Page 53 of Betrothed To Love

“Well, prepare to sleep like a baby tonight. The judge granted my motion. The drugs got thrown out. Without the drugs, there’s no possession charge or a case. After throwing out the drugs out, the judge had no choice but to dismiss the case. It’s over.”

After a deep ass sigh, he asks, “Real shit? No trial? No nothing? You fucking with me, right?”

“You know I would never play about something this serious. It’s really over.”

“Sade! Sade! Baby! It’s over. That bullshit is over. Quintus came through,” he says excitedly and I hear Sade shriek. “Bruh, thank you. I’ll never be able to thank you properly for this. Never! Damn… it’s over. Thank you.”

“That’s what we do. Look, go handle Sade and get some sleep.”

“I’m ’bout to go do all that thanks to you. Love you, bruh.”

“Love you too,” I say, then end the call. All the hours and stress over Ace’s case is over and my brother doesn’t have to step foot back in jail. Hearing the relief in his voice is all the thanks I needed.

When I end the call I see I have another text from Shuga. She has been texting all day, being her normal nosy self. So I hit her next.

“What took you so long to call?” she answers.

“We were at lunch but we just got back to the house. What’s going on?”

“I wanted to know how things are going. I got the pictures of the dresses. I had a black one but I think I’m going to find something with a little green in it,” she says and I grin.

“You don’t have to wear green. Keep your coins and go with the dress you already have.”

“Don’t count my money. I’m good and I want some green too. Asali’s suit is black. He’s fine, but I’m getting a green dress,” she insists. “Everything’s okay though. Is my little princess enjoying her time with my new daughter-in-law?”

“Yeah, she really is. They’re upstairs drawing on the wall.”

“Aww, she’s letting Mireya draw. She really is taking to her but I knew it. I knew it. We all have that one, and when they come into your life, it works. It just works. Now I can stop worrying about you and Niya,” she says.

“And why are you worried about us?” I ask, caught off guard by her words.

“I worry about all of my men, and as my baby, I worried just a little bit more about you. I know you are this successful defense attorney and the man you were raised to be. I’m proud of you, more than you probably even know, but I know your heart and I know you. You’re a great father and you do a great job of taking care of our little princess, but every man needs a partner, a life mate to navigate things. I felt like you dismissed that because of Niya and I worried that you would miss out on yours. And I know you have women; I keep Niya when necessary, but I know it’s never been anyone serious. We haven’t seen a woman with you since that girl,” she says, referring to Janis. Shuga was never a fan. “So I worried and you putting bass in your voice to question me about it isn’t going to change that,” she adds, then laughs.

“I’m worrying less now because of Mireya. She’s genuine and I can tell she comes from good stock. She reminds me of myself a lot. You saw how she was with your family. That says a lot about a woman and I saw how you looked at her and she looked at you. But what did it for me today was the smile on my princess’s face in the pictures of her in those dresses,” she says and I smile. My baby girl is always happy, but today, she’s been excited and I’ve loved seeing it.

“She really likes Mireya,” I say.

“I know and that’s why I’m good, real good, and my worrying is lessening. It’ll probably go away when I see rings. It’s hard to believe you’re married without them,” she throws in.

“I’m handling that.”

“Okay. No ring, no marriage. No matter what, I always have my ring on,” she says. “When Asali put it on my finger, he promised to always love and protect me and I promised the same. Marriage is sacred and our rings are the tokens of that sacred commitment. Get a ring and make it one she deserves. That’s the last time I’m mentioning that.”

“I doubt that,” I say and she laughs.

“I swear, you are just like Asali. I love you, son.”

“Love you too.”

As soon as I hang up the phone, Niya comes flying into the kitchen. “Daddy, she drew me a big ol’ tree!” she says excitedly and almost out of breath.

“Did you run down those stairs?”

“No. I walked fast,” she says, obviously lying. Her little chest is heaving.

“Really? ’Cause you look like you ran. There’s no running in the house, especially on the stairs. You can get hurt, okay?”

“Okay,” she pouts, then gets over it quickly. “But come see the tree.”