Chapter 15
Clear Vision
Amir was in the passenger seat, talking like he had the whole day planned out already.
I let him talk, keeping my hand on the wheel, eyes on the road, mind somewhere between today and everything else I had on my plate.
Amir was brushing his waves every few minutes like somebody was watching him. I glanced over every now and then and just smiled at him.
That was my boy.
We pulled up to the mall and stopped at the food court first. Amir was already complaining that he was hungry.
After getting food, and while he was telling me all the stores he was trying to hit up after, we made our way to the suit store.
Keith, Sammy, and Ricky were standing outside the store, looking at the bitches as they walked by.
I laughed as we walked up on them.
“Wussup nigga,” I said as I dapped them up.
“My mans bout to be a husband, that’s wussup!” Keith yelled out.
I smirked, but didn’t feed into it too much.
They all tried to dap Amir up, but that nigga walked past everybody going into the store.
Inside the store, it turned into what it always turned into when I was with my people.
Noise, opinions, and movement.
Amir was trying on jackets, shaking his head at some, nodding at others as he turned in the mirror, adjusting the sleeves and shit.
Keith talking about everything I picked wasn’t “serious enough.”
Ricky and Sammy were just laughing, not giving any input at all.
I wasn’t rushing shit, just letting it all happen while I stayed in my own head.
I showed one of the ladies working the green and tan that Islah found, changing gold to the accent color.
She nodded like she already understood the assignment and started pulling pieces together without making it a whole production out of it.
That’s when Amir walked back out of the fitting room again, fixing his jacket like he was getting ready for something bigger than a mall mirror.
He turned around and looked at me.
“I said I wanted all black, but this green iight too.”
I walked out in my suit that matched his, stood in the mirror and adjusted my shit, then my niggas came out of their dressing rooms in their tan suits.
“Oh yeah, I never put tan and this dark green together,” Sammy said, adjusting his shirt. “I fuck with it.”
Ricky did the same shit. “Yeah, I fuck with this shit. Gotta put the gold slugz in for this one.”
“Oh, yeah, I got to,” Keith added.
I laughed. “Yeah, I fuck with this shit.”
Amir was still standing in the mirror, letting the tailor fit his jacket.
Keith clapped his hands together like he was the one getting married. “Man, this whole fuckin’ setup is clean. Ain’t nobody gonna look better than us in that building.”
Ricky laughed. “Facts, the first of our boyz getting married.”
Sammy nodded. “Yeah, this shit finna be a movie.”
I couldn’t even disagree with him.
But while my niggas were standing over there talking about jewelry, grillz, and other shit, I didn’t care about none of that shit. I was just ready for Islah to be my wife.
After we got measured, pinned, and everything else they needed from us, we left the store and headed back toward the food court.
The mall was packed as hell.
People everywhere carried bags, kids running around, couples walking hand in hand. The closer we got to the food court, the louder the noise got.
Me and my niggas looked at each other and walked out the door, not feelin’ the crowd.
They followed me to the steak house Amir liked.
We all parked side by side and walked straight in and were led to a table.
Me and my niggas ordered a strong drink, and Amir got some strawberry lemonade as we waited for the appetizers.
“In a few months, you will be married, my boy,” Sammy added.
I smirked as they placed our drinks down.
“Yeah…I wish it were sooner,” I said before taking a sip.
“You really want to speed this shit up? Most niggas be scared to walk down the aisle,” Ricky added.
“Hell nah, I know what I want.”
They nodded.
My phone rang, interrupting our conversation, and it was the realtor.
I looked at the screen for a second before answering, pushing my chair back from the table a lil’ bit.
“Yeah,” I said as I picked up the call.
She went on talking. I listened more than I talked. I nodded a few times to myself while she spoke, taking in all she was sayin’.
“Iight, I’m at lunch right now. I’ll be there after.”
I hung up the phone and sat back down.
“Nigga, what are you smiling for?” Ricky asked.
“I closed on a house.”
My niggas clapped for me while Amir’s eyes got wide.
“We’re moving, Dad? Into a house?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I had Islah pick out a house. She picked, and I made my moves behind the scenes. We closed on that shit today.”
“Damn, that nigga just doing it all at once. Getting married, moving out of the penthouse to a damn house—”
“Next thing is giving this nigga a sibling,” I said, cutting Keith off.
“A sibling?!” Amir yelled out. “On my mama, y’all are doing a lot.”
We all laughed at him.
“Yeah, baby boy, we got a lot going on.”
Our food finally came out, and we dug into it while talking about sports, my store, and what them niggas been up to.
Once we were all finished, Sammy had to skate off to cut somebody’s head.
We paid for our shit, finished our drinks, and threw money on the table before walking out.
“What’s y’all move for the day?” I asked Keith and Ricky.
“Shit, I’m tryna see the house,” Keith said. Ricky nodded, agreeing.
I laughed. “Iight, let’s ride.”
We all hopped in our whips, and we moved through town, making it to the other side where all the celebrities were, staring at all the houses that we passed in awe.
We made it to the house. All three of us parked in the driveway and hopped out of our cars.
“Damn, nigga,” Ricky said.
“She picked a mansion,” Keith added.
I didn’t say shit at first, just stood there looking at it. Three stories, dark brick with black trim, like it was fit for a nigga like me. The driveway cut, the grass was thick and a bright green, almost like it was fake.
But it wasn’t the house that had me standing still in that driveway, staring at it. It was the fact that Islah picked it, and it already felt like it fit us perfectly.
As we were walking up to the door, the realtor opened the door for us with a huge smile on her face.
“Welcome home, Mr. Mayer,” she said as she held the keys out for me.
I walked in, and we all looked around at the high ceiling with the black beams going through it.
The realtor pulled me to the side to sign the last bit of papers and send off the money, and she was along her way.
The air inside was clean. Empty, but not unfinished. Everything had already been handled. Floor done, lighting set, space wide enough to feel like something was supposed to happen here.
All of us walked through the house. I walked through room to room.
Kitchen, living space, stairs leading up. Every step I took, I was already placing her in it. Her walking barefoot in the morning, Her sitting at the island. Her voice echoing in a space that finally like hers—all hers.
Keith was still talking, but I barely heard him. All I heard was silence.
We made it back around the house, and I stopped in the living room, looking around once more, and pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked her location.
She was still at work.
“When we gonna move in, Dad?” Amir asked.
I took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to have the house fixed and shit and let her just walk in ready to live in it, or if I want to keep it blank like it is now and let her do her big one.”
Keith and Ricky nodded.
“Shit, nigga,” Ricky started. “You have to be doing it big already, keep it up.”
I nodded, taking in what he said.
“Me and Amir have to make some moves. We will holla at y’all later.”
We walked outta the house, and I locked it up. Me and my son and my niggas went our separate ways.
We spent the rest of the day picking out shit for the house, furniture for our room, and some shit that Amir wanted to add.
After that, we went and copped some clothes to be delivered to the house.
I damn near wanted Islah’s closet packed with all the handbags and outfits that she could dream of. I had the diamonds on deck for her.
Once me and Amir dropped the shit off at the house, I went and copped some flowers, and we headed home to find my wifey fixing dinner.
Amir ran over to her and told her about the suit fitting and how he looked in it. I handed her the flowers and looked deep in her eyes.
“What’s wrong, baby?” she asked me.
I licked my lips and shook my head at her.
“Nothing, baby.”
The truth was, she looked like she was glowing, a lil’ more than normal.
I loved that for her.