“Okay. We going to see. I’m going to start off light. What size shoe does your man wear?” she asked, and I laughed because that was the easiest question in the world.
“In U.S. sizes, he’s a 10 ½, but if we’re talking European sizes, then he’s usually a 44,” I said, and the table erupted in laughter at my antics. I had Steel’s mom, grandmother, and his god mother cracking up.
“You see, you starting off too cocky. Let me get one from the bottom, so that I can make it a little harder for you. What’s the first and last name of Steel’s primary physician?” she asked and I laughed at her thinking that question was supposed to be hard for me.
With all the cockiness in the world, I smiled and folded my arms before me on the table.
“Primary physician is Dr. Marcus Byrd. His wife is a professor at the same university as me. We took a few Pilates classes together a couple of years ago. Hmmm, let’s see… hisdentist is Dr. Alana Rodriguez. Back in his boxing days, he had a couple of problems with his knee, so his orthopedic specialist is Dr. Raymond Marshall. He specifically works on his left knee, and not the right. I can keep going if you want me to boo,” I finished, and again, I had the women screaming. You cannot ask me shit about my man and expect me not to know.
“If ya’ll need to know anything about my cousin, you must know that she is very competitive, and her ass hates being wrong. Also, when she loves someone, she’s deeply involved, and that’s always been something about her that I truly admire. Back to the game though. Let’s see something because I want to see you get at least one wrong. Zayne’s in first grade. Name all his teachers,” she went on to say, and I looked at her as if she was crazy, thinking that that question was supposed to be hard for me.
“Karina, these questions are too easy. I should have put some money on the line if I knew that this is the way you were coming. Main teacher is Mrs. Rudolph. That’s my girl. Steel and I made sure to get her something really nice this past Christmas. P. E coach is coach Richardson. I had to get on him a couple of times throughout the school year about a situation that he mishandled with Zayne, and I didn’t like it. Music teacher is Ms. Chin. Technology is Ms. Smith. That’s my girl too. Never had any problems out of her,” I finished, getting laughs again from the table.
Karina had to have read off fifteen more questions to me, and I answered each question swiftly, and confidently. The ideal person might not know the answers to these questions, but I’ve always been a partner that has paid attention, and I’m involved when it comes to the person that I love.
“In all seriousness though Toni, I truly thank you for coming into my son’s life,” Steel’s mother said to me, with a smile on her face, and misty eyes.
I could already tell that her words were getting ready to choke me up, and that she wasn’t finished with what she was saying, so I sat back, giving her the floor, allowing her to finish.
“Not to bring up Sapphire, but when he lost her, I just knew that I’d lost my son. I thought I would never get Zion back at a hundred percent. You came into his life, and you completely changed him for the better. His smile came back. There was once a time when I felt like he was angry at the world. You made him happy again. Not just my son, but my grandson too. God, Zayne loves you. He comes to my house, and he tells me these things. The other night when he came over, I had him say his prayers, and girl, you were a part of that prayer. He continues to thank God for allowing you to be a part of his life. Right here, in front of everyone, I just want to let you know that I love you and thank you for all that you do for my boys,” her voice cracked, and a tear fell from both our eyes at the same time.
She got me, and a few other women at the table to shed a couple of tears. I let my mother-in-law know that I loved her just as much, and we immediately stopped it right there, not wanting to turn this into a crying fest.
I had so much fun with these beautiful women tonight. We played the games that Karina packed, ate good food, sipped some of the best drinks, and we even danced. I was tipsy as hell, and I’ve been sending messages to my man all night, letting him know that pussy was on the table as soon as I walked through the door, so telling him to make sure that Zayne was tucked away in his bed already.
Brooklyn already told me that she was going to go home with Karina, so I could go home, and have all the fun that I wanted with Steel tonight, without having to wonder if Brooklyn could hear me.
Chapter 9
Zion ‘Steel’ Perkins
TEN TOES BEHIND HER
“All month long, we’ve been celebrating men around the world, who redefines what it means to just all around be good men. Whether it’s them being good fathers. Good spouses. Good in their jobs. Just good men. Today’s guest is someone that has been trending lately. Not only is this guest dominant in the profession that he was once in, but he’s dominant in his personal life. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, I’m referring to the undefeated heavy weight champ. A fiancé that stands ten toes down for the beautiful woman that he has in his life. A father that does a phenomenal job at raising his children. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome Zion Perkins, but many of you may know him as Steel,” Lonique James stood from her couch, facing the audience, as she introduced me to come on stage.
Lonique James was a big deal. This was a woman that was nationally respected, but we loved her in Maimi because this is where she was born and raised, and we fucked with the positivity that she was out here doing with her morning show. She had a weekday talk show, called The Lonique James show, and it was the most popular talk show on air right now.
What I liked about her was that she didn’t use her time on air to sit there and gossip the entire two hours that she was on air, and tear people down. Instead, she used her platform for positivity, and to celebrate people in the world that were doing great things. That’s why when she hit my team up a couple of months ago, asking if she could have me come on in February, when she would be shining a light on male public figures that have done good in the world, I made sure that I cleared my schedule, so that I could be here.
The music started playing, the audience were out of their seats, while the camera cut to me, showing me walking from the back. I did that cocky ass walk, doing that shit like my dick was too heavy to keep up. I could hear the women in the crowd screaming from the top of their lungs, as I swaggered out front, knowing that I looked damn good.
It was the month of love, so I decided that I wanted to come out in a nice, tailored pink suit. The pink wasn’t too loud. It was enough for me to be confidant in it and still feel like a man while I was wearing this color. The suit jacket was open, so you could see the pink, silk button-up shirt that was underneath. Nice, beige dress shoes were on my feet, and I could tell by the way the women were screaming that they were in love with this look.
I made it to Lonique, who was a beautiful black woman, and she stood there with the cards in her hands that she was going to use to question me, and she waved it at me, while shaking her head, knowing that I was a bad nigga. She laughed, and like we were long lost cousins, she hugged me for a few seconds and then let me go. The crowd was still going crazy for me, as I picked my hand up, waved at them, and then I took a seat. They didn’t quiet down until about another thirty seconds.
“Whew. Steel, I don’t think my crowd has ever been this loud for anyone on this show. How do you handle that? No, letme rephrase that… how does your fiancé handle that?” Lonique asked me, as she took her seat, and she crossed her legs.
I noticed that the crowd started cooing, and that’s when I turned around, and I looked at the screen behind me, and they placed the camera on Toni, and our daughter Lani. Toni was sitting backstage, and Lani was in her lap, bouncing up and down, happy to be seeing her daddy on the screen. Toni was there, looking at me in awe with a smile on her face too. Just the two of them came with me. Zayne, and Brook had testing this week at school, that they couldn’t miss to be here.
I laughed at the question that Lonique asked me, picking my hand up, scratching my head, trying to see how I wanted to answer it.
“Aww man. Lonique, Ima be real, she hate it,” I joked, and when I said it, Lonique and the crowd erupted in laughter.
“Let me clear that up because I don’t want to make my lady out to be insecure, and like she don’t have thick skin. My baby tough, but even the toughest person going to fold a couple of times. Lonique, I don’t know if you see some of the stuff these women be on the internet doing. This AI stuff getting out of hand, man. You got women putting photo collages together of me, and them, having it look like we married and stuff. That’s the kind of stuff she hate,” I said it in a joking kind of way, so the crowd was laughing, as Lonique sat here with a smile on her face, taking in my every word.
“My girl not wrong, Steel. It’s some crazies out there for sure. We going to get to you and Toni in a second. I want to give you your flowers first. Right here in front of everyone Steel, I need you to know that your still the man, even with you retiring, and no longer being in that ring. The mark that you made in boxing is phenomenal. You put Miami on the map when you were in the league, out there doing your thing. It wasn’t easy though. You had some tough opponents over the years. Talk to me a little bitabout boxing. I want to know how you got into that, and how’s life been after retiring,” Lonique went on, and I could see that the image on the screen had changed, so I turned my head to look and see what image it was.
That picture made me smile. It was my last fight. I was sitting back in my locker room, all battered and bruised, with my head up, and on that picture, you can see that I had what felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders. That was a tough fight that night. For the first time, that win didn’t come easy to me, which is why you could see the defeat in my eyes. I never knew that would be my last fight though. I lost Sapphire the next week, and after that, I never had it in me to fight again.
