Chapter 8
Ihad just left the tailor after picking up my fit that I had altered for my birthday.
On Saturday, I would turn twenty-eight, and I wanted to know what surprises my girl had in store for me.
She had been acting really secretive lately and spending a lot of time away from home.
I knew for a fact that she wasn’t doing anything wrong; she was definitely trying to surprise me with something, though.
As my birthday approached, I started to feel like I needed to accomplish more. Twenty-eight was damn near thirty, and I had nothing solid to fall back on, but I knew that if I wanted to be a family man, I had to get out of these streets.
I was headed to pick my bread up from Trell for the week, but I dreaded seeing his ass.
Since Ciara had pulled that mouskatool out on him, he had been in a deep depression.
I couldn’t have Trell slacking in these streets, so today, I would have to talk to him.
I told him from jump that I didn’t recommend him fooling around with the crazy ass girl.
He saw her threaten me and decided that she was the woman of his dreams. This nigga was just as crazy as she was.
When I pulled up to Trell’s spot, he was sitting outside, smoking a cigarette. I tried my best not to laugh in this nigga’s face, but I was damn near screaming.
“I know yo’ ass ain’t that depressed that you’re out here smoking a joe! Nigga, where did you get that shit from?” I laughed.
As I walked up closer to him, I heard blues music coming from inside his house.
My damn stomach was hurting from all the laughing I did.
I couldn’t understand what had him acting like this.
I knew he was feeling Ciara, but he acted like he had just lost his best friend.
Hell, this was how I expected him to act if I passed away. His ass was really going through it.
“I’m not in the mood for the games. A nigga really down bad right now.
I wanted to play like Ciara ain’t mean shit to me, but now that she’s gone, I really don’t know how to feel.
Even with her gun to my head, I could still see how bad I had hurt her by fucking that bitch Mya.
The pussy wasn’t even hitting on shit, and it damn sure wasn’t worth losing my girl. ”
Although we both knew that he and Ciara were never together, I just allowed him to vent.
I wasn’t about to disregard his feelings, and I could tell he was fucked up about the situation.
I was on the fence about what he had done.
On one hand, I understood him wanting to keep the peace and not have Mya press charges on him and Ciara.
At the same time, if he was locked in with Ciara, he shouldn’t have fucked off with another female at all.
All I could tell him was that shit happens and to get the fuck over it.
He was lucky his brains were still in his head.
That was a blessing in itself that he was overlooking.
I sat and chopped it up with him for a while as I explained that he needed to get back focused.
Being knocked off their game is what left a lot of niggas dead.
He pretended to be listening, but I couldn’t tell a gown man shit.
As long as my money didn’t come up short, we wouldn’t have any problems. I headed home to my woman; I knew that lying under her would relieve all my stress.
Saturday came around sooner than expected.
I had just left the barbershop and was headed home to get dressed.
I tipped my barber well because he had a nigga looking like a brand new man.
I really didn’t trust anybody other than myself to cut my hair, but I was in a rush today.
This young nigga named Drew had just cut my hair so damn good, I would probably never cut my own shit again.
I asked him for a business card, and he gave me his cell member and told me that starting tonight, he would no longer be in the mall but at a new location.
He said he had to get new cards made, but he gave me the address of his new location.
When he ran off the address, it sounded like it was near Harmoni’s salon, but I didn’t know of any barbershops on that side.
I locked his number in and promised to book in another week or two.
When I made it home, Harmoni was at her vanity, doing her makeup.
Her hair was flawless, and she was naturally glowing.
I had paid Carmen to come over earlier and hook her up, so that would be one less thing she had to worry about.
I walked up behind her and kissed the back of her neck before going into the bathroom and jumping in the shower.
Once I was out of the shower, I walked back into the bedroom with nothing on other than the towel that I was drying off with. When Harmoni saw me, she gave me a mischievous smile and motioned for me to come over to where she was sitting.
I walked over beside her vanity, and she had just finished her makeup. When I was within arms reach, she reached over, grabbed my dick, and started massaging it. Without hesitation, she put it in her mouth and started sucking it.
I threw my head back and closed my eyes. As soon as it was getting good, she stopped.
“That’s all. Now, let’s get dressed, so we won’t be late for dinner!” she said as she stood from her seat.
I couldn’t believe Harmoni had teased me like that, but as soon as we got home, her ass was going to get it.
I wore a black YSL blazer with matching slacks and loafers.
They all had hints of gold in them. The pants were tailored to perfection, so they fit me good as hell.
I wore a cream colored fitted shirt under the blazer.
Moni wore a snug fitting black dress that had only one shoulder.
It fit her like a glove and had her looking so beautiful with her belly on full display.
Once we were dressed, I rubbed her belly and kissed all over her face.
This morning, she took me to brunch and bought me roses.
I was a hood nigga, so I really didn’t know how to feel about the roses.
Moni said I had to be more open minded and allow her to show her appreciation.
The gesture alone let me know she was the woman I needed to be with.
Nobody had ever treated me as well as she did.
For the last month, I had been going back and forth on when would be a good time to pop the question.
I decided that tonight would be the best time to do it.
I told Dimeo to get the family together, and I texted all my people and let them know to get into town.
After dinner, I was going to take her to her favorite park and pop the question with all our family and friends there.
When I invited Carmen and Ciara, they were acting weird as hell, almost as if they knew something I didn’t.
That had me paranoid. Now I wondered if maybe they thought she would say no.
I jumped into the passenger side of Harmoni’s car and let her take me to my surprise dinner.
I didn’t know where she had made our reservations, but I knew she had to have gone all out for it to be such a big secret.
We hit the highway, and about ten minutes later, Moni told me she had to make a quick stop at her salon.
She just didn’t know I was in no rush. I was nervous as hell, anticipating her reaction and response tonight.
When we made it near her salon, the entire street was full of cars.
Harmoni made it through the traffic and parked on the side of her street in her designated spot.
The building right beside Harmoni’s had a line around the corner of people waiting to get in.
I told Moni to run in and come on out, so we wouldn’t be late for dinner.
“Come with me, baby. I wanna see what’s going on next door, then I can grab what I need,” Moni said.
Without even letting me respond, she jumped out of the car and headed toward the building.
I grabbed her hand, slowing her down. Her ass was the definition of a black woman, just nosey.
I couldn’t blame her for wanting to know what was going on next door to her salon, though.
Once we were near the line, she took my hand and dragged me to the front.
Ready to get to my destination, I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings until someone flicked the breaker, and the whole outside of the building lit up with a blinding bright light.
Once my eyes focused, I realized that my people from back home, my family, and my best friend, along with Harmoni’s friends and clients, were standing outside the building.
I was confused about what was going on because this was not where I was planning to meet everyone tonight.
Harmoni let go of my hand and stood near the front of the building that had a big gold bow on the door, and then Ciara passed her a microphone.
“Thank you, everybody, for coming. Baby, you know I love you with everything in me, and I want you to know that I’ve heard everything you said.
You are so passionate about your five-year plan, and I just want to help you cut that time in half.
The way that you treat me is unreal at times, and I want to forever match your thoughtfulness.
This is a token of my appreciation and to let you know that I believe in you and I will forever be your biggest cheerleader.
With that said, welcome to Black Tie Luxury Fadez.
Meet the owner, Stephan Thomas. Some of you may know him as Rowdy, or if you’re from Texas, you may even call him Black.
Baby, come cut your ribbon,” Moni said as she smiled from ear to ear.
My mouth was open, and I was in a state of shock. I couldn’t move. My family and friends were all standing around clapping. I saw them, but it was as if time had stopped, and I was frozen in place. I had a tight feeling in my chest, and my eyes were about to water.