🌎 🌎 “Path to Manhood” by Dane C. Hawkins

Jairus: “I don’t have you yet. How can I let you get away?” “ So I guess if I didn’t call, you would cut me off, huh?”

Lisa: “I’m just trying to avoid playing games, Jairus. I won’t sit here and claim to know exactly what I want or how to go about getting it. I just know I like being around you and want there to be more time with you. And up until Friday I thought that was a mutual feeling.”

Jairus: “This conversation just got real serious all of a sudden…well let me ask you this. Are you saying that you want me to be your man right now, at this moment?”

Lisa: “I’m not saying that we need to commit today. We both just got out of a relationship. We need time and I know that. I’m not trying to force it and I’m not trying to get too deep on you. BUT I’m not trying to play games either. I’m a girl with a big heart and right now that heart wants you. Oh yeah, and I’m not some little tramp you can toy with either.”

Jairus: “I feel you. I mean, I understand where you’re coming from. I’ve been told you that I fall fast, so I guess I have that big heart problem. I guess I just went through it this summer with the Tania shit and then your letter surprised me a little bit…”

Both Jairus and Mike stay up until nearly 2:00 a.m. in the morning on the phone with their respective phone mates. They’ll both soon find out whether that was the best decision for them in other ways besides being sleepy in class the next morning.

7

“Anything I Have That Is Worth Keeping Is Worth Puttin In Work”

Sophomore year is moving along smoothly for everyone and the first semester is nearing the halfway point as they near the middle of October. All four of the friends made a pact to try their best to bring in 4.0 grade point averages after a freshman year of high expectations and mixed results. The biggest inspiration for the pact was the shock that Paul did not return to school that year. It made the reality of flunking out of school feel very real for all of the guys in their crew of friends. They also found superficial motivation in seeing Duc be rewarded with an SUV for his grades the previous year. It gave all of them the hope that they could possibly inspire their parents into similar displays of appreciation in their own ways. Most of them also have personal goals set for themselves although they never shared those specific goals with each other.

After one successful party comes and another unsuccessful one has gone, Duc decides that he wants to try and step his game up and move to clubs. This is mainly because there is never a peak time of year for a club, and except for on homecoming you know what club is hot and which is not. As usual, he tends to have too much going on at one time but has the uncanny ability to manage everything he takes on from switching to a double major to tracking down club managers to working out party logistics all while still juggling his female friends.

Ovaughn has made a point to think for himself and stop letting his friends, specifically Duc, influence his decisions. This has been mostly inspired by him beginning to learn that managing a basketball career and maintaining an engineering major will be very difficult. And the person who has been the most understanding and his biggest support is the person that he has been advised to keep at a distance as he becomes more popular. That just wasn’t adding up to him and now that basketball practice is in full swing his father has become more and more forceful in trying to motivate Ovaughn with basketball and less concerned with anything else. He finds that Kennedy is even good at helping him deal with that relationship as well.

Jairus realizes that it is time for him to try to move on past the hurt he feels from Tania. Which has come as a surprise to him since he never acknowledges that he still feels anything for Tania at all. It’s hard to realize when something is wrong if you don’t even realize the truth yourself. Lisa helps him figure that one out, so he also decides that it’s time to stop being anti-relationship. A part of him feels foolish that he is struggling with it to begin with as if he isn’t supposed to have to deal with his emotions. That stems from him always trying to present himself as a composed, controlled, and unbothered source of strength.

And Mike…well he’s in the midst of an internal war. He has committed himself to keeping Monique at arm's length, metaphorically speaking. The problem is that even though he knows that’s what he needs to do his heart is telling him something totally different. He has always been one to lead with his emotions and this fight is one that he isn’t sure he can win. As he has gotten to know Monique more, they have become very comfortable with each other, which has led to more flirting and an intense amount of sexual tension and intrigue between them. Mike finds himself having feelings for her as if they are growing toward a relationship without the possibility of a true relationship. Plus, he is now always wondering if she’s with her boyfriend when she isn’t talking with or around him. And on this late Tuesday afternoon it is the only thing that he can think about as he sits in his dorm room alone moping over what he can and can’t do. He really wants the time alone to be able to clear his head of the depressing things on his mind. But as most of us know that is the time that you’ll think of those things the most. So, it is good for him when Duc comes in even though he doesn’t think so. Duc instantly starts in on Mike, “Dog, I know you ain’t in here lunchin’ off that girl again. Damn nigga, just call her and tell her how you feel.” Mike replies with one of those dead stares that is supposed to signal for Duc to back off. Of course, he ignores it, “Maybe she is just waiting for you to take her from her man. You know there are some women that just operate like that. Never want to be alone so they stay with a dude until they find something better.”

“I don’t want to take her from her man…what good is that shit gonna do…I’ll just be…Man, just leave it alone,” Mike says as he blurts out a reply. So instead of continuing on that path Duc asks him if he wants to go grab something to eat.

No matter how busy or upset any of them may be, eating always seems to be the thing that gets them motivated. This is probably why whenever a member of this group of friends is missing you can probably find them at the cafeteria. And today is no different than any other as Mike and Duc run into Jairus as they approach their destination. Naturally he is on his way inside also, so they enter together.

Normally the most important part of going to the cafeteria, other than the food, is to socialize but today the three of them just sit and eat. Mike is sitting there sulking and the others being quiet to avoid bringing up why he’s sulking. Everyone is eating; everyone is observant; everyone is silent. And the first one to break the silence is Jairus asking, “Ya’ll think we can catch Ovaughn’s practice before it’s over?” Ovaughn has already started practice with the basketball team even though the season doesn’t start for another couple of weeks. And since he must eat his meals with the team on Tuesdays and Thursdays none of his three friends has seen him since they got out of class.

Since he began playing with the basketball team a year earlier neither Jairus, Duc, nor Mike have been to a practice even though they have been to every home game. So, the idea is an original one that everyone agrees on. They quickly finish eating and make their way over to the gym where the team practices. There they finally get a first-hand view of the crowd that is attracted by the practice sessions. Ovaughn has always told them of the popularity of practice but until you see it, it’s hard to believe. The point that Ovaughn has been trying to convey to his friends is plainly evident now as they mingle through the crowd that consists of mostly women. Ovaughn views these women as current fans and potential problems. While Jairus views these women as victims of society that have a need for the attention of those that they think are the dominant figures in their environment. As usual, Duc views these women as clients first and exploits second while Mike is pretty much just looking through them caught up in his own thoughts.

The guys pull Duc away from the masses and try to get a good view to see what Ovaughn is doing on the court to find him in the middle of a scrimmage. The team is playing second squad versus first squad with Ovaughn at the shooting guard position on the second squad. The guys instantly notice one of the consensus favorite teachers, Mr. Carter, on the bench of the second team. They are shocked not only at him being a new addition to the coaching staff, but that Ovaughn never mentioned it to them. His squad is down by 11 points with 9 minutes left on the scrimmage clock, but they have the ball, and the back-up power forward is putting on a show for the crowd. So naturally Ovaughn keeps feeding him hoping to benefit from the attention that he is drawing from the help defenders. Ovaughn finds that even though he’s a freshman, or maybe because he is a freshman, the power forward isn’t looking for any help to try and close the gap in the score. And he single-handedly gets the difference down to five points before the coach tells the first team to start with a full court press. This is when Ovaughn really gets the opportunity to shine because he has to control the ball in order to help his team break the press and as soon as he touches the ball within 3-pt range he lets it go and starts cutting back into the lead that started growing again with the press.

Ovaughn spent most of the summer with one of his brothers and his father working on his jump shot. They told him that if he is going to play for a team that he has to be the best that he can be and with the addition of a deadly three-point jump shot in his arsenal the first squad has to make a point to stop him from stealing the spotlight. For some it’s because he is a young guy with talent, so he has to go through the normal team hazing rituals. Others do it to make sure their positions are safe, not realizing that their attention on Ovaughn draws the attention of the coaches even more.

Now the second squad pulls back within six and is back on defense fighting through the hard picks being set by the first squad. The crowd is into it now with the freshmen and sophomores having their own cheering section led by Duc and Kennedy, who has been there from the start. Ovaughn plays off of his man since he doesn’t have the ball and as soon as they try to set another pick and roll play, he jumps in and intercepts the pass intended for the starting power forward. As he races down the court alongside his opponents, he notices the same freshman power forward hustling down court with him and leaves the ball in the air in front of the rim for the highlight show, and the crowd goes crazy. Ovaughn has always enjoyed basketball and one of the major things he enjoys about it is that he feels he can become someone totally different when he’s on the court. His father always told him the player who is afraid would lose no matter the talent level so you should always be confident on the court even if you’re overmatched. So, when Ovaughn is on the basketball court he goes into a zone. He stops being the quiet, soft-spoken person who is only open with a small few to a commanding presence ready to lead his team into battle and talk trash to anyone in his way. He is such a good court leader that the second team eventually comes back to tie the score by the end of the scrimmage just to lose by a couple of free throw shots on a foul call from a last second shot. Even with the loss his teammates and coaches all see just how good he can be and the potential he has to work with. He feels like he earned a little more of the respect of the team with that performance.

The scrimmage ends and the team huddles together to get a final message from the coaches then they are dismissed to the locker room. Ovaughn immediately makes his way over to the crowd looking for Kennedy. In her support of him, Kennedy has made a point to start following the team closer and has been present for all of the scrimmages so far sitting in the same general area. Luckily for the guys, she finds them before the game is over and they are all there together as Ovaughn comes over to the crowd. Kennedy approaches him first greeting him by placing her hand on his cheek and saying “You played a good ass game O! You keep that up and they will mess around and kick you off the team for trying to embarrass people.” She can’t help but smile from ear to ear because she is so happy at seeing his hard work speak for itself on the court. He thanks her and they makes plans for them to meet up before dinner to hang out. She departs with her friends from the track team saying goodbye to the fellas. Ovaughn then greets his friends with daps and hugs. They are gloating about the performance he put on as if they were on the court playing with him. He is just happy to see them finally make it out to a scrimmage since that is all he has played in up to this point. The fact that they are so excited makes him extremely happy, but he isn’t going to allow them to see it for fear of getting joked on, so he just plays it cool as if the performance meant nothing. The fellas also have something to say about the exchange between him and Kennedy. Mike has always thought she is cool so there is no surprise in hearing him speak highly about her supporting Ovaughn. What is shocking to hear is Duc talking about her in high regards. Ovaughn tells the fellas he is going to shower and grab some food from the cafeteria to bring back to the dorm and see them there to play video games. They part ways and he does just that, meeting them in his room about 40 minutes later.

Ovaughn finishes his lunch as the guys play video games and immediately goes to check the messages on the room phone. He realizes that he has a message from his father, Oscar, telling him to call home when he gets a chance. So Ovaughn finds a phone card to make the long-distance call back to Charlotte and find out what his father wants. There is a major change coming for his family in the immediate future. Ovaughn’s father is a part of the training and coaching staff for the NBA team in Charlotte and earlier that year the team decided to move to New Orleans. Which means Oscar’s job is moving to New Orleans with them. All summer long Oscar has been doing his best to avoid having to up and move everything to New Orleans because he is tired of moving around so much and isn’t interested in being far away from his two older sons who have now grown roots in North Carolina. He makes a couple of short trips to New Orleans over the summer but now it is time for him to be on site with the team and there is no avoiding it. He tells Ovaughn that he is going to drive down alone and will be making a pitstop in Atlanta to see his son on the way. He will be staying in a rental property month to month until he finds another job in the Charlotte area or determines he and Ovaughn’s mom, Omelia, will have to permanently relocate. This is very disappointing news to Ovaughn because everything that feels like home to him is there in Charlotte. The possibility of his parents relocating while he is in college hit him harder than he expects but a big part of it is some of the sad memories of moving around in his childhood. A part of him is sad he will no longer be close enough to drive to see Kennedy during the summer if this move actually happens. He doesn’t let on to his father that it bothers him and solidifies the expectations for when he will arrive in Atlanta the next week and they get off the phone.

When Ovaughn tells his friends, which now includes Rob and Chris, none of them seems to think it is that big of a deal. Duc even goes as far as to say he shouldn’t be in Charlotte anyway if he secures an internship for the summer. None of which is what Ovaughn is interested in hearing. They are trying to provide solutions when he is looking for emotional support. But he can’t get that from a group of 19-year-old testosterone-filled guys playing video games. So, when Kennedy finally calls to see if he still wants to hang out before dinner, he shot out of that dorm room to go meet up with her as fast as humanly possible. When he arrives outside of her dorm room Ovaughn uses the dorm's outside phone to call up and let her know he is downstairs and takes a seat on one of the benches out in front of her dorm. In no time Kennedy is coming out of the dorm and walking up to Ovaughn with a big embrace. They sit back down outside since it’s a nice day and Kennedy starts to congratulate him again on his game earlier that day. She also talks about how they are about to start practicing indoors before she stops herself, finally noticing that he is somewhat distant. She asks him what’s bothering him, expecting him to be in a much better mood after how things were when they last parted ways. He tells her about the surprising news he received from his father and that it is bothering him. She instantly leans over and gives him another big hug trying to comfort him. “Why do you think it’s bothering you so much?” she asks, stroking the back of his neck with her fingers.

He takes a long pause to try to think about why it’s really bothering him. “I’m not sure. I guess I’m just tired of all the moving around. Charlotte is the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere. The only place where I feel like I somewhat grew up with people.”

Kennedy then interjects saying “it’s home.”

Ovaughn responds with a look of agreement and of happiness about the fact that she understands him when no one else has seemed to. It made him feel even more comfortable with her in that moment then he had already become.

“And it’s going to suck if we move away after I get a girl who lives an hour away. You think I’m sad now, wait until this summer.”

There is a moment of silence after his comment as Kennedy processes what he was saying to her and gives him a chance to correct himself if need be. And then in her true form Kennedy is very direct in her response to Ovaughn saying with a big smile. “So let’s unpack this. Are you saying…a PART OF why you are sad...is because you won’t be able to spend the summer with me?” To which Ovaughn only responds by looking intently into her eyes. She then continues. “Well you should know you don’t have to worry about me. I’m not going anywhere...if I’m your girlfriend.” And as assured of herself as she typically is she can’t bring herself to look up at him after her statement. But she is relieved and pleased to hear him respond by saying “You already are.” She instantly starts grinning from ear to ear and lifts her head to lean over and kiss Ovaughn. It’s not the first time they have kissed but it is definitely the most passionate one to date as all the others were just a quick peck as he dropped her off inside the doors of her dorm. They spend the next couple of hours on that bench holding hands, discussing what the relationship now means, occasionally kissing more, and synchronizing their schedules for the upcoming week including his father's visit to town.

Eventually they part ways as the time approaches in which Ovaughn had planned to go to dinner with his friends. Kennedy also wanted to go check with her friends to see if they wanted to go eat so they parted with the promise to see one another in the cafeteria later. When Ovaughn arrives at the cafeteria he immediately heads to the area they tend to sit in and sees his friends already have a couple of tables for the group. He walks up just as Mike and Duc are coming to the table with their food and Jairus and Rob are getting up to get in line. He hops in line with the two of them and couldn’t wait to tell Jairus about his good news. Jairus, still in limbo about his own love life, congratulated his friend but couldn’t help but feel a bit envious that Ovaughn seemed to be putting the pieces of his love life together nicely. Rob just had jokes about how excited Ovaughn was to have a girlfriend. As they got back to the table they barely sat down before Rob started sharing his jokes with the rest of the guys. Initially everyone is a bit lost as to what he’s talking about until Duc realizes what he means and mumbles under his breath “about damn time you smartened up.” Ovaughn tries to ignore the comment but can’t help but be surprised yet again by Duc seemingly being in support of Kennedy and responds to Duc saying, “Dude, what the fuck is up with you? You suddenly acting like I’ve been BSing with Kennedy but you were the main one talking about everyone being single. ESPECIALLY ME! I don’t get it.” Duc looks up at Ovaughn for a second with a look of frustration that he has to explain himself. Then he says through bites of his food, “You right. I did say you need to take advantage of being on the team earlier this semester. But what may be good for me isn’t what’s good for you dog. You are into that chick heavy! And I ain’t never seen a girl hold a nigga down like that who wasn’t even her man yet. Not a smart one who looks like she does. She like that! You see anything better walking around here? You better lock that up nigga. I’m happy for you.”

Duc extends his fist to Ovaughn to give him a pound as a show of congratulations. Shocked at the response he got, Ovaughn just gives Duc a pound and lets it go. At this point he’s just happy to have his support after thinking in the back of his mind Duc would be the one person that had something negative to say about him committing to a relationship. Almost on cue, Kennedy and a couple of her friends walk up to the table of guys and ask if it is cool if they take the remaining empty seats at the table. She is immediately met with jokes from Mike and Duc about wanting to be up under Ovaughn already and she responds with a huge smile and shameless confirmation softly saying, “You damn right! Now make sure nobody takes these seats while we go get some food, please.” She and her friends then walk away to get their food as the fellas laugh. As they walk off Jairus wonders what’s up with Lisa and at the same time Mike notices Monique sitting with her boyfriend and others across the cafeteria. Duc’s thoughts are only of which one of Kennedy’s friends Chris is going to try to holla at so he can beat him to the punch. Although neither girl will be entertaining their advances that day. Some of the guys find out the hard way just how witty and funny Kennedy and her friends are. To the point that a few of them even mention to Ovaughn the next day how cool she is and how she didn’t make them feel like they had to hold back around her. He couldn’t be happier with that response assuming this meant they could all be around each other regularly when he had free time between class and basketball.

That school week passes by quickly in anticipation of Ovaughn’s father arriving that weekend and that Friday afternoon he arrives and checks into his hotel. Oscar contacts Ovaughn and tells him that he will be taking him and his friends out to get dinner that evening. Ovaughn, Ducron, Jairus, and Mike sat in the dorm awaiting his planned arrival to campus at 6:00 pm debating where they should go eat. Oscar left it up to them to pick the place to eat since they know the area better than he does. Once he arrives, they split into two cars and end up at a local sports bar that is a popular spot with the area college kids and is known for their wings. Being a sports man this is right up Oscar’s alley, and he spends the evening trying to ingratiate himself with Ovaughn’s friends even more. This is somewhat off-putting for Ovaughn because he isn’t used to this people-person version of his father. He is accustomed to his father trying to use everything as a coaching opportunity and focusing too much on his basketball and not enough on everything else. When Oscar gets around to asking the fellas how they feel Ovaughn has been doing with the basketball team he is almost relieved to see his father acting normal for once. What Ovaughn doesn’t realize is that in heading out to New Orleans Oscar is feeling like he has to disconnect even more from Ovaughn than he already has been and is making an effort to get to personally know the people he spends most of his time with. All Ovaughn sees is his father behaving abnormally and putting on an act. That is until the fact about him having a girlfriend comes into the conversation. Oscar then begins to sound like he’s preaching to his son “Ovaughn...focus and determination! That’s all you need at this point in your life. A distraction like a girlfriend doesn’t have a place if you want to be successful on the basketball team.” He then tries to mask his concern as intrigue and asks the guys all about Kennedy. “So, somebody tell me about Ms. Kennedy since she seems to have my sons attention.” Mike described her to him as the person who knew her best but when Oscar spoke about the potential for her to get Ovaughn off track it is Duc who comes to the defense of Ovaughn and Kennedy. “Actually Mr. Stover, she is an athlete as well and a very focused one at that. She is easily one of the best on the girls track team as a sophomore. She definitely is not playing around with Ovaughn’s time. She might be more dedicated than him. And we not letting him slip up. We got you.” Oscar changes his tone once he hears about how highly the guys speak about Kennedy and asks Ovaughn, “Well then, will have the chance to meet her during this visit?” This is the last thing Ovaughn expects to hear from his father this evening but agrees to see if she will have time to meet him before he leaves for New Orleans. His father suggests “Why don’t you bring her along tomorrow when I take you to get a mobile phone.” Ovaughn is in shock and doesn’t even say a word. He just stares at his father wide eyed waiting to make sure he’s serious. “I have to be able to keep in touch with you better if I’m in New Orleans.” This is very exciting for Ovaughn as he will be the first of his friends to have a mobile phone now that they are becoming more popular. Generally, the only people with mobile phones around campus at that time are students that had a job to afford that luxury or “silver spoon” kids whose parents could afford that type of expense.

The next day Ovaughn has practice in the morning but there is no scrimmage. So, around lunch time his father arrives to pick him up from his dorm to go shopping for the mobile phone. The night before he spoke to Kennedy, and she is willing to accompany them, so they are stopping at her dorm to pick her up before leaving campus. When they arrive at her dorm Kennedy is sitting outside in front of the building awaiting them. Ovaughn hops out of the car and opens the door for her to get in the back seat. When he gets in, he immediately introduces his father to Kennedy and Oscar greets her with a very warm welcome. He immediately asks about how they met, and they give him a short version of the story leaving out the parts they feel are inappropriate for their parents to know. He continues asking her what she is studying and some in-depth questions about her track career at college. He’s interested in how she finds the right balance between school, sports, and a relationship.

“So how do you expect to continue to be successful if my son is wasting your time when it could be focused on track?” Oscar asks. This left Ovaughn in shock more than Kennedy with his jaw dropped looking at his father in embarrassment.

Kennedy pauses to think about her answer. “I can’t say that your son is wasting my time. Just as I don’t think I’m wasting his time. Anything I have that is worth keeping is worth putting in work in order to keep it. I believe that goes for everything we have in life. My level of focus is up to me and my support system should just help me with that. We are both athletes so we both know what it takes and we support each other.”

Oscar, impressed with the maturity of her answer, has a look of approval on his face after her response as he glances at Ovaughn. “If my son had your mind-state he might be playing on a full scholarship right now.”

“I’m not sure you know just how strong his work ethic is because I have seen him putting in a lot of work. I think he just needed the right motivation.” She isn’t trying to imply anything disrespectful to Oscar, she is getting a bit protective of Ovaughn after the derogatory comments that were made. She naturally comes to the defense of her boyfriend even if it is his father. Oscar, on the other hand, immediately gains respect for Kennedy for not cowering under the pressure of such an awkward situation. It doesn’t take long for him to see what is appealing to Ovaughn about Kennedy. Her confidence is admirable. He looks over at Ovaughn. “Duc was right. I like her a lot.” This gives Ovaughn a huge sense of relief as he exhales a large sigh. It gives Kennedy pause to hear that Duc, of all people, said anything positive about her.

They arrive at the store and Ovaughn and Kennedy begin to peruse the options for mobile phones. Ovaughn, being the first of their groups of friends to get his own cell phone, is completely unfamiliar with what he should be looking for beyond what has the best look. They quickly get the help of a sales associate to determine the best-looking phone to appeal to Ovaughn and Kennedy that also fit within the price range for Oscar. Oscar had recently acquired a mobile phone of his own to be able to be easily reached by his family while working in New Orleans and he has no intention of paying more for his son’s phone than his own. This, of course, came to the dismay of Ovaughn who has expensive taste. They came to a compromise and get Ovaughn’s mobile phone activated and like that, he becomes the first person in his social group to have a mobile phone. A feat that he hopes will make him the envy of his friends as well as others. They leave the store and continue in the shopping center as Oscar wants to make sure he takes care of anything outstanding his son may need before he is off to New Orleans the next morning. When they finally return to campus Ovaughn has everything from toiletries to new clothes and Kennedy even got a T-shirt she thought was cute in the process. They drop Kennedy off first and then Oscar drops Ovaughn off with plans to return in a few hours for the two of them to have dinner together one last time. When Ovaughn finally gets back to the dorm with his friends he can’t wait to show off his mobile phone. He knows that, if no one else, Duc is going to be envious of the phone and he did not let him down. Accustomed to always being ahead of the curve, Duc finds it hard to not make it about Ovaughn beating him to it and promises to get his own mobile phone soon.

At dinner that evening, Oscar took his son to a restaurant that wasn’t too nice but it was nice enough that he wouldn’t be able to afford it himself. Their conversation centered around the transition Oscar was making to New Orleans and how he planned to make it feel as seamless as possible for the family to remain as connected to him as they usually are. He explained his plans to regularly fly back to Charlotte to spend time with Ovaughn’s mother, Omelia, and vice versa throughout the season. He also planned to make the same efforts to stay plugged in to Ovaughn’s schooling and developing basketball career at college. Naturally he talked about the work Ovaughn will need to do to be successful and spoke about the relationships he’s currently developing being a good support system for him. It made Ovaughn feel happy and even accomplished to gain the approval of his friends and girlfriend from his father. He doesn’t feel like he has those opportunities very often with his father being so demanding at times. He is a very disciplined man who believes in hard work as an expected part of making life work. It hasn’t always left a lot of room for anything other than him pushing Ovaughn to be better or “more than.” But this evening was different because even Ovaughn could feel his father trying to connect in a way that was more caring and less pushy. Oscar is going hundreds of miles away from his entire family, and even though Ovaughn doesn’t quite understand his father’s perspective since he is already away, a part of Oscar feels like he is abandoning them and his responsibility to protect. His inner turmoil spills over into a semi-emotional display that is unfamiliar and slightly off-putting to Ovaughn, although if he were forced, he’d have to admit he likes his father this way. Oscar even finds himself providing relationship advice to his son and explaining that he met his mother very young, and it is the best thing that ever happened to him. Warning him not to mess up a good thing because it will be easy to do wrong, but it takes work to do right. As the evening came to an end Oscar drops his son off and gets out and gives Ovaughn a huge bear hug as they said their goodbyes. He tells him he will see him for Thanksgiving, he will call him once he is settled in New Orleans, and he loves him. As Oscar drives off those emotions of not being able to just go home and see his father begin to feel real. Ovaughn suddenly has a sense of sadness he can’t explain because there isn’t anything he can say is wrong or at least not anything he knows how to express.

After a restless night of sleep Ovaughn wakes up in a somber mood still feeling a weird sense of abandonment. He is up hours before he expects his friends to be up but can’t get back to sleep so instead of lying there at the crack of dawn he decides to get dressed and head over to the gym to get up some early morning shots alone. He spends almost 2 hours in the gym practicing and returns to the dorm well after 8:00 a.m. When he arrives Jairus is up and on the phone with Mike talking about getting breakfast along with Chris and Rob. They are willing to wait for Ovaughn to get cleaned up but he isn’t really in the mood, so he tells them he’s going to try and catch up with Kennedy for breakfast, so they won’t question it. They head out and Ovaughn heads for the shower. As he cleans up and gets dressed, he then gets a call from Kennedy asking if he wants to grab something to eat but he still prefers to be alone for the time and tells her he already ate. Now knowing full well he can’t pop up at the caf alone, he grabs a snack out of his room stash and throws on some music. He finds himself searching for something to occupy his mind and starts on some homework he would normally have waited until the late hours of Sunday evening to complete at the last minute. A couple of hours pass, and he finds himself starving, watching the clock in anticipation of the 11:30 a.m. start of lunch service. He’s all but done with his work and no one has come back to the room, so he is prepared to go have lunch alone until he hears a knock on the door. It’s Duc coming from across the hall looking for someone to go to lunch with. Ovaughn assumed he was with their friends but he was actually passed out asleep in his room from being out late the night before. Duc hasn’t eaten all day at this point so he tells Ovaughn he will be ready to roll in about 30 minutes and left the room before he had a chance to make up an excuse not to go. Although his preference is still to be alone, he is feeling somewhat better than earlier, so he doesn’t fight it when Duc shows up ready to head to the caf.