Nickoi is smiling at me now full on, like he’s proud I heard that. Like he don’t mind me knowing the truth. I feel everything. Every damn thing. He really loves me.
And I love him too. So deeply it’s almost terrifying.
“Mi never get no yute enuh,” Nature says, voice lower now. “And mi did love him father like mi own son so now mi have him.”
He pauses, gaze lingering on Nickoi like he’s watching the boy he once knew finally become a man. “Mi know mi soon dead,” he continues, raw truth in his tone.
“But mi did just want see one thing before mi go and a fi know seh this yute finally find peace. Cause him been through nuff storm, mi a tell yuh. Nuff man out here talk ‘bout struggle and pain but dem nuh know nothing yet. But, that a fi a next time.”
Nickoi is silent. I glance at Nickoi, jaw locked, hands in his lap, just staring at Nature like he’s trying not to feel too much all at once.
I offer a small smile. “Okay.”
Nature nods, eyes finding mine again. “Yeah man… and nuh matter the money or the power weh him have, him neva look so content… not til’ you. Mi never see him look so settled. So mi respect you a million times, Zara.”
I glance at Nickoi again. Still no emotion. Just that same unreadable expression he wears when he’s processing something too deep for words. Damn. My heart tightens for him. This is a man who never got to be a boy.
“Open the box,” Nickoi says suddenly, voice quiet but firm.
I freeze for a second. My fingers twitch. A lump swells in my throat, heavy and sharp, because I already know, I just know whatever’s inside that box is about to shift something in me. Tears threaten. I blink them back. Not here. Not yet.
“Mi never wah be cliché like everybody else,” Nickoi says, like he’s peeling something off his chest he’s never said out loud. “Mi never wah do this the way people expect.”
His eyes hold mine. Searching. “Mi just wah yuh see seh mi grow. Mi still rough, rough in all the ways yuh know. But mi different now.”
My fingers press into the velvet box resting in my lap. It feels heavier now. “Mi neva wah no fancy food, no fancy place, no crowd. Just simple and raw ‘cause everything inna mi life expensive . But fi once, mi wah yuh see seh mi like things simple… even if a something major like this.” A silence stretches.
His voice dips low, almost husky and the air between us pulls tight. I feel it. That shift. That quiet, unspoken weight he just peeled back and placed in front of me. I can feel my throat closing. My stomach flips and heat crawls up the back of my neck. He’s saying things I never imagined he’d ever say something like this to me.Whew. Mi body cya keep up.My hands start trembling, barely noticeable at first, but he notices. He always notices. Nickoi looks at me, really looks at me and it’s like my whole body tunes into him. His energy don’t shout. It hums. Low and deep and grounding.
“Open the box,” he says, voice steady. My throat tightens. I blink hard, swallowing thick air.
“Nickoi…” My voice fractures, barely making it out.
He doesn’t meet my eyes, just looks away, smiling to himself like the outcome already set. Fingers trembling, I reach out. The lid barely lifts, then I yank it back down. The box presses cold into my palms, weight sinking into my skin. My breath stutters, chest tightens like a fist squeezing in. I press my hand to my mouth, trying to swallow down the tremors. The world narrows to this moment.
The door swings open with a low click, and Nickoi steps out. His movements are slow, like he’s shedding a weight he’s carried too long. A stoic expression on his face. No smirk, no bravado. Just something unreadable sitting heavy in his eyes.
“You always a say yuh waan know mi,” he says, eyes pinning me in place. “Mi a go mek yuh know mi… now.”
I step out, the gravel crunching beneath my shoes as I move closer, watching him, watching the shift in him .
“When my father got murdered,” he starts, voice low, “Mi stay here… with Nature and him wife. Mi mother try get mi fi come back home, but mi couldn’t stay deh. Not when mi still hear gunshots every time mi blink. Couldn’t walk pass him room without mi chest feeling tight.”
He pauses. His eyes don’t leave the sky. “My father was mi best friend… and when him gone, mi whole meds cut up. Everybody else move on. I… couldn’t.”
The quiet hugs us tight. I don’t say a word. I can’t.
He nods toward Nature. “This man take mi in… same way him did take in mi father. Him never hesitate. Him treat mi like blood.”
I’m still staring. My arms move before I think, wrapping my arms around him, holding him like maybe I can soften the blow that already passed. He hugs me back, strong but wordless. And then, soft as breath, he presses his lips to the bridge of my nose.
My heart clenches. Nickoi has never done that before. That’s… that’s like the most adorable kiss ever.
When he pulls back, he nods at the box again. “Open it,” he repeats.
My hands tremble as I glance down.Full time, Zara.I slowly lift the lid. Something white peeks back at me, just a single sheet of folded paper. That alone makes my knees feel weak.
“Babe?” My voice comes out thin.
