Page 83 of Betrothed To Love

“I ain’t mad at you, Nana. All this time, I could have been hitting you up for major dough. Man,” Hassan says and we all laugh.

“This lil nigga,” Tre scoffs.

“A secret,” Shuga repeats before meeting Niya at the stairs.

TWENTY-FOUR

“Twenty-two more minutes,” Duke says and I’m finally over his countdown to the debate. My wife is nervous enough; his minute reminders aren’t helping at all. So I stand and step to him.

“Can we talk outside?” I ask as I grip his shoulder, letting him know that the only option and answer is yes.

“Um, sure. Are you going to be okay?” he asks her.

“We’re only going to be a minute,” I tell her and she nods. Then I guide Duke out of the small room behind the platform. “That was your last warning. There’s a big ass clock on the wall. The time is on all of our cells and I’m wearing a watch. She knows the time and she’s trying to calm her nerves but you are making the shit worse. The next time I hear you say the time, it better be a two-minute warning. Is that clear?”

“I just need to⁠—”

“Is that clear?” I ask, cutting off his words.

“I got it. You know what? I think I’ll just go and check for the media. I’ll be back in time,” he says while pretending to check his phone.

“You do that,” I agree, then leave him in the hall.

My wife is nervous and needs me. She was with me every minute of my family shit and kept me calm during that crazy ass family dinner a few days ago. I’m still tripping on Shuga being the infamous Nina Wright. It’s going to take a minute to adjust to that unbelievable news. But now isn’t that time. Tonight is all about my wife and supporting her through this debate. It’s my turn to be her rock.

“Where’s Duke?” she asks when she realizes I’m solo.

“He went to go check on the media,” I tell her, then step in her direction. She’s sitting in front of the vanity mirror scrolling through notes on her iPad while her stylist curls the same pieces of hair over and over. “Don’t worry about him and stop looking at this too,” I say, then take the iPad from her. I position myself in front of her and lean back on the vanity. “You don’t need Duke or your notes. This is your district, your court, and your bench. Everything you need is already in you. Fuck Richardson,” I say and her stylist laughs.

“I’ll give you two a minute. DVonne and I’ll be back right before you go out for touchups,” her stylist says after placing the curler on a black pad on the other side of the vanity.

“Thanks, Jae.”

“Yeah, thanks,” I add, and as soon as she’s out the door, I lean in closer to my wife’s pretty face. “Give me a kiss,” I say and she smiles.

“My lipstick,” she protests playfully.

“They got a big ass bag full of makeup. There’s more lip stuff. Just give your husband a kiss.”

I lean in more and she places her soft hands on the sides of my face. I love when she does that. I get closer and try to kiss all of her anxiety and nervousness away. It’s not needed; she’s got this.

“Thank you, baby,” she says with a smile.

“Come sit over here on the sofa with me. I want you relaxed before you go out there and bury him,” I say, then extend my hand. She accepts and I coax her over to the sofa. I sit down first, then gently pull her onto my lap. My hand caresses her back as she settles into me. “Tonight is really yours. You’re going to be great, kyau.”

“I know. It’s my natural nerves. I can’t help it. For anything important, I get nervous and this is definitely important. The election is three weeks away. I’m leading in the polls right now, but tonight, anything can happen.”

“The only thing that’s going to happen is an increase in your lead when this is over. That’s it,” I assure her and she smiles. Her lips press into mine, but before we can really kiss, her cell rings. “Damn. It’s over there,” she says and slides off my lap. She grabs her phone and beams. “It’s Niya,” she says, then answers. “Hey, sweetie.”

“Hey! You doing the thing?” I hear Niya say as my wife walks back over to me. When she sits back on my lap, I see Niya’s cute little face and Shuga’s in the background.

“Not yet but I’m about to.”

“Good luck,” Niya says.

“Yeah. Good luck; we’ll be watching,” Shuga says.

“Aww, thank you both.”