Chapter 24
“You are not about to chicken out now, are you?” Sakani asked.
“Man, who even says stuff like that? I’m a grown ass man. Do I look like I’m about to chicken out?”
“Well, the strong jaw flex look you have on your face right now makes me think you scared.”
“That’s because I’m trying to think about what I’m going to say.”
“Start with I’m sorry.”
“She doesn’t like those two words.”
“Well, you should have prepared a speech or something because we here now.”
“Sakani, just get out the car. Let’s go.”
“Now you want to be mad at me? If you needed help with your speech, you should have asked ahead of time. I just came along for backup. This ain’t even my scheme.”
“I don’t even know why I brought you. I thought you would be of some help, but you ain’t no help to me right now.”
“Just wait until she see this cute face. She gon’ forget all about what you did to her.”
“If it works, I’ll take it.”
We got out of the car and walked up to the door of Shanet’s family farm.
They lived on a decent plot of land. If I grew up in a place like this, I would’ve never come to the city, but I knew she had her own issues with her mother.
Still, this was the most peaceful place I had ever been, which was why I understood her running away.
I knocked and waited for about a minute. Nobody answered. I knocked again. Same thing. I didn’t even hear anybody moving around on the inside.
“Come on. Let’s look around,” Sakani suggested.
“Sakani, we can’t just walk around people’s property. Let’s wait until somebody comes to the door.”
“Okay, well, you stand there and wait. I’m going to walk around and see what I can see. It is nice out here.” He walked around to the right side of the house, and as soon as he did, he smiled. “They back here. Come on.”
The porch wrapped around the whole house. I walked to the corner and could see Shanet’s hair blowing in the wind. She was wearing a coat to keep her warm but sunglasses to block the sun. They were working in a garden that I could tell was well taken care of.
Shanet and her mother were working side by side. I could hear their giggles as I came off the porch and followed Sakani in their direction. I hoped that laughter meant they were working on everything that kept them apart for so long.
“Hey, Dr. E, you miss me?”
Sakani jogged toward Shanet and her mother. I walked behind him because there was nothing I could do to keep him away from his favorite youth counselor. Sakani had made a bond with Shanet so strong that I may as well shut up when it came to those two.
“What are you doing here?”
“We came to get you. We ain’t had a Taco Tuesday since you left. Somebody been depressed.” He tried to whisper as if I couldn’t hear him. Sakani was a traitor, and I knew I’d never win with him when the choice was between Shanet and me.
“You didn’t even stick around for the last one.” She playfully punched him on the shoulder.
“Hey, gorgeous.”
“So you brought Sakani as backup. Smart move.”
“He’s always my favorite play.”
“Yeah, that’s because you know it works.”
“Yo, can I talk to you for a minute?” I checked.
“Uh, yeah. Sakani, can you keep my mom company until I come back?”
“I got you, Dr. E.”
Sakani walked over to Shanet’s mom, and she came toward me. We kept walking until we were out of earshot, but we could still see them.
“So, you came home, huh?”
“Yeah. I had a lot to figure out. I needed to know why I was stuck in the cycle of trying to fix people. I realized it was due to not healing from what I went through as a kid. All I wanted to do was make my mom better so that we could have the life that I thought we deserved, but no matter what I did, it never worked. Now that I’m an adult, I had to realize there will always be times where it ain’t nothing that I can do. ”
“Yeah, I get that.”
“I know I shouldn’t have been there with Devonte that night, but he made a threat on your business.”
“Yeah, I found out about that. That’s the last threat he ever gon’ make.”
“I’m glad you know now, but honestly, if you would’ve given me a chance to explain that night, the way you felt about the situation could have been avoided. It’s the same thing you did in the beginning.”
“I have a problem with trying to leave people before they leave me. I’m working on that.”
“I understand, but I can’t help you with that.”
“You don’t have to. I’m not asking you to fix me, Shanet. I’m asking you to stay while I fix myself.”
I pulled the ring that Mama Bea helped me choose out of my pocket and dropped down to my knee. Her eyes immediately started to water. Sakani and Shanet’s mother stopped in their tracks like they had been watching the whole time.
“Shanet, you have changed every single part of my life. I knew you were special the first time I saw you at that group home. I knew I loved you when I saw how much Sakani felt loved when you were around. The relationship you have with him is so natural. Nothing about it is forced or fake. I walked into the group home to adopt a kid and left with a whole family. You are home for us. So, I’m asking if you think we could be home for you.
Will you spend the rest of your life with me, baby? ”
“Yes.” Shanet bent down to hug my neck before she kissed my cheek. I stood and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around me as our lips connected again.