Page 14 of Betrothed To Love

Shuga is legit the happiest person I know. She’s always smiling and laughing; she was like that when we were kids. Asali had the firm hand and kept our bad asses in line while she balanced him. To me, they have always been the perfect couple, full of love, compromise, and balance, which is how I pictured myself when I got married.

Marriage was always part of my plan. Growing up in a loving, two-parent household makes a man want that same shit. Nobody can calm Asali like Shuga. Although Shuga seems happy all the damn time, nobody can make her smile as bright as Asali. I’m sure it isn’t always sunshine and shit with them, but if they did disagree, they kept it from us and made up. They showed us how to love and be loved and I knew I wanted that. Hell, I thought I had that shit with Niya’s mom, Janis, but I was wrong, wrong as fuck.

“You want one or two eggs?” she asks. My brother Shiro and Asali love boiled eggs in Zongo but I’m good with just one.

“One is good,” I tell her as I grab a bottle of water from the fridge.

All five of us have our own lives and our own cribs but we always find our way back here in Shuga’s kitchen at her table. The first Sunday of the month is non-negotiable though. The whole family gets together for dinner at six o’clock sharp. Not showing up for Sunday dinner is the only thing that elicits a frown from Shuga.

After grabbing my water, I happily get my plate from her and kiss her cheek again. I’m hungry as hell and ready to devour these rice and peas, fried plantain, and Zongo. When I slide onto the stool at the island, she opens the freezer and grabs a pint of butter pecan ice cream. It’s time for Asali’s late-night snack.

“You might as well let Niya stay. She’s already had a bath and her papa put her in bed. She can actually stay until Sunday. It just makes sense,” she says matter of factly.

“Shuga, you already had her last night and all day today. I appreciate that but she can come home. I know how to take care of my daughter.”

“Nobody’s saying all of that,” she says with a huff. “I know you can. You held her the minute she was born and have been taking care of her wonderfully. I just love having her here and I hate to wake her. Besides, you’ve worked hard on Ace’s case. Take your Saturday and enjoy it. Do your momma this one favor,” she adds, almost pleading.

I am tired as hell and Niya is definitely good here. Plus, I still need to figure things out with Mireya. Our conversations today basically went nowhere. We really need to talk and decide how we are going to do this, if she’s really going to do this.

“She can stay. I’ll bring her some more clothes tomorrow,” I say and Shuga actually rolls her eyes. “Damn,” I scoff playfully.

“You know I have plenty for her to wear here,” she says. She lifts the two bowls of ice cream then walks over to me. “Eat until you’re full. The twins are going to take whatever is left.”

“This is more than enough,” I assure her and she walks out of the kitchen.

Before leaving The Metropolitan, I sent a few texts to Mireya that went unanswered. I’m not trying to stalk her or no shit like that but I do want to make sure she’s as good as she can be considering. I also need her to know I really didn’t mean for this to go down like this either. So after taking a few more bites of my delicious food, I pull my cell from my pocket and hit her again.

Me: This is my last text. I won’t bother you. But if you’re free tomorrow, we can talk. I’m on your time.

Just like my previous texts, this one goes unanswered too, so I get back to my food. About ten minutes later, my phone vibrates with her response.

107-686-1266: Ok. After 2. I’ll let you know.

Me: Bet. Have a good night.

Even though she doesn’t respond to my last text, I still smile because she answered and agreed to meet. I’ll take it. A chance is all I need to convince her that we can make this work. I don’t know why nor can I explain it but I want this to be a good thing. As unorthodox, unplanned, and unbelievable as this whole thing is, something in me wants this to actually work.

I’m a man and there isn’t a man alive who wouldn’t want to be with a woman as beautiful, intelligent, and fine as Mireya. Even when she glared at me with fire in her eyes and anger dominating her face, all I saw was her beauty. Her scowl was even pretty. I just wanted to do or say whatever I could to remove her frown and make the gorgeous smile I saw when she walked into the ball last night reappear. I don’t even know her, yet it really fucked with me that I was the cause of her anger and frustration. Lowkey, it’s still fucking with me, but there’s hope, tomorrow after two.

“Unc!” I hear, jarring me from thoughts of Mireya. I glance over my shoulder and see Hassan followed by Hussain.

“Que,” Hussain greets.

The twins are identical but we can clearly tell them apart. Aside from Hussain’s slighter fuller face, he has locs and Hassan has a textured fro with fade. They are juniors at CFU, both majoring in computer science

“You saved us some?” Hassan asks as he opens the top to the stew.

“It’s plenty but wash your hands before Shuga beats your ass,” I tell him.

“Yeah, Nana don’t play,” Hussain adds while walking to the sink.

“When y’all going back?” I ask

“Sunday after dinner. Since Pops is home, we can go,” Hussain states.

“You were going either way. Ace is good. He can handle whatever and I’m taking care of the case. That’s nothing for you to stress over.”

“Yeah but Moms was pressed, crying and shit. I didn’t want to leave her like that,” he says.