Chapter 4
ADRIAN
“When I look at the sky, I think about how exciting it must be to know that every morning and every evening, you get a different perspective of yourself.”
I glanced at Kwamé out the corner of my eye. She and I laid in the grass, looking at the sky. Jessie had a time chasing the ducks and now, she was fast asleep on my chest.
“You high, baby?” I asked Kwamé.
She burst out laughing. “No! I’m just saying. Imagine being a canvas for someone whose artistry is unmatched. The brush never changes, but no two paintings are ever alike.”
Damn, that was deep.
“Kind of reminds me how love should feel,” she murmured.
Oddly, I understood Kwamé. “Even when times change, love should remain constant. When you know the canvas, it’s effortless to continue to love it.”
Kwamé’s head turned. For at least five minutes, she simply stared at me.
One night, I missed Kwamé so much that I was tempted to hop in my truck and go to her, schoolwork be damned. I missed the nights she cooked. I missed the evenings we spent watching the sun go down. Hell, I missed the way her fucking house smelled.
I placed my pencil on the coffee table with my textbooks and papers, then scrubbed my hands down my face. I couldn’t concentrate because I was thinking about my girl. My phone rang, and I snatched it up with the quickness.
“Hey, baby,” I answered Kwamé.
“Hey,” she replied. There were only a handful of times she took the initiative to call me. I grinned stupidly.
“This is a surprise,” I stated.
She chuckled a little. “Oh… Yeah. I was just thinking about you.”
I paused to take in the fact that she admitted to practically missing me.
“I hope I didn’t interrupt anything,” she quipped.
“Nah, not at all.” Sighing heavily, I added, “I was thinkin’ about you, too.”
“Oh,” she responded. I heard the smile in her voice, and it only made me want to be next to her.
“So, now that you practically put a ring on it, what the hell are you gon’ do about clinicals?” Adir asked me, bringing me out of a flashback.
He, Alli, Antonias, Percy, and I were a block from Dr. Bell & Associates having lunch.
Every few minutes, I checked my watch to see if Kwamé was ready.
She was with the ladies, having a spa day.
Her ass hadn’t even texted me. Meanwhile, I was wondering if a nigga was massaging her feet and back. I frowned just thinking about it.
“I’m relocating back to Niceville Shores. I’ll be back in the clinic.” Shit, I couldn’t be away from my daughter and Kwamé. It was only right that I made the moves to be with them every night and every day.
“Good, ‘cause that lil’ girl has all of us wrapped around her fingers,” Alli chimed in. He was busy taking the pizza scraps Jessie offered him. “If she doesn’t share her food wit’ you, just know lil’ baby don’t fuck wit’ you.”
We all snickered because it was the truth. Jessie was getting to know the men in her life. She’d be able to trust them just as much as she trusted me.
“When’s the wedding?” Antonias questioned. Of course, he wanted to know.
“Bruh, we just became a couple two days ago,” I explained.
“And?” three voices responded.
I laughed. “Chill, damn.”
“Naw, ain’t no chill,” Antonias stated. “You ran back to her like a lost puppy who got caught in a catfight.”
The table rumbled with laughter.
“Plus, you not about to have my sister keepin’ house and home without a wedding ring. You got life fucked up if you think that.”
“Antonias is right,” Percy interjected. “If you know she’s the one, what are you waiting for?” Percy was sensitive about shit like this. Having tragically lost his family, he didn’t play about niggas fucking over a good woman.
The doorbell to Main Slice sounded, briefly grabbing our attention.
In walked a couple we knew all too well.
Well, we knew Bryan Holmes. He kept his wife in the shadows and barely let her ass come outside.
Word on the street was that his missus was pregnant.
From my spot, I couldn’t tell. That didn’t mean shit, though.
Mrs. Holmes was bad, so I could see how Bryan was stupid over her.
Bryan threw his head up at us as he led his wife to an empty table.
Noticeably, his wife’s eyes barely lifted from the floor.
Although a soft smile was on her face, it was more because that was her natural expression.
The smile didn’t so much as make her glow, and if I noticed that shit, then everyone else did too.
“Don’t be like that nigga, mane,” Percy commented. His eyes were on Mrs. Zia Holmes. “Zia looks unhappy as fuck.”
Our eyes bounced to Percy. His gaze was still locked on Zia.
“Percy knows Zia from back in the day,” Adir supplied.
For a brief moment, Zia glanced up. She looked directly at our table as if she heard us discussing her. Only, she looked dead at Percy.
Adir chuckled. “Easy, Perc. We ain’t tryna have a shootout in the middle of a pizza joint.”
We laughed and so did Percy.
“Facts,” Alli added. “Bryan be on the bullshit, but he better watch his step. It’s some hungry niggas ready to knock his ass off.”
Collectively, we agreed. Bryan was flashy and talked a lot of shit.
He’d only been through Dr. Bell & Associates once after being stabbed at a nightclub.
Since then, he’d been on his best bullshit.
He was practically begging muhfuckas to try him.
The way the young niggas were out here taking over every fucking thing they could get their hands on, he was going to meet his match one day.
“Like I was saying,” Percy continued, “Marry Kwamé and quickly.” He tweaked Jessie’s chin. “Don’t let another nigga get the opportunity to raise my niece.”
Hell, I didn’t want her own fucking daddy raising her. I’d be damned if I gave a random nigga the space to do so.
“All this marriage talk is too much for me,” Alli mumbled. “Y’all niggas gettin’ soft.”
“Right,” Antonias said. “Forgive us for being happily unified while you hop from bitch to bitch. Mind you, that shit is whack.”
The table rumbled with laughter again.
“It wasn’t whack until Bianca quit playin’ wit’ you, nigga,” I reminded him.
He waved me off. “It was whack, then, too. I was frontin’ like a muhfucka. My pillows were sick of me cryin’ on them bitches.”
We laughed so loud, Jessie shrieked louder than us. She had no idea what she was laughing at, but the sound of her doing so was all I needed to keep me grounded. I wasn’t fucking this up for nothing.
“Still can’t believe you were engaged to the enemy, nigga,” Dothan reminded Antonias.
Antonias grimaced. “Can’t believe that bitch threatened me.” He chuckled.
“The fact that you let her walk off that boardwalk is crazy,” Alli mumbled. “I was ready to bury that bitch.”
“Soon and very soon,” Antonias stated.
Dothan added, “Patience, Alli. We’ve got this.”
An hour later, the ladies were finally done. Russ brought them back to the office where I immediately caught the glow of my lady’s face as she smiled from ear to ear.
“You smilin’ too damn hard, baby. A nigga had his hands on you?” I nearly yoked Kwamé up out of the little slides she had on her pretty feet.
Kwamé and the ladies burst out laughing. “No!”
“Oh,” I replied and eased up some. “Shit, ain’t no mo’ spa days. You got spa days at the fuckin’ house.” The ladies were in fits, but I was dead ass serious. “You laughin’, but yo’ ass gon’ slip wit’ all that damn oil on the bottom of ya feet.”
Kwamé cackled. “Carry me then!”
It was my pleasure. I swooped her up, causing her to giggle even harder. The other ladies hooted and hollered as I carried my girl to the Ghost. Jessie was already strapped in the backseat. I placed Kwamé in the front seat and kissed her forehead.
“Smellin’ all good,” I mumbled against her lips. “You wanna see me act a fool?”
She cackled. “Adrian, please! This was your idea.”
“Yeah, it was, but I take it back. The lady who did ya massage probably fell in love wit’ you. Uh-uh. We ain’t doin’ this again.”
The way she hollered laughing caused a slight smile to split my face. Still, I was dead serious.
Before heading back to the farm, we went to see my parents.
Bell Estates was my home, but until Kwamé followed me there, I was on the farm with her.
I passed my house, thankful that I had the luxury of being away.
My mama made sure my mail was straight. The lawn was always kept perfect, and the maid service kept the inside of my mansion spotless.
I pulled into my parents’ driveway, cut the engine, then hopped out to open the door for Kwamé.
My mama ran out of the house to greet us.
She jumped in my arms, and I kissed her forehead.
This lady was my everything, and I would plead with God forever to give her as many days as possible because I was that selfish about her.
I hugged my mama tightly, then dapped my pops, who came out of the house behind her. Being back home reminded me that I had the dopest parents a nigga could ever want. From my mama going upside my head when needed, to my pops having my back at every turn—this was the life I wanted for my own kids.
Speaking of my own kids, Jessie practically jumped into my mama’s arms.
“Damn,” I joked. “It’s fuck me, then, huh?”
My mama popped my arm. “Don’t cuss in front of her.”
“Please, Mama. I’m gon’ make sure my baby can cuss out er’body. Ain’t nobody finna play wit’ her.”
“He’s right, ya know,” Pops seconded.
My mama smacked her teeth, and Kwamé had her hand covering her mouth to hide her laughter.
“You agree with him?” my mama asked her.
Highly amused, Kwamé replied, “Your son is crazy, Mrs. Bell. I tell him that often.”
“She agrees,” I added for Kwamé, who shook her head and chuckled.
My mama hugged Kwamé, then touched her swollen belly. The look on my mama’s face was soft and priceless.
“How are you feeling?” she asked Kwamé as we stepped inside my parents’ house. Pops smiled, too, because his lineage was growing by the year.
“I’m feeling great,” Kwamé replied. “Adrian is taking good care of me.”
Feeling proud, I grinned. “Gassin’ me up is genius, baby. You still ain’t goin’ to another spa day.”
Pops cackled loudly and clapped me on the shoulder. “Ah! I thought it was just me.”
My mama glared at her husband. “It’s been ten years since I had an actual spa day, sweetheart. You’d think you’ve grown up since then.”
“Hell, fuck no!” my pops fired back. “Lady probably still thinkin’ about yo’ fine ass.”
This time, I hollered. Kwamé was stuck between laughing and giving me a dirty eye. I shrugged.
“I give you all the oil massages you need,” Pops continued. “Why you think that ass stays in the air—”
Immediately, I stopped laughing. “Hell, naw!” I interrupted and wished my ears would forget what they’d just heard.
My mama and Kwamé fell out laughing and slapped each other’s hands. I glared at my pops for even saying that shit. Now, I was going to be traumatized for the next ten years.
“Is that ring I see?” Mama questioned, focused on Kwamé’s left ring finger.
“It’s a let’s be together ring,” Kwamé explained with a blush stealing her cheeks.
“Naw, that’s an engagement ring if I ever seen one,” Pops chimed in.
Damn, first Adir and now them. Everybody wanted to be in a nigga’s business.
“Trust me, y’all gon’ know when I propose. Just make sure y’all prepared,” I told them.
Mama smiled brightly, and Kwamé’s smile grew even more. I wasn’t leaving any room for her to think that this was a game, or that marriage wasn’t the end goal for us. Because it was. The end goal was for us to be happily married, with our kids, living out our wildest dreams.