All She Can Take

T W E N T Y - F O U R

College 

Sophomore Year - Four Years Ago

Her chest heaved as she lugged herself up the hill toward the gym. Sid thanked god that she wouldn't have to actually work out when she got there. She was just meeting Aiden so that they could go to the dining hall for dinner. Her Spanish seminar had kicked her ass and she was ready to stuff her face and block out the fact that she still couldn't speak in the language after two semesters. She was sure that she would have to beg for another B this term...hell at this point she would even take a C just to be done with her foreign language prerequisite. It was times like these that she wished she had just gone into a regular culinary program back in the city. But she knew that she wanted to be more than just a line cook. Owning her own restaurant was her goal so she needed the business acumen too. It was exhausting having dreams.

Three petite girls in flimsy hoodies made their way down the hill with matching ponytails sweeping their shoulders. People who worked out never seemed to get cold. She tried to look less exhausted. Like this trudge wasn't making her calves ache. Like a swath of sweat wasn't growing under her boobs beneath the thick sweatshirt she layered over a thermal shirt. It was late November and only a few days before everyone was set to leave campus for Thanksgiving break. Her mother, Tanya, had demanded that she spend this Thanksgiving with her and her sister after she skipped out last year and spent it with Aiden's family instead. Tomorrow morning she would have her last class and that afternoon Whitney would be waiting to throw a pillowcase over her head and kidnap her to their mothers. Sid's chest burned at the thought of it. Or because of the hill.

She cursed Aiden under her breath. It was his fault that she was even going up here. She had never found a reason to go on her own but it had become a second home for Aiden over the past few months. At the start of the school year he had begun a new workout and diet regimen out of nowhere. All of a sudden trading their dates at the local Cold Stone for intramural basketball with his new friends. Sid tried to be a good sport and even watched a few of his games in the beginning but the bro-y, shoving and shit-talking wasn't really her style so she fell back. And the girls that hung around? They were either hopelessly obsessed with the latest Fenty Beuty concealers (not her thing) or knew from memory who was on the starting lineup for the Laker's during the 2005 season (also not her thing). The time spent around this new crew involved Sid being terribly quiet. Eventually, she just stopped showing up and decided to get what little time she could in her boyfriend's arms whenever she could.

Those arms as well had changed though. Along with his face and seemingly everything else. That chubby face that she used to love running her hands across had slimmed down into a chiseled chin and strong jawline that she still had a hard time recognizing as his from far away. His love handles had melted away, leaving a smooth midsection that she wished she had the chance to see more of over the last few months. She didn't know how many pounds he had actually shed but if she had to guess, she would put her money on it being somewhere around forty pounds in the time it took Labor Day to turn into Halloween. He was a man obsessed. She was just trying to keep up.

The hill finally leveled out as she approached the double doors to the gym. Sid sucked in air as her out of shape heart banged on in her chest. After showing ID at the desk, she dodged a bank of cardio machines before crossing the trophy clad hallway to the basketball court. The crash bar slamming against the door echoed as she entered the silent gym. She expected to see the usual crew hustling up and down the court but instead she saw a small group of people sprawled comfortably on the bleachers. It pulled her back to a time when she and Aiden were in high school. Before everything happened.

On half-days of school, instead of going straight home, she and Aiden would board the D train and ride all the way uptown to Harlem to watch the best in streetball play at Rucker Park. It always seemed like half the neighborhood was out there, especially on one of those really nice days when New Yorkers took back the streets. Setting up card tables and chairs on the sidewalks to play dominoes. Or cracking open a Johnny Pump that shot water into the street to drench kids and passing cars alike in cool water. If they were lucky they could squeeze into a little spot on the bleachers and watch. She loved those moments. Aiden on one level, his arms around her shoulders as she nestled in the spot between his legs on the level below.