Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
AHKEEM
Snapping out of my thoughts, I faced Jazzlyn. “What do you want to do? You wanna leave?”
The news of my father dying hit me like a ton of fucking bricks.
I always warned him that the bottle would lead him right to the grave, and I wasn’t wrong.
A part of me felt like ever since my mother died, he had been chasing death.
He would’ve offed himself if he had the courage to fucking do so.
He finally got his wish. He was back with my mother… his true love.
“Nah.” I shook my head. I reached behind her and grabbed a bottle of Casamigos from behind the bar. “Keep this shit going.”
“Ahkeem－”
“I’m good, Lovey. We’ll deal with it later.” I popped the bottle of Casa open before taking a shot straight from the bottle.
The fight had finally come to a fucking end for Kareem.
I loved my father. He was a good man when he wasn’t hooked on a bottle.
My mother was always concerned about him.
He was forgetful a lot of the time and didn’t take life too serious.
Everything was a joke to him, even raising us.
My mother was the disciplinarian, while he just laughed all the rebellious shit we did off and covered for us.
She always told us the reason she married him was because of his sense of humor.
The man could make her laugh at the drop of a dime.
He enjoyed making her come to tears in laughter.
It got to a point where Khadijah, Niema, and I thought his silly-ass dad jokes were corny as hell, but my mother still doubled over in laughter each and every time.
Their marriage was the true definition of “through thick in thin.” He loved her until she took her very last breath and so did she. I looked up to my father for a couple things. For one, he didn’t play about his fucking wife.
I remembered when I was in middle school and some nigga got to talking to my mama crazy in the parking lot of the grocery store.
I watched my dad lift that nigga up from the ground and toss his ass to the other side of the parking lot.
From there, he proceeded to beat the brakes off of ole boy.
My mother stood back with a smirk, almost like she knew she had the power to make him unleash the monster within him.
She was his trigger and walked around like she was the most protected woman there was.
That was what I strived to be for Jazzy.
I wanted her to feel safe with me no matter what.
Then there was the fact that he made sure to always make shit happen for us. Kareem was the type of nigga to make a way out of no way. He was crafty with his hands, creative as fuck, and always had a connection to get him what he needed. We never went without, even when money was tight for us.
Lastly, he used to know what to say and when to say it.
My father was wise beyond his years when he was in his right fucking mind and wasn’t drunk.
We used to have these talks whenever I was spiraling.
He talked me off the ledge more times than I could count.
That was why I made it a point to bust that illegal U-turn in traffic when I caught him stumbling down the block.
We sat on the curb and talked for hours.
He told me how he wanted to make my mother proud; however, he was struggling because he never envisioned life without her. She was his forever, and their time got cut short.
For the rest of the night, I got fucking shit faced. Happy fucking birthday to me… right? That drunk-ass nigga decided to gift me with the news of him finally making it to Heaven with Mama like he always talked about since she passed. Shit was crazy.
“This nigga wilding, fam!” Kross laughed while pointing at me as I stood on top of the bar.
“It’s his birthday! He turning the fuck up!” J’Ru added.
The facade was believable to everyone but Jazzlyn. In the cut, as she stood alongside Angie, Zylynn, Taylor, Remedy, Jadey, and Britain, I watched her face contort into a worried expression.
She excused herself from the ladies and began striding over to me. Even though she was rushing over to me, she couldn’t help but to have the aura and gracefulness of a model as she made her way across the rooftop.
“Ahkeem, get down,” she gritted at me, trying not to make a scene.
I eyed her, debating on if I wanted to kill my own vibe. If I continued to deflect, I wouldn’t have to walk into the coroner’s office so soon and identify my pops. “Please.” My wife doubled down, and I could see the desperation in her eyes.
I never wanted to see that look in her eyes. I got down from the bar, and she took the bottle out my hand. “Oh shit! Wifey had enough of the shenanigans!” Jersey called out.
“He needs to sit down somewhere,” Jazzlyn laughed it off while leading me toward the other side of the rooftop. I was feeling nice, but I knew the conversation she was fixing to have was gonna sober me up real quick.
“Baby, you need to talk to your sisters.”
I scoffed. “They ain’t give a fuck ‘bout him no way. I’m the one who was running ‘round the city after him trying to get him better. They up and left soon as Mama died.”
“I understand that, Ahk, but you can’t possibly think you can get through this alone. You buried your mother with them by your side, and it was still hard as fuck. You can’t bury your father without them. That would kill you.”
She had a fucking point. We were a family unit and held each other up throughout the entire process.
It was a few months after my mother was laid to rest when Khadijah left for Atlanta.
Then a few months after that, Niema left for L.A.
The grief hit us all differently. While I decided to face the storm, they ran in the opposite direction.
Her gentle hands cupped around my face as she peered into my eyes.
I knew to her, my eyes were glossy because I was taking the bottle of Casamigos to the head, but in reality, a nigga was holding back tears.
I was happy my parents were finally back together, but damn…
where did that leave me? I wanted so badly for my pops to get right.
Although I gave him shit about it, I really thought him moving to Louisiana would force him to be better so he could eventually come back and meet Saphir.
I always told my son how fucking cool my pops was, and I even took after him when it came to parenting.
I wanted Saphir to get to experience the good side of Kareem for himself. Now it would never fucking happen.
Without me even saying, my wife knew I needed a hug. She pulled me into her arms and held me tight. “I’m sorry you had to find out on your birthday. We will get through this just like we get through everything else.”
“Shit starting to feel like we taking loss after loss. First our baby, now my pops. I can’t believe this shit, yo.”
“I know. Nothing I say can make you feel better right now. I just need you to surround yourself with family so you can have the strength to see this through. Okay?”
“I got you, Lovey. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Get fucking faced at the bar and look a damn fool,” she teased.
I chuckled. “You lucky I ain’t fuck the set up with my mean-ass moonwalk.”
“That would have been a sign to shut this whole party down.”
“Jazzy, that surprise, it’s ready for you.” Britain approached us with a giddy smile on her face.
I bumped my brows together. “What’s ready?”
“Shit, I almost forgot,” Jazzlyn sighed as we parted from the embrace we were in. “I have a surprise for you.”
I peeped Britain as she handed Jazzlyn the mic. She tapped it, catching everyone’s attention before cutting into the music. “If everybody could please make their way down to the ground floor, I have a surprise for my man.”
Everybody hyped the surprise up, building up the anticipation. We made our way to the factory-like elevator, and because of the number of people who were in attendance, it had to take three trips. Jazzlyn purposely made sure we were on the last trip. “Lovey, I said no more gifts.”
She smirked. “You deserve it.”
Once the elevator door lifted and we navigated out of the building, we were met with our family and friends crowding the block. They all had their phones out recording, ready to catch my reaction.
“Yo, what did you do?” I chuckled while shaking my head.
She took my hand and led me through the crowd. Once we got through, I could see a matte dark brown Tesla Cybertruck parked at the curb with a bow on it. My mouth dropped. How she managed to get this without me knowing was beyond me!
“Surprise, baby!”
“Yo! This shit fire, son!” I exclaimed, still in shock.
She laughed, enjoying every bit of my reaction.
I wanted to jump up and down like a kid, but I knew if I got to doing too much, I would barf up everything I fucking ate because of the liquor I had been throwing back.
I rushed over to my wife and quickly lifted her from the ground.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” I repeatedly kissed her lips.
She giggled as I spun her around. “I know you were debating on getting it, so of course, I shut you down so I could get it for you,” she recalled the conversation we had a few months back.
Money wasn’t an issue with us, but I never wanted to get to a point where I no longer understood the value of a dollar, so I spent my money as wisely as I could.
When it came to big purchases, I always consulted with my wife first. I went to her about the Cybertruck, and she shut me down, claiming it was too flashy and looked like one of Saphir’s building blocks he played with.
I canned the thought and never entertained it again.
Little did I know, she was fucking planning on surprising me with it.
“See, this what the fuck happen when two bosses get together! That’s the shit I like to see!” Mirsad clapped.