Oh Romeo, Romeo: Knight in Damaged Armor, #1

By Kendy Ward

Oh Romeo, Romeo 

Shiloh James is the quintessential good girl. Despite the devil whispering in her ear, she has decided to wait and trust that God can send the perfect man into her life. He would be a righteous and good man. He definitely would not be the National Basketball Association’s premier bad boy, Romeo Knight. 
From Shiloh’s first encounter with Rome there was something incredibly explosive between them, but not in a good way. Romeo Knight was annoyingly arrogant, incredibly selfish and inexcusably defiant. He was a wild haired, tatted up menace to society. Absolutely nothing like the Boaz she dreamed of. But dreams are one thing… and Romeo Knight was all together, something else. 

When Rome’s hot temper gets him indefinitely suspended from the NBA, God instructs Shiloh to help him. Although reluctant at first, she yields to the Holy Spirit, and slowly but surely watches Rome transform into the man God called him to be. Now she must determine if Romeo Knight is ready to be the man who will possess her heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vanessa Miller
• Release date: Oct 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781519936493

Book preview

Oh Romeo, Romeo

Kendy

Ward

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Book 1

Knight in Damaged Armor Series

Publisher’s Note:

This short story is a work of fiction. References to real events, organizations, or places are used in a fictional context. Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead are entirely coincidental.

Printed in the United States of America

© 2015 by Kendy Ward

Praise Unlimited Enterprises

Charlotte, NC

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical—including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system—without permission in writing from the publisher.

Acknowledgements

I thank God for His faithfulness. When He makes a promise to you it will come to pass. He has given me a gift that I will use to bring Him glory.

I am so grateful for my family who has supported me throughout this writing journey. I could not ask for a better group of people to call family. Mummy, Daddy, Denise, Philip, Quincy and Shantae. I am also grateful for the newest members of our little family, my nephew, Zylen and my niece, Zaire. They are Auntie’s future helpers.

Shout out to my BFF, Chanel, who has been reading my stories since the 8th grade. She has always believed in my gift.

Thank you to my church family at Hope United. Pastors Joshua and Keren Swilley, Apostle Duane Swilley, Prophetess Deborah Swilley, and Virginia Herrmann. I am thankful for their love and support. I would not be where I am spiritually without this ministry.

Shout out to Danelle McNeill. She has always been there when I needed her the most. I thank God for her in my life. She rocks!

Ann McNeill, the master builder building master minds, thank you for introducing me to the Mastermind principles. A goal without a plan is nothing more than a wish. Work the plan and plan the work. I got it.

I am also thankful for Vanessa Miller for giving me this opportunity to share this story.

Thank YOU for reading this book. I pray that you are not only entertained by these words but also encouraged and enlightened.

Dedication

Then the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is right for him....So the Lord God caused the man to sleep very deeply, and while he was asleep, God removed one of the man’s ribs. Then God closed up the man’s skin at the place where he took the rib. The Lord God used the rib from the man to make a woman, and then he brought the woman to the man. And the man said, "Now, this is someone whose bones came from my bones,

whose body came from my body. I will call her ‘woman, ‘because she was taken out of man." So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.

Genesis 2:18, 21-24

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This book is dedicated to all my saved, single sisters. God has not forgotten you.

One

Shiloh James was relieved when the South Florida Suns’ head coach, Tony Moore, put their star shooting guard, Romeo Knight, back on the court. While Knight was on the bench, avoiding foul trouble, the Suns fell behind the Cleveland Cavaliers by ten points. Glancing at the clock, Shiloh noted that there were only two and a half minutes left in the game. She doubted if the Suns could pull off a win with so little time left, but Knight was the league’s reining scoring champion so there was some hope. Maybe he would pull a trick or two out of his hat.

Shiloh loved basketball and had been a Suns fan ever since the team moved from Phoenix to her native South Florida. Unfortunately, her beloved Suns had never been able to capture the elusive NBA championship title during their ten-year tenure in the Sunshine State. As most folks did, she thought they would have won a championship with the arrival Knight, who was traded from the Heat in the LeBron James/Chris Bosh deal. In the years since Knight’s arrival, Shiloh had to begrudgingly admit that Knight had carried the team on his shoulders all the way to the playoffs each year. He was a good player. He was actually better than good. Most considered him one of the greats. It was just his bad attitude and even worse temper that were not so great.

Let’s go, Knight! Shiloh yelled from her courtside seat. She watched Knight pass the ball to the Suns’ power forward, Brent Sky Walker, who was standing wide open just beyond the three-point line. Shiloh cringed. Brent was her client, and maybe she should have been cheering for him instead of Knight. Truth was, though, that Brent shot a measly eight percent from the three-point line, so the chances of him making the shot were slim to none. Why in the world would Knight pass the ball to Brent? Yes, he was wide open, but Brent couldn’t make those shots even if he was wide open, standing in his driveway with her defending him.

Brent caught the ball, took the shot, and Shiloh moved to the edge of her seat. She watched anxiously as the ball arched through the air and toward the basket, spinning around the rim a couple of times before bouncing out of the basket. She exhaled, but before she could even inhale, Knight snatched the ball out of mid-air. He added his tenth rebound to his stats, giving him his fifth straight game scoring a triple double.

Shiloh jumped up out of her seat, and began screaming along with the other 40,000 fans in the Sun Life Arena. Thirty-five seconds now remained on the game clock, and the score was tied. Knight was about to single handedly give the Suns another win. He began to dribble the ball away from the basket to intentionally run some of the time off the clock, and allow his team to reset their offense. The Cavs were playing some tough defense, but Rome decided to split their defense, taking the quickest path to the basket straight over LeBron. Shiloh anticipated a block from the Cavs’ center, Anderson Verejao, as Knight drove to the hoop. She watched, and it seemed like Knight was gliding in the air. Verajao went down. Knight dunked the ball into the basket. The referee blew his whistle. Shiloh stood to her feet again.

Lord Jesus, please don’t let Rome act the fool. Please don’t let him say anything to this referee, and please, God, please don’t let him get suspended, Shiloh prayed under her breath. The playoffs were going to start next week, and the Suns had already clinched their spot as the  fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. Romeo Knight could not get suspended. It just couldn’t happen if the Suns were going to advance to the next round. Shiloh’s heart began to pound in her ears as she watched Knight. He looked like the vein on the side of his head was about to burst. He stormed over to the referee. Shiloh began to pray harder. The previous season, Knight had led the league in technical fouls, flagrant fouls, expulsions and suspensions.

What! Shiloh was close enough to hear Knight’s voice boom as he stood toe to toe with the referee. This particular referee was a ten-year veteran. He usually made good calls. This one, an offensive foul, charging, was very questionable. The argument between Knight and the referee quickly escalated, and the referee blew his whistle again, this time calling a technical foul. Shiloh wanted to throw herself on the ground. The crowed was booing, she was praying, and Knight was still yelling at the referee. Then the referee started yelling back. They were yelling all kinds of obscenities at each other. The Suns’ Coach was off the bench, trying to physically pull Knight away from the referee. Knight was not budging. The rest of the Suns team remained on the bench because merely walking on the court at this point could get you a technical foul. Shiloh already knew how this was going to end.

Knight swung at the referee. Jesus, be a fence. Rome has lost his mind. Of course, he was crazy. It was the only logical reason Shiloh could come up with for why he would do something so incredibly stupid.

The arena security quickly swarmed on the court to stop Knight from proceeding to beat the referee to a bloody pulp, which caused Shiloh to wonder if she was at a UCF fight or a basketball game. Security escorted Knight off the court as he arrogantly waved to the disappointed fans. Shiloh, along with everyone else was shell-shocked and kind of in a daze after watching what had just happened. The Suns could kiss a championship run goodbye.

~~~~~

Without pay! Rome yelled at his coach. I know you just lost your mind suspending me indefinitely...and without pay. He had showered and changed, and was now in his head coach’s office. He suspected a suspension. Why was it indefinitely? So what if he punched a referee? Hadn’t this scenario played out before in ’96 when Rodman head-butted the ref? He’d gotten a six-game suspension. Why was he getting an indefinite suspension? That was reserved for the alcoholics and drug addicts, which he was neither.

No, you lost your mind when you swung on Siegel, Moore yelled.

Rome was not phased because yelling was the norm with Moore. Coach, why is the commissioner acting like I sat in the middle of the court and snorted a line of coke? We got into a fight!

You punched a referee, Romeo!  That is not tolerated in this league!

He swung at me, too. I know you saw him swing at me.

Of course he swung at you. You hit him!

This is stupid, Rome muttered. Indefinitely? The playoffs were next week. He couldn’t be on no indefinite suspension. When is that punk gonna make up his mind about how long this suspension is?

The commissioner will make that announcement tomorrow, Moore said and went silent.

Rome hated when he was silent. Silence meant a lecture was coming, and he was in no mood for a lecture. Yes, he knew that he was thirty-one; he needed to grow up. Start being more mature and responsible. Yada, yada yada. He knew the drill. He heard it a lot. He was a butt head. He knew that. Truth was truth, and the truth is that if you keep telling a person a thing, he will become that that thing. He’d been called a stupid, good for nothing punk for a long time, and that’s exactly what he had become. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. Rome heard the Bible verse he’d memorized in days gone by. He was surprised that he still remembered that nonsense. He stood to leave but his coach’s words stayed him.

Why are you so angry, Romeo?

Rome spun around and glared at Moore. He stared at him long and hard, but Moore didn’t fidget or look away. Rome had asked himself that same question so many times, too many times to count. Sometimes it seemed like his anger would eat him alive. It would just overtake him. It caused logical thought to cease. Like he knew what he did tonight was dumb. It was careless, stupid, selfish, and caused a lot of hard work to go down the drain. Yet, in that moment of anger tonight, all he could concentrate on was the fact that this man had wronged him. It wasn’t an offensive foul, and the referee knew it too. It was a very questionable call. That enraged him, and he lost control.

That’s how it had always been. He’d curse at someone or hit someone. Since he was a child, he’d constantly gotten into fights with his brothers at school, at church, wherever. The first time it happened, he was seven. He had picked up a knife and hurled it at his older brother, Jason. The knife grazed the side of Jason’s face, giving his brother his signature scar. It was then that his mom realized that his fits of rage were not normal. Counseling didn’t work because he couldn’t tell the therapist why he was so angry because at seven years old, he didn’t know how to put it into words. Now at thirty-one, he knew why he was so angry, and wished that he didn’t.

I’m praying for you, Moore told Rome.

Whatever, Rome snorted. Prayer was bologna. Christianity was bologna. His daddy was a pastor. He stood in that pulpit every Sunday representing a God who was love, yet Rome never felt that love from his father.

Rev. Dr. David Knight Sr. preached that fire and brimstone, the you’re going to hell gospel more than the for God so loved the world gospel. He ruled his household and his pulpit with fear. He often quoted Proverbs 1:7. It was his way or no way. At sixteen, Rome’s brother, Jason, was the hottest DJ on their island of Grand Bahama in the Bahamas. If there was a party going down, Jason was the DJ that had to be there, and he was referred to simply as That DJ. As his popularity grew, it became difficult to hide what he was doing from their father. When their father found out, it hit the roof. There was no way he was going to allow his son to play devil music. He found where Jason was storing his DJ equipment and hauled it all off to the dump. He trashed thousands of dollars worth of equipment and records. Jason had worked hard, saving up the tips he made as a bagger at the local grocery store to buy his first DJ set. Music was Jason’s passion, but that did not matter to Rev. Dr. Knight. He threw out the music, and then threw Jason out just as easily.

Nine-year-old Rome was the youngest of the five Knight brothers. He was close with them all, but he was closest to Jason, despite their eight-year age difference. After the incident, the family started to fall apart. His brothers started moving away. First David Jr., the oldest, got married and moved out. The twins, Randy and Storm, high-tailed it to New York to study at NYU. Within a year, he was the only one left in the house, and that left him with no one to turn to. He felt alone, and at times he felt like his brothers had abandoned him. The only thing he had was basketball. He would stay on the court for hours just so he wouldn’t have to go home. It was just him and his ball. Now it looked like basketball was about to turn its back on him too.

I have to pass on this message even though I don’t want to. I like you, Rome. You’re a great player, but you are becoming more of a liability than an asset. Coach Moore said. The powers that are in the front office don’t like liabilities. Your time with the Suns is very limited.

Rome pulled out of the Sun Life Arena parking garage with a lot on his mind. He didn’t like being introspective, but right now he couldn’t help it. He was angry. Angry about everything all the time. "Be angry and sin not". Rome heard another scripture and almost looked around to see who had spoken those words. He wasn’t trying to hear it when his father was preaching it, and he wasn’t trying to hear it now. He picked up his phone and dialed his best friend’s number.

Richie! He smiled into the phone. Rich and Rome were high school basketball rivals who both ended up at the University of Miami, and there, their rivalry turned to friendship. Rich left basketball behind and entered the music business, where he soared higher than he ever would have on the basketball court.

What you doing right now? he asked Rich without any preamble. Rich went on to tell Rome about an album release party for another popular rap artist that was about to jump off. Rome had never been able to resist a good party, so he told Rich he would meet him at the South Beach club where the party was being hosted.

Rome got on I-95 south, heading to South Beach. Again, his thoughts began to become reflective. The indefinite suspension had him thinking about what life would be like without basketball. He was going to be thirty-two in a couple of months. If he was lucky, he might be able to play for four seasons at the most, but that was pushing it. He had been blessed to have an injury-free career. He was pretty healthy, but the truth was that he could not play basketball forever.

He had been thinking for the last year about what he would do when he retired. There was not anything he loved doing more than playing basketball. He considered a lot of things like acting. He had done a couple of acting gigs, and had been pretty good at it. Good enough to have Hollywood calling his agent with some offers. Nothing he was interested in, but it was an option.   At this point, he was not passionate about anything as he was about basketball. He just couldn’t imagine his life without basketball. It had been with him for such a long time. He sighed. Would he become a statistic like so many other used-to-be superstar athletes? Buried in debt and working a nine-to-five?