Wholeheartedly
Jakia returned to her place the morning of the wedding. Fatima was dropping her dress off and she didn’t want to explain why she wasn’t at home. Fatima had already shown herself to be the clingy friend and to know she was hanging at Henni’s and didn’t invite her, she’d never live it down.
She went straight for her bedroom to see if it looked like someone had been killed there.
She opened the door to see the cleaner that Wallah hired had changed her entire room around.
The bed that was across from the door was now on the other side of the room.
Her TV was mounted onto the wall, and she made a mental note to curse him out about that later.
Her lease made it clear that holes in the walls, of any kind, would violate the lease.
More important than all of that was that the bedroom was spotless. It looked like the bedroom they staged during a house tour. Jakia was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Almost instantly, Fatima was knocking at the door.
Fatima waltzed in like the front door opened to a runway. She held the phone up to her face and the other hand held the bagged dress by its hanger. Henni was doing her make up in the phone screen.
“Close your eyes,” Fatima instructed, placing the hanger on the closet door.
“This is not a surprise. It’s a wedding I don’t even want to go to. I’m not doing all that.” Jakia sucked her teeth. “Just give me the damn dress.” She tried to snatch it out of her hands.
“Close your eyes or you can go to that wedding in something you got lying around the house.” Fatima folded her arms across her chest. “That’ll make that bitch’s day.”
“Fine.” Jakia huffed. “My eyes are closed.” She threw her arms up in the air, shutting her eyes tightly.
Fatima moved Jakia to stand with her back to the closet door. She unzipped the bag and showed Henni first.
“Bitch, that shit is fire.” Henni was gagged on the other side of the phone. She stopped doing her make-up to get a closer look.
Jakia peeked at the dress out of her peripheral. “You joking right?”
She took the entirety of the dress in. It was a simple champagne colored dress with a neckline that gathered right at the peak of her breasts.
The slit in the thigh was sure to look fire once she was inside of it.
She lifted the hanger to observe the back of the dress.
The back was draped low held up by thin spaghetti straps that would hardly show against her skin.
“This is a fucking wedding dress.” Jakia hung it back up, pissed.
“What? Absolutely not.”
“It is. Henni, help me out.” Jakia snatched Fatima’s phone from her hands.
“I don’t see it, sis,” Henni disagreed.
“How don’t you?”
“Because there’s nothing to see,” Fatima argued. “There’s not a glimmer, shimmer or a train. That makes it not a wedding dress.”
“It’s everything, but white!” Jakia yelled. “I can’t wear that.” She pointed.
She was slightly panicked. She could give a fuck about impressing Prissy. At the same time, she cared too much to give that bitch something to talk about. The wedding was in less than two hours and there was no way she’d find a dress in time.
“Why not?” Henni argued. “I can already tell it’s going to look so good on you.”
“If a bitch walked into my wedding wearing this, I’d put her out and that’s after I whipped her ass.”
“Well, it’s a good thing, Prissy can’t beat your ass,” Henni was tickled as she applied her eyeliner.
“See!” Jakia sucked her teeth. “I’m going to look like a bitch if I walk in there wearing that. Everyone will be talking shit.
“They will absolutely be talking shit, but it’ll be in your favor.
” Fatima held the dress up to Jakia, holding the phone up high with the other hand so she could see herself.
“You’ll look classy and expensive. I know because I made it for exactly that.
This was designed with everything I’ve learned about you.
The parts you don’t say out loud, but I see. It’s all in this dress.”
Jakia studied the dress trying to see it on a rack at Rainbow.
The more she pictured it on herself, the more she saw herself standing at that altar.
The simplicity of it is what she couldn’t get past. It was so her.
Fatima took all the sweet things about her and put it in a dress that she was in love with.
It may not have been considered a wedding dress by other’s standards, but for her? It was everything she ever wanted.
“Are y’all sure this is not a wedding dress?”
Fatima and Henni assured her one last time. It didn’t make a difference because she still didn’t believe them. She didn’t have a choice but to wear it. Jakia reasoned that she’d be there early enough that no one would even notice her because she’d be the first guest sitting in the crowd.
TINA’S BACKYARD | 10:19 A.M.
“Wait. Don’t snap another picture,” Tina instructed the photographer.
He stepped away as she rushed over to the only pink ribboned chair in the front row of the groom’s side of the ceremony. Nisha followed behind her but could hardly keep up. The sun was doing its best work.
Tina placed a single white rose and a string of pearls in the seat that would honor Hussein’s mother. In the leading seat for the bride’s side, she put a boutonniere and a single black rose.
“What happened to her father, if you don’t mind me asking?” Nisha finally caught up to Tina, fanning herself with one of the flamingo pink colored napkins.
“In the way,” she said plainly. “Same as Hussein’s mama. Everybody got their own dreams out here. Rather you gang or solo. You got your own finish line. You either moving pieces around the board or you’re the piece being moved around the board. We’re all in somebody else’s way,” Tina said.
“Is he here, yet?” Prissy stood at the top of the deck looking like she belonged on the top of a wedding cake. Her hair was in a perfect bun, and her dress fit her shape the way she always imagined it would.
“He wasn’t here ten minutes ago when you asked.” Tina smushed her lips up waving for the photographer to finish his job.
“You look beautiful,” Nisha said.
“Thanks. I know.” Prissy said, turning to go back inside.
She and Nisha hadn’t made up. Prissy still hated Nisha and Teddy for lying to her and Nisha still didn’t give a fuck.
It wasn’t personal and if Prissy could get out of her feelings, she’d know that.
The only thing that was personal was what she planned to do to Tina.
The little time she’d been there, she hadn’t seen Tina so much as litter.
If she wanted to put Tina in a cell, she’d have to do some digging because all of her bodies were already hidden.
“She’s lucky it’s her wedding day,” Tina mumbled to Nisha.
“She’s just nervous,” Nisha reasoned.
“There’s no need to be. If Hussein let it get his far, then he’s coming. My nephew and I might not be on speaking terms right now, but he’s still mine. I know him like I knew Boom. Like I know my own child even in her addiction. He’ll be here.”
“I’m here, TT!” Khyell called out, making Tina and Nisha turn towards the fence.
Nisha glanced at her watch while Tina headed to open the gate. Jakia’s face was planted in her phone. When the gate opened, Khyell rushed Tina for a hug.
“I missed you,” he announced.
“I missed you, too, nephew.”
He noticed Nisha smiling at him and waved. He was trying hard to look away from her stomach, but the last time he saw a pregnant belly that big was Keyona’s when she was carrying Carmell. Carmell had his own daddy, and his little sister would have her own mommy and that made him sad.
Jakia walked by, without so much as a hello to Tina or Nisha.
“Go on inside, I’m right behind you,” Tina assure Khyell, snapping him from his daze.
“Am I tripping or does that bitch have on a wedding dress?” Nisha mumbled to Tina.
“I was thinking the same thing. I’d say it looked good on her, but seeing as how this is someone else’s wedding, it’s quite tacky of her. I didn’t expect anything more of her to be honest.” Tina and Nisha stared at Jakia taking a seat.
“Hopefully she stays in her seat until after the ceremony,” Nisha added.
“Hopefully she leaves after the ceremony,’ Tina said noticing more guests walking up.
“Go on and let them in, Nene. Remember pearls side is the groom side. I’m going to slip into my dress,” she whispered.
Nisha did as she was told and allowed the guests into the backyard.
She volunteered to help with the seating because she wanted to see the faces, see the names they wrote on the guest book and see how much they gave in gifts.
Those three things would tell her everything she needed to know about the Turner associates.
HUSSEIN’S PALISADE | 10:52 A.M.
Hussein sat in his truck, across the street from Tina’s.
He watched the wedding guests pull up, park and enter the backyard.
He didn’t see Jakia’s car though he spent the block twice before parking.
Henni pulled up not too long after him, but she was alone.
Prissy had been blowing his phone up asking when he would be there but hadn’t said a thing about the missing ringbearer, so he deduced that Khyell was already inside.
Jakia had to be too because there was no way she dropped Khy off and left him.
His father’s car was parked next to Tina’s in the driveway.
The only person missing was Warlock. Hussein wasn’t going in without him, because he didn’t know what Tina was on.
They hadn’t spoken and he was showing up to her house like shit was sweet.
He was doing what she asked of him; marrying Prissy.
She should be grateful that he showed up at all.
A knock at Hussein’s window had him aiming his gun at the pastor. He tucked his gun and rolled the window down.
“My bad, pastor.” Warlock could be heard before he was seen. His music blasted like he was paid to DJ.
“That’s my fault. I should’ve known better.” He laughed lightly. “Saw you sitting here and thought you might be getting cold feet.” Pastor searched Hussein’s eyes.