“Just a fawud from school. Mi do electrical test today,” Jordane tells him.
“Wah Janel do?” Nickoi asks.
“Dem understand say she new, so dem nuh expect har fi do the exam dem. But she insist. A wah foods test she do.”
“Ah,” Nickoi says.
Janel appears in the doorway. “Good Afternoon,” she greets politely.
“Good Afternoon,” Nickoi and I reply in sync.
“Raise up deh, Mami,” he says, and I shift on the bed.
“Mi have something fi mek unuh know,” he says, and I already know what it is.
Nicki’s smile spreads. “Wah that?”
“Before mi tell unuh, mi a mek unuh know from now… unuh a go think seh a lie. Especially you, Jordane.”
Jordane bursts out laughing. “Tell wi!”
Janel beams. “Yeah, tell wi!”
Nickoi exhales. “Arite… so me and Zara a expect a you—”
Before he could even finish, the room erupts.
NICKOI
“Mi go deh tell a lie like this?” I ask, my tone flat but my mother just smiles in silence while Janel and Jordane continue talking over each other, voices tangled in disbelief.
“It’s unbelievable,” Janel says, her eyes wide.
“That mi a seh too,” Jordane laughs, shaking his head like his brain is still trying to catch up.
I lift my hand, stopping the noise with a gesture. “Wait til unuh hear the unbelievable part now.”
The room quiets instantly, all eyes locked on me, waiting.
“She a nuh just mi girlfriend,” I say slowly, watching their anticipation stretch thin, “but mi fiancée.”
Their mouths drop. Zara smiles, almost shy, holding out her hand as the ring sparkles in the light like it know its importance.
“Congratulations!” they burst out together, Janel already rushing over while Jordane shakes his head in disbelief.
“Thank you,” Zara says softly, her voice warm.
“Hey… yuh change mi bredda enuh, a swear,” Jordane says, eyes flicking to Zara with respect now, not just curiosity.
Zara glances at me and smiles, a soft, proud kind of smile that makes my chest tighten.
“Mi did know say yuh really love this girl enuh,” my mother says, stepping forward with a glow of pride in her face. “But mi cya believe say mi first grandchild a come from mi son weh mi least expect it from.” She laughs, hugging me tight, then turns and hugs Zara too, longer, like she already see her as family.
I chuckle to myself, still processing the moment. Maybe the truth is… nobody expected it from me. Not even me. Eventually, they leave the room and Zara curls up on the bed, fast asleep not long after. Her hair slips into her face, and I brush it back before I get up.
I change into a black tee, black shorts, and my black Air Force 1s, head to toe in shadow. Quiet, ready. I grab the paint cans, fingers tight around the handles, and slip out of the house without saying much.
The sun is low now. Air thick and heavy. I walk the familiar path through the back gate, through the alley, past the cracked fences and stray dogs that don’t even bark when they see meanymore. And then, there it is. My father’s grave. Still in its old gold and white. Clean. Maintained. But it don’t feel right no more. I crouch in front of it, the black paint still in my hands. I don’t move yet. Instead, I sit. Just sit. And stare at the marble.
