“Honestly, I feel great about everything. I know what I’m capable of in the classroom, and I’m confident I’ll do well. Ambrose being gone takes away all the stress I felt after I saw his name in that press release, and I’m glad the drama with him died down. I couldn’t wait to move into the dorms because you and Mama aren’t as quiet as you think, but please don’t tell her that because she’ll be embarrassed.”
“Oh damn, Nyeem. My bad. Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
He shrugged. “I guess old people deserve to have fun too.”
We shared a laugh before I asked him another question.
“How would you feel about me marrying your mom?”
“You’re asking this after you got her pregnant with twins. If you don’t marry her, we gon’ have some problems.”
One thing Nyeem didn’t do was play about his mother, and I respected him so much because of it.
“I gotchu. We’ve talked about it, but she seems to think that if I propose too soon, I’m just doing it because she’s pregnant.”
“Is she right?”
“Hell nah. I think I started falling in love with her the first time I saw her. I’d never been drawn to a woman whose name I didn’t know or whose voice I’d never heard. I was ready to lock her down based on her beauty alone.”
“Are you asking an eighteen-year-old for relationship advice?”
“I guess I am. You know your mother better than anyone. I don’t want to propose to her, and she rejects my proposal for the wrong reason, or she accepts because she doesn’t want to hurt my feelings.”
“One thing I learned about my mother a long time ago is that she doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do. If she doesn’t want to marry you or thinks you’re proposing for the wrong reason, she won’t accept your proposal. My advice would be to do what feels natural. Let it flow.”
We parted ways, and as I replayed the last part of our conversation, it brought me back to the conversation I’d had with my parents and, more specifically, something my father said.
Nyomi insisted on telling my parents about the twins in person, so last weekend, we took a trip to Chicago. I told my father we were coming because I wanted to make sure they were home and not traveling, but my mother had no idea.
Although we’d just seen them a couple of weeks prior, I was glad to be spending time with them in their space. It was a weekend of relaxation and reflection, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Once my parents got over the shock of our announcement that we were having twins, my mother wouldn’t let my father dismiss the idea of getting a vacation home. Before we left, she’d already begun her search and had a few she wanted to tour.
The night before we left, Nyomi had gone to bed early because she couldn’t keep her eyes open. I stayed up talking to my parents for a few hours after she’d gone to bed.
“Kilo, a deaf, dumb, and blind person can see, hear, and feel the love between you two. Why haven’t you proposed?” my mother asked.
“You don’t think it’s too soon for that?”
“When you’ve found your person, what does time even mean? Do you think she’s your person?” she pressed.
“I know she is, but we’ve been doing everything backwards, and I don’t know how to get us turned around.”
My father finally chimed in. “Who says how you’ve done it is backwards? Is it working for you?”
“It is.”
“There is no exact way love happens, Son. I don’t know how many people are in this world, but if you ask those in love how it happened, I bet you’ll hear a different story from each person, even two people who are in love with each other. Don’t question it, and continue to let it flow.”
My father, a man in his sixties, and Nyeem, a boy who wasn’t yet considered a man, gave me the same advice.Let it flow.Nyomi and I had already agreed to let our love flow, and my father and her son had unknowingly confirmed that we were doing the right thing.
“This is so nice, Kilo. Thank you for bringing me,” Nyomi cooed.
“You’re welcome, baby, but I still can’t believe you’ve never come to one of these concerts. Per my research, they happen every summer, all through the summer.”
It was the Sunday before football camp started, and I wouldn’t have very much free time for a while. Aside from enjoying meals together at the local restaurants, Nyomi and I spent most of our time at one of our homes. She didn’t complain, because she was very much a homebody, but I felt bad because we hadn’t done anything special.
Tonight, we were enjoying an outdoor concert in the park, and Jill Scott was the headliner. When I told her, she damn near tackled me and planted kisses all over my face. In one of our conversations, we talked about which artist was most likely to be number one on our most-played list at the end of every year.
