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After my breathing leveled out and I felt the function of my limbs come back, I leaned down and said, “I love you.”
“I love you too, El.”
* * *
The men decidedto go on a fishing trip together.
Averie and the rest of the women were standing near the dock while we all loaded onto the boat.
“Who’s been fishing before?” Ms. Patterson asked the group.
We all looked at Mr. Patterson.
“What? Y’all looking at me, ’cause I’m the oldest? I ain’t been fishing either! I was born in the country, but that’s the end of that story.”
Everyone laughed.
“Well, be safe!” My mother said.
The boat captain gave us basic fishing instructions and then left us to it.
We talked sports and drank beer. The kitchen staff prepared our lunch which we ate while never getting one bite from a fish.
“Mr. Patterson, Averie would kill me if she knew that I was having this conversation with you because of her stance on women’s rights and whatnot. But, I love her. I want to spend my life with her and eventually ask her to marry me. I would like your blessing.”
I never thought I would have this conversation with a man about his daughter. It’s not a thing that most men do nowadays but one of the things I learned in prison is to respect men and their families. If a man raised his daughter, protected her and cared for her, her entire life, the least a man could do, that wanted that spot, was ask for that father’s blessing.
All the men on the boat got quiet waiting for Mr. Patterson to answer.
“I had a classmate and a co-worker named Cleophus Jenkins. Cleo wasn’t a driver; he was in management, but we worked out of the same station for a while. Averie doesn’t think that I know this, but she and Cleo were dating. Once I found out, I went to Cleo as a man and asked him to leave my daughter alone. I knew she had a strong mind and if I told her to stop she would go full steam ahead. Cleo acted like he was listening and would leave her alone, but I heard, cause niggas that ain’t smart talk too damn much. I found out that he was still messing around with her. My brothers and I found him coming out of the lounge one night and whooped his ass. He left her alone after that. She may have mentioned him to you, I don’t know. I do know that she thinks she was the one that ended that, but I ended it.” He pointed his finger into his chest. “I told you that story because I want you to understand my position as her father, I can’t stop her from making mistakes, but I can help her fix mistakes. Don’t be a mistake that I have to fix, because I will. You’ve proven to me that you care about her by the way you treat her in front of me and in private. You saved her from that man, and I appreciate that. Thank you for speaking to me about it and let me say that she could do a lot worse. You have my blessing.”
He extended his hand. We shook.
“Well since we are talking about Patterson women, I plan on asking Ken to marry me while we are here.”
Everyone congratulated Trevor.
We finished our fishing trip with nothing to show for it but full stomachs and some male bonding time.
* * *
Travis proposedto Kenzie during dinner and she said yes. That threw all the women at the table into wedding planning mode, even Princess. She volunteered her services as the flower girl.
Averie and I walked along the beach holding hands. The sun was setting and tide was pushing further up the beach.
“El.”
“Yes, love?”
“This has been amazing. I don’t want it to end.”
“I don’t want it to end either. We will have to recreate it as often as we can.”
“I would love that.”
“What did you think about Trevor proposing to Ken?”
“It was so special. I love them. They work so well together.”
