“Everyone knows you don’t take the girl with you after high school!”

Oh, but how he wished he could and some ways he did…

Five years earlier, Chad graduated from the infamous East High High School, home of the East High Wildcats. East High. Man, those were the days. Roaming the halls terrorizing and hazing the incoming freshmen and very simply running the school for three of his four years with his best friend, Troy. You see the Wildcats were a thing of legend in Albuquerque. They played basketball with intense drive and focus. They hungered for victory and sought it every game of the season. To say that they made their mark on East High is too state the obvious. Back to Back Champions. No one did it better than them and their back to back championship title still stands.

Every day of college instilled in Chad a deeper appreciation for the structure and discipline Coach Bolton used to rally his young high school team. In college everything was elevated to the nth degree, even basketball. Mediocrity was not an option. If you wanted it, it was simple…go get it. Now wanting it was the easy part, it was the getting it that proved difficult. But Chad was no quitter and whatever it took, he did it without question. Excellence was the only option and he kept that mantra firmly at hand for recollection when challenges appeared too difficult to overcome. Chad? Excellence? Yes, pursuit of excellence was Chad’s mission.

Now having graduated from U of A, Chad did something he never thought possible. Not only did he secure a monster deal with the Lakers, but he graduated with Honors in Business Management with a minor in Psychology. Looking back, he thanked three people for this achievement, but hey parents are supposed to be supportive of their children and push them to pursue their dreams. But the person, the one person who believed he was truly smarter than he let on, was the one person who silently willed him over those hurdles. That person was the one who pushed him to excel at academics. The one who forced him outside his comfort zone and challenged him to think of himself differently. He thought of her practically every day of his college tenure. You see, she was excellence personified.

That same passion and drive for excellence landed Chad Danforth, the #1 NBA draft pick, the position of starting forward for the Los Angeles Lakers. The magnitude of this accomplishment struck him as he sat courtside at the home opener match-up with the Philadelphia 76ers. “This didn’t come easy,” Chad inwardly reflected as the thunderous applause cascaded from the rafters. They had Kobe and now they had Chad, the Lakers were unstoppable.

“Rookie? You ready?” Kobe asked, elbowing him in the side.

“Yeah. Just taking this in man,” Chad replied softly. “I wasn’t expecting this much love out the gate.”

“Ha! Dude you must be crazy! They clapping like that for me!” Kobe shook his head at the young blood’s reaction to the Staples arena love. “Hey man, shake it off and man up for this game. I’m not trying to lose to the Sixers. You got me?”

“Dude, I got this. Or have you forgotten who you’re talking to?” Chad smugly replied.

“Look at you…trying be like Kobe. Nice!” Kobe laughed.

“I see you got jokes, but check this. I’m doing me and soon the kids will be screaming my name,” Chad quipped looking at Kobe. “Oh, I forgot…they already do. Hello!”

And with that Chad stepped forward to wave to the Staples crowd as the announcer introduced him in his usual lively manner, “And now for the player wearing #8 this season, playing forward position for your Los Angeles Lakers. The top NBA Draft pick, Chaaaaaaaaad Danforth!” The stadium erupted into massive shouts and cheers. Everyone was practically chanting his name, “Chad! Chad! Chad!” Chad spotted a little boy wearing his Lakers jersey with the number 8 emblazoned on the front. It was his jersey. Chad smiled and waved to the kid. Turning back to wink at Kobe, Chad pointed to the youngster, “And so it begins!”

Kobe shook his head and laughed. Fellow Laker, Derek Fisher, also known as Fish, elbowed Kobe, “You gotta admit, dude is NICE!”

“Yeah, he is! He’ll fit in nicely!”

Chad exuded confidence. Even in the face of uncertainty, he maintained his composure and could be counted on to step up to the plate in a moments notice. He wasn’t always that way. It was a skill he acquired. Confidence, the key is confidence. Some would say it was due to his looks. Chad begged to differ. Granted Chad Danforth was a thing of beauty. But it wasn’t the outward appearance that he nurtured or promoted. He took time to nurture his character. The man he was, the man he chose to be. The rest was genetics, and boy he was blessed with good genes. No lady thought the 5’10” baller who was softly kissed by the sun with his signature crazy curls was nice. Nice was not an adjective used to describe Chad. They thought him divine, heavenly, splendid or “Lord Jesus help me” fine. Ladies couldn’t get enough of him. He was beautiful to look at and most didn’t take notice of anything else but the physical. He was soon dubbed LLC, Ladies Love Chad, by his teammates.

“Yo, LLC, nice game tonight!” Fish hollered across the locker room. “We thought you would freeze up with all the media coverage, but you did the damn thing!” Fish was obviously impressed.

“LLC? What the hell is that?” Chad questioned taking off his sweat drenched jersey. “Ah, I get it! Ya’ll making fun of my business degree. Yeah, yeah, I’m a limited liability corporation kind of brother! Don’t hate!”

“Man what are you talking ‘bout?” Lamar Odom asked through fits of laughter. “LLC stands for Ladies Love Chad. I know you heard of Ladies Love Cool James. LL Cool J, well it’s the same thing. Kinda.”

At this point the entire team erupted in laughter. Trevor, Kobe and Andrew were damn near doubled over in pain from laughing so hard. Others were writhing on the floor because they simply fell out with Chad’s explanation of LLC. Chad started laughing too. He simply couldn’t help himself. If they were laughing at his expense, he didn’t seem to mind.

“Yo, rookie. You alright man!” Andrew still laughing came over to give Chad dap.

“Let me ask you a question, man. Why do you always have to act as if you know everything? Damn! I thought I was bad,” Kobe said still laughing.

“WHAT????” the entire team exclaimed.

“Yo, K not for nothing. You still act like you know you everything,” Luke Walton offered.

Chad smiled looking down at his jersey in hand and asked, “Do I really come across as if I know everything?” Purple and gold certainly do make a beautiful combination, he thought. Lakers colors, who knew?

A collective “YES!” came from the team. Stories started flying about training camp and how Chad knew how to set up the best practical rotation of weights and aerobics for an effective workout. Diversifying your portfolio versus purchasing CDs. The best methods and times to practice and call for a scrimmage match. The stories kept coming.

Leaning against his locker, Chad knew he was guilty of all they said. Damn, I miss you so much you’ve become a part of me, Chad reflected.

“Dude what’s up? You’re looking at your jersey as if you’re ready to make love to it. It ain’t going nowhere. Throw it in with the others, you’ll get it back. I promise,” Fish chuckled.

“Purple and gold, dude. Never really paid attention to the colors before,” Chad grinned. Gold was of course his favorite color and purple, well. Purple was hers.

“You Omega Psi Phi dude?” Fish asked.

“Nah. Never pledged,” Chad answered. “Just loving the color combo, that’s all.”

Over the years, Chad had taken to injecting purple into his clothing choices as a covert op of communicating his affection for this particular person. Anyone who knew her, really knew her, wouldn’t miss the subtle yet obvious hints he threw down on occasion. There were so many color combos that signified something about their relationship and he would rock them every now and again. But purple…was special.

“Everyone knows you don’t take the girl with you after high school!”

Now why did I say some dumb shit like that? Granted they kept in contact over the last five years, but the general implication of that statement was you move on from high school relationships. The funny thing was it was never an adolescent high school relationship. It’s simple really. It was love. Pure and true, with the bumps and bruises that go along with it. Exhaling deeply, Chad looked up, licked his lips and uttered her name ever so quietly.

“McKessie.”