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“We’re going to pick up Maya tonight or in the morning?” I questioned, now that we were outside the restaurant.
Miami was holding the food while walking behind me with his arms wrapped around my body. Even in my heels, he was still so much taller than me.
“It’s your call, shorty. I’m following your lead,” he said, right before he kissed me on my neck.
I smiled at his words.
“We can get her in the morning,” I said, and at the same time, he let me go right before he gave me a final kiss.
“I cannot wait to get inside the car, so I can kick these damn shoes off. My feet are killing me, and…
My voice trailed off when I no longer heard Miami behind me, and neither could I feel his presence. I turned around, and he was in the same spot as when he let me go a few seconds ago, the only difference was that this time, he wasn’t standing anymore. Instead, he was down on one of his knees. I laughed because the food was in the restaurant bag on the ground right next to him, looking so out of place.
I froze in place as I watched him do what I suspected him of doing. I didn’t want to start crying and embarrass the hell out of myself if he was just tying his shoes or something. I didn’t want to walk over, so I stayed in my place.
“Come here. Let me ask you something,” he said, still down on one knee as he held his right hand out.
Like I was a baby learning how to walk for the first time, it felt like it was hard to get over to him. When I finally made it to him and saw that he had a small box resting on his leg, my right hand instantly went over my mouth, and I could feel the tears starting because I knew that he was getting ready to do what I suspected.
“Why you crying? It’s me who should be crying. I’m scared as a motha fucka right now,” he said and released a nervous laugh.
He grabbed my left hand and then looked seriously at me. There was no
smirk, no smile, no nothing. It was all seriousness. I had never in my life seen Miami this nervous before. His hand was literally sweating as he held onto mine.
“To be honest with you, shorty, I wanted to do this months ago, but knowing you, you probably wouldn’t have thought that we were ready. I love you, Jashae. A nigga has been smitten over you since the first time I was introduced to you when I was a little ass boy. I used to pray that your old nigga would fuck up, so I could get you and show you how a woman is supposed to be treated. Although we’ve only been doing this whole boyfriend and girlfriend thing for almost a year, I know what I want, and that’s to make you my wife, my soulmate, and all that comes with having you for an eternity.
“I want to know if you will marry me, Jashae? In a world full of crazy ass shit, heartbreak after heartbreak that we’ve both experienced, and whatever else the devil keeps throwing our way, I swear this will feel like the light at the end of the tunnel for me. Will you be my wife? I swear I’ll make sure you don’t ever regret it,” he said.
A single tear fell from his eyes, which only made me cry because for this man to cry while he asked me to marry him proved his love for me and proved how badly he wanted me to say yes.
“Yes… yesss. God, yesss” I squealed, holding his head in my hands as I kissed him.
When we finished kissing, he pulled the ring out of the box, and I almost passed out just from the sight of it alone. I let out a whistle, although I was crying, when I saw the beautiful diamond ring, which was round cut and was easily fourteen carats at the least.
“This is so beautiful, Toddrick. Damn, I love you,” I cooed as he put the ring on my finger.
Whatever funk I was in before; he sure had a way of knocking me right out of it. This was all new to me. If I didn’t know my worth now… Mannnn. A couple of years ago, I received a proposal from Trip, and that was over the damn phone. Do you know that my dumb ass didn’t have an answer for him right then and there, but I was still leaning toward saying yes?
Just look at the difference in proposals. I’m not even talking about the ring. It was the words he expressed in this proposal, the emotions, all of that. What’s so crazy is that I told myself that if I ever got proposed to again, I wanted something intimate. I didn’t want to be proposed to in front of a room full of people, I didn’t need it to happen in a restaurant with everybody looking at us. What Miami did was more than what I needed. We were going to be the only two people in this marriage, so he made sure that we were the only two people in attendance when he chose to ask me the question.
The whole way back to the car, as he held my right hand, I kept picking up my left hand and staring at the ring in amazement that I was now engaged to someone. A month ago, I thought it was over for Miami and me. Now look, I was about to marry this man. Tears of joy clouded my vision the whole way back to the car. Once we made it inside the car, he pulled out.
“What kind of wedding do you want, shorty? I’m not trying to be engaged to you forever either. Hell, if you down to do it tomorrow, then I’m down with that as well,” he said, followed by a laugh, although I knew that he was dead ass serious.
“Strictly our close friends and loved ones. I don’t want the niggas from the block, the niggas from the barber, the gym, none of that. Baby, just our families and friends that we speak to every day,” I let him know in all seriousness.
He laughed at what I said, as he looked down at me. I had to tell Miami things like this because I could see him now, thinking that our wedding was a day to bring the whole damn hood out. As serious as I was about not wanting a lot of people at our wedding, I had to admit that my man’s ability to always go back to the hood, give back, and not forget where he came from was actually one of the things that I liked about him. The fact that his rec centers were smack dab in the middle of the hood, where some of the crime in Miami is at an all-time high, versus it being somewhere on Lincoln Avenue in Miami Beach is another thing that drew me to him. I couldn’t stand when a person got money, and all of a sudden, they forgot where they came from.
“Damn, why we can’t have the niggas from the block? I’m trying to have a dice game going on in the back of the reception. I want the corner boys posted on the walls smoking and all that hood shit that we’re accustomed to,” he said, and I looked at him like he was crazy.
As playful as his voice sounded, something told me that if I were to have been down with it, it sure as hell would have taken place.
“I’m fuckin’ with you, beautiful,” he said, and at the same time, his phone started ringing from the car.
I looked at the screen and released a sigh when I saw that it was the hospital calling. Nothing good could come from this call. It was almost eleven at night. They never called at this time because Miami’s father would usually be asleep before this time. I said a quick prayer, hoping that everything was going to be okay before Miami answered the phone. I could tell that Miami was thinking the worst, just like I was because he was stalling to press answer on the car screen. When he did eventually answer, his hand shook.
“Don’t tell it to me over the phone. If he’s gone, just hang up. I swear that’s all I need to know,” Miami said.
