22. Gemini Black #2
“When we hang the phone up, text me over her mom’s number. I don’t have it. I need to call her right quick,” I said.
“Okay. I’ll do it now. I’m so excited,” she gushed.
I only stayed on the phone with Gianna for a few more seconds. I let her know that I loved her, and that I would sent her pictures and videos of some rings once I was inside the store.
As soon as we hung up, that’s when a text message came in from her.
The message was Amina’s mom’s number. I knew Amina’s mom didn’t play that shit.
She was the one I was nervous to talk to.
What if she tried to shut all this shit down, and told me that I didn’t have her blessing when it came to marrying her daughter?
Feeling like I might have been putting the wrong kinds of thoughts in my head, I went ahead, and dialed the number. I continued to post up on the wall, waiting for her to answer. She picked up on the 4th ring.
“Hello?” she asked it in a way like she was confused on who was calling her. She didn’t have my number, so that would explain why she answered the phone the way that she did.
“How you doing, Mrs. Sinclair? This is Gemini,” I spoke.
“Gemini, I’m fine. Is everything okay? Where’s Amina?” you could hear the worry in her voice. She sounded exactly how my sister sounded a few minutes ago when I called her.
“Amina is fine. We’re at the mall. She’s getting her nails done right now. I got your number from my sister. I wanted to ask you something,” I started.
“What’s going on? I’m all ears,” her response was firm.
Speaking to Amina’s mom, you could tell that she was an attorney.
She had a very authoritative tone. She was firm.
That’s how she spoke to me over the phone a couple of weeks ago, once the cat was out the bag to her that Amina and I were together.
I didn’t take offense to it though. She was just a mother that loved her children.
My mom was the same way with me, and Gianna.
“The last time me and you spoke, I told you how I felt about your daughter. I told you that I loved her and was in love with her. I don’t want you to think that I’m running game, or I’m gaslighting Amina, since it’s only been a month, but I don’t need anything longer than that for me to know that this is what I want.
Me and Amina have had some deep conversations on this truck.
Marriage and children is something that we’re constantly talking about.
I don’t want it to be something that doesn’t go past the conversations.
I actually want to move forward with it,” I went on.
I paused for a second, just trying to think about what I should say next.
“While she’s getting her nails done, I’m standing outside of Helzberg Diamonds.
I want to go inside and purchase a ring.
I already talked to my pops, and he told me to follow my heart.
I talked with Gianna, and she let me know the kind of ring that Amina would want.
Typically, I know that a man is supposed to go through his girl’s father, but being as though Mr. Sinclair isn’t here, out of respect, I’m coming to you.
I want to know if I can have your blessing on asking your daughter to marry me,” I went ahead, and asked it.
The second I finished asking the question, it got quiet as hell on the phone. So quiet that I could hear the breaths that she inhaled.
It had been three minutes and she still didn’t respond. I had to remove the phone from my ear, just to make sure that the call was still connected. It was. I guess she was just processing the things that I finished dropping on her.
“Gemini, I know that prior to Amina getting on that truck with you, that you two were no strangers to each other. Even with that, my daughter didn’t know you in that manner.
I think after you stuck that lizard down her shirt years ago, that she didn’t leave any room to want to get to know you.
After so many years went by, she’s stuck on a truck with you.
You two are sharing a small space, getting to know each other.
From what I know about men, I know that during those first few weeks, they often spend that time only showing the representative.
The person that you want a woman to see.
A lot of times, the man a woman marries doesn’t show up until much later,” she started.
I didn’t say anything. I allowed her to speak, just like she allowed me to.
“If I didn’t know you, and know your parents, I would have told you hell no to receiving my blessing.
I know the home that you come from. I know the way that Erica and Darnell raised you.
You come from a good upbringing, and that’s the only reason why I’m so sure that this isn’t your representative that my daughter has been getting,” she said, and I continued to listen because I knew she wasn’t finished.
“As a mother, I’ve witnessed my daughter experience a lot of hurt.
Her cries still hunt me from her father’s funeral.
Then, I watched a man come into her life, proclaim all this love for her, only to leave her high and dry just a week before the wedding.
Those are things that I survived. Amina barely survived them though.
I say that to say all of this…this isn’t me giving you my blessing to go ahead and purchase the ring.
This is me giving you my blessing to uphold my daughter to a high standard, and to not remind her of what hurt feels like.
She is the most precious thing that I have, and I expect you to treat her as such.
Do not promise my daughter a forever if you have no plans or desire to spend the rest of your life with her, proving it!
” her voice was firm, but I could also hear it shaking.
You could tell that she was scared for another man to have access to Amina’s heart. I took no offense to what she was saying. She loved our daughter, and I would want Amina to love, and protect our kids the same way.
“I understand. I can promise her forever because I plan to give it to her. I swear I love her. I promise I won’t hurt her,” I let her know.
I heard a sniffle come from her. After that, it’s as if she muted the phone. I knew she was crying. I allowed her to have that moment because I knew I was asking for a lot right now.
“You have my blessing Gemini,” she eventually came back onto the phone. I smiled at that.
“I appreciate you. You know I got her. She’s in good hands with me,” I promised her.
We talked for a little while longer. Just like my sister, Amina’s mom wanted me to send her pictures of the ring choices once I was inside the store. I let her know that I would do that.
From there, I walked inside, and I was greeted by one of the sale associates.
I let her know what I was here for, kind of described the ring that I was looking for, and she took me over to see some selections.
The whole time that I was doing this, I couldn’t help but feel like this was a dream.
I’ve never even come close to ring shopping.
I was young when I was in my past relationships, so talking marriage and children wasn’t even a thing for me at the time.
I was older now, and I had this beautiful woman by my side that’s been through a lot, and I felt like we both deserved this.
Because my sister did a good job describing the kind of ring to me that Amina would want, it helped a lot.
The second the sales associate showed me the round solitaire ring, I knew that it was the one for Amina.
I liked it because when you looked at it, it had that ‘old money’ vibe to it, and it exuded gracefulness and femininity, which were both of the traits that Amina possessed.
The moment I sent it to Gianna and Amina’s mom, they both immediately texted back, telling me that they loved it and that I should go with it. I let the sales associate know that I wanted to move forward with the ring. It was a pretty penny, but she was worth it.
After paying for it, I was able to hide the box inside one of the shopping bags that I had. I didn’t need her to see the ring.
As I was walking back to the nail salon, Amina texted me, letting me know that she was finished. I didn’t text back because I quickly rounded the corner and headed back to the salon.
I spotted her. She was standing up from her seat, grabbing her purse from the chair, so that she could put it on her shoulder.
“You like it?” she asked me once I approached her. She pointed down to her toes. I saw the light pink, and smiled.
“I like it. It’s beautiful, baby,” I let her know. I dug in my pocket, pulling out cash, so that I could tip her nail tech.
From there, I walked to the front, paying the tab on her services. We left after that, and I pulled her into me, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. She clung to me, melting in my arms like she always did, whenever I would wrap her in my arms.
“Where did you go? I see you have bags,” she inquired.
“I picked up some sneakers, and stuff. That’s it,” I was nonchalant in my response, knowing damn well that I had something in one of these bags that was going to change the entire trajectory of what it was that we were doing.
I was going to come up with a plan. A nice plan to propose.
Shit didn’t have to be big, and over the top because Amina already told me before in one of our deep conversations that she didn’t want a big grand proposal or wedding the next time around.
Whatever I came up with, I just knew that it was going to be special.