoochies, cringing while she listened to them plot to snag her son. The only difference was that these days there were more white chicks going after the black athletes than there were black girls, and somehow that made it even worse. She wanted to interrupt and tell them that they needed to go gold digging in another mine, but she knew that it wouldn’t have made a difference. Even if it did for these two, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of others to replace them, each one hoping to be the lucky girl who struck gold. Yes, Reese knew this game all too well.

In the years since the accident and her divorce, Reese had devoted most of her time to her son, and then his career. They’d grown very close, and she guarded Rowe fiercely. In fact, she moved to California to be near him during his time at UCLA.

“What are you wearing tonight?” the brunette asked the blonde.

“The shortest, tightest, and smallest thing I can squeeze these into.” She laughed, sticking out her augmented chest. “Trust me; I know exactly how to get his attention.”

“Don’t we all!” the brunette said slyly. They threw their heads back in laughter as they gave each other a big high five.