Chapter 29
REINA
“Watching you be in love is so weird, bro,” Chewy called out to me as he rearranged the happy birthday banner for the fourth time.
I cut my eyes at him and stood back to admire my handiwork.
Vasiah’s birthday was the next day, and I was throwing him a small get-together on his dad’s block.
I rented out a couple of those gamer trucks, we had a large inflatable pool, and I got Mz.
Earline’s to cater all his favorite foods.
His Uncle Victor was also on the grill, and I even found somebody to show us how to make custom Cuban cigars.
“I love being in love, Chewy… so shut the fuck up!”
“Daughter, what you out here fussing about?” Poppa Hill came outside to see what we were doing.
I grinned, loving the sight of the older version of my love.
Our bond was so special. I felt like I had gained a father figure in addition to a dope ass boyfriend.
He was kind, funny, and so wise. Vasiah was blessed to have him.
“Chewy’s just being a dick head, Pops- nothing unusual.” Chewy huffed and sat on the steps, wiping his brow.
“Nah, OG, this girl got us out here working like Hebrew slaves!”
“She always go all out like this for birthdays?”
Chewy nodded. “Lowkey, yeah. Last year, we all went to Tulum for her birthday, and she planned everything down to a T. She made us color coordinate, booked all the excursions, and made us drink so much liquor! I couldn’t look at tequila for months.”
Poppa Hill chuckled. “Sounds like a good time.”
When I found out that Vasiah didn’t usually do much for his birthday, my wheels started turning.
I wanted him to enjoy himself because in my world, birthdays were a big deal.
Why wouldn’t you live life to the fullest on the day you were born?
I told Poppa Hill what I wanted to do, and he graciously offered his backyard for the festivities.
I even found his friends and some of his college crew from BLERD and invited them out.
Black men deserve to be celebrated, especially when their name is Vasiah Varnell Hill.
“I’m a great time, Pops!”
“He’s lucky to have someone like you. Ever since he was a kid, he hadn’t liked to do much for his birthday. Admittedly, I was grieving heavily on his birthday when he was younger…his mama used to go all out, too. I hate that I made my son not care about his own like that.”
I stopped what I was doing and went to embrace Poppa Hill. I didn’t know how it felt to lose the love of your life, but I felt for him. Getting closer to my mom over the last few weeks made me look at her differently outside of the ‘mom’ title.
She was a person.
With big feelings.
Limited information on how to navigate hard shit.
Didn’t always make the right decisions.
But still… she did the best she could with what she had.
And even though the past is dead and buried and there’s nothing she can do to change it, she does have the present. That’s what I wanted to remind Poppa Hill of.
“Pops…he knows you love him. And if you wanna make your son feel special on his birthday from this day forward, start today. You know he adores you. I don’t think you’re ever too old to receive love from your parents on your birthday… And I think he’d like that a lot.”
Poppa Hill’s eyes got glassy, but he didn’t let a tear fall. “You right, daughter…You right.” He shuffled away after that, and Chewy stared at me again.
“What?”
“Love looks good on you, Rei. Not just for yo nigga, but for his family too.”
I beamed.
Yeah, love did look good on me.
THE NEXT DAY
“Hayami…Why am I blindfolded if I already know you planned me a birthday party?”
“Because you’ve never had a birthday party planned by your wife.”
He grinned. “My wife, huh? I like the sound of that.”
My stomach knotted up but not in a bad way…
Vasiah had just been hinting at marriage talk a lot lately, and I…
loved the sound of that. I caught myself daydreaming about his proposal and made a Pinterest board for wedding ideas.
If I wasn’t a goner before, I surely was one now.
We were both actively in therapy, learning more and more about each other, and really getting in tune. I felt like Vasiah was my soul mate.
Kind.
Caring.
Generous.
Grounded.
Tailor-made just for me.
I couldn’t believe that I felt all these things for a man, but day by day, I was leaning more and more into it. I wasn’t a perfect girlfriend by any means, but I was turning out to be a good one. He told me so every day.
“I just bet you do,” I quipped, pulling on his dad’s block. Vasiah was blind folded for the entire car ride, and I couldn’t wait to see his face. Hand in hand, I guided him to the backyard, and on the count of three, I took off his blind fold.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VASIAH!” Everyone yelled. He almost looked bashful as he took everything in. Next, he leaned down and kissed me deeply.
Muah. “You such a good woman, Hayami. Thank you.”
“You really like it? It’s not too much?”
“I love it…I never imagined something like this happening to me. This is cool as hell. The perfect amount. Nothing you do is ever too much for me.”
My eyes watered.
Reassurance.
Confirmation.
Gratitude.
That’s what he provided for me.
“I’m so glad you like it… now go mix, mingle, and enjoy yourself.”
Vasiah went to dap up his friends from college, and I turned to find my crew.
They were spread all over. Reign was smoking a cigar with Poppa Hill, the twins were on the spades table, Domo and Linx were in the gamer trucks, and Rae and Domo were by the hookah.
The weather was perfect, hot as hell but not a cloud in sight.
I observed my man laughing, smiling, and nerding out over the gamer trucks. I felt proud to pull this off for him.
“You did ya big one, niece,” his Uncle Victor said, chomping on a rib tip.
That was another thing I really enjoyed about our relationship.
His family was so welcoming and embraced me.
Poppa Hill and I still had our bi-weekly outings.
His aunties and cousins had come by the shop a few times to bring me food and get their hair done.
Uncle Victor called and checked on me and invited me to every barbecue. I loved it here.
“Thanks, Unc,” I smiled.
“Your smile is so big, friend,” Rae commented. She was kicking back with a plate of food in her lap.
“I’m really happy.”
“And it looks the fuck good on you!” Cherrice hollered.
“I agree.” Reign said. I whipped my head around and stared at him.
Of course, I never heard him coming, but wherever Rae was, he wouldn’t be too far away.
Nigga loved living in his wife’s skin. After our spat and his apology, Reign and I were back to normal.
He and Vasiah weren’t besties or anything, but Reign was kinder towards him, and that’s all I wanted.
Though he may never say it, I knew he just wanted me with someone who could not only handle me but also treat me right.
Vasiah was exactly that person. Hell, he had to be a special guy because there was no way I was coming outta my pocket for a man like this.
This party was just the tip of the iceberg.
I smiled at my twin, and he smirked back, silently communicating that he was happy for me.
Scanning the backyard, I looked for my man but didn’t see him.
“Now, Reina…when you turn your head back around, I want you to be calm,” Rae said, her eyes wide.
My brows kissed. “What? What are you talking about?” I turned my head, and my eyes landed on Vasiah and Mykita talking. My whole body went still. This girl stayed wanting to try me.
“Reina. Please don’t air this party out,” Rae begged.
“I’m not. I’m not. I’m not. Just confused about why she wants to play with me, on today of all days.
My in-laws do not need to know that I’m a shooter.
” Mykita held a blue gift bag in her hands, and I got more heated.
How dare you show up to my man’s party that you weren’t even invited to and bring him a gift on top of that?
Bitch deserved her pinky toe shot off just for that alone.
I stood, smoothing out the wrinkles in my sundress.
“Reina!”
“You got bail money?” I ignored Rae and asked Reign.
He sighed. “Always, man, but –”
“Good.” I nodded. “I might need it.” I stomped off and made my way towards Vasiah and that hoe.
“Mykita –” Her name tasted like poison on my tongue.
Was she a real threat? No. But she was disrespectful and bold.
I didn’t fuck with that at all. Ain’t no way a nigga I had formerly fucked would come to my birthday party – okay, maybe he would, but not after my man checked him. I’m a changed woman now.
“Hold on, Bae. Her disrespectful ass was just leaving,” Vasiah cut me off, and I shuddered. I’d never heard him talk like this.
She scoffed. “For the last time, how is bringing you a gift to your party disrespectful?”
Vasiah pushed his glasses up and narrowed his eyes. “For one, you wasn’t even invited. For two, my girl ain’t cool with your presence, and I’m not ever gonna disrespect her by having you anywhere near me.”
“So she’s intimidated? Got it,” this hoe had the nerve to say! I wanted to place my steel under her chin so bad. Let’s see who’s intimidated now.
“Mykita. I’m really trying not to disrespect you, but please understand that you couldn’t fuck with my girl on yo best day.
We fucked one time over a decade ago. I ain’t double-backed since.
Please take this obsession that you have with me on somewhere before your mouth writes a check that yo ass can’t cash.
My girl shoots… find you something safe to do. ”
Her jaw dropped, and angrily, she dropped the gift bag at his feet and stomped away and out the backyard. I snickered as Vasiah threw an arm around my shoulders.
“I can’t believe that damn girl.”
“Yeah, but you told her, honey.”
“Because you shouldn’t have to address her again after already addressing her the first time.
She’s super lame for that.” I agreed, and the rest of the party went off without a hitch.
We sang Happy Birthday, and he was shocked because the cake was in the design of one of the video game characters he was creating.
I wanted to show him that I supported and believed in his dreams.
“Aight y’all, I have a gift to present to the man of the hour,” I announced. All eyes were on me while my eyes were on Vasiah.
“Alright. I’m not gone be up here long, but happy birthday again to my man, my man, my man.
It has been such a joy to know and love you these past few months.
You are kind, patient, calm, and got a big…
heart,” I started making everyone laugh.
“And you are passionate about creating your own video game one day. So… I did some research, shout out to Linx and Domo for helping me with this, and I got you the game engine software you’ll need to start coding and bringing this dream of yours to life.
” I motioned to the projector screen that was set up, and a video of Linx and Domo installing it on Vasiah’s computer was playing while we were on our way to the party.
I actually purchased a couple of different software programs too – one to help with coding and another for animation.
Vasiah was taking his time with this, but I knew he wanted to be even bigger than Sony one day, and I believed that he would.
In my world, all dreams were possible, even if it took a while for them to be brought to life.
The crowd started hooting and hollering, and Vasiah was shocked.
“Anyways. I love you, Vasiah, and I believe in you. I can’t wait to see all the cool things you’ll make and to see you bring all your dreams to life.
Happy birthday, baby!” Somebody popped a bottle of champagne, and Vasiah swooped me in his arms, kissing me deeply.
I could feel the love oozing outta him and knew he couldn’t wait to get home and play with his new toys.
“Thank you.” Muah
“Thank you. Muah
“Thank you. Muah
“I can’t wait to inhale yo whole body later. They gone have to surgically remove my tongue,” he whispered the last part, and I clamped my thighs together. He set me back on my feet.
“But aye, I got a gift for you too,” he said, smiling.
“On yo birthday? Is it between your legs?”
He laughed, shaking his head. “You was gone get that anyway. But nah…It’s something else.” He went into his pocket and pulled out a card in the shape of a kimono. Inside, it said: “Hayami, we’re going to Tokyo,” and I gasped.
“I remember our first conversation, and I told you about how I studied abroad in Japan. You said it was dope and that you wanted to go there one day… I made it happen. Now, we don’t leave for another month, but I just wanted you to know that I love you and I appreciate you.
I am willing to do whatever to make you smile, even down to the smallest things.
I know you are fully capable of booking flights yourself and getting whatever you set your mind to, but just know that you have a man who can do it too. ”
I cried. I didn’t even remember saying that. I had a thing for people listening to me. Because yes, I absolutely was capable, but now I had a man who was capable too. And actually wanted to find ways to show up for me.
Lord, I was never coming up off him! And the feeling was very mutual.
We spent the rest of the afternoon into the evening making out, taking shots, and staring into each other's eyes. Later that night, he indeed made good on his promise of inhaling my entire body, but we didn’t have to get his tongue surgically removed.
And in tangled sheets, sweaty skin, and affirmations traded back and forth, we went to sleep in each other's arms, promising to never let each other go.