Caesar’s car rolled to a stop in one of the reserved spaces in front of the athletic facilities. There were only a handful of cars in the parking lot, but it was expected as the sun had yet to make its ascent over the horizon with only a few rays starting to brighten the sky.
Stepping out of the car, he walked to the trunk to get a duffel bag and a pair of shoes. It’d been a week since he’d done any type of intense workout and he was beginning to get stir crazy with only going to class and going back to his room. It felt odd, unnatural. If the powers that be expected him to only go to class like other students, they might as well rip up his scholarship and send him packing.
And it was that need for physical activity that got him out of bed early that morning.
He let his key card dangle from the lanyard wrapped around his wrist and waved it in front of the pad for 24/7 access. He heard the telltale beep and reached for the door, but it remained locked.
He swiped the card again, heard the beep and tried the door, but it was still locked.
Running his finger across the back of the card to remove any dirt or stains that might have been interfering with the signal, he tried the card a third time but yet again, the door didn’t unlock after the beep.
Screwing his face up in anger, he waved the card repeatedly in front of the pad while yanking at the door but it was all for naught as it wouldn’t open.
He threw the duffel bag down and leaned against the door to peer into the building. Spotting someone cleaning, he banged on the door to get their attention. After what felt like an eternity, they looked up and removed their ear pods before walking over to the door.
“You need to swipe your card!” the guy inside shouted, pointing to the pad.
Caesar obliged, swiping his card then pulling on the door to show that it wasn’t working for him.
“Just let me in,” Caesar said. He held his card up so that the guy could see that it was his picture on it. “You know who I am.”
Confused, the guy pointed to the pad again. “Sorry, bro! But you have to swipe your card to get in before eight! If it’s not working, that means they deactivated it for some reason! You’ll have to come back then!”
“Open the fucking door!” Caesar shouted, smacking his hand against the glass. He yanked on the handle a few more times before hitting the glass again. “Open it, bitch!”
The guy stepped away from the door and walked back to where he had been cleaning before and picked up his cell phone, coming back while dialing a number. He glanced at Caesar as he brought the phone up to his ear.
Growing angrier, Caesar pounded his fist against the door to get the guy’s attention.
“Open the God damn door!” he yelled.
Stepping back to the door, the guy showed him the phone. “Hey, man! You might want to leave. I just called security.”
“Fuck security! I’m not worried about any damn rent-a-cops!”
Moments later, a couple of campus police officers in a golf cart pulled up next to Caesar’s car. They got out and took a look at the car before walking over to Caesar.
“What’s the problem here?” one of them asked, putting his hand on his belt near his tazer.
Caesar gave them both a once over before waving his hand dismissively. “We don’t have a problem here. This fuck won’t let me into the fucking building even though he clearly sees that I have a card but the shit is broken.”
“He said it’s probably because your card has been deactivated,” the second officer said, walking around so that he was behind Caesar. “If that’s the case you’ll need to leave and come back later when there is someone here that you can talk to about that.”
“But after this, you’ll need to let us know when you’re coming back so that we can escort you through the building,” the first cop said. “Just to make sure that everyone’s safe, you know.”
“Fuck out of here with that shit. No one’s going to do anybody anything as long as this fucker opens the damn door. All three of you know who the fuck I am. I don’t understand why you’re giving me a hard time right now. It’s too early in the morning. I just want to work out. That’s it.”
“You want him to leave?!” the second officer shouted to the guy inside the building who shrugged and then nodded. The cop turned back to Caesar. “Sounds like you have to leave, kid. I suggest you do or we’re going to have to have you trespassed.”
“I just want to work out,” Caesar repeated as he picked up his duffel bag. “I don’t know what’s so hard about that.”
“Go run the levees like they used to do in the old days if you want to work out so bad, but you’re going to have to leave,” the first cop said, unclipping his tazer.
Caesar rolled his lips into his mouth and glanced at the cops. A part of him wanted to continue to argue his case. Another part of him told him that he could take them, tazers and guns or not. Sighing, he swiped his card once more and tried the door only for it to remain locked.
“We’re not going to tell you again.”
Throwing the card in the direction of a nearby garbage can, Caesar walked back to his car and threw the duffel bag into the trunk. The two cops followed him and stood waiting for him to get in and leave.
He reached into his pocket for his keys and stood at the driver’s side door for a moment. He remembered the stories his father had told him about how players in the NFL found out they’d been cut during preseason.
The same way he was just denied entry to the building.
Feeling the angry at the thought bubbling up, he punched the rearview mirror, bending it back.
“Hey!” one of the cops shouted.
“Fuck off. It’s my shit,” he said before getting into the car, cranking it up, backing up and driving off back to his room.
“This why no one majors in math,” Kwame said when he still couldn’t understand what was being explained to him.
“No one majors in math because there aren’t any jobs for someone who majored in math,” Devin said. “Other than being a teacher and wouldn’t it make more sense to major in education at that point?”
Kwame shook his head. “All that wasn’t needed, bruh. I just need the answers to this midterm and I can crush it and go on with my life.”
“If one of us had the answers to the tests, we wouldn’t need to be sitting in here trying to figure out how to solve this stuff,” Jessica said. She looked at Devin. “But one of us in here should be able to get the answers to a test pretty easy.”
Ella looked up from her phone. “Aren’t you in a sorority? I’m sure there are cabinets of tests somewhere for y’all to look at whenever you need to pass a class.”
Jessica shrugged. “Yes, but I don’t know if that stuff’s old or not. Devin can just go pull some strings and get whatever he needs so they know that he’ll be playing Saturday.”
“This is Tulane, not Alabama,” Devin said. “They do like to at least pretend that we’re students first. I think we’d have a better shot at getting the answers from you than we would getting them from me.”
“I don’t have a problem with doubling our chances with both of you trying to get the answers and seeing where we end up,” Stuart said. He glanced at Kwame. “Not that I’m really struggling with understanding all of this, but I wouldn’t mind it being a bit easier.”
“Man, fuck this. Let’s just finish tomorrow. I’m trying do something more entertaining then looking at a bunch of numbers and letters,” Kwame said, dropping his laptop into his backpack.
Stuart shrugged and started packing his stuff up. “I don’t have to be told twice to find better to do than this. I’ll see y’all later.”
He was out of the door before anyone could return his well wishes.
“Are you going to try to get the answers to the exam?” Jessica asked Devin as she stood up.
Devin shook his head. “Nope. Not really my thing. You can ask around and see if any of the other guys can help us out, though. I’m sure they’ve all taken this class already so one of them is bound to have something.”
She rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything as she left.
“So, what y’all getting into?” Kwame asked Devin and Ella.
“I’m just chilling here, man. Sometimes, it’s good to get out of your room and do absolutely nothing somewhere else,” Devin said.
“And you?” Kwame asked Ella.
“I have something I need to do in 30 minutes so I’m just sitting here until I need to go back to my room and do that,” she said.
“Why don’t the two of us go back there now?”
“Yeah, no. That’s not going to happen for you,” she said, laughing. “I have a boyfriend.”
Kwame sat back in his chair, shaking his head. “Well, damn. I thought I had a chance to see what that mouth do.”
“Not a lot if you’re wondering.”
He stood up, still shaking his head. He leaned over and offered his hand to Devin who dapped him up. “I’m going to see y’all tomorrow when we pretend we not all going to fail this midterm Friday.”
“See ya around, man,” Devin said before returning to idly tapping on his tablet and staring at the wall ahead of him.
“You’re really just going to sit there doing fuck all?” Ella asked a few moments after the door closed.
“Yep. If you knew who my roommate was, you would understand why I’d choose sitting in here with you over going back to my room.”
“Damn, Devin. You don’t have to make it sound like I’m such a bad person to hang out.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, he sighed. “Shit, my bad. I didn’t mean it like that. I was just saying that being around anyone else is better than that.”
“I got you. My roommate went to rehab or some shit right after the start of the semester so she hasn’t been around. I guess being in New Orleans makes everyone go a little crazy, you know?”
“Yeah, seems to be something of a trend.”
Devin looked over as he heard Ella start shuffling her things into her bag.
“Your thing get moved up?” he asked.
“No, it starts when I want it to. I just wanted Kwame to fuck off. Never did like the nagging type,” she said as she stood up from the table. “You could join if you want or come with me and join in person.”
“Join what?”
She held up a finger as she tapped out a message on her phone. His phone dinged a few moments later with a text from her containing just a link. He clicked it and had to do a double take before looking at her then back at the phone.
“This is you?” he asked.
“Yep. Could always use a stunt dick if you’re interested. I’m in Decou. Just text me,” she said before leaving the room.
He glanced back over his shoulder as she left before taking one last look at what she’d sent him and deleting it. He figured he was better safe than sorry given Carla had free reign of his phone whenever the two were with one another.
He leaned back in the chair and decided to use the rest of the blocked off time to catch a few z’s.