Auntie Vee hummed in agreement.
Kadeer kept adding his two cents. “You don’t get to disappear into yourself when things get hard and you can’t make no more decisions alone just because you think you know best. You can’t protect her by keeping her in the dark and then be surprised when she resent you for it.”
This was that real talk that Jio wasn’t quite ready for. He was hitting too close to home.
“She gon’ need all of you,” Kadeer said. “Not just the part that pays bills and threatens to fuck shit up if she gets to acting out.”
Auntie shot him a look.
“Kadeer.”
“What? We all know this nigga a lunatic.”
Jio huffed. “Call it what you want.”
About his, he was pulling the trigger and asking questions later.
The three of them stood there in the middle of the jewelry store surrounded by diamonds that cost more than some houses, talking about love like it was the most dangerous investment any of them had ever made. For Jio, it would be.
Jio picked up the ring again.
This time, he didn’t look at the diamond.
He looked at the empty space inside the band. It represented a promise that he would vow to keep and that was to forever protect, love, provide, and fuck her good.
“I don’t know how to be a perfect husband.”
Auntie scoffed. “Good cus perfect men are liars.”
“Boring too…” Kadeer agreed.
“But I know how to be her husband. I know what she sounds like when she’s trying not to cry. I know when she hungry even if she says she's not. I know she gets overwhelmed when too many people need something from her at the same time, but she won’t say it because she hates feeling weak.”
His fingers closed around the ring.
“I know how much she misses her grandfather when something good happens more than when something bad happens.”
“I know that she don’t want to be like her family and she likes the bubble we live in. She wants a life with me.” Jio stared down at the ring.
His voice almost disappeared. “I’m going to make it to where she’ll never question choosing me.”
The confession sat between them.
Auntie Vee touched his face the way she used to when he was a boy. Her thumb brushed against his cheek. “Be the best husband you can be.”
He nodded once.
Kadeer cleared his throat, trying to save himself from feeling too much in public.
“So... you buying it or what nigga?”
Auntie smacked him in the back of his head. “Ouch!”
“I’m just trying to move this along. The nigga on the verge of crying in here.”
“Fuck you, no, I wasn’t.” he chuckled.
“You had lover boy tears in your eyes.” The man was clearly full of jokes today.
