I had shit to do. I needed to get over to the restaurant side of our business to make sure my team was on their business. I left her silly ass right there. The restaurant opened at noon, and it was already eleven o’clock.
A Short TimeLater
Beers Among Men . . .
“Bubba, when dat girl got her ass down on dat one knee, I had ta pull out my phone ta make sure I had proof. You broke dat girl heart to a proposal,” my homeboy, Roy, said.
We were at my boy Vince’s house. Twice a month, my crew got together and just shot the breeze. We alternated where we met at. This time it was at Vince’s in his man barn that his wife had built for him. My boy had been married to his wife, Lacie, for almost eight years. For their fifth year anniversary, she got with Roy’s daddy, who was a general contractor, and had him build it for Vince. Roy’s daddy and his crew built the fuck out of this shit.
It was a whole ass two bedroom, two bathroom barndominium. Lacie made sure that it had all the bells and whistles. When she presented it to him at their anniversary party, it wasn’t built yet. She presented him with a mock-up that was dope. The fellas loved when the meet up was at his place.
I took a sip of my beer. “Man, dat girl broke her own heart. I ain’t had shit to do with that lil proposal.”
On Saturdays, my restaurant had a live DJ, and it gave a club atmosphere. We stayed open until midnight on that day.Man Man’s & Ish Restaurantwas the perfect place to start your Saturday before you headed to the club. We were the perfect pre-game spot.
A few days after she came to the market to ask me out, she posted her and Russell on her social media. The caption said that they were locked in with each other, which I was happy to see. Maybe she would leave my ass alone.
Fast-forward to last Saturday, Charlotte came with her man Russell. The place was packed, and the vibe was official until Charlotte’s goofy ass got on the microphone and did this big declaration of love to that man. Every nigga in the room saw the embarrassment on his face. When she got down on one knee and proposed to him, it looked like he wanted to run out of thebuilding. What no one was prepared for was his public rejection. Russell proved that you didn’t have to be a street nigga to be a savage. It was a sad state of affairs.
Russell told her in front of everyone that he wasn’t a fool. He knew that the only reason she asked him was to make me jealous. A part of me felt bad for her, but not bad enough to tell her that shit.
Jordan snickered. “Dat shit was crazy. I ain’t know what I woulda did if Nicole had say no to my proposal. What da fuck! Yeah, I know. I woulda box her right in her coochie, den when she turn ’round, I woulda kick her in her boonkey.”
We all erupted with laughter. “Boy, no! You can’t go around boxin’ bitches in dey pussies. Trump grab pussies and you ga box ’em, huh?” My other homeboy Shaun almost fell out of his seat because of how hard he laughed.
These niggas were fools. “You know Nicole ass was not ga tell you no. Hell, I surprise her ass still witcha after all dis time wit’ out a proposal,” I admitted.
Jordan’s eyes bucked. “Wa you mean? Dis da second time I asked that damn girl. Why you think I say I would box her in her pussy? Da first time I asked, we wasn’t ready. I been smart enough not ta ask in front a room full a people.”
The room got quiet. From the look on everyone’s face, except Vince, none of us knew that bit of information. It made sense that Vince knew since they were best friends. Their girls were best friends too. “Damn, cousin, I neva knew dat.”
“Of course you didn’t. Da fuck! You think I ’bout ta tell a bunch a people my girl tell me no when I asked ha ta marry me?” Jordan said with his head bucked back.
That made sense. I damn sure wouldn’t want people to know if I proposed to a woman and she rejected me. It would take all of my focus to heal from that. That was the kind of thing you worked out between yourself, God, and a therapist.
“Well, shit, since Nicole said yes, I’m ’bout to throw you an engagement party. We ain’t had a good crab crack in a minute. We gonna do this Man Man style,” I told him.
Vince sat up. “Shit, dat’s right on time. Lacie and Pril just been talkin’ ’bout throwin’ her an engagement party. Let me get her ass in here.”
He pressed the intercom button on the table that was next to the seat that he sat in, then told his wife to come to his man cave. It didn’t take her long to get there since Roy’s father’s crew built a second-floor breezeway from the house to the man cave. We knew the second she came into the building from the sound of the alarm and her voice. “Husband, you called!” she shouted from over the upstairs banister.
“I did, wife. Aye, Man Man said dat he’s ga throw Jordan and Nicole an engagement crab crack!” Vince shouted back at her.
Lacie’s face lit up. “Oh, that is so perfect. You know that girl will eat seafood from Man Man all damn day. We can have it here in the backyard. Is that cool, Tafari?”
Lacie refused to address me by my nickname. When she talked about me, she referred to me by my nickname, but she never called me by it directly. “Yeah, dat’s cool. You know I got y’all. I know my mama ga wanna cook on da truck anyway.”
She did a little jump. “I want it to be a surprise. I’m gonna call Pril so we can set up a meeting with you to get it all together.”
She told Vince that she loved him, then rushed out. The way Vince gazed at his wife was what I prayed for myself. That nigga was obsessed with his wife and twin daughters, Zoie and Chloe. I’d seen him crash out over them before and that shit was not pretty at all. When it came to the happiness and protection of his family, there were no rules. That was exactly how it would be when I met the woman that would be my forever and my chaps.
“Aye, who is Pril?” Shaun asked.
Jordan sucked his teeth. “Man, you know who dat is. She don’t be out like that, but she was at my birthday party in the section.”
“Oh, she da one dat was there for all of thirty minutes before she left,” I said. I knew that Lacie and Nicole hung tight with another female, but Jordan was right. She barely came out like that.
Vince nodded. “Yeah, dat’s her. She ownsPretty Pained Nail Studio.”
