Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 109178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
“I know I’ll beat yo’ ass in about any game you might have. I don’t care if it’s Resident Evil, Diablo IV, Assassin’s Creed, or Call of Duty. I will wipe the floor with you.”
“Oh, really?! Let’s see you put your money where your mouth is! How about a healthy wager?”
“No problem, Top Dog. How ’bout fifty bucks to the winner and whatever drink of our choice? I’ve got expensive tastes, so be ready to go broke fuckin’ around with me.”
“Oh, I ain’t never scared, baby. It’s on. Strap up. I’m takin’ you to the crib. You’ll walk in but leave limpin’.”
“Well, take me home then, big boy! All that big talk. Bark and no bite. Be prepared to be embarrassed. Humiliated. I specialize in breakin’ big mothafuckas like you.”
“Let’s see about that…” Lennox chuckled, then turned on some different music: ‘Like That’ by Metro Boomin, Future, Kendrick Lamar, DaBaby, Ye…
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Head Games
Megan Thee Stallion’s, ‘BOA,’ blasted through his living room speakers while Lennox beat Nadia’s ass like a drum in a game of Resident Evil. He was able to set it to multiplayer, and though she was getting slaughtered, she was still holding her own.
“Turn that shit up!” she barked, dark rage in her eyes as her bruised ego swelled and angst grew.
“Hey, don’t catch an attitude. You did this to yourself.” He tossed up his hands, stifling a laugh. “You wanted to play against me, instead of us working together to kill these motherfuckers. Teamwork makes the dream work.”
“I work alone.” She cackled. “Seriously though, I’m just not familiar with this version is all.”
“Another one is coming out soon.”
“I’ll play that one, too. See, you have an unfair advantage ’cause you play this a lot and I’m rusty. This is Resident Evil 4, right?”
“Nah, baby. This is Resident Evil 6. I’ve got Resident Evil 7, too. Biohazard. That one is totally virtual reality though, and freaky as hell. I also have Resident Evil Village/Shadow of Rose. That one is pretty good, too. R.E. 7 though I’d have to say is one of my favorites. It takes place in an old house where an experiment went wrong.”
“That actually sounds fun. I may want to look at that later on.”
“I have 4 though, if you want to play that instead.”
“No, this is fine. I didn’t like the one set in Africa.”
“Yeah, a lot of people feel that way, but it helped the storyline move forward. I’m more of a Call of Duty man, but this is cool, too.”
“I guess. Anyway, I’m still a better player than you. Just watch!” she snapped, her eyes glued to the large screen as she barely avoided yet another run-in with a dangerous beast.
“Pshhh! I got way more kills than you, girl. Doesn’t matter how quick or pretty you move. A dead man is a dead man. You suck. Just admit it. Don’t get mad, get even.” He poked the bear, loving taunting her. She shot him a crossed look. He winked at her, she rolled her eyes, licked her nail, then presented her erect middle finger with the same hand. Sexy, mean ass…
Laughing, he grabbed his stereo remote and turned the volume up so loud that he could barely hear her cursing him out now. She began swaying to the music while she played the game—laser-focused as she aimed at several aggressive zombies that were gunning for her.
He noticed his favorite baseball bat rolling from beneath the couch, pushed it aside, then sat back down next to her. Here they were. Two thirty-something-year-olds playing video games… No judgment. No shaming. It was so natural. As natural as day and night. She said she wasn’t a gamer per se, and he didn’t coin himself as one either, but he enjoyed it. It was something to do. Something to concentrate on. Something to drown out his troubles in.
“When d’you first start gettin’ into this?”
“Resident Evil?”
“Well, no. Video games in general.”
“Oh.” He yawned and leaned back. “There’s no story, really. I just… wait.” A memory resurfaced, one he hadn’t mulled before. “You know what? I take that back. I actually started playin’ them a lot more after my mother passed away. Silva and I were showered wit’ a bunch of gifts from our father when Mama died. I guess he thought that would ease the pain. A bunch of materialistic shit. Got pain? Throw money at it.” He made a gesture as if he were making a free throw in basketball and shook his head.
“Money don’t do shit but train us to not feel anything, but that’s short-lived. Sounds like your father was trying to help, but didn’t really know how.” He nodded in agreement. “My mama didn’t have money to throw at me and my brother when upsetting things happened to us, but she’d turn on the TV and allow us to watch somethin’ we wanted to see, or cook a bunch of food. A damn hot dog and a Tyler Perry movie ain’t gonna make me any less sad that my daddy was with a whole ’nother family… and he accepted his new wife talkin’ to me any ol’ kind of way, which made my mama all crazy.” She sucked her teeth.